The Zodiac

I bought a new outboard for the dinghy last year, so this year I've bought a new dinghy for the outboard.

And a launching trolley - which, I've discovered, floats on its wheels. Not a useful feature ...

The Zodiac is lovely. Probably too expensive, but having spent weeks poring over options I decided to go for gold.

Solar Panel

Here is the (more or less) final arrangement of the solar panel:

 

The struts (unequal lengths) allow for a variety of angles using both or a more extreme angle (using just the long one).

I will mostly leave it horizontal when moored, or stowed vertically when doing anything in close quarters. I'm thinking about one for the other side, but I need to save up.

Particularly since I've also bought a new Zodiac dinghy.

It has been an expensive year. Speaking of which: last weekend I hoisted the new mainsail. There are a couple of final adjustments needed - to the battens mainly.

Also, the deepest (third) reef must be higher (deeper) than the tird reef on the old mainsail, because the reefing line is now a few inches too short. I might get away with adding a strop to it. I also need to put a new cringle in the stackpack for it. But I think we're ready for a shakedown cruise.

This weekend ... Photos to follow.

 

Back on the mooring at last. Complete with the new solar panel, in the stowed position.

Antifouling, Solar Panel etc.

 

Things are moving along. I need one more coat of the black anti-fouling before launching.

The solar panel works. It pivots correctly, and charges, but I need to finish the system of adjustable struts that will allow it to be set at different angles - more details to follow.

Mind you, I think I have selective amnesia when I think 'I'll just run a cable ...'

The new mainsail is bent on, and the adjusted stack pack fitted. I've removed the horrible flappy bit that went round the mast. A new removable cover is going on tomorrow.

Essential Maintenance

This is a little bit hard to interpret. However, I thought it could be reasonably taken to include:

(1) The state of the engine.

(2) The state of the batteries.

(3) The state of the water tanks.

(4) A general check for deterioration or damage.

Some of these tasks meant I had time on my hands which I could use without putting myself or others at risk. (In fact, I had no close contact with anyone from leaving my own front door in the morning to returning to it in the evening).

So I've been able to clear a few things. The main water tank has been disinfected and flushed, the engine has been started and the oil and filter changed, the batteries have been left on charge (the yard has provided a power supply near the boat, which made this possible.)

And the weather was nice, which was a bonus.

Cockpit gratings ...

 I can't afford to replace these, so Raasay has a bit of a patchwork of repairs and new locker lids ...

2020 End of Season

Raasay sat for a few weeks before being lifted out, and any residual capacity of the anti-fouling to resist growth completely collapsed. The Findhorn estuary has a good freshwater supply, and I though the varying salinity might keep the barnacles at bay, but no:

It has scrubbed off pretty well, but my plan to do a more serious hull preparation before launching in 2021 was pretty much scuppered by the Covid lockdown. The boat has been out of reach for about three months.

I'm a bit worried about the batteries, which have probably discharged. I just hope they haven't frozen.

I invested in a new mainsail this year. I hope I get a chance to use it ...

Peterhead & 2020

Raasay was berthed in Peterhead over the winter of 2019-2020.

The marina is well-serviced and cheap, but has quite a serious fouling issue. My 'two season' dose of anti-fouling paint struggled, and sailing in 2020 required a few scrubs.And was a bit slower ...

I nearly thought there would be no sailing in 2020, of course, but I managed to go to Orkney & Fair Isle before the lockdown got serious in the summer. Two of my sons came with me for part of the trip.

The photos are a bit of a random selection:

Sailing 2020

Update - Sailing in 2019

 So.

2019 comprised a modest cruise down the East Coast with my 'harbour caravanning' partner following in the car. We visited Arbroath, Anstruther, St. Monans (briefly), Granton and Dunbar.

We started with the Portsoy show, which was missing The Reaper - which was having some major restoration work done. We arrived in Anstruther in time to see it returning to its home port.

Raasay, of course, struggles with tidal harbours:

There are a lot more pictures at the link below (including some from the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy):

Sailing 2019

Back in the water ...

Raasay is back in the water after her last (for a while) winter ashore. At least as presently planned.

Still some pre-season stuff to do - mainly an engine service.

I'm going to do a dinghy survey of the estuary bar this weekend, to check whether the channel has moved. Then we might go sailing ...

How not to pick up a mooring ...

I had 'Raasay' alongside the quay in Findhorn for a couple of days of 'harbour-caravanning', and took it back across to the mooring just before high tide today.

An hour before high tide, there is still a strong tidal current in 'D' section, and the wind from the SW was not quite against it, but crossing it steeply. I could see 'Astrea' on the next mooring along being pushed up tide by the wind, but still lying to the tide. Picking up the mooring on my own was going to take a couple of attempts.

I worked out a mode of approach after some trial and error, and was creeping across the tide, pointing down wind, and letting the boat drift towards the mooring. It's always tricky to time the jump from the helm to the boat hook and I left it about a second too long. By the time I got to the pickup bouy it was being dragged under the boat. 'First attempt...' I thought, and waited for it to come out the other side.

It didn't. It snagged on something under the boat and hung on tight.

The engine was running but I daren't engage the prop, so I just let things take their course to see how the boat would lie before I tried to figure out what had happened. I tried the tiller and found it almost impossible to move, so reckoned the bouy must be jammed in the rudder somehow. I confirmed this by taking a couple of pictures over the side (it's handy to have a waterproof camera ...), in which I could see the buoy stuck near the tip of the rudder - the rope was between the rudder and the base of the skeg (which holds the bottom rudder bearing).

I waited a little to see if it would just come unstuck, and wondered what to do. I didn't want to cut the rope, but it was beginning to seem unavoidable. I taped a knife to the boathook, and got to work.

It was very awkward - every time the knife slipped off the rope I had to start again, because the rope was so far under the water I couldn't see where I was cutting. I could feel the serrated blade making some kind of progress, though.

After five or ten minutes, the bouy suddenly popped out of where it had lodged itself and floated free - still attached to the pick up rope, which was now severely damaged by my attempts to cut through it.

Later, I thought more carefully about how the lower rudder bearing on the Rival worked, and realised that the only way the rope could get stuck was straight up between the bearing support and the bottom of the rudder. A gentle push down - as supplied by someone trying to cut the rope, for instance - was all it would have taken to free it.

I brought the boat round again, and almost by luck found myself approaching the pickup buoy at a hopeful angle. I motored gently towards it, grabbed the boat hook, and pulled in on board. I had just assessed the damage - two strands cut through and a serious start on the third - when I realised that I'd left the prop engaged, and the buoy was being dragged out of my hands.

I managed to lodge it around a shroud, dive into the cockpit to disengage the prop, and get back to it before the remaining strand snapped or it worked itself free.

The remainder of the process was, as usual, still a bit fraught. It's hard to get the mooring strop on board through Raasay's rather tight bow roller arrangement, so I have winch it. It was nice to get on with the normal difficulties, though, and get the boat secured.

I won't be so casual about letting the mooring go under the boat in future. And, if it does, and the pickup buoy gets stuck in the rudder, I won't go straight for the most desperate option ...

Now the tide has turned, the boat is lying quietly to the dropping wind and the ebb. Maybe time for a cup of tea.