Bonfire Weekend

Sunday 5^th November…  Wow, it’s chilly down here on Bonfire Day. Our first proper winter berth visit to Royal Clarence and we both commented how nice it was to walk straight onto Thesee without having to dinghy out. It was right on high tide when we arrived….spring tide a whopping 5.1m above datum. Linda immediately noticed HMS Queen Elizabeth was missing! Hard not to notice really….

Before we were even unpacked Dean had fitted two new shiny hoses to the shower heads. They look great. So much nicer than the rusty old things which are impossible to keep clean.Then he started on his socket fixing for the passarelle which he’s been making. The passarelle is like a gangplank which we will need for getting ashore in the Med (when we get there). Apparently in some places you need to berth against high walls, and a passarelle is the only way of exiting your boat. Meanwhile, Linda and Saffy were indoors looking after the fan heater!

You're such a lovely shiny shower hose

The passarelle..... Dean's latest creation

We took an afternoon stroll along to the bridge with Saffy and then settled in for the rest of the day, two fan heaters on now to try and bring the temperature up above 14 degrees….brrrrr

Monday 6^th November…  What a difference a day makes. Today we received beautiful sunshine all day long. I’m not saying it was warm but it was much more pleasant. Only one fan heater required today. 

After breakfast Linda took Saffy for an extended walk, whilst Dean played around trying to get the new anchor swivel to launch and retrieve properly. Since installing the swivel on our last but one visit it seemed to cause more problems than it had fixed. However, after a good deal of ‘joint troubleshooting’ we had to all intent and purpose overcome the issues. Linda coming up with genius idea of the day (hard to explain but will show a photo), and Dean fitting his new bracket which will hold a drop nose pin, in order to secure the anchor in its position when on board allowing for less stress on the windlass. In the past we have used a retaining clip and wire, which worked well but we wanted to fit something more sturdy for peace of mind.

The anchor in mid-swivel mode 

On launch, the new swivel was getting stuck on the white nylon domed strip.

Problem now rectified by sawing off 7.5cm precicely from the base of it.

This afternoon the three of us took a walk into Gosport for a Chandlery visit of course. Then after dinner our friends from Amy Clair, a neighbouring boat, joined us for drinks and a catch up with tales to tell of this summer’s expeditions and exploits, and next year’s dreams too of course. It looks like we may both be heading in the same direction towards warmer clear blue waters and sunny skies. Can’t wait 😎 

Back soon Thesee xxx