As I was driving back from taking a guest to the train station this morning I noticed that Robinetta's mainsail cover was hanging under the sail it was meant to be over. There had been some strong winds in the last couple of days, and there were more expected, so it had to be secured. I rowed Julian over to Robinetta at lunch time, to check on things. The cover was only being held on by the lazy jacks, and could easily have gone over the side if they had not been tight.
I was reminded of heading to Robinetta years ago when she was kept on the moorings at West Mersea. On that occasion I had not being able to see the cover at all. To my relief I found it lying in the cockpit. Later I was told by a friend who had a mooring close by that he had seen the cover was about to go over the side and had rowed over to rescue it. At least now we lived close enough to notice the problem ourselves.
When I opened the cabin the wooden spoons which are kept in a plastic cup were on the floor, so Robinetta's motion had obviously been quite violent at some point, although there was no other sign of distress. The cabin was quite grubby, and our absence of time on board this month was clear.
I put the engine on as it had not been turned over in a month, then Julian and I replaced the cover, tying it down tightly. We really should come out to visit Robinetta more often. Even coming over in the evening for a cup of tea would be a pleasant trip out of the house...
Julian had to get back to work, so we turned off the engine and locked up the cabin, then I rowed us back ashore.
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