Moving Toodle-oo!'s blog over to www.toodleoo.com if you want to follow... Click the link on the right...

Beautiful day today. Light air, but flat seas – perfect day to get out on the water and raise the Spinnaker and Code Zero to check the winter repairs are good and to pack the spinnaker and furl the Zero… Also a great day to calibrate the electronics – get the plotter and compass working together properly – plus there was a list of other stuff that all needed to be done…

We started with the sails…

First, hoisted the asymmetrical spinnaker in it’s sleeve. Launched with no problems and doused again. It’s going to be a good day.

Next the Code Zero… New fastpin fitting at the furler works great – no more leaning over the pushpit with two wrenches assembling a bolt through the damn thing… Now let’s hoist the head…

The sail was returned to us from the loft folded - not furled, and the object here was to raise it, furl it and put it away. Hand over hand, the halyard pulls the head towards the top of the mast – and then we get a gust. No way can I hold the halyard against the pressure of the open sail and it flies through my hands… so I grip harder and it flies painfully though my hands - until half the sail is floating in the water! I finally grip it hard enough that I gain control… Only now do I decide it’s time to wrap it around the winch… and finally we get the thing up…

Painful is an understatement – I have major rope burns on my fingers for my stupidity which blistered into nasty looking things and remained so painful for the next couple of hours that all other projects went by the wayside.

Great way to start an epic trip with blisters all over the place…

Got a lot done today!

I used to tinker with car engines quite a lot. Whenever I did, I always ended up with a few extra bits - quite handy for populating one's spares bin. Well, when I serviced the winches this winter, I ended up with a couple of spares... So I took both the main winches apart today and found where the miscreant components belonged - no worries!

Changed the transmission oil. Oops - that's a first!

Created a fender board - custom fitted to the workshop so it'll stay in storage all by itself until needed.

Organized the garage area.

Meanwhile Laurie had the unenviable job of cleaning out the bilge. Quite amusing really since her arms are barely long enough to reach the bottom of it!

And it's the weekend!

If you're reading this, then perhaps you have an interest (or perhaps you fumbled your keyboard) - so if you're in the area, please stop by for drinks aboard Toodle-oo! on Saturday May 18th any time after 3:00pm. Look forward to seeing you!

Pirate Cove Marina, 109 Point Rd Portsmouth, RI 02871

What's nice about being on the boat and not going in to work is that I can take a snap at nature. This not so little Snowy Egret was fishing on the breakwater this morning...

Well, that picture might look like much - but that's a new head in that head - and behind that door are all new hoses! Stinky job but someone has to do it!

With any luck the heady atmosphere we've grown accustomed to can be a thing of the past... I even went to the extreme in buying "really good" head hose - for a cool $18 per foot!!! Ouch!