Teal sailing

Little video by Tim Cooke of Teal leaving Glandore harbour for the winter

Sail dilemma

So now that the Jib and Genoa have cleaned up so well I have kind of given up on the idea of the cream sails. It just doesn't make any sense to replace good sails that I can't afford anyway. I do on the other hand have enough to replace the mainsail this year.
So the dilemma is this, The current mainsail is not in bad shape, it just needs some patches to hold new eyes for the luff lacing and the rust marks cleaning off of it. On the other hand it is completely ruined by the big FOR SALE marks on it.
So I could go ahead and replace it and that will be about all I can afford this year or I can opt for a new mizzen, which is desperately in need of replacing plus a new staysail as the old one is very tired and get the main repaired and perhaps even a cover for the mainsail all for around the same price.
            The other thing to factor in is it will be difficult to get the money together again to replace the main and if we had it sorted we would have the bulk of the cost of replacing the set behind us.
Stupid problem I know.

Please excuse our saggy luffs, It was the first weekend out and we had the worlds worst piece of rope as a staysail halyard. You can see the issue with the main & the mizzen for that matter, The rust marks on the other have since cleaned up lovely.

Stuff on the river

100yr old Teal and 102yr old An Faoiléan

Smouldering gorse, I know they get a little grazing out of it but I don't really get it, It does smell good though. Burning Quarantine Island was probably a bit unnecessary as its about 10mtrs square 

Guillemot on her mooring

I'm not entirely sure 

Bit envious of this place and there little pier 

Packing up

We went down and cleared Teal out for the Winter today. Brought home the sails, mizzen mast and spars and put them all away. Opened the bolts on the bottle screws ready for the mast to be unstepped and cleared out the interior of all the various paraphernalia that accumulates on a boat.
She was dried out so I went over the bottom with a paint scraper, It was only really bad where the anti-foul had been scrubbed away and on the rudder for some reason. She will have the mast down and be on the hard tomorrow if she isn't already.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened beneath the waterline thankfully, she did squeeze the putty out a little as she took up but that was to be expected.
I'll winterise the engine and fill up the diesel tank etc when she is out.
Bit depressing taking it all apart again but it will be Spring again before we know and there will be loads to do, in a rush no doubt.

Thats it

The weather finally showed signs of breaking so I decided to take Teal back up river this morning. I actually managed to get the night away so I headed down just before dark yesterday evening and moved her in closer to the pier so I could access the pub for an end of season pint.
After my breakfast this morning I put up the mainsail to see if there was enough of a breeze to take me as far as the sound. There was not. So I started up and had a leisurely motor up the river. Her bottom is desperately in need of a scrub now so going anywhere at more than a leisurely pace is kind of out of the question anyway. I'm surprised she has so much weed on as that anti-foul has proved very good on my other boat over the last few seasons.
                   Overall I would call the season a great success, apart from the bit of engine trouble the first day she has been trouble free and takes no water. She could probably do with a bigger prop and I have a list of other little changes to make inside but there was no other way I was going to figure that out other than by using her. Not that I had time to do any more before she went in.
Now I just have to wait for her to be lifted out so I can winterise her and give thing a pre winter coat of varnish and a coat of paint on the canvas.

Porthole view

New book and an Oil lamp, What more could I want
(Tales from a Cornish Lugger)