Finally out of the water

Our next attempt at getting Robinetta out of the water was booked for Saturday 23rd May. Weather looked okay, although with a force 5 gusting 6 slightly on the high side. Then that morning we got a call. It was actually gusting 7, much too high for a tow through a narrow channel BUT the weather on the next Monday was much calmer, with forecast wind speeds on 2-4 knots.

Now the yard does not normally work on a Monday, let alone a bank holiday one, but this was an exceptional year. Julian and I went along on the Monday, and with the aid of two inflatables Robinetta finally left her berth. Julian stayed aboard for the tow while I retrieved the ropes and brought them round to the dock.



Unfortunately I left my camera on Robinetta so have no pictures, but she made an amazing sight coming toward the dock, with one inflatable lashed alongside, and a second on a longer line behind to act as a brake. I was reminded of a liner with an entourage of tugs.

The weather this March, April, and May has been incredibly warm and dry for the time of year, and her starboard sides which were exposed to the sun have dried out a lot, with cracks along the plank lines. The port planking is in much better condition, and there is no sign of the open planking that caused the problems last summer. The garboards, that have caused problems in the past, are also water tight.

Most of the problems are cosmetic, and I shall ask Paul Drake to recaulk/restop the opened seams as appropriate. He has already removed the rudder to start the rebuild, which leaves the rudder fixings on Robinetta's stern exposed. Replacing/repairing these is also on this list....

Lockdown eased

With lockdown in England eased yesterday I decided that I should check on Robinetta. In the expectation that she would be coming out of the water I had partially removed her covers, and at the very least they should be put on more securely.

On first approach she looked fine, but her stern was well out. I did not have to look far to see why she was lying so strangely. The bow spring line was lying on the mud, while the stake it had been attached to had snapped. There was a lot of strain on the stern line. I had to get a "gangplank" so I could get aboard Robinetta from the staging to retrieve the bow line.

A chat with a live aboard neighbour revealed the problem must have happened during the last high tide as he goes past every day and had not noticed the broken stake before. Not long after I had retrieved the line one of the Salting's staff turned up with a new stake, and I was able to moor up properly again.

I checked the bilges and they were good and dry. The covers had been on well enough for the small amount of rain in the weeks since my last visit. I also greased some of the shackles.

We still plan to get her rudder fixed and get some sailing this season, so she needs to come out ASAP. The first high enough tide is not until the end of the month, and hopefully the yard will be back in full activity. Paul the yard manager has been furloughed, so there is no launching going on until next week at the earliest. I am conflicted about my decision to leave her in the mud berth during lockdown, since Paul Drake might have been able to get on with the work. It was the warmest April on record though, so I probably made the right choice.

And then there was Covid 19

With the UK government ordering every one to stay at home we have decided not to get Robinetta out of the water this spring tide. Why not? Because there is no way to know when she would be ready to go back in. Hopefully it will "all be over by Easter", but realistically it might be a lot longer than that before we can get the work done. The last thing I want is for her to be on the hard and drying out, with no way to put her back in, so for now she is staying in the mud....

Unluckiest Boat in the Saltings

Went to Robinetta today, hoping she would be coming out. Paul did manage to get the boat that came out yesterday and was blocking the slipway out of the way. Unfortunately in the process he discovered a couple of problems with his tractor and trailer that need major welding. This will happen tomorrow, but by the time the essential repairs are done the springs tides will be over.

It will be nearly a fortnight before he can try again.

The only good thing is that there are no other boats left to come out, so Robinetta has priority, but who knows what the weather will be doing then? The way things have been going there will be another gale!

Delays and more delays....

The winter is always a quiet time for us, but we generally have a maintenance schedule and post regularly.  This year is is the exception.

We decided we wanted Robinetta out of the water as soon as possible in October so we could get the rudder pintles sorted out, a new rudder built, and some caulking done. Here we are, middle of January, and she is still sitting on her mud berth. There are reasons for this, but it is still frustrating!

1) As we discovered over the summer Robinetta can only get out of this berth for at most six days a fortnight. Most of the time the yard only works for 4 of those days since they are closed on Sunday and Monday.

2) With no way of steering the work boat is needed along side to move her, so the tide needs to be really high for the channel to be wide enough. Down to 6 days in the month...
3) Tollesbury is so tidal that the yard is lucky to get 3 boats out on a tide. Our first scheduled haul out was in December (other people booked first).

4) The weather. High winds on the available haul out days in December meant is would be unsafe to move. Date changed to January.

5) Strong winds again, plus the yard manager is sick. Looks like the earliest we can hope for is first spring tides in February....

We don't know how long it will take to make the new rudder, and Paul Drake who will be making it can not give a cost estimate either until he has a good look at it (and the pintles it will hang on). Our sailing season might start late.

Rudder woes

When Alison visited on Monday she saw the rudder broken. We went today to fit a new float switch and bring the gaff home to make a new one for next year and took some pictures.

The rudder has completely sheared. It was last rebuilt shortly after we bought the boat. Everson's at Woodbridge build a new head-stock onto the existing rudder and it looks like the break is roughly at the join.

We believe the original rudder was damaged in a fire at Beaumaris during the Second World War. By 1946 it looked like this, and the shape is roughly the same as the drawings in the 1937 Yachting Monthly:

We don't know when the current rudder was fitted, but as it is GRP over a scrap wood core we think it must date to the 1960s. It is a very different shape but it worked really well.

So we now need to decide whether to go for another repair, a replacement more in keeping with the original, or something different.

Stuck on the berth

I went to Tollesbury on Wednesday to put things aboard Robinetta ready for the weekend. I had been told that the owner of her current berth was coming back soon, so I also needed to check out the new berths available. In the end I moved her round to a new berth that would be hers in the long run, with the only question being would we be able to get out at neaps?

This morning, at 6am we unfortunately discovered the answer to be no.With high pressure, and only 4.1m forecast for the tide we were stuck on the berth. We tried to move Robinetta for about half an hour around high water, and we could not get away, although we did carve ourselves a bit of a channel by aggressive use of the engine....

When I looked at this berth on Wednesday the bottom was completely smooth, but Robinetta has already carved herself a hole, with mud piled up in a cushion around her, and we could not push ourselves out of it.