And they're off!
08 May 2013
It’s been a hectic few days…
Saturday: I arrived back from Brazil, my last working week with Checon until November, at midday on Saturday having travelled up from Manaus, Brazil in the middle of the jungle (at the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Amazon) in one of American Airlines smallest seats. Plan was to move out of the house we’ve been ‘looking after’ and move to the boat – but as I’m driving home, Laurie texts me that we’re moved – meet at the boat! Yeehaw!
We actually met on the road as she was driving the last of the household items down to the marina – so at least I got to do a little of the grunt work… We then settled down to organizing it all.
Sunday: Day one of the trip started off with me up the mast installing the last two halyards. The messenger for the main was stuck somewhere – but from my 65ft vantage I was able to free it up – and a new main halyard is installed. I then dropped a spinnaker halyard down the mast – and was amazed that I was able to fish it out at the bottom end without much difficulty. We’re good to go!
And go we did – all of 10.5 miles from New England Boat works on one side of Portsmouth to Pirate Cove on the other side of the island. We managed to sail most of the way in light air, but with little help from the main, which I was unable to cinch down due to the new bimini being too high. In spite of our care not to lower the boom, we in fact managed to do just that, running the boom right across the front of the bimini… rats! Need a sacrificial piece of cloth on that bit – you just know it’s going to happen frequently.
Peter and Diane we there to tend lines for us as we docked for the first time of the year with surprisingly little comedy!
We’ll be here now for three weeks – but plan to take day sails as and when the opportunity arises – both for pleasure and to sort out the various systems that cannot be worked out while tied to a dock.
It’s all beginning to feel very real!