Bits of activity

 2025 has been a mixed year, no long trips but several short trips and some upgrades.

I won't show pictures but I have installed a holding tank in preparation for a possible trip to The Netherlands. This is a relatively simple installation but took quite a long time as I did it while the boat was afloat. Fitting a 40l tank and associated hoses on an Invicta 26 was interesting.

Almost finished, is the installation of an electric windlass. Again for coastal trips, I wanted to do this before age caught up with me and hopping around on deck / cockpit became too tricky. Photos will follow once I have completed the installation and tested things.

A couple of trips with club members have been great fun. Many members at our sailing club are in the process of doing their boats up so a trip out helps them remember why they are doing the work.

I have cleaned the hull off in anticipation of some winter sailing. 

Next job will be to re-commission the heating system, brrrr.

Brightlingsea Cruise

Club cruise to Brightlingsea, only three boats there, one didn't make it out of The Medway.

Early start, 4:30 AM from MCC moorings and made every gate. Sun rise over Grain was spectacular.

The wind was on the nose the whole way and died as we cleared Swin Spitway. Made it into Brightlingsea by 14:30PM and on to the pontoon. Engine on the whole time but worth it.

A good fun evening with the other skippers and crew. We were entertained with card tricks by one of the younger crew. 

Set off back the next day, Sunday 4th May, with the wind behind us. The wind was F3 N to F5 gusts and the new boom worked really well. Reefing was much easier and overall control was great. Gybing seemed more secure. Still need to sort out the preventer lines attachment point.

Just over 8 hours to get back to the HNYC moorings and almost no engine hours.

 

Lovely early morning sail

Left the HNYC moorings just before 6AM, I had moved Louisa to a swinging mooring the evening before. I only saw a couple of other boats on my way to Queenborough, they were heading up stream. I turned at Queenborough all tide landing at 9AM. The wind had been a very pleasant F3 WSW breeze. On the way back the wind increased to F4 with very occasional gusts. The only fly in the ointment was the 15 or so MYC boats, all looking grumpy, and sailing or motoring back to their moorings. I was back on my mooring by midday. Back in time to remove the boom and sort the boat out. After the frustrations of trying to rig a new topping lift, this was a very welcome break.

Heavy Weather Sails

 The mast track is finished and the weather was suitable to check the sails.

The fit is good, some small adjustments and fixed clew lines are required but overall I am very happy with them. I need to add an extra halyard for the trysail so that I can change main sails more quickly. The trysail has about half the sail area of the main with the third reef in and as the overall sail plan is lower and closer to the mast I am hoping that she will sail better and heave too as well as before.

Refit update

 I made it to Louisa and managed to make progress on the mini refit. Decks are painted.

and mast track for trysail is glued on but still needs to be riveted. This will have to wait until the boat is afloat as riveting from a ladder is too risky as it is a two handed activity.

There are only a few jobs to go; finish painting the cockpit, apply another coat of antifouling and check the engine over and then we are ready to launch.

2024 Plans

Barring anything significant changing, this year is going to be a very light sailing year, much like last year. Family stuff is the order of things and my fitness needs to improve before the next adventure. Hopefully I can get Louisa in good shape for 2025 and so I'll take my time rather than rushing jobs like painting the deck and fitting the trysail track.   

Getting ready for launching

A productive day, hampered only by my fitness. Bottom painting finished, deck fittings complete, deck paint progressed but I ran out of steam to finish the cutting in for the grey non-slip areas. Forepeak jet washed and dried ready for stowage. 

The new boot stripe is quite wide but should hide the weed growth. I also checked the mooring and cleared some old lines and brought home the ones worth keeping so that I can clean and repair them. I'll need to make up two new ones. I brought home the tiller for a refurb, the varnish was lifting in places. One more session and I should be ready to go back in.