Slow but Steady Progress

Django is still on the hard. We have rented a tiny efficiency apartment up behind the yacht club in Falmouth from our friend Bill Dunn. He’s given us a very nice deal on it. We will be here until Wednesday when Django is due to go back in the water. We’ve rented a car to shuttle between here and Jolly, and will be returning that at midday on Wednesday. Our guests arrive on Wednesday. Wednesday is looming.

It has been a very rough start to our season. Our dinghy Boffo is being replaced, but we knew that would be happening when we left for the summer. The new dinghy arrives tomorrow morning bright and early, and Boffo goes off to live with our friend Peter. The port engine has been undergoing extensive work, but the verdict was passed on Saturday: the head needs to come off. They will pull it today (Monday) or tomorrow and it will take a few days to repair. The bottom has been ground, sanded, primed and painted. Second coat goes on today. 

While all that was going on, one of the painters discovered that the central part of our crossbeam (runs between the bows) was corroded to honeycomb. The beam is rather important. It supports the head stay which, in turn, supports the mast. The fantastic news is that it was discovered on the hard, not by having the mast go over in a blow. WW had to disconnect the head stay, have the bad bit replaced, reconnect the head stay and tune the rigging. It’s easy to say in a quick, one-off sentence but, trust me, it was a lot of work.

I went over on Saturday after the end of dog- and cat-care responsibilities. Poor Django is a disgusting mess. Well, less so now as I have reamed out the galley and cleaned the soles in our berth, the galley, the pantry and the saloon. The port side will get its scrubbing when the engine has been pulled. In the meantime, I am polishing our fibreglass on deck. WW has endless tasks, great and small.

We both just want to be afloat. It’s been exhausting for WW, generally annoying for both of us, and expensive. Our friend Michael keeps wondering whether we wouldn’t like a racehorse as well. Ha bloody ha.

Ah well, this too shall pass.

Our plans for the week with our guests are necessarily fluid. We shall see and I shall report.