Sharkey

I spent a pleasant few hours rerigging the Pirogue on Wednesday. I  tried putting in a brailing line, but I suspect Optimist sails are not designed for brailing.

Thursday was warm and round 10 knots predicted,  so I wheeled the Pirogue down to the local beach and launched from there. It was lovely to launch off clean sand into clear water. My usual launching spot, in front of AYC club house, has become choked with seaweed, and the water is murky thanks to the grunge from a nearby drain outfall which has diverted to run parallel to the shore there.

The Pirogue sails nicely in flat water and under 10 knots, and we beat into a North Easterly out past Wise's Reef, and down to the mouth of Kororiot Creek. Another failed attempt to pick my way in there through the maze of sticks which are liberally scattered there. The water was crystal clear, and I spotted four banjo sharks basking on the yellow sand there. 

Their camoflague is no good for broad patches of sand, they are visible from about thity metres away. I was dodging rocks and sharks, with the rudder up, when the Pirogue decided it was time to get out of there, and gybed round by itself.

Somehow I busted the lower rudder pintle again, so back to the drawing board on that one. And the rigging still needs some tweaking, but with a bit more work I think the Pirogue will be a great light airs shallow water explorer.

Icebreaker

 

With the Covid lockdown and Anne's knee, and my painfully slow progress on the Core Sound, it has been a good while between sails. But I got Peregrina out today. I certainly have got rusty. I dropped the boat and beach trolley off the trailer, forgetting the small matter of wheels. Crunch Ouch. Blessed if I could find the fancy new ratchet block I got for the mainsheet.  And somehow the outhaul untied itself. Etc. Progess was a bit erratic, but once we got going it was lovely. Ozzie was thrilled to be back, as you can see from the photo.

Scrape, sand, patch, paint

 Displaying a rare outbreak of common sense, I talked myself out of starting a new boat, to add to my maintenance deprived fleet, and tackled insted the long overdue job of the Core Sound's topsides. 

The two pack varnish had started to give way in quite a few places, and the ply underneath had become discolored, so no spot fix was possible. The two pack had a sort of film that once disturbed, wanted to peel off in untidy strips.

The fittings had not been well sealed either, and many had signs of water getting in and under the surface, plus a gap between the gunnel rail and the topside had proved a good spot for moisture to sneak in. Definitely time for some remedial action.

I knew it was going to be a big job, and kept postponing, but eventually the silent reproach of the boat everytime I walked past it was too much for me and I began. It took two solid half days to get the fittings off, partly because a number of them required two pairs of hands, one to hold a nut with a spanner from underneath , one to turn the screw driver above, and I was too stubborn to ask for help. When I finally cracked and got Anne's assistance, it went much faster. I carefully photographed, then put pairs of fittings in labled ziplock bags. With luck I should be able to get most of them back more or less in the right place.

I read on the Internet, that source of great wisdom, that heatgun and scraper was the way to get two pack varnish off. "Easy" I remember one forum poster saying. Of couse, it isnt easy. After about 37 seconds I was regretting that I had not just given it a light sand and hoped for the best. It took two days hard work to get back to wood. Another day prime with Prekote. Another day sand and patch the more visible dings and chunks. And today, at last, we began the journey back.  I have a terrible time deciding colours, but so far, I quite like the look of the one I have chosen, Norglass "Sea Mist". It looks nautical in a business like fashion, sort of work boat meets battle ship.

Another coat tomorrow, then sikaflex the gap round the gunnel,  a revarnish on the gunnel and coaming, sikafex all the fittings as I put them back. We have definitely turned a corner.

Lost

 One of iso projects was going to be fitting a bracket to the Core Sound so I wouldn't loose my hand bearing compass. Of course when I got round to that job, I couldn't find the damned thing. Loss of compass, a sort of metaphor for my sense of direction in this interminable lockdown. 

I have been getting very little done. I did finish my Mark 2 cockpit tent, with luck it will be dry and warm and relatively easy to use on the water. It was a good project and I learned a lot.

I have also been doing some research and thinking about getting the Core Sound to self steer. John Letcher's book suggests making a model book to help understand the forces and concepts he covers in his discussion, and it did help. I am keen to get out there and try out some of his suggested approaches.

In this clip you can see that the Core Sound will self steer by itself on a reach for a bit, but it works slowly to windward.  Armed with Mr Letcher's book I hope to improve on that.

We are waiting to see to what extent restrictions will be eased tomorrow. If I can't go sailing for another month, that will be challenging.

Slow day

The general vibe in Melbourne has been fairly sombre this week. I have been keen to get out on the water, for some restorative PPB time, waiting for a day with some sun and some reasonable wind.  I guess one out of two is not too bad, a sunny day with mostly vanishingly light winds.  It was good just to get out there, no going very far (about 7NM for the day) or fast (average speed 1.7 knots).  A thermos of tea, a book to aid escape, and Oz for company. 

There were lots of gannets gliding, searching, diving, or just bobbing on the water.   I find them hard birds to photograph.

I wasn't the only one escaping.  I heard this guy before I saw him, the music on his boat cranked right up so he could hear it over the noise of his engine.

You have to admire the style -  bare chest, shorts and Alaskan furry hat.  You wouldn't want to get cold ears.

It was surprisingly quiet today down at Altona ramp, so I took advantage of the lack of traffic and the light wind to try out my new Padook, essentially a greenland paddle blade at one end, and a boat hook on the other.  I think I can add about .8 of a knot of boat speed if I really put some energy into the stroke.   As I was Padooking/sailing into the safe harbour, a nice older gentleman in a fishing boat coming out was very concerned for me, and wanted to tow me in.  And when I was pulling the boat up to the trailer, I flipped my key piece of boat infrastructure - my waterproof cushion - over the side, causing me to make a right hash of my approach to the trailer. A nice chap came and held the stern line for me.  And the little girl you can see running down the rock wall to the left of the picture above was totally taken with Ozzie and wanted to know all about him and the boat.  So I came back home feeling a lot more cheerful and well disposed to the world in general.

Sew, stitch, unstitch

Jess wanted to make some masks for us all, and the novelty of hand stitching wore off fairly quickly. I dusted off my mum's trusty Singer sewing machine, 1924 model from the registration plate, so she probably bought it second hand. After a quick lesson,Jess was away. She has been turning out very professional masks for us all. My mother, Eileen, would be very pleased. The machine still sews beautifully.

My grandmother's sideboard continues to yeild up treasures. Anne discovered a white muslin cover, for puttingover food to keep flies away I suspect, picked out with some cute embroidery. I suspect a teenager, perhaps my mum again, did this. 

I have been leathering the sprit booms from the Core Sound. Where they hit the mast was getting a right bashing, so it will be good to protect them. It has been a strangely soothing task, and I am quite pleased with the result. Anne says I am working through the experience  of the stitches in my face, and there could be some truth in that.  I had eight stitches removed on Monday, eight more to come out next week. 

Fog and fame

Anne and I and Ozzie got the Core Sound out yesterday.  It was as cold as charity and foggy to boot, but we had a nice ghost/row/drift/motor.   And the sun eventually came out, but not enough wind to move the boat.  We are drifting backwards from the yellow mark that is just to the left of the mast.

But it was worth getting out.  Do what you can while you are still capable/permitted. Here is some video from the day.

When we got home, the latest edition of the Dinghy Cruising Association magazine was in the letter box, complete with an article by me.  I am almost famous.  Well, I am more famous than I was before.  Which is not very famous at all. But it was nice to see the article in print, Keith the editor did a nice job with it.

It was nice to have some positive experiences.  On the not so positive side, I had to have a chunk taken out of my face this week, to remove a SCC, the legacy I guess of many sunny days on the water without sunscreen.