Only me again! Not a lot to report really as we have been stuck on the Hamble waiting for our mast to be sorted and put back on again technical details to follow courtesy of our resident tecchie.
It has been a really frustrating time as we have had fantastic weather and favourable winds until, oh yes, departure day.
Anyway looking on the positive side my tan has come on in leaps and bounds but sadly stops half way up my thighs, well I couldn’t expose too much flesh to the poor unsuspecting river users.
It also meant we got to see the two girls again!! Hello Holly, see I gave you a special mention!
So the mast went on and we said “Sod It” we’re leaving the mooring to go to Yarmouth. Well you know our luck. Guess what? Oh yes southwesterly winds likely to be gale force tomorrow (Tuesday & Wednesday) on the nose AGAIN!!! I think we’ve been here before.
I must say that I think Pete has left his patience & sense of humour back on the River Hamble as he isn’t the happiest of bunnies today, mind you, can you blame him?
We think that we have been jinxed as I don’t believe anybody could have been unluckier than us.
So “Big Man Upstairs” give us a break…. Pleassse.
Pete’s mum and dad have come down to Yarmouth with us and last night we went out for dinner, very bizarre set up as your steak was served raw on a piece of extremely hot marble and you cooked it yourself. Not recommended if you are a few sheets to the wind and it would be wise to stick with chips from the local chippy. Very friendly place and it was almost stepping into your favourite but slightly mad Aunt’s living room, you know the type, loads of cats & has facial hair. By the way the owner had enlisted his mum as the waitress had had a car accident and couldn’t work so mum had been drafted in to help out… I’m not sure about the cats but I can confirm that there’s no visible facial hair she just reminded me of an Aunt.
I think Pete’s mum and dad are leaving us tomorrow to head back to the Hamble (their getting good at this)
Our cunning plan is to take another massive step to Weymouth (approx 40 miles) but if you are still awake you would remember the paragraph re South Westerly winds and try to hop down the coast towards Falmouth.
Anyway enough of this madness and keep your fingers crossed that lady luck finds us on the radar and decides to shine on us. Take care all. Bye.
From Pete……………
We probably mentioned in an earlier update that the mast had a problem with it. Where the upper spreader connects to the mast is an alloy casting that had fractured somewhat. This needed replacing and this required the mast to be taken off by crane. The spreader bases (4 of them) are all the same and we decided that we might as well replace all of them with stainless steel ones that would be much sturdier. The problem was with the time it would take the fabricators to make new ones…over a week!
We had some timely warnings about the standing rigging (the wires that hold the mast up). A blogsite run by a daughter of friends of the family (Carolyn Reid) who are in the Pacific told of both their yacht and another having the backstay fail (potentially disasterous). I also spoke to the chap who has his boat adjacent to our mooring on the Hamble river who suggested replacing my standing rigging and especially the backstay. So, since our standing rigging is nearing the end of its insurable age, we had it all replaced at the same time as the spreader bases. The mast was surveyed with no defects and this makes us feel much more comfortable with things.
The weather was kind to us during our wait for rigging and we managed to put 4 coats of varnish on the cap-rails and the grab-rails and finish all those other jobs that we hadn’t got round to beforehand. We noted that the fine winds and weather would change just as we got the mast back on …. And it has.
Nadezhda without mast
The mast being replaced
As Fliss said, we are now in Yarmouth hoping the late forecast this afternoon does not keep us from heading off to Weymouth at 06:00 tomorrow morning.
Mum & Dad's boat 'Tirowaka' alonside Nadezhda at Yarmouth
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