Love Me Tender

The lovely Eastport Pram

It was June before I started thinking seriously about the upcoming summer holidays, when we would launch An Treo for her second season. I had been discussing a few issues with Tiernan from Roeboats over the winter, but without making any real decisions. Now time was getting short as we would be arriving in Ireland on July 11th. 

One issue we discussed was related to the outboard engine. I had a gut feeling that the propeller might not be ideally suited to our boat, but without having any evidence to back it up. We did so little motoring last year that the engine hasn't even been properly broken in yet, so we agreed to wait until I could do some tests at wide open throttle. Tiernan had the impression that it wasn't far off anyway, perhaps a bit over propped. So wait and see on that for the moment.

At some point while looking over my boat insurance contract, I noticed that the contents of the boat are only covered against theft if there is evidence of an infraction. They won't cover stuff that simply "disappears". So I wanted to add a lock to the companionway hatch. Something to keep honest people honest, and provide the required evidence against the others. I have to admit feeling like I'm being a bit paranoid about this, and Tiernan is surely wondering what all the fuss is about. People in West Cork tend to be a bit more relaxed about things, and it's still not unusual to leave doors unlocked when going out. When I was a kid my parents would leave the keys in the car, but by the time I had my own car you wouldn't have dreamt of doing that. In any case there is no point having insurance if you can't avail of it when you need it, so we found a small rim lock that would do the trick. Something modest enough not to leave much damage when faced with a determined thief, yet not so beefy looking as to give the impression of a boat full of valuable stuff needing serious protection.

The other thing I wanted to add was a NASA battery monitor. Last year I felt like I didn't really know how the solar panel was performing. We never had a problem charging phones, VHF, or other gadgets, but we were always day sailing and the battery had time to recover between trips. I have hopes for eventually spending several days aboard and want to be sure the solar panel can keep up with our needs. 

Another thing we noticed last summer was friction in the Spinlock PXR cam cleats. When tacking the sheets would not run freely through the cleats, they always had to be "helped along". Tiernan is going to swap the foresail sheets for thinner stuff when re-rigging the boat. Smaller lines should run more freely.

The last thing on my job list is lazy jacks. Lowering that big slippery mainsail was always a bit of a struggle and in strong gusts it would sometimes escape from grasping hands, fill the cockpit, block forward vision, and threaten to spill over the side. I could never imagine handling it on my own, and I would like to try single-handing one day. On the other hand I hesitate to add more string to the rigging and thus more windage aloft. I read somewhere about a technique for lowering the main which involves putting in reefs as you lower, so that you only have a small bit of sail left to deal with at the end. I figure we might try that first and see if it works for us.

Tiernan completed the jobs and will have the boat in Baltimore for our arrival, weather permitting. The holidays arrive at last, and while there has been a sweltering heat-wave in Paris, the weather in Ireland is cooler than normal and promises to be quite changeable. Getting off the plane in Cork is a bit of a shock as we leave 30 degrees behind and arrive to 16 degrees.

First thing on the list is to head over to Halfords. They are the only place I have found in Cork that stock chemicals and toilet paper for portable toilets. They also have several other essentials on my shopping list (can you tell I like lists?) including a 12 volt cigarette lighter adapter (to have as a spare), first-aid kit, tire pressure gauge (for the trailer), and even a whistling kettle. West Cork, here we come!

A big inflatable plastic blob

I had always envisioned a small traditional-looking hard dinghy as a tender for An Treo. Anything else just wouldn't look right. This was confirmed to me last year when we were sailing in Baltimore Harbour one day and Con passed by on Inishbeg. He and one of his guests took a few pictures, and when I saw them later I was horrified by the big ugly plastic blob that we were towing behind. That had to change. 

Over the winter I had pretty much settled on the Eastport Pram. Great looks, easy to row, and we could even fit the nesting version in the boot of the car. The only problem with this was that Eileen doesn't feel comfortable in a hard dinghy. She feels they are too tippy, flippy, and above all, sinky. Even though the Eastport Pram has built-in buoyancy, no amount of reasoning, begging, or pleading could change her mind. She was perfectly happy with the inflatable that Con lent us last year, so an inflatable it had to be.

The question then became whether to get a small one (200 or 220) which would lessen the visual impact and also weigh less and fold up into a smaller package, or get a bigger one that would comfortably take 3 persons and some gear. Thinking about it I realised that a 270 would also take our 6 hp outboard, and thus might give us the opportunity to do some boating out of season. Up the river to Skibberreen, for example. And so it was that we will be towing a big ugly plastic blob of a tender behind us once again. And if you happen see us out on the water, please, no pictures from astern!

I asked Diarmuid at Atlantic Boating if he could get us an inflatable in time for our holiday, and he said he could. When it arrived, he pumped it up and found it had a hole. It would take at least a week to get another, so he graciously offered the use of the repaired original until the replacement arrived.

Our Motto!

Things were once again coming together. We rowed out to An Treo to get reacquainted and start loading some gear. All was perfect except for one thing. On close inspection I noticed some chafe on the mooring line. The forecast was for some windy days ahead so I would have to deal with this soon. I adjusted the length of the lines so they wouldn't be rubbing in the same spot. Then we made a quick trip to CH Marine and picked up some 12 mm line to replace the 10 mm stuff we bought last year. I also got some reinforced clear plastic tubing to put over the lines where they pass through the fair leads. It was at this point, where the line leaves the fair lead and crosses the rubbing strake that the chafe was occurring.

The forecast for Wednesday was looking good, so we planned to sail in the Harbour. This would give us a chance to refresh our memories on how to sail a boat! We took it slow and easy, just using the staysail and main. Laura took the tiller, and Eileen and I handled the sails. The reflexes came back quickly and we had a lovely sail. The fact that I had prepared a "Before leaving the mooring" checklist also helped relieve any stress as we were sure to not have forgotten anything. All in all, it was a great start to the season!

Once back on the mooring I replaced the mooring lines with the new 12 mm nylon plus hose pipe. The next few days were going to be gusty, and I was a bit unsure if this would work. On the Friday I rowed out to check. It was still quite windy (15 gusting to 20 knots) and it had been gusting to 30 knots during the night. All was OK, the hosepipe seemed to be working perfectly and there was no sign of chafe. This eased my mind considerably as I had been quite worried about this untried system in the big gusts we were having. I kept imagining the lines chafing through and the boat ending up washed up on the boatyard slip. Then wondering if she would be holed and sink ...

Slowpoke at the helm!

To round out the first week, Laura and I spent Sunday afternoon sailing in the harbour. Eileen had to take Julianna to Cork and I threatened to go sailing by myself, so that was enough to get Laura roped into going with me! Things started out really well, the weather was good and once again the sailing was easy under main and staysail. There was quite a bit of traffic and a lot of activity over on Sherkin, and later when we saw the rowing boats we realised that it was the Sherkin Regatta.

But then things got a bit hairy later when we approached the Beacon and decided that we didn't look cool enough without the jib. So out came the jib. The boat powered up immediately and heeled over, accelerating as if we had shifted gears. I eased the main to reduce heeling but our speed was still increasing and Laura became frightened. She wanted the jib to come down immediately. I tried to calm her down, but to no avail so I rolled up the jib as we approached the cliffs and then tacked away. 

It can be quite windy at the entrance to the harbour, with the wind getting funnelled between the Beacon and Barrack Point on Sherkin. Tacking away put us on a broad reach and things settled down immediately, the boat came upright, we slowed down, and Laura was fine again. Funny as she's normally a speed freak, but I guess it's a matter of confidence. 

Eileen arrived back from Cork just in time to come out and help us stow the mainsail and tidy up the boat.

Logbook

Sunday 12/07/2015 to Tuesday 14/07/2015

F4 gusting F6 (15-30 kn; scattered showers; high 17°; 1012 hPa, steady)

Noticed some chafe on the mooring lines. Adjusted length of lines to displace chafe point. 

Wednesday, 15/07/1015

Baltimore Harbour

5 miles, F2 - F3 (8-12 kn, dry, high 20°, 1020 hPa falling slowly)

Main and staysail, hot and sunny.

(Once back to mooring, replaced mooring lines, set up bridle, and added hose pipe through fairleads)

Friday, 17/07/2015

Rowed out to check mooring lines.

Bright sunshine, 15 -20 kn (20 gusting 30 kn during the night). All OK. 

Sunday, 19/07/2015

Baltimore Harbour

5 miles, F2 - F3 (5-12 kn, dry, high 22°, 1008 hPa steady)

Main and staysail, jib up briefly while approaching the beacon. Hot and sunny. Light shower just as we reached mooring. Eileen came out to help stow the mainsail.