The cockpit of Lookfar - not a very tidy sight.

 Chaos as I try to cut up an old jacket to make a new cover for the outboard engine. The one I had blew away in the recent high wind. I also tried to do a cover for the tiller from the smaller bits.  I mostly lazed about in the sun and drank coffee and read the paper. But I prepared myself for doing fittings.

Deben Yacht Club from Lookfar

We took Lookfar out on the river on Saturday - at high tide - so no dramas - just a nice day. A different view of DYC and the river banks.

Lookfar was launched yesterday - drove her round to the pontoon. The sun even peeped out for a short while. I have done the mooring lines and prepared her for a trip out on the river tomorrow - when I hope to get a meaningful picture to prove we are back in business. Feeling less fatigued as the effects of the chemotherapy fade.

Deck of Lookfar. The black lines are where I have decided to put new lines. The picture was taken at launch in 2011..

Lookfar is now next to the workshop in the marina, ready to be cleaned and have the anti-fouling done.  I was much cheered to see her there this morning, which has inspired me to figure out how to lead some of the lines back to the cockpit. The black lines show where the halliards will go from the bottom of the mast.

It was a bit tricky for two reasons. One is that I have some deck gear that I thought I might use but have not seen a way to fit it as it came from a much larger boat. The other is that there are some high points on the deck. But I have found some nice new gear (££££ obviously) which will fit easily. The cleats are represented by circles in the picture.

This means that I will be able to let the main sail down quickly as I approach moorings or the marina. All very encouraging.

Iris May - August 2006 in Alnmouth. Bring back yesterday - -

Iris May -my old (and favourite boat) is advertised on Apollo Duck.
 http://www.apolloduck.com/display.phtml?aid=225342

If I had the energy and the money - it would speak to me again - - - - .

Laser 166650 for sale (1999) - XD controls,  new spars and radial sail.

This is not really an advert as such - unless you want to buy it of course. It is on Appollo Duck  at http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=243885
This sounds energetic but actually I have been hit again by fatigue. The pattern seems to be a few days clear of it after the chemo then the killer chemicals then do their thing and fatigue sets in for a week or so. The good news here is that it is not as bad as it was and I am able to go out for lunch - and to put the advert for the boat on the sailing club notice board. I am also doing some epic sleeping. However - I feel shakey and a little sorry for myself.

Not helped by horrible weather - no sun and a biting northerly wind - and heavy rain forecast. I felt for all the boats coming up the river yesterday for a few days of holiday over Easter. They all retreated on the high tide today.

Lookfar - the mast and slot for the sail. And the edge of the marina across to yet another boatyard.

Wednesday: I had enough energy, after sausage and chips at lunchtime, to put in hand another change to the boat. This should make sail handling a lot easier. The idea is to install modern sliders to replace the bolt of rope that holds the sail in the track. The rope makes it hard to get up and harder to drop in a hurry. So I got some tracks from the sailmaker and figured out which to use. I then folded the sail and carried it to the sail loft (just down the road) - so the work is now in hand. The main snag appears to be that there is not (yet) a suitable fitting in the small  section of the mast where the sliders are fed in. Another task is to find one - hopefully without going to the chandler's (where I always spend more money than intended, even if I have a list!). So today I walked to the boat again in order to take a measurement and some pictures.

And from this you can see that I continue to get more active - and the change to sail handling is a statement about being up for it in the summer.

Lookfar out of the water and cleaned off. It looks cleaner than it is.

Lookfar is tucked away in a corner of the marina. And how did I get a picture - well - I took it myself. Drove down to Tidemill - looked at boats and had a couple of chats with people. First time out for a long time. And the sun was shining. Then fried egg for lunch in the caravan cafe -  tired after for the rest of the day - but worth it.

Lookfar - March 2011 launch. Admire the crane.

An excuse to show my boat. It is being lifted out this week - I shall not be there to take a picture so use this one taken when she was launched last year. Note the clean underwater part - which will be disgusting when she is lifted, but hosed off ready for a general cleanup.

I am still fatigued -  but perhaps slightly better. I am trying to tidy the junk in my flat. Unsure whether I will ever get to use Lookfar again - but intend to get her sorted out - incase - - - .

Lookfar lifted. Tidemill office behind the bow. The green car has all my picnic gear spread out next to it

 20-40 hrs: Up an hour earlier than usual to go to Tidemill - the boat was due to be lifted and the repair finished. Sat in the sun (and tidied the car) whilst the crane did other things. It was hot and still and quiet - one of those summer mornings.

The underside - showing the new gasket and the refurbished plate holding it in.

Then - the slot gasket was done and ( after the picture) I patched the anti-fouling. Launched after lunch and did nothing much else for the rest of the day, apart from lounging in the cockpit. It clouded in the afternoon  and a cold wind came in - but still shorts-weather. The deck is dirty and the inside needs to be sorted out - but we are at least back in the water.

the keel on the ground - ignore the ladder

11-00 hrs: The keel runs up and down on runners on each side - the red arrow points to one of them. The blue strap winds the keel up and down from inside the boat, through the slot at the bottom ( a red arrow points to this). 

What stops it falling out? Answer - nothing apart from the strap. It may have rested on the fitting that holds the slot gasket in place.

The design is for a nylon bush to be fitted at approximately the place of the round red circle. This then catches on a ridge in the keel casing and stops it falling out. Nice. But - mine did not have one. It does now,  the Tidemill staff made and fitted one before the keel was put back.

But - you may say - how do I get it out next time I need to inspect it? Good question - the nylon bush unbolts through holes in the keel case inside - necessitating the removal of a lot of woodwork and the galley to get at it - so a non-trivial thing to do. But feasable.

At least I am not going to have the keel fall out of the bottom next time I do something daft. And I better understand the whole mechanism as a result of all this.

The keel - and the gasket. Note the runners at the top and the blue tape

The slot. The blue tape is used to wind it up.
The marks of the runners show along the edge of the hole.
There is a fitting to go into the grotty part.

13-15 hrs: Good stuff. The keel is back in having been checked over and some re-furbishment done. There was a lot more to doing this than a simple statement suggests. And Richard did some cool crane-driving to position the boat to get the keel back in - and the staff did a lot of positioning of the keel as well. More to it than meets the eye. I did not have my camera on me when it happened - - - .

Now - a new slot gasket which means another ride on the crane - probably middle of next week.

I will also tell you in another post what stops it falling out of the bottom of the boat other than the blue tape.

Lookfar is lifted high enough to get the keel out. Getting it back in was the fun part as it is pretty heavy.

13-40 hrs: This is really a picture of the crane. The keel is out for inspection and I hope to have a repair plan soon. 

Last week - a lot of hanging around - and an infection in my right eye. Weather dull but warm except for cold winds - trouser weather - good bye balmy days of early summer.

my streaker and DYC dinghy park

16-00 hrs: I have not forgotten you all - or how to capsize. (Last time I capsized - maybe three years ago). I went streaking a couple of times and finished up being tipped into the river by a mooring yesterday.  Righted the boat without trouble but then found - - - I could not get back into it. Much effort and use of the safety cover got me ashore eventually. And note this - you sailors in the North - it was like falling into a bath - it was not really cold at all (I had three thermals, a watertight jacket and short wetsuit). Fun - fun - fun. I now need to make a ladder to get myself aboard and do a lot more dinghy sailing - I had forgotten what pleasure it is - -

Life here is sunny and windy, - shorts/tee shirt weather. The battallions of  side effects are under control, I have sat around on the beach and done nice things. I also have had (including the capsize) epic sailing in the streaker. Lookfar is waiting the be lifted by the big crane and I have done a few improvements to the rigging. I have mostly kept out of trouble.