With no late morning start, nor extra naps, first order was some tidying up, then a quick look at the list to prioritize the chores ahead. That seemed like work enough and we soon found ourselves taking a nap. It was NOT supposed to be like this. Eventually we surfaced for dinner, and got distracted by email and blogs, but the boat at least looked tidy and livable; we even put clean sheets on the bed. We were determined to do better the following day.
The solstice (here at 51.5 degrees North) makes for a very long day indeed; the sun came up at 5:20am and set at 9:58pm, and the twilight is so prolonged it never actually gets fully dark – even at midnight there is a thin line of blue to the North. This combined with clear blue skies made our time off so pleasurable. The weather has calmed down too… With our messed up (and excessive) sleep, and with the long days, we never seem to know exactly what time it is.
The following morning, we got up bright and early (oh, around 9:30am), and immediately started into our chores. For the most part, this meant tearing the boat apart and undoing all the tidying we’d done the previous day in order to access all the things on our list. We pulled everything out of the starboard berth to access the buoyancy tank and the Espar heater. We pumped water, fixed a loose connection, and aired the room. Kyle then went up the mast to check over things there: replaced the masthead light bulb and inspected the sheaves (main halyard sheave looks fine but no longer works under compression – to replace that we’ll have to remove the mast cap, so we’ll make do for the rest of the year). I re-affixed the enclosure track and some of the missing snap fittings that had pulled from the fiberglass. Kyle then attempted replacement of the centerboard control ropes. I think he did well to complete one today, the other will now be much quicker. This rope replacement is one of those horrible and frustrating boat jobs that requires cramming an arm into a space designed to shred an arm and then doing detail work with the tips of your longest fingers. A frustrating job, but the centerboard lift and lower mechanism is eventually working again. Kyle will leave me to put the rest of it together as he fixes the other side of the boat tomorrow.
The boat is still a mess, but we need it that way for tomorrow, and since it is almost dark we know it must be very late, so we are off to bed before picking up on a few more chores in the morning. I think we will do the remainder of the chores as we move around Ireland so it won’t seem as if we are ONLY doing chores. All the critical things have been done (or we need expert help for, and have to wait for an area with better services).
The solstice (here at 51.5 degrees North) makes for a very long day indeed; the sun came up at 5:20am and set at 9:58pm, and the twilight is so prolonged it never actually gets fully dark – even at midnight there is a thin line of blue to the North. This combined with clear blue skies made our time off so pleasurable. The weather has calmed down too… With our messed up (and excessive) sleep, and with the long days, we never seem to know exactly what time it is.
The following morning, we got up bright and early (oh, around 9:30am), and immediately started into our chores. For the most part, this meant tearing the boat apart and undoing all the tidying we’d done the previous day in order to access all the things on our list. We pulled everything out of the starboard berth to access the buoyancy tank and the Espar heater. We pumped water, fixed a loose connection, and aired the room. Kyle then went up the mast to check over things there: replaced the masthead light bulb and inspected the sheaves (main halyard sheave looks fine but no longer works under compression – to replace that we’ll have to remove the mast cap, so we’ll make do for the rest of the year). I re-affixed the enclosure track and some of the missing snap fittings that had pulled from the fiberglass. Kyle then attempted replacement of the centerboard control ropes. I think he did well to complete one today, the other will now be much quicker. This rope replacement is one of those horrible and frustrating boat jobs that requires cramming an arm into a space designed to shred an arm and then doing detail work with the tips of your longest fingers. A frustrating job, but the centerboard lift and lower mechanism is eventually working again. Kyle will leave me to put the rest of it together as he fixes the other side of the boat tomorrow.
The boat is still a mess, but we need it that way for tomorrow, and since it is almost dark we know it must be very late, so we are off to bed before picking up on a few more chores in the morning. I think we will do the remainder of the chores as we move around Ireland so it won’t seem as if we are ONLY doing chores. All the critical things have been done (or we need expert help for, and have to wait for an area with better services).
1 comment:
Enjoyed your "Passage Review". Never has a voyage been so meticulously planned and executed.
Nasa could learn from you two. You are both excellent writers and I impatiently await your book.
Bob
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