That's another admin job ticked off the list - Brigantia now has a Ships Radio Licence! So we're all legal, proper and correct.
Can't see us using the callsign too often though ... Twoer Echo Quebec Foxtrot Ait (2EQF8) is a bit of a bloody mouthful compared to "This is Brigantia"!
Next job ... don my navigators hat and update the charts. Maybe tomorrow :)
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
Harbour Dues
Idly flipping through the pages and pages (and pages and pages) of the "to do" list when I noticed I hadn't got around to paying our harbour dues for rhe year. Oops!
So that's another form to fill out - check
and a cheque to fill out - cheque .. I mean check
Find a stamp - check
And an envelope ... buggrit! Not one to be found anywhere in the house
I shall have to steal one from the office at work tonight.
(Note: If anyone from BP is reading this, I am JOKING alright?!)
£35.00 is not the end of the world and it was budgeted for. And maybe I'm really sad but there's something appealling to the traditionalist in me about paying ones dues.
So that's another form to fill out - check
and a cheque to fill out - cheque .. I mean check
Find a stamp - check
And an envelope ... buggrit! Not one to be found anywhere in the house
I shall have to steal one from the office at work tonight.
(Note: If anyone from BP is reading this, I am JOKING alright?!)
£35.00 is not the end of the world and it was budgeted for. And maybe I'm really sad but there's something appealling to the traditionalist in me about paying ones dues.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Wind, wind and more wind
Nope, I haven't been on the beans again - just looking at the wind observations from Shoeburyness and the F3 buoy out in the Southern North Sea
Mean wind speed at Shoeburyness is touching on Force 5 this afternoon and out at F3 it's hitting 7. It'll be gusting much more than that at both locations I suspect.
I reckon the decision to stay home this weekend is vindicated!
Mean wind speed at Shoeburyness is touching on Force 5 this afternoon and out at F3 it's hitting 7. It'll be gusting much more than that at both locations I suspect.
I reckon the decision to stay home this weekend is vindicated!
Friday, 27 May 2011
The show must ... oh, perhaps not
Forecast for the weekend is still for very gusty conditions both Saturday and Sunday - almost certainly too strong to contemplate carrying out the work up the mast that needs doing
And without the mast works completed, we can't go sailing even if we wanted to.
So, reluctantly, the senior crew have decided to postpone until next weekend - the long range forecast is promising of light airs or gentle breezes and there's the added bonus of it not being a bank holiday
And without the mast works completed, we can't go sailing even if we wanted to.
So, reluctantly, the senior crew have decided to postpone until next weekend - the long range forecast is promising of light airs or gentle breezes and there's the added bonus of it not being a bank holiday
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Weekend plans go awry
May Maintenance and Sailing Weekend plans ...
Provisional crew: Bru, Rik, Mark and Carl
Much debate ongoing about this coming weekend. We had planned to go down to the boat tomorrow afternoon for a combined maintenance and sailing weekend but it's not looking great
I'd forgotten it's bank holiday weekend. Neither I nor Rik fancy travelling tomorrow evening. So now it's looking like an early start on Saturday morning.
Snag is the forecast. Rather windy all weekend with F4 gusting 5/6 on Saturday and F4/5 gusting 6 or even 7 on Sunday. Not what we want for sailing.
We're now considering dropping the mast rather than sending Mark up in the bosuns chair. Hoisting him up the mast in blustery conditions could be an iffy excercise anyway and there's quite a few things need doing at some stage so maybe we bite the bullet and deal with them all this weekend ...
The topping lift needs to be retrieved
The spreader boots need fitting
The mast track needs lubricating
The anchor light needs fettling (new bulb? dodgy connections?)
The VHF lead needs routing up the mast instead of up the backstay
They could all be done from the bosuns chair but really it's enough to do to justify the hassle of dropping the mast and it's the safer option especially if the conditons are dodgy.
Other work we plan to tackle is to complete the bridge deck and move the batteries and associated wiring. I'd like to get the nav lights working too - although I've no plans to go night boating at present if something happened and we had to we need them to be serviceable.
One possible snag might be space on the pontoon. If we can't get on the pontoon and/or in reach of power we're a bit screwed for a maintenance weekend! Might be a case of sneaking onto the drying spot on the pier we used when we launched her. Doubt if there'll be any objections and we should be able to reach the power round from the first post on the main pontoon although we'd have to be careful routing the cable.
Plans may change!
Provisional crew: Bru, Rik, Mark and Carl
Much debate ongoing about this coming weekend. We had planned to go down to the boat tomorrow afternoon for a combined maintenance and sailing weekend but it's not looking great
I'd forgotten it's bank holiday weekend. Neither I nor Rik fancy travelling tomorrow evening. So now it's looking like an early start on Saturday morning.
Snag is the forecast. Rather windy all weekend with F4 gusting 5/6 on Saturday and F4/5 gusting 6 or even 7 on Sunday. Not what we want for sailing.
We're now considering dropping the mast rather than sending Mark up in the bosuns chair. Hoisting him up the mast in blustery conditions could be an iffy excercise anyway and there's quite a few things need doing at some stage so maybe we bite the bullet and deal with them all this weekend ...
The topping lift needs to be retrieved
The spreader boots need fitting
The mast track needs lubricating
The anchor light needs fettling (new bulb? dodgy connections?)
The VHF lead needs routing up the mast instead of up the backstay
They could all be done from the bosuns chair but really it's enough to do to justify the hassle of dropping the mast and it's the safer option especially if the conditons are dodgy.
Other work we plan to tackle is to complete the bridge deck and move the batteries and associated wiring. I'd like to get the nav lights working too - although I've no plans to go night boating at present if something happened and we had to we need them to be serviceable.
One possible snag might be space on the pontoon. If we can't get on the pontoon and/or in reach of power we're a bit screwed for a maintenance weekend! Might be a case of sneaking onto the drying spot on the pier we used when we launched her. Doubt if there'll be any objections and we should be able to reach the power round from the first post on the main pontoon although we'd have to be careful routing the cable.
Plans may change!
Monday, 23 May 2011
Stocking up the galley
£39.03 onto our Asda shopping order for stuff for the boat ...
Stock cubes (beef, veg and chicken)
2 tins Irish Stew
2 tins Minced Beef and Onion
2 tins Chicken Tikka Masala
2 tins Hot Pot
2 tins Chilli Con Carne (well I'll eat 'em!)
2 tins Beef Stew
2 tins Chicken in White Sauce
2 tins Macaroni Cheese
4 tins All Day Breakfast
4 tins Full Monty (like breakfast but more so)
4 tins The Big BBQ (not quite like a breakfast)
Mixed Herbs
Can opener (an expensive one, lets hope it actually works)
I've also ordered myself a Bubba Desk Mug for £4.00 - a plastic insulated mug with a wide base holding about 560ml. I'm hoping it'll be as good as the plastic insulated mugs we used to have on Arcturus 'cos the stainless steel travel mugs don't keep stuff hot for very long and are prone to falling over. If the Bubba mug is any good, we'll have some more of them in due course.
There's already adequate stocks of tinned vegetables and boil in the bag rice etc. that Jane and I left on board last week. Coupled with the above, we should now be reasonably well stocked for "stick it in the pan and warm it up" meals for the rest of the season, replenishing only what we run out of as we go along.
And on that note, it occurs to me that we ought to log what has been used for each meal out of the ships stores - not worried about perishables as they are brought on board by the crew at the start of a trip and removed again at the end. But it might be a good idea to log any tinned or packet stores consumed and the replenishment thereof (including how much it cost to replace consumed stores).
Stock cubes (beef, veg and chicken)
2 tins Irish Stew
2 tins Minced Beef and Onion
2 tins Chicken Tikka Masala
2 tins Hot Pot
2 tins Chilli Con Carne (well I'll eat 'em!)
2 tins Beef Stew
2 tins Chicken in White Sauce
2 tins Macaroni Cheese
4 tins All Day Breakfast
4 tins Full Monty (like breakfast but more so)
4 tins The Big BBQ (not quite like a breakfast)
Mixed Herbs
Can opener (an expensive one, lets hope it actually works)
I've also ordered myself a Bubba Desk Mug for £4.00 - a plastic insulated mug with a wide base holding about 560ml. I'm hoping it'll be as good as the plastic insulated mugs we used to have on Arcturus 'cos the stainless steel travel mugs don't keep stuff hot for very long and are prone to falling over. If the Bubba mug is any good, we'll have some more of them in due course.
There's already adequate stocks of tinned vegetables and boil in the bag rice etc. that Jane and I left on board last week. Coupled with the above, we should now be reasonably well stocked for "stick it in the pan and warm it up" meals for the rest of the season, replenishing only what we run out of as we go along.
And on that note, it occurs to me that we ought to log what has been used for each meal out of the ships stores - not worried about perishables as they are brought on board by the crew at the start of a trip and removed again at the end. But it might be a good idea to log any tinned or packet stores consumed and the replenishment thereof (including how much it cost to replace consumed stores).