Old Bolts

 Apart from a couple of short day sails Bonita has been peacefully on her mooring for the last few weeks while D and I have been busy ashore. She hasnt been completely neglected though. I put her on the scrubbing posts for a new coat of antifouling. The previous stuff, applied in May hadnt worked well and weed and small barnacles were already growing on it. I presume this is due to an unusually hot early summer. Perhaps unwise economy in buying cheap antifouling paint may also be a factor -it looked like an attractive deal when buying online but perhaps less so in the real world once it was out of the tin.  Bonita now has a coating of a rather more expensive variety which I hope will see her through the summer.

In sorting through a box of old bits and pieces I came across some of Bonitas original keel bolts, which Dad had stored away. This is original Victorian wrought iron. These bolts were removed in 1968 when they had by then been in place for 80 years.  None of the old bolts could be extracted intact: every one broke around the middle where it had corroded at the point where the lead keel joins with the wood. Their strength had been reduced probably to less than a quarter of the original at this point, so it does seem like it was time the job was done.

I replaced the bolts that were inserted in 1968 with yet more wrought iron a few years ago as it didnt seem wise to wait quite so long this time. Though they showed some corrosion, none of the 1968 bolts broke while they were being extracted. I was interested to see that the original Victorian bolts were 3/4 in diameter (19mm). The new ones I put in were 7/8 in (22mm) so they should be good for a few years. 

So whats next for the old lady? We plan to be going on a few days Thames estuary cruise next week so we are hoping for gentle breezes and calm seas.

And home....

 While Bonita was resting in the fine new Dover marina, D and I went by ferry to join the Saint-Malo OGA rally. This was great fun with lots of interesting things going on. I was sorry not to have Bonita there but given the timing and the weather I think we did the right thing leaving her at home. Old boats often do better with more flexible timetables.

I had originally booked Alastair to help us back from St Malo, but on Thursday evening we went by train to Dover. We left the marina at first light -4am - on Friday morning. Even at this time there is plenty of ferry traffic coming and going from the harbour. It was a clear bright morning with little wind. The VHF announced that there were several channel swimmers attempting the crossing  and we saw an open-water rowing boat heading down Channel and dodging round outside the harbour wall between the ferry movements.

We motored as far as the North Foreland with virtually no discernable wind, but once we got to the Foreland a nice easterly breeze sprung up. With this we were able to push over the adverse tide with no trouble. This was the first time we had set the mizzen since I glued up the broken mast in Brighton, and I was relieved that all seemed well. We picked up our buoy on the Swale at around 4pm.

So the boat has been away about a month and this finishes her early summer cruise. We have a few more outings planned for later in the year.

Dover

Wednesday seemed a better day. The force 7 SW of Tuesday had settled down to f5 SW so at first light we decided it was time to be on the move. Unfortunately while trying to leave Brighton marina the mizzen sheet caught on one of the pontoon mooring cleats, and with our eyes fixed on the potential hazards ahead, we did not notice this until the mizzen mast had sustained some damage. Repairing this delayed us a bit, so we didnt leave till about 6.30. The sea was still pretty boistrous in the entrance to the marina after yesterdays strong winds.  

The picture shows Beachy Head on a rather grey morning. Despite the apparent lack of white horses on the picture, we had a lively downwind sail as far as Dover. Entering Dover harbour in a brisk wind is always exciting, but we sailed in with the engine ticking over, and dropped our sails in the relative calm once in the harbour. We tied up in the fine new marina, which was under construction when we were last here 5 yr ago. It was good to see that it has been laid out with fairly generous manoevering space for those boats with large turning circles.

Here Bonita stays I hope for a few days while I go to St Malo by ferry. 

Its good that quite a few Gaffers are gathering at St Malo and I'm very sorry that as it has turned out Bonita is not among them.

Breezy in Brighton

 Its windy today in Brighton. Force 7 at least with spray coming over the harbour breakwater. We strolled round the town while hoping the weather will improve maybe tomorrow. The picture shows Allan admiring a shop in The Lanes area that only sells plastic bath ducks. There were lots of different types on display. This seems like an extreme form of specialisation, and we wondered about the business model and how many ducks they had to sell every day to cover their overheads. There were no customers in the shop when we passed it and we didnt feel we needed any more bath ducks.