Afloat Again

Christmas seems a long time ago now. I hope the New Year has seen all your resolutions come true.

Ellie, Jeremy, Emily, Mum and Ben

Ours started with Jeremy having a chest x-ray and finding out that a shadow remained. He took another course of antibiotics and had to wait until February, when a third chest x-ray gave him the all clear. Meanwhile, Sal Darago stood untouched in the boatyard without her winter covers and it began to look like there would be no sailing for us in the spring.

We went to the Boat Show in London and optimistically enquired about the cost of a new engine and gear box and new paint for the topsides. These were to be the BIG winter jobs.

Previously, I had found out about local sail makers who would wash and repair our sails, canvas sail cover and canvas dodgers. Sail Medic in Ipswich offered the best price and included storing our sails for the winter. Unfortunately, as Tom began to remove the old sacrificial strip from our genoa, in order to replace it with a new one, the sail material began to tear and although it looked all right, clearly it was sun damaged and the 7 year old genoa was only fit for the bin.

There would be no paint job this year and no new engine either. We needed to order a new genoa. After many quotes and much research on the best sail cloth for cruising, we chose Sail Medic.

Meanwhile, Jeremy researched gear boxes and managed to find a brand new one at a reasonable price on e-Bay.

Other jobs squeezed into two and a half months included: cleaning most of the lockers and painting those above the water line, rebedding the push pit, pulpit and all the fittings that support the standing rigging and refurbishing 6 of our 9 portholes. Three of these were completely removed using drills, hammers and brute strength, taken home, stripped down to the bare aluminium and repainted, each one taking many hours to complete.

The Rayner Plate

The flexible water tank (made from the skirts of hovercrafts) and located under the front cabin berths had started to disintegrate and leak. Jeremy contacted the company that made it and ordered a new one. He took out the old tank and replaced it with the new one. We have to be careful not to add too many sterilising tablets this time!  Then there were the usual jobs to do – antifouling, polishing the topsides and putting on the running rigging and sails.

Newly painted new gearbox

During the last week of April, we provisioned and returned to Sal Darago everything that was stored in our sheds and loft. Jeremy serviced the outboard engine and we retrieved our dinghy from our shipping container. We were ready to go and splashed gently into the River Deben on 1^st May.

Emily and Simon, our excellent party stewards

And now for our other news. Our first visitors to stay overnight in our new house were John and Chris from S/V Sara II. We firmed up the offer we had made to crew for John in September, when he hopes to sail Sara II across the Indian Ocean from Malaysia to South Africa.  Simon and Erin had a night with us before we took them to Ely, as they sought a train route home to Edinburgh avoiding the chaos of the holiday rail closures. My Mum came to stay with us for 10 days early in the New Year. She is finding stairs quite challenging now but she managed with help from Jeremy and me.

Erin and Kathy lead the dancing

Towards the end of January the Westerly Owners’ Association held their AGM in Cambridge. As it was so close, we went to our first ever AGM and took the Rayner Plate with us, polished by Jeremy the previous night, so that it was ready for the presentation to this year’s winners. Imagine our surprise, when our names were called and the Rayner Plate was presented to us for the second year running! We were truly honoured to receive this prestigious prize again, this time in front of 150 WOA members.

Kathy and Jeremy prepare to cut the cake

We celebrated our Ruby Wedding Anniversary at the end of March and decided to have a party. About 40 family and friends came to Hacheston Village Hall for a buffet lunch, dancing and speeches followed by tea and coffee at our house. Everybody had a good time as you can see from the photos.

Grand finale

Not long afterwards, we went to visit Jeremy’s aunt, Dodo , in Mull. First, we spent a night with nephew Julian and his wife, Claire, only 3 weeks after seeing them at our party. It was good to chat properly to Jemima and Amelia. The next night was spent with Chris and John in Milford on Sea discussing in detail our sailing trip in September. Then it was off to York to spend a night with nephew, James, his wife, Juliette, and children, Alice, Anna and Daniel. We had 3 nights in Mull and were looked after very well by Eiligh and John at Ivybank, next door but one to Dodo. We were sorry that Dodo was housebound by cellulitis and hope this clears up soon. On the way home we had lunch with Jeremy’s brother, Gavin, and his wife, Eileen along with niece, Helen, and her children, Joseph, Benjamin and Kristian. After a night with brother, Ritchie, and his wife, Catherine, we took Auntie Joyce out to lunch in Lincolnshire. It was good to be home again after this whistle stop tour, but only a few days later my cold developed into an upper respiratory infection and it was my turn to be on antibiotics.

Escape to Mull

About this time, my cousin contacted me to say my Auntie Elsie had died. We drove up to Lancashire for the funeral meeting my Mum and sister, Pat, at Manchester Airport after their flight from the Isle of Man.

Jeremy adds the final touches to the antifouling

We are almost ready to set sail for Holland, on our way to Denmark to visit our friend, Robert, his wife, Lene, and their children Julian and Patrick. Naturally, we hope for fair winds and calm seas as we have been landlubbers for 8 months.

Sal Darago about to be launched

We’ll let you know how we fare.