Travels and boat care
As Swansea do not open their lock 24 hours, we needed to anchor so that we had time to get to Padstow in the day, before they open their lock approximately 2 hours before high water. So we chose Oxwich Bay on the Gower. This has a good write-up on Navily for the wind direction forecast (NE).
This is the big one for the year! Started today Thursday 18 May – we are aiming for Jersey in June, then back to Portishead at the end of July. Looking forward to welcoming all our crew guests on Molia, and to seeing all the people we are planning to meet along the way.
We have Tim P on board for the first few days. We hope to get him as far as Padstow.
Jo and Tim in the lock.
And we are off…
We had a great meal at the newly redecorated The Deck restaurant at Penarth – although Mark is still unable to understand BoatFolk’s latest reward points scheme 🙂
(The Deck is now The Goose on the Loose.)
We have made a simple shade for the cockpit for the 2023 summer.
The shade is a square of fabric with the edge hemmed folded over twice. Holding the fabric in place with sailmakers 6mm basting tape while sewing makes it much easier!
Adding brass eyelets with the cutter and die.
The shade hangs from clips on the sprayhood rail, and bungies round the backstay.
The shade in use in Padstow harbour on a very sunny morning (21 May 2023).
The fabric used here is Sauleda Acrylic Canvas, Marine Grade, PU Coated (Navy). It was supplied by Profabrics. This is an excellent (and cheaper) alternative to SunBrella.
With Lou, Tim, Wendy and Jo on board. A perfect introduction to Molia for Tim.
We went out early in the morning, but the fog had not cleared on the river. Mark discovered that the AIS works much better when it is switched on! (It is now labelled on the panel.)
Nothing to see here!
A brisk sail to Black Nore Point and back with Tim and Steve. The rig seems OK!
Molia is back in the water for our 2023 season.
We are planning to take her to Jersey and the other channel islands this year – watch this space.
Molia is now out of the water for the winter. Many thanks to friends who helped in the pouring rain; and to Max and his crew at Portishead Marina.
What a great day – there was enough wind to sail all the way, and the sea was flat.
With lunch onboard – many thanks Niv.
Here’s to next season!
I spent most of July and a week in August helping my friend Peter take his new yacht ‘Minerva of Liverpool’ from Plymouth to the south of Spain. This was about 1500 nautical miles in total.
Peter (left) and I were joined by John until Santander, (not shown) and Martyn (centre).
Molia