The last week has been a little slow in regards to the boat. Last Saturday, I took all the little bits and pieces I've bought lately and headed for the marina. Once there I decided that the best idea was to give Godspeed a good washing because the oak pollen was starting to cover her completely. I learned a very important lesson! The water pressure at the marina stinks. It started out slow and decreased to a dribble. I finally was leaving the hose in a bucket and doing other things until I had enough water to wash down another section. Hey but she's clean now (or was) and I have an excuse to purchase a wash-down pump.
After that, sailing to one of the "sometime" islands and having lunch seemed like a great idea.
OK, picture this! The anchor is on the bottom and it's time to go. The wind is blowing at about 20 kts, with gusts hitting 30 kts. Since I don't have a remote controlled autopilot, I decide to go up on the foredeck and drag the boat up to the anchor by hand.. Let see, 11,950 lbs boat with winds up to 30 kts, by hand.. Yeah, Right. After about an hour and only 10 ft out of 150 ft brought onboard, I decided to rethink my plan. I started the engine and let her idle in forward. She would make a little headway and slowly veer to one side or the other. Each time she snubbed up against the anchor, she'd pull to the other direction and I'd bring up a little more line. With about 30 ft left I felt the anchor break free and pulled it on deck along with a large chunk of tree. Ah the joys of lake sailing.. I was asked why I didn't have enough sense to bring the anchor line back to the cockpit so I could actually control the boat while pulling in the rode. Ahhhh, experience is a wonderful thing.
Yesterday I received my deck boots, so my foul weather gear is almost complete. My RYA sailing class is scheduled for Gosport England during Thanksgiving. I think the last item better be winter sailing gloves. Several friends have told me I'm out of my mind for going sailing in Southern England during November, but I'm really looking forward to it. Let the rest have warm skies and blue seas, I'll take cold wet and rainy.
The picture is from one of the only sunny days we had during a trip to Ireland last November. Naturally, I headed for the marina as soon as we got close to the ocean. This would be a great place to visit during a cruise of Ireland and the U.K..
Cheers.
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With the weather starting to heat up, I was hoping to take the boat out and anchor out in the lake. That way I'd at least have a nice breeze (or wind) and it's a little cooler while I work on the boat. Since I'm a little anal retentive (I mean safety conscious), I figured I really needed to have a working anchor light. The deck light was out also, so I could fix two birds with one stone, right. One small problem is I'm kind of a big guy and there is also the small issue of being scared to death of heights. Fortunately, my boat neighbor Steve volunteered to go up the mast for me. I sent him up with replacement bulbs that I had found from the PO. Big mistake. With Steve dangling 45 feet in the air we discovered that nothing fit. We then tried all the replacement bulbs that Steve had on his boat. Nope. Then we tried all the bulbs that Paul (the marina manager) had on his boat. Naturally, nothing fit. Grandma always said it was better to be lucky then smart, sometimes I'm not either. We did manage to run the second jib halyard.
So much to do and so little money..
The new fixtures and bulbs are now on order!
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Since my woodworking tools are all still in storage in SoCal, I decided to ask my cousin Phil (the one who taught me to sail) for a little help with a new salon table. The old one drops down to make a bed, but I always sleep in the aft cabin. Besides, it was just not easy to squeeze around the old table. This one is 24x36 inches and is about the perfect size. I had asked for something simple, but suddenly Phil is ordering teak plywood and compass inlays. The damn teak moulding is expensive... I have to say that it came out great and really adds to the look of the boat. There is nothing more satisfying that to suddenly realize that the sailboat you own has suddenly become "your" boat.
Everyone I know who sails in Texas keeps telling me I need to add A/C for the summers, but it sure seems wrong to add such a power hog to a sailboat. I guess I will find out in a few months. Until then there are lots of other things to buy!
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S/V Godspeed before her move to Lake Travis Texas.
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