Commissioning Weekend - Day 1

Mark and I drove straight down after work stopping for breakfast halfway and coffee at every opportunity!
Despite the number of stops, we were on board by half nine and, as planned. I got my head down for a couple of hours.

We were surprised, but not displeased, to be woken by Toby at half eleven as I'd expected it to be mid afternoon before we launched.


In due course, we were afloat and alongside the pontoon. It being a pleasant day with a light westerly breeze, we set to hoisting the new genoa. After a bit of faffing around locating shackles etc, and a bit of effort on the halyard cos the new sail is stiff and right in the luff groove, she was up and looking good.
We furled the headsail and attached the new sheets with a cow hitch. Some people swear by this method, others at it! We'll see how it goes.

The very top of the sail didn't quite furl properly which we think may be a combination of the stiffness of the new sail and perhaps needing to sweat the halyard to get another inch or two of hoist as the halyard angle from the diverter block to the top swivel isn't quite enough to stop the swivel twisting when the sail is furled.
Next up, we debagged the new main and narrowly avoided dropping the new battens in the river!
We bent on the sail and hoisted it and much to my relief it fitted! This was the sail we had concerns about because the sailmaker had rejected our measurements and gently insisted on making the luff a foot longer than we'd specified. He was right.

He'd also questioned whether the foot shouldn't be longer too. However I'd stuck to my guns on that one and, whilst it could maybe have had another 3 inches or so on it, if we'd have added a foot it wouldn't have fitted.

Dropping the sail highlighted some issues I need to have a think about with regard to the reefing setup which isn't working quite as I'd hoped. The boom is tending to twist round on the old roller reefing mechanism when the reefing line is hauled in which jams everything up.

Attachment of the reefing lines needs looking at too - the old sail had rings sewn to the sail at the tack, the new one has eyes.

Fitting the battens is also proving a challenge. There seems to be a small pocket at the end of the larger pocket into which the end of the batten should go but then I can't spring the outboard end of the batten into the pocket.

I've struggled with them and managed to get two of the four battens into the pockets by ignoring the small pocket but I'm not sure this is right! I shall consult with Crusader on that one.
Trying to stow the unwieldy and awkward bundle of uncooperative stiff new sail was a bit of a challenge. Eventually, we sort of got out done and the new sail cover sort of on but it wasn't pretty!
A bit of a squall was passing through by this time, it being mid-afternoon, so we retired below for a snooze. Suitably refreshed when the weather brightened up, Mark suggested flaking the main down might be the answer.

We tried it and that does indeed seem to be the solution. It takes two to tango, or so they say (never tried it myself), and it takes two to flake the main down but at least we could now get the whole sail under the cover!

We then spent a happy half hour cockpit locker diving. It's a fun sport (not) and always results in a pile of stuff over which the skipper stands and mutters imprecations such as "what the hell was that for?" and "why the **** are we hauling all this **** around?" and such like

With the redundant junk on the trolley, we locked up and headed for the pub dumping the rubbish en passant. Beer and cider was procured to taste and food ordered.

Mark had the gourmet burger which was ok but my steak and kidney pudding was inedible. The steak in it looked ok but was just lumps of chewy fatty unpleasantness.

This is the third disappointing meal in a row in the Ferry Boat which, given the previously high quality of the food, is a shame. Fair enough then, I feel, to complain (not something I'm normally inclined to do).
The response was immediate and unequivocal. My meal was knocked off the bill. Happy with that, I proceeded to demolish a slice of apple pie and custard which was more than satisfactory.

Back on board we settled down and were soon asleep lulled by the gentle lapping off the waves, the light trading of a loose line on the mast and the intermittent hum of the fan heater keeping the chilly spring air at bay.