End of the sailing season

Robinetta is now safely back in West Mersea which is a huge relief. I've been aboard for the last two trips, and I did helm for a fair amount of time coming across the Thames, but I can only do that under ideal conditions, when there is not much wind, and trying to handle the ropes is a bad idea. It gets frustrating! Rather than trying too hard and risk overusing my hand while sailing, we're going to get Robinetta out of the water earlier than planned.

The trip round to Cowes was quite hard on the boat, and she's letting in more water than we like. Also there was a strong smell of diesel in the cabin on the trip from Ramsgate that we want to investigate. The mast has sustained some damage and could do with sanding down and revarnishing, so we're going to get that out (which will make it easier to redo the masthead light and fit a new ariel). The cooker needs changing which means all my work on the galley will need redoing... In other words there's a lot of work waiting, so we might as well get on with it.