Off and on

 If only I could tell the difference between off and on with my 360 camera!

Today was another camera buoy fiasco, but very pleasant not with standing. 

I was a bit anxious about getting out after my last ramp experience but it was windier Today. I suspect wind keeps obnoxious pests - like mosquitoes and dickhead stink boaters - away. 

I got down reasonably early, and was on the water 45 minutes later. Would have been faster but I got the dreaded Error 20 message on my Torqeedo and it took repeated cleaning and spraying with wd40 to get it to go away. But I should have been a bit slower and carefully checked the halyard lazy jacks arrangement... there was a snafu when we raised sail. 

Chris as usual was early, and we were heading out about 9.45.  It was grey and choppy first off, but pretty soon the cloud cleared and we got a sparkling morning with a good breeze eventually, about as good as it gets. 

I tried the 360 camera on the spar buoy again. First try, it ran down the side of the boat and hooked itself under the Torqeedo. I rescued it, and launched again over the transom this time, but managed to switch it off as I put it in the water. 

So all Chris's well judged buoy overboard manoeuvres went unrecorded. We sailed over to Altona Pier then back to the ramp to collect Roman just on midday. He has just bought wood, plans and parts from John, a builder up in Nowra whose build had run into ill health. There but for the grace of God... the possibility that I would not be able to finish my SCAMP really motivated me to get it done as fast as I could. 

Roman is an interesting guy, he has built a big, steel yacht and a dinghy, so I rekon he is a good prospect to finish #653. 

Thanks to the wind, retrieving was no hassle, and the boat slid onto the trailer without protest or getting its bunks and skegs crossed. Not feeling pressured helps a lot I think.

All in all, it was a really nice messing about in boats day, the sort of day I had in mind building the boat.

One still from the video illustrates my next SCAMP project btw.  You can see the cleat on the mast, that is intended to secure the lazy jacks, is right in the way of the main halyard heading down to the block on the cuddy top.   It seemed like a good idea at the time, but in practice it is awkward.  I am going to put a block on the mast partner at the rear of the mast, and lead the lazy jack halyard back to a cam cleat on a raised bit on the cuddy, dead amidships.