too cold for sailing

For the legions of readers of this blog in the UK, you will know that we have been gripped with a nasty cold snap complete with some snow which has had the usual effect of bringing the entire county to a standstill. I have even bought a shovel and put it in the back of the car. However, it has genuinly been too cold to think of doing any sailing as we are not the intrepid sorts who relish huddling in the cockpit wrapped up th eyeballs and still freezing. For the other millions who do not live in the UK, we have had one of thos periodic cold snaps that brings a few centimeters of snow and everything to a stop.

In fact it is all looking a bit frustrating and will have made a bit of a mockery of keeping the boat afloat this winter.

At least I have had a bit of an idea for our upcoming cruising plans which is to make a bit of a book called the oenophiles cruise. We can start with UK where the wine industy is advancing in step with global warming. We can then progress across The Channel and Biscay to sample some better known wines. Yesterday we went for a walk along the south coast along the Seven Sisters and encountered this flat calm but beautiful sunset.

Got the main

It arrived at work first thing. Dark green bag, large stainless rings on the "spectacles" and a funky square pattern on the cloth. So we can definitely count on pointing five degrees higher and sailing at least a knot faster! :-)

New Main Arriving

Jeckells contacted me yesterday and after forking out six hundred odd quid of outstanding balance they are shipping our new main out and it should arrive at work tomorrow.

We shall of course expect the boat to point five degrees higher or sail half a knot faster. The reality is more likely that she will point one degree higher and at least be able to power through a nasty chop with more aplomb than at present. It would be great to be able to try it out but the weather is really not looking promising for Christmas at all as the snow falls outside.

Oh well, all the more reason to sail south.

Continuing Thoughts

The thing I find myself thinking about the most in this excessively cold and snowy weather. Witness our street here,
is where we will winter next year. There are a few options all of which it is surprisingly difficult to get concrete information. The most convenient spot to stay would be Gibraltar itself. It is, literally, at the entrance to the Med while also having good communication links to the UK so we can fly down and do the inevitable work.

Other options we have considered are the area round Cadiz, La Linea and Algeciras. It is also possible that we may find somewhere to the East of Gibraltar but I am doubtful of that. More research is clearly needed.

Photos

Well, at last, I have got around to doing some work with the pictures I have got and it is time to bore the world with them.

First, we show off Sarah Giddings while stuck in Torquay where we left her for two happy weeks.


Next, for your delectation we are now in cosy Darthaven Marina, Kingswear. It is a nice place to winter. Though, as I said earlier, it is a bit odd to be "based" on the Dart rather than visiting it. The next time we manage to go for a sail and then come back will really be the strange bit.


The next two show the work to date on the Aries. We are going to call him Mars as Aries was the Ancient Greek God of war.

A mounting bracket


And the beast itself:


Work lists are growing as ever. So the winter will be busy especially as it is now sinking in that the fact that I have negotiated all that time off work now means no annual leave till August 15 next year!

Bits and Pieces Done Today

Well, I have got most of the chock like things for the new anchor on the foredeck now though it has taken an inordinate number of M6 bolts to get there.

I have also got the tubes on the Aries drilled and in their holes. Investigation of the issues with fitting the thing fully have revealed a fair bit, not least that I am going to need a proper power drill to achieve it. Also, it will not be possible to drill through the cockpit coaming so that will have to be done with stud bolts. On the positive side, there are already holes drilled in the aft rail. All, we have to hope is the original holes are in the right place.

On a completely other topic. I tried to copy the photos off the camera but found that the ubuntu I have installed on this netbook cannot recognise SD cards when they are put in the slot. Those others of you who have had to fight with linux device drivers will know what I am talking about.

Still, the weather is changing with the wind now in the south west and a spot or two of rain. Audrey arrives later and I will be able to get into the B&B shortly as well.

Still Freezing but with Aries Parts Now

Well, it is, if anything, even colder now and is forecast to drop below freezing tonight. I am huddled below with the Bengco going full pelt and gobbling charcoal at a rate of knots. It isn't too bad except that I still manage to get cold feet. Sitting still is not good for them and that is what I have been doing a lot of today.

The good news is that I now have the mounting tubes and brackets to enable us to install the Aries. An abortive trip to Falmouth was a bit frustrating but then I got an email from Helen Franklin/Bell and drove down today to pick them up. Now, all I have to do is work out how to drill the holes I need. I will start looking at that tomorrow once the sun is over the hill and has melted off the inevitable frost. The docks were decidedly slippery this morning.

Other progress: I bought sixty meters of nylon multiplait, a couple of thimbles and a single Barton block to make up some lazyjacks. I will need another block of course as well as the bosun's chair to get to the spreaders. Then we should have a much easier time of lowering the main.

Well, now is probably the best point to get eyes out and head for bed. It is too cold for anything else really. We will be in a Bed and Breakfast tomorrow as it is not very likely that Audrey will enjoy sleeping aboard at the moment.