Will it be north again this year,? Of course it will but the intention is to make it through the Pentland firth and then round Cape Wrath and if the weather is kind, all the way round via the Isle of Man and the English channel, or is it the French's this year as it's even?
My grammar teacher would be right proud of that wee sentence, come here boy, what's the meaning of this?
New bits this year - a bigger inflatable, a 4 man liferaft, screw down caps for the Dorade boxes, windvane self steering. It might not be ready for this trip but hey. The intention is to make a few longer passages this year in anticipation of sailing south next year. Tutak has an ocean cat a rating so we will see what she is like out in the Atlantic, more to the point, how I am like!
The bottom hadn't been done properly for a few years so we scraped and smoothed and painted for many days and ended up with this. Right proud I am, you can almost see Tutak blushing.
We got down to gel coat in places so we rollered a couple of coats of Hemple primer before trying some hard racing white. It is recommended for mud berths so we'll see what it's like next year.
The shakedown cruise was a jaunt of half a mile to the Fisher Owner's Association bash at Tollesbury marina. Welcoming folk they were, and thanks to David for organising.
The engine filters and oils were changed and after a little bit of fettling we were ready for the off but strong winds from the north kept us tied up for a bit longer. Finally on the 9th June we untied the lines bound for Newcastle and other places en route.
Tutak looks in top form Billy, look forward to your updates on the voyage.
ReplyDeleteSheffield Paul.