Our (hopefully) final day in port at Southwold. The day started with a Frosties bar breakfast before we drove up to the Southwold Model Railway Exhibition.
Glen is the big model railway enthusiast but Rik and I both had model trains as children and still have a passing interest. That whiled away a couple of hours then Glen dropped Rik off in town to pick up some essential supplies and me off back at the boat before heading for home.
The afternoon was spent on odd jobs. One key one was experimenting with using the main sheet tackle to host somebody back on board. A trial run with me in a lifejacket and Rik lifting me with the mainsheet clipped on to the D-ring worked well although it was far from being comfortable!
Decided we need a means of limiting the swing of the bloom with the mainsheet detached so purchased a spring clip that will run along a length of 10mm rope and put eye splices on each end of a suitable length of just that. Dropped over the stern cleats on either side of the aft deck and clipped on to the boom bail it limits the swing of the boom to the ideal arc.
The crucial job, of course, was fitting the new prop. Whilst the outboard was dismounted, I also chobbled away a bit more of the transom lip. Still haven't cut it back far enough though.
That job done, we fueled up, squeezing just over 3 litres into the main tank. We ditched the 20 litres of spare water under the cockpit floor as being surplus to requirements although we did refill several bottles and stow them around the tank in the forepeak.
A bit of sorting out below decks and a visit to the harbourmaster to pay our dues and we could declare ourselves as being in all respects ready for sea.
Dinner on board was followed by several beers in the Harbour Inn. We stayed later than we might have done as there was a folk session on the go. I resisted the temptation to stage a take over and made like an audience for once!
Tomorrow, we take the last of the ebb out of delightful Southwold around half seven in the morning and head South. Time, tide and wind will determine where we end up. Could be Orford Haven, the Deben or somewhere around Harwich/Felixstowe.
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