Real Progress!

The long-awaited spring weather has arrived at last, and real progress is being made. The mast is stepped and everything there seems to be working. After setting up and safety-pinning the rig, the boom went on and at the same time I renewed the lazyjack lines. The mainsail was bent on. Topsides, deck, coachroof and cockpit have been cleaned and polished, the sprayhood refitted and reproofed, and dodgers lashed in place. New jackstays are now rigged, and two hardpoints fitted , one on each side of the hatch on the cockpit bulkhead.

Inside, a thorough survey of "what's in which locker" revealed some interesting doubling up, and no fewer than three spare impellers!! I seem to collect the same kind of item repeatedly. A sign of old age? Like refitting the in-line water pump back to front? (The plus side is a clean bilge.) Just before Easter an extra ten metres of anchor chain was linked on, and the chain tastefully marked at five-metre intervals with coloured cable ties. To cope with weedy bottoms a mighty Fisherman anchor has been added to the armoury. So now we have a 25lb CQR, a Danforth kedge and the Fisherman. Forty metres of 3/8" chain leading to thirty metres of Anchorplait and a fifty-metre Ankralina should suffice. For the buoys we have one inch diameter mooring pennants for clipping on, useful reminders of years spent on swinging moorings in the Medway.