Spring is coming

At last, some blue sky and sunshine and not too much wind.  Oz and I launched from in front of the yacht club, to avoid the crazy stink boaters launching in the safe harbor next door. 

We rowed to the dog beach, landed, and Oz met Lilly and Cocoa, old friends of his, and had very good run around and a jolly good bark.

Lilly and Cocoa's owners admired the Skerry, which did look pretty good on the sand bar there today in the sun.

After a run around, we re-imbarked, and rowed up to the mouth of the creek, keeping the sand bar close on the port side. I rowed in past the first mark, noting a couple of nasty boulders lurking below the surface.  I will learn how to get into that creek over the coming weeks, it will be a good project. Maybe like Secret Water, I can make a chart. 

We rowed back to the launch spot, to find that the tide was well out.  After a false start, I strapped the folding trolley on, and we got through the mud, no worries.  I had the boat back on the trailer and was ready to head home with 5 minutes to spare.

Another great little outing.  I am enjoying the Skerry in row boat mode.

 

Red stick

 

Another grey lock down day, but the wind forecast was not too bad so Oz and I got out in Derry the Skerry.  Low and falling tide, so I rowed to the dog beach, just past the wreck of the yellow peril, and beached so Oz could have a leg stretch.  He likes arriving at the beach from the water, it adds status.  He met his friend and relative Lilly and had a jolly good bark.

Some good gusts of wind came through while we were on the beach, so I figured rowing into the wind would be a better idea than getting blown a long way down leaving a hard slog to get home.  We rowed into the little bay up to the Seaholme Boat owners jetty.  When I stopped rowing, we drifted about 1.6 to 1.8 knots.  I tried out the small sea anchor, which slowed me down to about .6 to .8 of a knot, so about half.  The boat still seemed to want to drift on the quarter, I had hoped we would lie head to wind, but it could be that I was just holding the end of the line sitting in the middle of the boat.  If it was tied off to the bow, it might work better.

After I retrieved the line, I rowed around the red stick.  The wind had really cranked up.  As I got close, I was moving very slowly indeed relative to the stick.  Laverton recorded 20 and 23 knot gusts while we were out there. The boat is very stable. Ozzie sat stoically at the bow.  I was worried that as he had got wet, he would get cold, so we didn't stay out too long.

My new iteration of the rear view mirror attachment is much better, and I enjoyed rowing more today, learning how to use effort judiciously. 

Backing the little trailer is a challenge.  I loose sight of it, then over correct.  I am glad the ramp is quiet at the moment so I can work on developing better technique.  Very easy to launch, retrieve and put Derry the Skerry to bed, the ratio of time and effort required to get on the water to the amount of time on the water, which is restricted to about an hour or so thanks to lockdown, so pretty good.

It was a good outing.

Lockdown Row

 I thought I'd better get out for a row today, as the wind is below 15 knots, even though the sky was grey and the weather chilly. 

It was low tide and the swamp in front of the yacht club looked like hard work.  The safe harbour ramp was quiet so I drove round there and launched straight off the trailer.  

There was quite a stiff westerly blowing.  Rowing into it was hard work.  When I stopped rowing, the boat was drifting backwards at about 1.7 knots.  My GPS told me I had an average of 2.6 knots over the hour.

It was a good outing.  I can refine the process.  

Reef

 

Rained a lot overnight so I spent a good while emptying water out of boats. I need to set  up to help water drain off rather than run in.

Eventually I got organized and down to launch.  I was slow.  A big gust came through and nearly knocked the boat over on the trolley. I decided today might be a good day to try the reef out, and indeed both  it and topping lift worked well.

The paint on the side seats was still tacky so I couldn't take them. I was kneeling and sitting on the floor, which is not super comfortable, or perhaps I haven't worked out how to get in the right position and move properly yet. The sail set was pretty good, compared to last time, and we tacked mostly ok, better from port to starboard for some reason. That could be operating the tiller with right hand on the port tack maybe, or perhaps the way the sail sets with wind that side. I was impressed with how nicely the boat cuts through the chop, and how will behaved when you release main sheet and leave tiller to do what it wants. The boat bobs along happily. While we were sailing along I missed a call from Anne, so I just dropped main sheet and tiller and called her back while we drifted along. I took the photo of Oz above looking fairly chilled at the same time.

Bom laverton recorded gusts 18 knots while we out. I came back in, thinking the trend seemed to be getting stronger. Of course, wind died off as soon as we came in. 

I need to get organized with what I take, where to put stuff and how to rig and launch more smoothly, and the seats i think will make a difference, but so far so good.

Seat

 

It has taken a ridiculously long time to get to this point, but I have the support frames and top pieces cut for side seats for the Skerry. Some more shaping, then epoxying, then sand and paint. I am indebted for the design to Gérard on the Arwen Marine website, which has been a great source of ideas and inspiration for my Skerry.

 http://www.arwenmarine.com/NewsSKGerard.html

His are much more elegant. Mine are made from scraps of left over ply and oregon. But I think it will do the job. I hope this will be a knee kindly enhancement. I am not sure if there is a causal connection, but my right knee has been playing up since my Skerry sail. It has been good fun laminating the curved support pieces. I might try laminating some hoops to support boat tent and cover next.

The weather has not been conducive to on water small boat activities, so the latest lockdown has not been too irksome. I am looking forward to lifted restrictions and a few nice sunny mild days so I can get out and give the boat a good workout.

Row

 

I have fixed the road trailer so I can get Derry the Skerry down to the club beach to launch a bit more easily.    The lockdown restrictions allow me to go boating as long as it is within 5 k of home (tick) and I can complete the activity within the two hour time limit (tick).  It was a cold grey day today but as an antidote to lockdown fever, I made an effort and got out. 

I rowed for exactly an hour and averaged 2.4 knots.  Hmmm. There was a side wind and a bit of chop, and I had a bit of trouble with one of the leathers and buttons on the port oar so that slowed me down.   And I seemed to have a magnetic attraction to the gas pipeline marker.  Try as I might, every time, going out and coming back, whenever I looked over my shoulder I seemed to be heading straight for the dammed thing.

Ozzie's quarters seem fairly good to me.  I put a blue foam mat down, and he snuggles between the two inflatable rollers.  He slept most of the outing.  But now mysteriously he has developed a limp, and now I have owners guilt for taking him out on such a cold day without his coat.

You can see behind him the wheel of the folding trolley, which works quite well though it gets bogged in soft sand and the boat just slides over the runners when you push.  I will have to make sure I take the webbing straps to lock boat and trolley together next time.

Irene

 

It was a lovely sunny morning with light winds this morning and I was working up to take Derry for a row, when Jamie contacted me. He wanted to launch his recently acquired Hartley TS14, and suggested Altona. I changed gears and got the Core Sound out instead.  It was a really pleasant day on the water. 

I am really happy for Jamie and Kylie, Irene is a lovely boat, in great condition. A great addition to the fleet of dinghy cruisers.