1st sail of the season

It was the latest start we've had to our sailing season but better late than never.
The weather has been beautiful for the past few weeks so as soon as we got the chance we
made a point of getting out for a sail.
We were happy to be able to get off the mooring at low tide with plenty of water to spare.
The kids were all at school so we had just about enough time for a leisurely sail around Sherkin Island and through Gascannane sound.
We had an unusual visitor between Sherkin and Heir Island. He was still clinging to the shroud when we left the boat.

An Emperor Dragonfly, New to Ireland apparently and rarely comes to rest,  

Better late than never

So after watching the Ilen launch we figured nothing else was happening that day and the only way we would get launched was to hang around all week. The next day didn't look anymore promising and when we arrived on Friday the scrappers were cutting up the crane !

We had only planned on sailing the Sunday of the Baltimore wooden boat festival this year because I had a charter on Saturday and couldn't take the day off, but the chances of having Teal in were getting slim. A few phone calls on Saturday morning raised hopes, so we formulated a plan and had our registration penciled in. Another phone call and that was that, boatless for the boat festival.

We headed down to join in in the evening anyway and got tickets for the skipper & crews meal where curiously we were given a table, but not chairs ! Well what could we expect when we showed up without a boat. Few pints and all was well.

On the plus side I managed to get Teals mooring sorted out so now she has enough water to keep her off the bottom on spring tides and then this morning Teal at last went afloat. We headed straight down and took her down the river and back to the mooring. She didn't appear to be taking any water considering we have had lovely warm weather for the past couple of weeks and everything went fine.

Maintenance was keep to a minimum this year with the plan to trailer her home next Winter. The biggest issue we had to deal with was the fact we pulled down the halyards as the mast was meant to come down this Winter but as that never happened I had to make my way up to the masthead to feed them back through. That was ok as far up as the spreaders but a bit more nerve racking above that as my safety ropes being the throat and peak halyards were both below me. We also had an issue with the spreaders. I had noticed some black under the varnish last time they were down which has now turned into a hole of rot. For now I have shaped a piece of Iroko 3ft long and glued and bolted it across the effected area so it will last the season but new spreaders are a must.

Patch for spreaders

She always opens up a little on these few seams so a bit of soft putty helps her along 

Ready but trapped