Fitting out afloat

Getting back afloat did not mean we were ready for the season. There were a number of things that still needed doing before we could sail, including re-leathering the gammon iron. This is the hoop at the bow that the bowsprit goes though. When we bought Robinetta it was covered in leatherette, which wore through quickly and needed replacing every season. Once we knew a bit more about the boat we splashed out on having it professionally covered with thick leather by Classic Marine. We then ignored it until last winter, apart from regular treatment with grease.

When we took the bowsprit off to revarnish it I saw that the wood was quite badly gouged where it went through the gammon iron, and a look at the leather showed that it had worn through on the edges. The leather needed replacing.

We tried asking round for a leather worker, but no one was interested in the job, so it was down to me to fix it.

Luckily our friend Brian from Sender II had some appropriate leather, which he cut to size and pierced holes in. Then it was down to me to fit it and sew it. It took a couple of tries to mould the leather round the metal and I will have to see how well the stitching lasts, but the gammon iron is now back in place in the bow, its leather well greased, and with the freshly varnished bowsprit ready for action.

We also bent on our new staysail. This feels very stiff and crackly. It is heavier gauge cloth than the old one, has a proper leach line, and even tell tails to show how the wind is flowing over it. I am looking forward to seeing how it sets. The new cover is also much smarter than my old home made one. I can only hope it lasts as long!

Launch Day

 Today was forecast to be much calmer than Monday when we had first booked our launch, although more wind was due in the evening.

Alison agreed with the yard that we would go in the water at 1 pm.

My Gaelic class finished at 10:30 and we got Worm on the roof of the car and went to the yard. Robinetta was already on the hoist but her cradle was still taking the weight so we couldn't antifoul the patches where the props were holding her. We went on board and rearranged the cover and did engine checks.

We took Worm down and left her on the slip.

The plan had been to put Robinetta onto one of the yard's moorings until ours was serviced but they serviced it this morning so we could go straight there. 

The chap from the yard lifted her on the hoist so Alison could complete the antifouling and then went to launch another boat.

Then it was our turn. Robinetta was moved to the slip and I got on board while Alison went out in Worm. Our friendly yard chap asked if Worm was named because a robin eat a worm. Hardly anyone makes that connection!

It was all going fine until I tried backing out of the hoist. We didn't move. There was no prop wash. 

I went down and looked at the gearbox. The control cable had sheared. At least we knew what the problem was. 

After some discussion, it was decided to launch and put her on the yard pontoon while they looked for a new cable. The chap got on board and manually worked the gears from the cabin. Having a wireless remote for the hoist is super useful!

Getting the cable replaced took hours. The throttle cable is easy. I've done it twice myself, once in Cardiff and once in Brittany. The gear cable is harder to change at both ends and in the most inaccessible place. The engineer was great. 

But it was gone 6 pm before we were on our way. The wind was getting up and the tide had mostly run out but was still ebbing. By the time we got near our buoy, we were being pushed south quite strongly.

Of course the pickup was streaming to the south of the buoy. There was very little room between Carraig an Ròin and the buoy. It got really shallow and I was glad Alison was up at the bow with the boat hook and couldn't see the depth gauge.

We picked it up fine. 

By the time we had the covers on the wind was blowing hard and there were 10-20 cm waves bouncing Worm around as we boarded.

Tying the last corner of the cover on Robinetta from Worm as she bounced around was really challenging.

Getting ashore was fine with wind and tide in our favour but low tide meant a long trip across the mussel bed and beach with Worm. I went up to the house and got the trolley and Eleanor came to help.

Robinetta is now safe on her mooring.