After a busy week with the grandchildren, time to turn the attention to that other member of the family, the boat! She came out of the water on Wednesday last week, and I spent Thursday washing and polishing her. Friday was busy also as I did most of the antifouling, including the propeller. Time ran out, however, as did energy, so I left the rest of the work until Saturday morning, when mercifully it was sunny.

I took Sunday off, but on Monday morning in strong winds and threatening rain I managed to remove the old hull anode and replace it with a brand new one which I've been carrying in a locker for a couple of years. Fact is, Little Else doesn't cause the zinc anode much corrosion in a year, so it has actually lasted for ages!

The big job was installing the new Raymarine Speed log, to replace the old one which doesn't work any more. FInding a solution for where to put it and how to mount it took most of the day. I found out that the bracket Raymarine sell for it costs around £45 so I opted for the cheaper but more labour-intensive option to make a mount out of plywood myself. That took most of the day, but it looks good and will serve the purpose well. I intend to mount it beside the VHF on an overhead mount.

I wired it up latterly to the autopilot, and tested the log. It lighted, it played, and with me birling the impeller with my finger it showed a positive knots reading. Awesome! All I need now is for the yard to install the impeller in the thru-hull fitting, and we'll be sorted!

I can;t wait to get her sailing again. This is going to be a good season, I just feel it!