Day sail, mizzen and genoa

10 nautical miles

We decided to go out for a day sail. Had to be back earlier as the clocks went back last night so dusk comes even earlier now. The forecast for was a constant Bft 3 gusting Bft 4 throughout the day. Tim said yesterday 'If it's dead calm we'll motor round to the other side of the harbour, drop a dinghy anchor attached to a buoy and do some reversing practice'. Absolutely no chance of that today!

Reversing out the yacht again turned the wrong way, but we managed a neat three point turn and motored out of the marina.  I was really confused. Last time the boat turned the wrong way it was because we were trailing a warp by accident (a crew member didn't realise there are springs on both sides of the boat). But this time there were no warps. We think it is because the outboard we have is not directly in line with the yacht and may be pulling to one side very slightly.

Anyway we thought with a bit more wind we would try other sail plans, so to start with we tried sailing with just the genoa. She did a respectable 3.5 to 4 knots in 11-18 knots wind (gusting 18) and was sailing quite flat. As Tim remarked, sailing flat will be good for non-sailors as guests on board or anyone feeling slightly seasick.

The cloud formations were really beautiful today. There were a couple of other yachts out from our marina. One sailing with just main and no genoa - also sailing pretty flat - and one with three-quarters genoa and main, which was heeling over somewhat.

Next we tried the mizzen with the genoa. Tim thought that it might give us a weather helm, but I was hopeful since I had seen this recommended online somewhere. In fact she sailed with less helm with the mizzen than without. Watching the movement on the autopilot is a good way to gauge the weather or lee helm on the trim of the boat.

Looking up at the genoa to check the set of the sail we noticed a problem. The seem along the leech of the sail was ripping with the strong gusts of wind. By the time we got back to the marina, three sections of the sail would need repair. A job for our new found sewing skills.

Two days ago on Facebook I did the 'Which Lord of the Rings character are you?' I came up as Elrond, which started off 'You are supremely confident about yourself...' No, not me, I worry I might be wrong a lot of the time and it goes on '...rightfully so, for you are rarely wrong'. Well in docking I wish I had trusted my judgement.

With the wind blowing 18 knots we came in to berth in the marina. We had planned what would happen, since the wind was north easterly I would come in and then hold the bow off the dock while time secured the stern line. We were both concerned about blowing into other boats as the berths are very narrow and can close up.

We kept the genoa up till the very last minute, since with the outboard, with a following sea it can cavitate quite badly.

Coming in Tim was for'ard watching and shouted 'More starboard helm'. I was sure I didn't need it, but trusted he was seeing something I could not. This meant that I came round more than I wanted and just as we are going into the gap come to a grinding halt. We're caught. Because of the extra turn a neighbour's mooring line has caught under the rudder. Peter from one of the other boats comes to help and we secure ourselves with extra lines to our two neighbours. We're just discussing what to do when Tim takes off his top and jumps in the water. He stands on the mooring line, which frees us from it and we can be pulled into the dock. Peter said he does everything he can to avoid going in the water - especially in the marina.

Later Tim remarks how we are complementary to each other - I am comfortable going up masts and he is comfortable jumping in the water. True, I would rather go up masts than sort out stuff under the water... unless it was the only solution of course.

When we have secure the boat, we scrub the decks and clean up inside.

Quick photo to show where we have been and off home. The southerly track was from Thursday, today's was south easterly. It was very clear today. from the furthest out we got you could easily see Cape Greco as well as Cape Pila. Normally the haze is such that you cannot see Cape Greco till you are past Cape Pila.

Solar cells and steaming lights

Another maintenance day.

The target today to at least get the solar cells finished and working. We had a solar charger unit, which as a pain as it is positive earth and the rest of the yacht is negative earth, which means... we have to ensure that it is isolated from other equipment in the yacht.

On the output of the solar charger we fitted a shunt to measure the amount of current coming from the solar cells and a two way switch so we can either charge the navigation battery bank or the domestic battery bank.

Then it's time to go up the main mast to fix the steaming light. The old steaming light looks like a frosted glass fitting... it isn't of course, it's just the plastic has become frosted over with age. A perennial problem with plastic lenses on navigation lights. Actually, its good it's not actually perennial as it would prove expensive if it were!

When we were fitting the wind gauge at the top of the main mast I dropped a tracer line down the mast and Tim caught it within seconds. It wasn't quite so easy this time. Partly this was because the hole for the steaming light wire was at the front of the mast and so the line was dropping down the edge of the mast, whereas it was dead centre for the wind gauge.

One of the better investments we made was a treble clip safety line from mailspeedmarine.com.  I had been suggesting an elasticated safety line as they are easier to handle on a bouncing deck, but Tim suggested the treble hook one. This has proved invaluable in mast work. It means that once I am in location I can clip on - both as an added safety line should there be a problem with the main line up the mast and also to hold me to the mast and as a result I can brace against the mast. You can see it clearly in this photo and see how I use it to brace away from the mast in the next one.

When the steaming light was fitted I wanted to test it before proceeding, but we were beginning to lose light so Tim wanted to do all the mast work before dusk.

The final job was the two flag halyards. Strangely it looks lighter because the clouds have parted and we have blue sky, but the light is actually fading.  In some ways this was the most difficult thing I have done on the mast to date as I needed to fix a shackle with a block to an eye far out on the spreader.

Leaning out by pushing against the mast was the answer, but being gently rocked around while trying to threat the tiny shackle and not dropping anything was... interesting!

Down the mast... test steaming light... Everything worked and it was time for home.

Ochi Day sail

16 nautical miles

This would have been the start of a four day sail round to Latchi, but for the fact that tomorrow the forecast is for the sort of winds you sail through if you have to but avoid if you don't!

The crew today was me, Tim, Sidney, Mark and Jacob.

This was Mark's first sail with us. He had valiantly helped re-surfacing the deck when we were on the hard, but had not the opportunity for a sail yet.

The weather today was kind to us and so Mark enjoyed the sun on the forepeak, using the inflatable dinghy as a backrest.

We set off early to get a smooth sea as we wanted to re-calibrate the auto-pilot. We had found a dinghy anchor next door to the compass which we hadn't known about and so it was throwing the alignment out.

The calibration first involved two wide and slow circles, then running straight at more than 4 knots and aligning to the GPS and finally allowing the autopilot to learn the characteristics of the rudder.

The autopilot was significantly more responsive now and held course very much better. Just shows how important it is to ensure there is no metallic material near the compass.

Tim had brought some haloumi. Having the ability to grill haloumi in the middle of the day just adds that finishing touch to a wonderful day sailing.

The wind was light - really gentle sailing weather.

It was a day of firsts - we allowed Jacob to try his hand at helming too. The first time Tim had met Jacob he was helming my Wayfarer and he had noted how well he handled the helm.

Today he was to try his hand at a very much bigger boat.

Everything is much more sluggish and feels unresponsive compared to a dinghy, but he soon got the hang of it and you can tell from the smile on his face how he enjoyed it.

Sidney looked perpetually cool in his shades, black baseball cap and black T-shirt!

Although the sun was not as bright as it has been, the reflected light off the water makes it seem brighter than it is.

We headed off down towards Cape Kiti and we checked our position using compass and chart. The new binoculars with build in compass make it much easier for taking bearings.

Actually it was a fun sail. I think all of us enjoyed it.

All in a mornings work... fixing a mizzen topping lift

Just a simple job, cut off the topping lift from the mizzen mast and drop a new one in... so we thought. Dropping a wind gauge cable had been a doddle, why shouldn't putting in a new topping lift be easy?

Up the mizzen mast I went, snapped on my safety line and cut the old (stuck) topping lift which dropped gracefully to the deck. Then with a screwdriver pushed away the old topping lift into the mast ready for a tracer line to drop in the mast and pick up a new 8mm line. But... the old topping lift didn't clear the block fully whatever I did. The tracer would not fall inside and... tended (about 5 times or more) to come out of the sail track.

Eventually I gave up and fixed a new external block to the outside of the mast for the topping lift! Will fix properly when we drop the mizzen mast.

Next... fix the clip on the end of the starboard mizzen spreader. Lowered away till I was at the right height, added extra safety line and pushed out from the mast to reach the spreader... hoisted drill and started drilling out the old pop rivet. Tried to steady myself from swinging around since I am pushing out from the mast... kept drilling... drill bit broke. New drill bit, drilled hole, fixed new pop rivet in place.

Then added two extra lines from the spreaders to hold the two new solar panels. Finally down on the deck and time for a snack of haloumi cheese sandwiches. Then fix the solar panels in place... couple of other odd jobs and home for lunch. Late. Ooops.

First time with the bimini

11 Nautical Miles

We went down to the marina early to fit the new bimini and ready the boat for the sail today. The forecast said light winds in the morning, heavier in the afternoon (Bft 3) dying down again later.

When I reversed out of our mooring I had the helm over to starboard, but the boat pulled to port. Very strange. I then had to do a 270 degree multi-point turn to get the right direction to exit the marina. Then someone noticed we were trailing one of the spring lines from the port side. Pull it in and suddenly the helm is responsive again.

Light meant non-existant! So we motored round to the other side of the harbour for coffee and a swim.

Tim cleaned the barnacles off the outboard. The encrustations were getting heavy so we need to find some solution. For next year we can paint the part in the water with anti-fouling, but for now we need to keep cleaning and cleaning and cleaning...

We're not happy that we cannot lift the outboard and we may try to find a solution to that. Tim tried lifting the motor and only succeeded in bending the rod keeping it in line with the boat.

Most of the photos from the day are useless sadly as the camera got stuck in macro mode. However, we were really, really pleased with the bimini, it gives a significant amount of shade and really makes sailing a lot easier.

Yes, that's petrol in the cans at the stern of the yacht. We don't want petrol inside the hull, and we really need to make a petrol locker sometime... hopefully by the end of next season we will have a reliable inboard, so it won't be so necessary. Watch this space!

After about a hour the wind came up to 5 knots so we sailed out towards Cape Pila. Then it rose to 10-11 knots and we were sailing beautifully. Tim made lunch and we, that is me, Tim, Sidney, Maria and Melvyn enjoyed a tuna sandwich.

The autopilot was misbehaving again, didn't hold the course we expected and to get it to hold course to wind we had to set it then click the +10 degrees button, then it did hold course to wind perfectly. Also had to increase the sensitivity of the drive.

Then the wind picked up some more... 16 knots gusting 19 knots. and dying down so the gusts were quite significant. We were slightly concerned that if it picked up more and we had to wait till 19:00 or 20:00 for calmer weather we would be rentering the marina at night. Not something we want to do yet.

So we reluctantly turned for home.

We don't have lazy jacks on the booms yet, so we had to unzip the bimini to drop the main sail. It all worked perfectly. Not neat, but worked.

Then we motored into the marina and moored. Peter was on the quayside to take the lines. This was the first time that I did a perfect mooring... practice makes perfect. We need many more of these to build up experience.

Then a coffee. We have a wonderful device for making coffee, sort of like an espresso but not quite. Sitting under the bimini sipping really good coffee... this is the life!

Bimini finished

Yes at last the bimini is finished and we will fit it this Saturday. This evening we sewed the final pieces of tape along the sides and did the final trimming and finishing. We still have tapes to make, but we will use cord/line on Saturday to work out the best placement and then make tapes to fit.

Sewing... sewing... sewing... a bimini

Seems we're always sewing these days. We started making a bimini with a kit from Sailrite two weekends ago and thought we'd get it completed in a weekend. Wrong!

Tim has converted his sun room into a 'sail loft'. Since its a penthouse apartment, it really is a 'loft'!

At the far end of the room we have a work surface that he found as someone was throwing it out and with the addition of five 2 euro Ikea legs we now have a very good working area for the sewing.

Before you sew though you have to cut out the Sunbrella, which we do with a hot knife. Hence the MDF on the floor to protect the tiles.  Well... when I say hot knife I mean soldering iron to use as a hot knife.

A real hot knife costs about a couple of hundred dollars, so we found a high temperature soldering iron and find that works quite as well.

We created Sunbrella tubes with zips along them to hold the Bimini onto the frame. Fitting long zips to these thin tubes proves easier than I expected. It was about the only thing that was easier than expected.

The sewing machine was inherrited with the yacht and is about as old as the yacht (more than 35 years). Solid as a rock. When we first used it we broke about 5 needles so we took it to the Singer shop in Larnaca and got it serviced. Net result was that we haven't broken one needle on the whole project!

You need two or three people for this. The electric drive for the sewing machine is dead so Tim acts as the drive motor, holding everything steady while I feed into the foot.

In order to feed some of it through you have to roll up one side. That we found was a three person job.

To start with we let gravity pull the material through while I guided. This resulted in very uneven stitches, and having a third person take the weight of the cloth improved things no end.

We had hoped to finish by the end of the day, but we made a mistake sewing one panel in the wrong way round and had to unpick and start again. We lost about an hour and a half over that.

However, by the end of the day we did have all the panels together and took it down to the boat to measure for the final zip placement.

We really want to have as much shade as possible, so we have made what amounts to a four bow bimini, or you could consider it two two bow biminis joined together in the middle. Our original design had been for a king dodger joined to a two bow bimini, but we like the air flow because of the Mediterranean heat, so have reduced the dodger for inclement weather and increased the bimini.

The photo shows it in place with safety pins holding the final zip.

Starting the bimini

The one thing we found when we did the two day sail was the problem of being under the sun all day. Back in the spring we had bought a bimini and dodger kit from Sailrite and so this weekend (a long weekend including Friday which is a public holiday) we decided to start it. My expectation was that we could get the metalwork done on Friday morning, the templates done on Friday afternoon and get the sewing done on Saturday/Sunday. How wrong I would be!

On Friday we started the metal work... well... we worked out what we wanted to do, which was to modify the original plan from Sailrite to try to make a significantly bigger bimini. The original plan was for a 2 bow bimini and a very large 2 bow dodger and to join the two together. However, the 2 day sail had shown that sailing in the Mediterranean you really want all the wind you can get to cool you down except for rare occasions when you need some protection.

So we modified the plan to become a very large double 2 bow bimini with a much smaller dodger. This was possible because we had the old bow from the old dodger to be part of the new kit.

Having done the planning we then worked out the metalwork, cut and fixed in place. That was a whole days work and we ended up Friday evening with the metalwork in place but nothing more. Tim remarked that his uncle used to say projects take twice and long and cost twice as much as you expect.

Saturday the whole day was taken up with making the templates... and making a work space in Tim's sunroom for sewing and other boat related work over the winter.

Sunday we started the sewing. By the evening we had got the first of three panels completed. Hopefully it will go quicker as we become more competent with the sewing machine and cutting out the material etc. Our final job for the weekend was to take the completed panel down and check it on the boat.

Yes, looks good... now just to complete it.