Landlubbers still

Well, the longed-for launch was not to be. Although the cleaning and polishing of the hull

would have been ready by Friday, a fibreglass repair had to wait because it rained in the early part of last week. Memorial Day weekend, a full bank holiday, has just passed, causing further delay to the repair. The good news is that the weather now feels more like summer  (temperatures of 26-29°C have recently been experienced), so all repairs and preparations should be ready for launch in the early part of next week now, weather permitting.

Preparations completed since my last post include: - full polish of hull, see below before and after, see that reflection...

 - full service to main and fore sails- all gas tanks refilled, 

- anemometer replaced atop the mast,  - life raft, wind steering and power-generating equipment replaced in position on stern, - some provisioning for Follyfin’s eventual departure.

Though it might seem that it’s all work and no play for us Follyfinners (and sometimes I do feel that way), there have been a few welcome diversions - mostly facilitated by our hosts Lee and Deborah. First came Mothers’ Day US style on Sunday 12 May; a most convivial event despite constant rain outside. Attendees’ ages ranged from 93 (Caroline - Deborah’s mother) down to 1 (Amelia, our youngest grandchild).  

 

So you see, our own family was also invited! The following weekend we spent in Jersey City with our family, and this was reported in the previous post to this one. Since then there have been two excursions out on the water, not on Follyfin of course, which is still on the land. Mid-last week, Cap’n Lee was delivering a power boat a few miles down the coast and invited us to take a ride with him. Skipper was too busy but I accepted ... cruising at 20kn is very different from our usual 5kn - and much bumpier and noisier. I was even entrusted with the helm for a while, 

 an exhilarating but slightly scary experience. Don’t think I will be going over to the dark side just yet...

On Memorial Day Monday, a couple of days ago, Cap’n Lee was helping the owner of an almost-brand-new sail boat and his wife to take it out into the Sound for an afternoon sail. They kindly invited us to join them.

The conditions were perfect - F3-4 wind, sunshine and calm sea. It was so good to be out on the water under sail again. Roll on launch day for Follyfin! Memorial Day was beautifully rounded off with a delicious BBQ (photo). Our hosts had invited some friends over and we, the lucky house guests, were included. For a few hours we were able to pretend we were on holiday! Back to work now though...