YAFT - Day 5

Today was all about finishing up jobs and tidying up loose ends.

I got a final coat on the boot top and later on removed the masking tape - a few wobbles but it'll do for this year! Meanwhile, Rik cracked on with some making good jobs refitting the woodwork either side of the companionway which had come loose and refitting the engine well side panels.

We tested the VHF with the old antenna and concluded that it's the unit that's duff, not the new twig. It's receiving but on transmission, even with a known working antenna, the internal PSU is switching in and out violently which suggests the output stage on the transmitter has turned up its toes.

After some cogitation, discussion with Rik and a telephone conversation with Jane I took the decision not to have her craned back in this afternoon. Instead, we'll go back in next month when Jane and I are on board for a week.

We'll lose a couple of days on the water at the beginning of what is the first of only two longer trips to the boat this year but we'll gain two days on the bank to finish off the winter work programme and set her up properly ready for sailing.

There's no point in getting peeved about it but it's clear that we are now paying a hefty price for the mistake of staying in the water over the winter. We gained nothing in terms of extra usage and lost several days of maintenance time due to foul conditions with a particular problem being the untenable conditions on board, from a working on the boat perspective at any rate, in strong winds which have been a feature of every trip to the boat over the past few months.

With the pressure off and everything we wanted to achieve achieved, I suggested a pub lunch of a pint and a jacket potato which we duly consumed after which it was tidy up and sort out time. I ran Rik up to the station just before five and then nipped back down to pick up the ladder (there wasn't room in the car for both Rik and the ladder!) before setting off home.

Almost dead on two hours later I was home and thus ended this episode in the saga of Brigantia