Late Autumn tasks

Today could have seen a trip to an inland reservoir.  However, the non-existent breeze lead to visions of being stranded far from shore with a pair of oars the only means of propulsion (Anglia Water not permitting use of engines).  Hence, this was a day for winterisation - probably as well, since various jobs really needed doing.

Years ago, I always laughed at my Dad for powering up his outboard, attached to a tree, with the leg in a bin.  Here am I doing much the same ( minus the tree).  After a season of salt water, this was an opportunity to run some tap water through the tubes.

The outboard is now winterised and in storage.

Next, attention turned to a season's accumulation of brown staining along the waterline.  Here's the 'before' image...

And the 'afterwards' image following an easy application of International High Strength Stain Remover.  

 It works well, with minimal effort:  rub on, leave for 10 minutes, wash off.  Handily, I had a half-used bottle in the garage, so no cost to me today at least...

Lastly, some modifications to rigging, mainly with the boom.  Initially, the 'jaws' were intentionally constructed not to protrude forward too far since the jib sheets have a habit of snagging on anything that sticks out around the base of the mast.  This original design had the obvious flaw of allowing the boom to pass in front of the mast when halliards were slack, such as when lowering the yard.  This old set of parrels has been put to use to keep the boom in place.  I purchased a pair of stainless steel pad eyes, screwed to the edge of each jaw and tied the parrels in place.  I'm not certain about the yellow cord, but the wooden beads look the part!

  

I also added a vertically positioned jam cleat for the topping lift downhaul.  This will help keep the boom at a consistent height when furling the main and make it much easier to secure a raised boom when required.

Lastly, the jib halliard had loosened somewhat resulting in the jib sliding a couple of inches down the furling drum.  The halliard actually doubles as the furling line, running through the drum and along to the cockpit in one continuous length.  I may well change this and simply attach the jib to the top and bottom of the furling drum, since there's rarely (never?) a need to lower the jib at sea.  For now, I've secured the current arrangement with an additional piece of cord tied around the base of the furling drum.

It seemed sensible to remove the bulk of the cabin contents, with cushions and other material items drying out in the heated conservatory.  However, I still harbour the desire to go for one last trip, so the boat remains in standby mode...

...watch this space!