London Boat show, 2010

I braved the snow and the cold to visit the London Boat show on Sunday. First time I have been for many years. It is not my sort of show, being mainly plastic power boats and expensive fashion. But it is interesting to see. Matt Newland was there with the first BayCruiser 23 on the Classic Boat stand. A strong family resemblance to my Daisy Grace, but look at the decks! Beautifully laid Douglas fir. I would be terrified of walking on them. The aft deck is so big that I am sure most of the extra length is taken up there. The cabin is bigger too, so the cockpit is much the same size, if not a little shorter. This first BC 23 will be sloop rigged. It will have an electric motor with a solid bronze drive leg mounted in the outboard well, with a folding propellor. I will be interested to hear what range it gets on charged batteries. The boat at the show did not have its mast and rig, which will be interesting to see in place.
I have fitted slatted floorboards in Daisy G's cockpit, but haven't been able to get to her for the best part of two weeks because of the snow. I bought some extra bits and pieces for her at the show, including some miles of cut price rope from English Braids, which I have various plans for. Role on good weather.

(PS If you look carefully in the top left corner of the picture, you can see a photo of Daisy Grace on a test sail at Cardigan on the stand's poster.)

Serious daydreaming: winter boat house

Finding a winter store is such a hassle and having Daisy G. in a cold barn about 12 miles from home is not ideal. I have been doodling ideas for a perfect boathouse at home. We have the land, but it is a funny shape at the end of twisty narrow lanes. I have been experimenting with a remarkable free drawing program from Google called Sketchup. I hadn't been all that impressed when I tried it some months ago, but now I am really looking into it I am very impressed. It really came into its own when I discovered that you can download endless things other people have drawn. No one has done a BayCruiser (yet), but I found a Whitehall pulling boat and a trailer. With some judicious strecthing they are now the sizes of mine. I can pull them in and out, and test whether they fit in or not. This is the result of just a few hours practice. Fuly 3D, dimensioned and the roof cut away to show the interior. Need to check the detail sizes of the real boat and then see if I can fit it in my garden.

Winter jobs: chart store

Finally getting a few winter jobs done. Daisy G. is now being stored under an old straw barn roof on a farm "somewhere in Gloucestershire". Out of the rain and well ventilated.
One thing is finished at last. There was nowhere to keep charts close to hand and I had nowhere to keep my Portland Plotter or dividers (not that I use them, but I like to pretend). I have made a shallow box out of plywood with a timber edging on three sizes. This is glued to the inside of the main bulkhead. This gives a space which will take folded leisure charts or a book of tough charts just by the companion way. They can be reached there from the cockpit or from inside the cabin. The wooden slot on the front holds the plotter and dividers decoratively on view. The area above might be used for a clock or a picture. The wooden bracket above is where I store the GPS/compass panel which slots into the companionway under way.

My summer sailing area

My summer sailing area! This is Studland Bay, just outside Poole Harbour, where I like to coast along in the sunshine. Photo from the Daily Mail taken on November 15, 2009. Shows the wisdom of hauling out for the winter. I hope Old Harry and his wife are still standing when I get back next year.

Updates on winter work to Daisy G

Daisy G is now ashore for the winter, currently under a tarpaulin, but I hope to get her under a roof at some stage. I have recently been reading about dreadful after sales service from some yacht builders, so I thought I would give my own experiences.

Daisy G had very few problems, but the only one of significance was the rudder blade, which got steadily stiffer and stiffer in the rudderhead. I could only raise or lower the blade by getting into the dinghy and forcing it up or down from outside the boat. Not good, and when I told Matt newland at Swallowboats he immediately said "That's not right, we'll have her back and sort it out". The little video on the previous post was her going off to Cardigan behind Matt's car.

Two weeks later, Matt towed her back to Gloucestershire and handed her back to me. Brand new rudder blade installed. I had also said that the jib sheets chafed the edge of the cabin top. Now there is a hardwood edging with a brass rubbing strip behind the cleats. As you can imagine, I have the greatest respect for Swallow Boats.

The new rudder blade is interesting. if you compare the old and new in the pictures, you will see that the new blade is narrower and longer. The old blade stuck vertically down, which meant it got quite heavy on the helm in a blow. The new blade will stick down parallel with the transome, which means it will point forward slightly. This should make it much lighter, and is the form adopted for BayCruiser no2.

Now there is just the work that I want to carry out in the cabin to make it a bit more homey. I think Matt is worried that I am going to double her weight and then complain she is not as fast as she was. He probably has good grounds.