Dean has been having some canvas work done, and on arrival we saw that the new sprayhood has been fitted. Wow, it's gorgeous! Just look at this beauty....
Now we can see where we're going
We can actually see through the windows now! We didn't realise how bad the old one was. It makes the companion way and bridge deck area seem huge.... we love it. The window in the top has been moved forward too so that we can fit an extra solar panel.
Next job was was attaching the new sunshade panels to the bimini. Don't think we'll have much use for them in the UK, but hopefully they'll come in useful when we go on our travels.
It goes on the outside Dean
Looking good, need some sunshine now
Then it was time for waterproofing the bimini cover....
Dean do you ever stop working??
Next on the agenda was to see whether the modified Parasailor collar would fit down the sail hatch, and we're very pleased to say that it did. So far so good, we just need to try it out for real to check it still works OK.
Three big sails live down here now
The smallest job of the day was trying the new ATN tacker for size, as we thought we may have ordered a size too big, but it seems fine. What's an ATN tacker then? Well apparantly it's a device that lets you use your symmetric spinnaker like an asymmetric spinnaker, when sailing on a beam reach or broad reaching without the need of pole. In other words, it keeps the tack (corner) of the sail on the centreline of the boat.
Final job for the day was fitting the new lazy bag, but unfortunately we had to abandon this as the wind picked up and was coming from the south so we couldn't get the main sail up safely. So we took a walk into town to visit Dean's favourite Chandlery instead. Oh well, it keeps him happy...
Sunday 5th February... Seems the BBC wind forecast was correct and the wind veered to the North this morning. This was good news for us as it meant we could safely raise the main sail, remove the existing lazy bag (this is the bag that the main sail sits in), and attach the new one.
Lazy bag in situ, now to attach the lazy lines
The job didn't go quite to plan, but after a couple of hiccups we had the new bag secured. It was all looking good until Dean tried to zip it up and found that it wasn't big enough to enclose all of the sail. More to follow on this.... However the new snood seems to fit fine. The snood is a cover which sits around the sail bag next to the mast. It stops UV rays from damaging the sail, and also keeps the birds from nesting.
Lazy bag looks good, but it won't zip up
Dean then added his new 'accents' to Thésée's name on the stern of the boat. Well it has to be right you know.
Le nom de Thésée est complet
After lunch it was back indoors and time for Dean to start work on fitting the new alternator, pulleys, and serpentine belt. The alternator will be more powerful and efficient than the existing one. He has to check whether it will all fit before he can move forward with this project. So far so good, and there will be more news on this next time. Incredibly, Linda is now an expert on Serpentine Belt sizes after an afternoon spent researching the internet. Thanks for that job Dean!
Can we just go sailing tomorrow?...... pleeeeez??
Monday 6th February... Freezing cold this morning, and the boat decks covered with ice. The canvas maker arrived at 7.30am to take a look at the ill fitting lazy bag. He's taken it away with him for amendment, so the old one is back on again.
Dean then turned his attention to Solar Panels. As always with Dean, the fitting has to be carried out to perfection. We now have two on the sprayhood, that brings the total solar panels to four.
A very neat job Dean, well done
Linda spent the morning spring cleaning and making an inventory of galley equipment. She also has made a designated bad weather food cupboard. When we go sailing further afield this cupboard will be stocked with quick and easy to prepare meals, snacks, and chocolate....lots of chocolate.
At 12 noon we almost jumped out of our skin when the 21 gun salute started in Portsmouth Harbour to mark the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee. What an honour to witness this event live from across the water. Linda reckons it was for her own birthday instead.... it's this week Dean....just a reminder.
The flags fly on HMS Warrior for the Queen's Sapphire Jubilee
No we didn't go sailing today 😞 .... we hugged the fan heater instead.
Roll on Summer! x
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