We have made some progress with Passion X but in the absence of breeze on Sunday we had no excitement. First the bowsprit has been fitted and it fits well. Second we have hoisted the asymmetric spinnaker in the new sock and that works well too. Third we have gybed the asymmetric spinnaker on the outside which is a first for most of the crew and skill in this is a must for heavier breezes. That was all Sunday’s progress before and after the abandoned race.
With all my urgent household chores completed including pruning the roses the first mate agreed to help with some maintenance on Passion X. It was a sunny day and an ideal one to upgrade the remaining Spinlock pulleys on the deck organizers. The rest of the plastic ones had started to fail and last Wednesday we had to put the main halyard into the second reef slot . With 25 knots forecast for tomorrow the second reef is a must so out came the twenty bolts and the last six plastic sheaves changed to alloy. While we were tied up to the Greenwich Flying Squadron pontoon we attended to some deck leaks by withdrawing the offending bolts and refilling the holes with Sikaflex. That process uses up a lot of disposable gloves and is a good one to have finished. I am sure we will find a few more over time but for now all we could see are done.
The next big job will be replacing the boom when the new and better larger section arrives but for now it is ready for sailing including topping up the diesel and a few litres of water into the almost empty tanks.
Before closing off on this blog I want to add a bit of technical information about the network at home. Now that I have all the files stored on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) I can create the blog from any of three computers in the house. I just need to pick the cosiest spot and start typing.
The new bowsprit on Passion X looks the part