End of the trip

Our trip to Southwold yesterday was plagued by gear failures. This was meant to be a shakedown cruise, but too much had been shaken for comfort. There was no safe way to carry on without work on the boat, but the Harbour Master had six boats booked in for the next night, with no space left for us unless they cancelled.

Our inability to reef was explained by the reefing drum coming loose from the boom, but that was not the only problem with the spars. The glue joints on the gaff had de-laminated, and a new one would be the simplest solution.

Luckily the boatyard had a spare berth on the Walberswick side of the river, so we moved Robinetta there while the tide was in our favour. When I went to put the sail cover on the staysail I found that even this sail had suffered, with the piston hanks being noticeably abraded. 

We were not going to be going anywhere soon, and the main sail had to come off for the work on the boom and the gaff. It was really depressing to be folding it up, having only bent it on on Tuesday....

However Southwold on a sunny Saturday in September was a pleasant place to be, and the afternoon felt like a holiday as we met up with friends and strolled around the harbour before heading to collect our car ready for the trip back home.