In the boatyard

In the boatyard, a set on Flickr.

Laid up.

I visited the boat on its mooring on the weekend of 2nd-3rd November. Strong winds were forecast, but 25 knots or so - which seemed fine. In fact they were somewhat worse, and from midnight to 6am I had very bad wind over tide conditions which made sleep impossible.

The motion also did more damage to the mooring rope than had been done in the whole season since June ...

I lost the canoe which I'd used to paddle over - if anyone in the Moray Firth area finds a 17 foot red touring canoe with a leeboard and some distinctive repairs (!) please drop me a line.

I reported the lost canoe to the Coastguard on the Sunday morning in case its discovery triggered a search. A few hours later they told me the rescue helicopter had been on exercise over Burghead bay and had found it. They put it ashore and tied it to a tree stump on the beach, but by the time I got it checked out on the Monday, it was gone.

I'll be protecting and doubling up the mooring next year.

Definitely time to lift out, though ...

The loss of the canoe was a blow - it wasn't insured, and I'll miss it.

Short Cruise with Edan and Ross, October 2013

Short Cruise with Edan and Ross, October 2013, a set on Flickr.

This was the last outing before lifting the boat out. I was planning to test the Aries, but having transported it to the boat and fitted it, I discovered that I'd left the detachable servo paddle at home, about 80 miles away ...

So that will wait for next season.

Aries Repair

Aries Repair, a set on Flickr.

I replaced the Delrin bearings on the servo paddle shaft. The most scary part of this job is removing the pin that the shaft hangs from.

The 'rebuilding tips' page from the Aries vane gear contains the following instructions:

"Lay the Vane Gear down flat on a concrete surface; place hard blocks close to either side of No 59. Find the largest sledgehammer you can find and with an appropriate 'drift' give No 59 the hardest blow you can manage. Avoid light taps as this swags out the end of the shaft."

Stirring stuff.

It took me a day or two to prepare myself psychologically. But it did work.

I used a 16lb hammer.