What next ... ?

Following on from my "What Now?" post a while back, some readers seem to have got entirely the wrong idea and thus the impression that I'm on the verge of giving up on Brigantia and sailing in general.

Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth. The point I was making was that in 2012 we've failed to reach our targetted number of days sailing and days on board.

We (that is Jane and I) decided from the outset that we had to make sure that Brigantia was sufficiently well used each year to justify the financial outlay and ongoing time commitment. We were very conscious of just how easy it is to let things go on a boat from past experience with the family canal boats (both of which, eventually, were allowed to deteriorate due to lack of time, effort and commitment on the part of the collective crew)

So we set some moderately loose targets to wit: at least 30 nights on board with at least 20 sailing days per annum give or take making some allowance for weather and circumstances. We further stipulated that if we failed to meet those targets for two years in succession serious consideration must be given to the viability of carrying on with the current scenario.

Now in 2012, due to a combination of circumstances, we haven't (quite) met the targets. Losing sailing time at the start of the season was one factor and we will hopefully avoid that mistake this year. The other key factor has been weather.

There's no two ways about it, the weather for the last two summers has not been great. I can count the number of idyllic "as per the dream" days of sailing over the two years on the fingers of one hand, without using my thumb and with fingers left over. That's because there's been two, maybe three, days of perfect sailing weather when we've been on board and out there able to take advantage of it.

The rest of the time it has generally been challengine in one way or another - too little wind, too much wind, a LOT too much wind, wind always on the nose (except in very light airs when it always seems to be from astern) and sea conditions ranging from merely uncomfortably choppy to downright scarey! Well, we can't do anything about the weather other than adapt accordingly. The jury is out on that one.

The point of my post was to firing a warning shot across my own bows when you get right down to it. Didn't get enough sailing or on board time in this year, must do better next year. And, invoking a rare dose of common sense, be cautious about how much, and on what, maintenance and upgrade money is spent over the winter season in case the conclusion next year is that we need to part with Brigantia a lot sooner than expected. Hence the decision not to purchase an expensive brand new road trailer.

So with that hopefully clarified, plans for the winter ...

After mulling things over and discussing it with Jane, I plan to focus on two key areas of improvement to with below deck comfort and improving the rig ...

Below decks

Refinish galley unit (sand and either varnish or paint and varnish)
Repair cabin floor and replace carpet with timber effect flooring
Acquire some suitable throw cushions
Revise cabin lighting - a light (LED?) above each bunk
Fit offset desmo leg to nav table so it can be used as a cabin table
Move VHF to new position to clear headroom on Port aft seat

Look at what can be done (cheaply) to improve the look of the blue carpet (either replace the lot of it with something else or at least glue it all back up securely for the time being!)

If time and money permit ...

Refurbish the heads compartment - remove all the blue carpet, clean up the GRP and paint it out. Sort out the storage spaces etc.

Fit a pair of small water tanks under the forward part of the port and starboard forward bunks. A large bore balance pipe would be needed between the two tanks and each tank would need a deck breather (the Bosun and I have played this game on our cruiser Arcturus!).

This would increase our water capacity by 50% to 100% (depending on which of the two sizes of rigid tank we can get into the space) and move the weight of the tanks, when full, further aft*

The rig

Move the roller furling drum up the forestay (or to be more precise, shorten the forestay and add a tang between the stem fitting and the drum) so that the anchor can be deployed and recovered on the bow roller. This may also entail moving the genoa halyard diverter block and possibly reducing the length of the roller furling foil. This is a job for the professionals - the forestay is far too critical to the security of the rig to take any chances with.

With the above done, the next question is whether our existing genoa will still fit. I think we can gain enough clearance between the bow roller and the furling drum without shortening the luff foil in which case the current No.1 genoa is good to go. Except that it isn't good to go because it absolutely has to have a new UV strip fitted this winter. Estimate on cost from Wilkinson sails for that job is around £200 which seems reasonable given the work and materials involved. I'm considering asking them for the cost of adding a foam luff to the sail as well.

If, however, modifying the forestay means the existing genoa won't fit then it's either a new sail or get the current headsail recut with a shorter luff. That could all start to get too expensive for this season.

The next job on my critical list is to sort out the rest of the reefing system and, whilst I'm at it, the kicker. The latter is currently on a rubbish tackle that can't be operated from the cockpit and half the time we've either got too much kicker on whilst the rest of the time we've got too little. OK, a lot of people on cruising yachts, it seems, don't mess with the kicker overly much but I'm an ex-dinghy type and Brigantia is something of a big dinghy to sail. I want to be able to tweek that kicker!

The long luff on the mainsail is great for extra sail area but at the expense of a lower than standard boom height. This is a snag when it comes to reefing and stowing the sail as the boom gooseneck has to be manually moved up the mast track (otherwise the sail slugs fall out of the throat on the track). One solution would be a new, smaller, main or get the existing main recut to original spec. However, that's probably not a financially viable option at present and there is another solution which offers added benefits ...

That solution is to fit a downhaul / hardener tackle on the gooseneck. The main halyard is a 1:1 hoist with no advantage. Quick and easy and well within my physical capabilities to hoist the sail but getting enough halyard tension is a struggle. Add a downhaul with a 2:1 advantage and once the sail is up, the luff tension can be hardened up using that.

When reefing or dropping the main, the downhaul would be let go first, the first reefing line hauled in to (effectively) hoist the gooseneck up the boom and then the halyard would be let go to finish the job. This would ensure a better first (and second) reef, a neater stow and obviate the need for a trip to the mast to reef.

So, bringing the kicker back to the cockpit and adding a luff downhaul means a handful of new Barton blocks, not overly expensive to purchase, some string (which we've got in stock) and critically some means of running and securing the lines. Currently, the main halyard and topping lift are brought back to a pair of cam cleats via a block secured to the handrail. There isn't room for more cam cleats so we'll have to replace them with a bank of four clutches. Ouch on the price but hey ho. The existing turning block will probably need to be replaced with a four gang deck organiser although I'd prefer to avoid deck fittings in that area as it's above the double skin cabin moulding.

The above, coupled with some final sorting out of the on boom reefing arrangements and the currently slightly awkward clew outhaul setup should get the rig somewhere near where I want it. Oh and the mainsail leech telltales could do with replacing too! I can probably cope with that job myself without resorting to a sailmaker

Oh yes, the genoa sheet lead tracks need cleaning up and bringing back into use. Clearly the sheet leads haven't been touched for years as the track sliders won't move due to the paint on the tracks! They're probably about right for the full genoa but I'm certain they need a tweek when we reef down which is part of the reason we're struggling in stronger winds.

I shoiuld say at this point, by the way, that I am generally happy with the sail setup and, although I'd like a smaller headsail to change down to on windier days, reckon the existing sails are good to go for years yet. When we get them trimmed right (which we do once in a while!) she takes off like a good 'un!

* Not directly relevant to the winter maintenance programme but something I am keeping very much in mind is that I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the trim and the stowage, particularly of heavy gear, in 2013. I'm keeping an open mind to the possibility that having too much weight in the ends of the boat (a lot of water in the forward end, a lot of petrol and some water at the stern) was the cause of, or at least a factor behind, the disconcertingly awkward motion during the early part of our summer cruise.

What is certain is that those first few days were the only time I've been uncomfortable in the cockpit of Brigantia. It wasn't inducing seasickness (although I won't rule out the recent suggestion that some form of pre-nausea was going on) but it was just sheer bloody hard work clinging on. Although for briefer periods I have been out in similar conditions before and since and been perfectly happy.