Jobs progressing

I still haven't completely emptied the boat, but I have already done several jobs. All "water tight" hatches removed. They all leaked, and it turns out none had been bedded on sealant fully. I bailed five bucket loads of rain water out of the stern cockpit lockers. It must have all got in through poor seals.
I have also rerouted the cable from the solar panel into the cabin in a route that keeps it away from various ropes. This require the companionway hatch being removed, but that needed some repairs anyway, so it needed to come off.
I have also been planing down the timber trim around the cabin roof. It has always stood slightly proud of the roof, making a potential water trap. A sharp block plane reduced it to flush all round and my wonderful new multi-tool has sanded it all smooth in no time. I love it.

Winter work already underway

I bought myself a Bosch cordless multitool and already wonder how I managed without. I have moved the tracks for the jib sheet lead blocks further back. I have wanted to do it all year. That left three bolt holes in each grab rail. I simply drilled them bigger, hammered in some dowelling and then cut them off flush with the multi cutter. Swapped to a narrow sanding attachment and the whole job was smoother and finished in a few minutes. I then used the same sander to clear off all of the paint drips I had got on the cabin roof edge, which I have not been able to do with a large sander, and couldn't face doing manually. By the end of the winter I shall either have an immaculate boat, or a very large pile of saw dust. It is quite addictive...
http://www.axminster.co.uk/bosch-bosch-gop108v-all-rounder-kit-with-36-accessories-in-systainer-kit-prod797263/

Haul out day

It really is the end of the season. I had Daisy G lifted out, pressure washed and put on the trailer. I know I can retrieve her myself, but I just wanted it to be quick and hassle free. Baiter is such a shallow angled slipway it is always a nuisance to use, especially if it is busy.

Towed home with no problems and no losses as far as I can tell. No major works planned for the winter other than a complete, proper repaint. There are lots of bumps and scrapes which need to be sorted. I painted the companionway washboards with ordinary Dulux exterior paint this year, and they have weathered at least as well as the marine paint used elsewhere, if not better, so for the superstructure I am going to use it for everything. I will still do the hull in Toplac as I like the colour and it doesn't actually take that much. The next few days will just be unloading and tidying up ropes etc.

Some sun, lots of wind (24nm 273nm total)

There was just one good day forecast so I took the opportunity. Down to Poole in the evening and motored round the islands looking for a sheltered anchorage. There was quite a wind and I didn't fancy a noisy night. Eventually settled on Shipstal Point, which gives good shelter form a western wind. I really needed my navigation lights, as it was quite dark by the time I dropped anchor.

The morning was beautiful and calm. I raised all sailed and drifted away towards the harbour entrance. By the time I reached Brownsea it was blowing quite well, and I sailed out of the harbour mouth and went for a tour around Studland Bay, anchoring for lunch and a walk off Studland. When I set off, I felt that the wind was getting up, so put in a reef. Glad I did, it blew up to F6 through the afternoon. I sailed back in and tried to trace the channels up Red Horn Lake using the Navionics app on my phone. It isn't reliable enough to find such small features. And whatever they say, you cannot see the screen contents in sunlight. I anchored for a period but I noticed that the bright sun now had a fuzzy ring right around it and thought "that can't be good". I up anchored and sailed with just jib and mizzen. Up to 5 kts downwind, and about 3.5kts across the wind.
I had planned to pick up my mooring undersail, which would have meant I hadn't used the engine all day. But off Parkstone Yacht Club the wind started to swing around and a sailing race bore down on me, and so I started the motor to get a better grip on the situation. I think it was wise, the wind was strong and the moorings are very close together. Good day's sailing and possibly the last this season.

More English Raid photo

This was taken by Jeff Curtis in the Bayraidr Spark. On the Orwell on the way to Ipswich. I have retouched it slightly as I was mortified to see that I had left my fenders dangling. They are big, blue and very effective, but not attractive. So I have airbrushed them out. Vanity, vanity...
The rest of his photos can be seen on Picasa here