Better times....

 After the disastrous start to the season and my new sailing area it was a relief to have Daislebee safe on the mooring 

It was only then that I realised just how useful the Ashlett pontoon was. I quickly ended up in a routine that had me putting all keys and phones etc into a rucksack so they wouldn't be left on board. It isn't a long motor with the outboard back to the slip, but once you've pulled the dinghy up , taken the engine off, flushed it out and put it back in the engine store, it is more than mildly annoying to realise you have left the car keys on the boat.......

The plus side of the new mooring is that fact that day trips are perfectly tenable. The Ashlett tidal range meant you had three or four hours sailing or had to stay out for the whole tide to ebb and flood before you could reach the slip way. Now I can get to and from the boat a couple of hours either side of low water springs. On neaps she almost stay afloat.

With this advantage I took to sailing the coast to Teignmouth, which, although challenging as you face the inevitable ebb, can be done on calmer days, especially with knowledge gained as a youngster sailing in and out with my grandfather many years ago.

2023 season start ...just about

 It seems, in common with many clubs, organisations and organised activities we are still suffering from post pandemic malaise. That and the very variable weather we are getting.

My first season at Starcross had its moments. Daislebee was all prepared for the season and I took her down to Exmouth to launch on the beach at low tide, wait for the water and then motor up to my new mooring at Starcross YC.

I drove her onto the beach and rigged her. All good so far......

Then came the realization that I shouldn't have used the break back function of the trailer. I couldn't winch the boat back off the trailer as the keel was in the sand, and the trailer wouldn't come forward as the rear roller and spine were also in the sand, even with a 4 x4 I was ploughing Exmouth beach.....

Then the electric winch, which has a massive pull on it sheered one of the fixings holding the winch post onto the trailer..so I couldn't even recover the boat onto the trailer and start again....

So  I retreated to the car park, blew up the dinghy and went back to the boat to wait the tide to float me off.

I buoyed the trailer so no one would run over it and as it disappeared beneath the waves I set off for my mooring . not a great start.

New beginnings

 Looking back at the blog it has been very much neglected since the canoe project and alot has changed since then.

The canoe was successfully launched at the Ashlett Regatta in 2021 but never having been a canoist I'm afraid it wasn't for me. It was an old style design and great for moving fast through the water. Turning round, getting, in, getting out - not for me - like balancing on a razor blade.

So the canoe was quickly donated to Hannah Harwood who is a trained kayaker.

Moving on I have moved house, to Devon and Daislebee will be coming with me from her current home at Ashlett to a new mooring on the Exe estuary at Star Cross Yacht Club - perhap I should re name the blog ?

I am planning on re doing the copper coat antifoul next week so should have some picture of that project and then it is home to the new house for a winter of maintenace so I am ready for the new season.

I don't know about you but this year has been spent in catch up for all those things, holidays, theater trips, concerts etc tat were delayed over the past 2 years - together with moving house, it left little time for sailing - in fact my worst season by far - 5 days afloat - shocking.

Still that will be put right next year with new places to visit and explore so til then - -----

Day Seven - end of project

First job of the day was to epoxy the entire hull. This I did using a spreader and smoothing off with a foam brush - it seemed to work quite well and I made some drip barriers with masking tape to stop runs down the sides.

In hindsight I'd have been a bit braver with the amount of epoxy - it was ok but I could have flooded the surface more - I was conscious of the amount of resin I had remaining so was possible over cautious.

I used the remaining epoxy on the decks and as this was the last bit made sure I used it all up which gave a better finish - but there was still the varnish to come.

With the current pandemic I was unable to get traditional varnish at the moment so I used a water based outdoor varnish to give a protective coat to the epoxied hull.

It is very thin ans whilst it probably does the job I will be over coating the hull with some 'proper' varnish as soon as I can get some.

But seat fitted - footrest in place - job done - waiting on some fittings for attaching the painter but ready for her sea trails as soon as lock down permits.

Day Six

Started by sanding the whole hull ready for taping the joints.

I then covered all the joints with glass fibre tape and epoxy.

This involved nearly 25 metres of tape...just putting my back into shape with a cold beer.

Tomorrow - sand the hull to smooth out and epoxy runs and take the edge off the tape and then an overall epoxy coat. - and leave to dry

Day Five - well six really

Took a day off yesterday to do something else that needed doing so Day Five in build terms,

The decks went on last thing on Day Fur but I forgot to take a picture of them

They were bonded and nailed to the inwhales and left to cure.

Today I trimmed the overhang and sanded the deck joints fairly smooth - the whole boat will need a big sand before the next stage

I then fitted the coaming around the edge of the seating position this was a pre formed double section that needed to be encouraged into place and secured with screws into the deck beams

Over the top edge of this I fitted the lip that would take a skirt if I needed it to - again two parts of pre formed trim screwed into place with some clams to help it take up its shape.

The whole thing was then coated with clear epoxy which when tacky had a a fillet of thickened epoxy  pushed into the joints. I will leave this over night to cure fully.

Tomorrow's jobs will be sanding and shaping the coaming followed by a full sanding of the boat, before I glass the external joints and give the whole hull a good coating of clear epoxy prior to several coats of varnish.

Day Three - Kayak Project

Mixture of sunshine, showers and strong winds today - at one point I was holding the tent down as it was in danger of taking off.....

After cable tying the panels yesterday I employed another trick learnt from YouTube.

Mitre Joint glue

I used it to tack the panels together so I could remove many of the cable ties to make filleting the joints easier - it worked a treat.

Next in with the fore and aft deck beams.

Deck beams roughly in place

She is starting to look like a kayak now.

I removed a few more of the cable ties and tidied up the bow and stern panels using the mitre glue and some clamps before mixing up some epoxy to coat the inside of the lower hull.

Some thickened epoxy followed which I ran into the joints of the panels to give an initial fillet.

I will leave this over night and tomorrow I will remove all the cable ties and run a thicker fillet of epoxy along the seams as well as some glass tape to bond the underside of the deck beams.

Progress is good.

 

Kayak progress

Rain and other jobs caused a bit of a halt but since last time I have nailed and glued the inwhales tp the side boards. They add stiffness to the side boards as well as forming a shelf onto which the top deck is secured

Once the epoxy has dried overnight I cut off the ends flush with the boards.

The next job was to join the two bottom panels, which required holes to be drilled along the edges and I then used cable ties to link them together.

The side boards required connecting in the same way which required some tape and lashing to hold things together temporarily.

Temporary lashing

Side and bottom panels connected

Hull taking shape

With the addition of a temporary T piece in the centre of the flooring and with the cable ties adjusted the hulls has begun to take shape.

You can see in this photo an enlargement showing a tip I picked up from YouTube - using small sections of old pipe to maintain the shape of the hull.

Taking shape - using pipe spacers

Rain stopped play, even under my awning to everything was left covered over. The next job will be to see in that mitre glue and spray will tack the wood together so I can fillet the epoxy along the joints in one go - or will I have to epoxy in dabs before cutting the cable ties and filling in between them.

I have been told that I can't call this Project Noah and the kayak is obviously female to so
welcome to Project Nora.....

Well it's been awhile.....

For some reason I lost the impetus to blog last year and there is a whole years adventures to catch up on.
Perhaps in the current lock down I will get round to it. - It was easier to keep up to date when I carried the laptop on board and could post entries during down time .. well got some down time now.

Project Noah.

What I will be doing is recording the progress of Project Noah which will, hopefully, record the building of a  4.5m kayak whilst we are unable to go sailing.

The back story is quite amusing - my wife runs a gardening business and about 12 years ago, one of hers customers offered he a plywood kayak kit. He had bought it 30 plus years ago with the intention of building it with his son. It , like many projects, never happened and in lay in his garage gathering dust.

Thinking my elder son would like to take it on she brought in home. Elder son was always going to get round to it but.... and so it sat in our garage for 12 years or so.

A lock down tidy up brought it into the open and all the piece's were accounted for, save the glue which was a solid mass in its tin after all these years.

And so Project Noah was born.

Amazon and E bay provided a source of Wests Epoxy, mixing pots and all the necessary bits and bobs and so I started ..yesterday (Saturday 25th April)

First the workshop - at 4.5m the garage which is in everyday use is not an option

The office has a son working from home installed in it, together with a drum kits and other paraphernalia, so out came the very rarely used marque/gazebo that last saw action at Drascamp in 2016.

Once the 'double glazing' was installed I was ready to go.

I laid out the kit - and set up an epoxy work station to try and keep things tidy....well to start with anyway.

Sunday 26th April

Time ran out yesterday so today saw the first joints started - combining the four panels that may up the lower half of the hull into their respective 4.5m lengths. - I sanded the edges and put a slight chamfer on the edges to be bonded.

I also prepared and bonded the runners that give strength to the inwhales joint with the upper deck, using a thickened epoxy mix once the initial wetting coat of normal epoxy had gone tacky. - Clamps secured the joints and all I can do is wait for it to go off.

Hopefully later today I can carefully turn the panels over and bond the other side - giving a good joint so i can move on to the other panels that need to be joined before stitch and glue comes into operation to put it all together.

The 2019 season

Where has it gone......

I promised myself to take a small laptop  or tablet with me on the boat and add to the blog as the season progressed.

Sure I took the kit but there never seemed the right time...or my self discipline is poor (which is probably the more likely reason).

Whatever it is the season has almost passed - and it has been good - so good and busy that I have decided that I will update the blog during the winter months and save the summer for sailing, after all it is nice to look back and re live the high points and adventures at leisure.

So..for those of you that do visit here from time to time, I will be writing up accounts of trips to France, a big rally in Weymouth, and a few more local cruises in the Solent is due course.

Until then...well, October has some nice days and we plan to get out for at least a few of them before it is time to hide away for winter.

See you soon.

Review of 2018 season

What a summer....some great sailing, some great company, some excitement, some sadness ...lots to remember

I managed over 45 nights on board this year - not all on Daislebee but on a boat nonetheless..

Looking at my checklist I am please that I accomplished most of it.

•  the fitting of a double battery solar panel management system to replace the single and very successful system I installed two or three years ago. 

        -  DONE and working well

• fitting an extendable bowsprit using a carbon fibre rod to pole out a cruising shute.

       - DONE - modified and improved.

• replacing my Garmin 451 that has become unreliable, with a Raymarine Dragonfly 5m plotter

      - DONE but not too impressed with the budget Dragonfly chartplotter that I bought - does the job           but no more - lacks some important features

• polishing the hull

      -  DONE...but needs looking at - last a few weeks and then back to chalky white

• filling and fairing a few of the knock to the keel that have taken place over the years

      - DONE but need to complete with coppercoat

• installing some new wooden storage boxes to replace the plastic ones that were just a little too big

      - DONE - bought from IKEA and very successful

• and of course a general tidy up - always overdue.......

       - ON GOING

Sadness - the passing of Stewart Brown - much missed.

Excitment - first rounding of the Isle of Wight - nearly getting run down by a Chinnok helicopter.

All in all a bumper year....2019 beckons with interest.

Drascombe Poole dinner- 2nd / 4th November 2018

Our custom is to have a beginning of season and end of season dinner, and for many years they have both been at Chichester Yacht Club.

More recently in response to feedback form people based in the western end of the Solent the end of season dinner has moved to a suitable location in their direction. Last year it was held in Lymington.

This year Brad took on the organisation and arranged a great weekend.

Most arrived on the Friday and spent the afternoon looking around Poole. After evening drinks we met up at the Lakeside Fish & Chip restaurant at Lifeboat Quay and enjoyed an excellent fish supper.

Saturday

Following breakfast, taken at Wetherspoons for most, we met at the Life Boat Station at the Town Quay and had a tour of their station building as well as the recently installed floating pontoon form which they launch their two local boats a 5m D class inflatable crewed by two or three staff and a B class Atlantic with a crew of 4.

Their passion and dedication were very impressive.

The floating  RNLI launch station

Crew room

D class boat

B class

B class

B Class

 Following lunch we all congregated at the RNLI HQ

 Brad had arranged a tour of their facilities and we were split into two groups.

In turn we visited their training pool in which they can re create the worst conditions imaginable with wind and waves, darkness and noise - in which to practice their drills. It was very impressive.

 If that wasn't impressive enough we were then taken to their simulator, which replicates a large off shore lifeboat and allows crews to practice search patterns, navigation and other drills in any weather and a large number of different locations.

Dave Q on the helm in the simulator - just missing the old tanker which is on fire !!

 We then had a tour of the maintenance facility where boats are re furbished and also built from scratch. This was also very impressive - spotless and very efficient.

The staff were very keen and enthusiastic about their work and were a credit to the RNLI as representatives of the organisation.

The evening was also spent at the RNLI centre - using one of their rooms for a dinner.

A number of presentations were made one of which I was please about ..the other not so...

Sharon gave me a lovely stained class model of Daislebee which was lovely.

The other was a blown up picture of my plight when hung up on my lines at Bosham a few weeks earlier. As a result of that misdemeanour I was awarded the TAWT trophy which was doublee embarrassing, having invented the award in the first place !!!

Apart from that the weekend was a huge success and a big thank you to Brad for pulling it together