Sails - 9 September 2021

We became a sailing boat again today. We tracked down some of the boatyard staff and asked them to bring our sails and life raft, which had been stored in their workshop. There was a bit of a surprise when they turned up with the life raft only one sail. This was our biggest sail, the mainsail, and we had to get the boatyard guy to help lift it on board. It is far too large and heavy for one person to manage, especially when you have to negotiate the passerelle (boarding plank), which is relatively narrow and feels a bit unstable. We asked him to come back later after we had installed all of the battens, but he was not available when we were, so we pressed on and completed the installation ourselves. The sail is basically attached at the three corners, then has to be hoisted and finally rolled back into the boom.  This also results in testing out several of the winches. The cabin looks better as a result, the 7 metre battens are no longer sitting on the floor, protected by rags. We can actually close the cabin doors again now.

They did also find the other sail, the jib. It is brand new and had obviously been stored separately. It was still in its box, so it was a bit like having a birthday present to open. One of my fears during our long absence was that some animal would have found their way into our sails, and made a home, destroying the sail in the process. Gladly this has not happened. We spent some time later in the day hoisting and then furling it, a rather easier process than the for the main, even if we had to winch it by hand all the way rather than using one of the electric winches. For each of the hoists you want as little wind as possible, and baring a few annoying gusts, that is what we got.  We were keen to get this done today, as rain(!) is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Everything is getting ready and ever more back to normal.   

Steve (and Tricia)

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