Gardening

One of the joys of retirement. I have more time to do the garden!
To this end, I recently regained control of the upper garden slopes and woodland. Several days were spent bush cutting down the brambles, bracken and overgrowth. some brambles were over an inch in diameter, mega beasties!

found the steps again

The steepness makes it treacherous under foot, particularly an issue when using a bush cutter. but it is done.

Found the wendy house although I suspect it is time for it to be demolished

The hazel bushes have been trimmed and felled in places and devon hedged. However, specialist help in the form of a tree surgeon and his team were required for some of the work. Several trees needed felling in order to open up the garden slope.

Our aim is to return it to bluebell woodland and to create a green corridor linking several gardens with the field further along the hillside.

It has been worth the effort. In the last two weeks fallow deer have returned, pheasants have wandered back down the lower garden, the fox is back and wild garlic is now flourishing as ground cover. All in three weeks. Been worth the effort!

I am feeling guilty about the squirrels though. They are feeling slightly displaced and confused!

In the meantime, as I finish this blog post, it has been snowing for several hours. This is highly unusual in my neck of the woods, given how south and coastal we are. A stiff easterly gale is causing blizzards periodically and the east facing side of trees are lined with snow giving the woodland a very wintery feel.

catching up

Today I managed an hour in the garage. Freezing, dressed in thermals with two woolly hats on to help the ear not worsen, I managed to round the top yard and sand it. I then added one coat of varnish. Rather exhausting and so I retreated back to the warmth upstairs. In the meantime cough and ear infection continue unabated. I may have to recourse to a second doctor visit and worse still antibiotics - ugh!

On the plus side, depending on whose viewpoint you follow, the house smells wonderful. Varnishy smells are percolating up from garage below. Her indoors, on the other hand, doesn't quite see it that way!

A welsford navigator across the pond

well having been dragged to the doctor by her indoors, to gain confirmation of a severe ear infection, I have been confined to the house. And this has given me time on my hands, so I've caught up on some reading. On duckworks, I came across this lovely short article by Tim Ingersoll about his navigator. So much of it resonated with me.
A lovely piece of writing, thanks Tim.

http://duckworksmagazine.com/2018/02/lessons-learned/

sleepless nights and wood shavings

I'm not that often unwell. I have a teacher inbuilt immunity, developed over countless years of countless classrooms and teenagers. I've had brushes with some serious illnesses but, touch wood, so far have managed to get there early each time and so been able to take preventative as well as reactive treatments.

But I have to say this week I have been struck down by a virus - you know the one - a throat which feels like you swallowed a chainsaw. A cough which makes you feel like a chainsaw is running amok in your chest and lungs and a headache which feels like some one inserted a drill through one ear and out the other.  And no it isn't man flu!

The upshot of this is I havent had more than about 3 hrs sleep each of the last five nights and the only way of getting any sleep is to sit upright on the sofa wedged in by pillows.

Now I share this not to gain sympathy. Her indoors had to look up the meaning of the world when I mentioned it a few days ago; but because, when suffering most, I get the greatest illumination! Like a bolt out of the blue.

I have been fretting for sometime why I cant get Arwen's sails to set properly. It is the design or the cut of them and despite being quite disparaging of myself I do know one or two things about sailing now. So when all of that is eliminated, then what is left?

I must have done something wrong when building her and fitting her out. Nah, can't be. I followed the plans religiously; I triple checked. I then checked another three times after that. I can't be that dim!

And in the middle of a severe hacking coughing fit at 3am it dawned on me - the top yard is 4cm square; not 4cm in diameter! I made it square at the time to save time to get out sailing with the intention of coming back soon after to round the spar off. Only I never did! It should be 4 cm in diameter. Which means there is much to shave off. No wonder it has always been hard to haul it up!!

So, for an hour each day, I have hauled myself down to the garage and through earache, throat ache and cough, I have made the spar gauge, made the securing chocks and shaved the top yard 4cm in diameter.  And when I feel better next week I will make a start on the sprit boom as well.

Illumination strikes at the most unusual times! Sadly, having not improved as I'd hope, sanding will have to wait until next week; as will the sprit boom.

DCA south west group meeting

I spent a very pleasant afternoon and evening yesterday with some talented, good humoured, enthusiastic and knowledgeable people talking boats, sailing destinations along the SW west coast and other bits and pieces. It was  real pleasure and joy to listen to people sharing their boat building and restoration stories along with tales of small boat cruises.

A pub lunch, lovely walk along the river, cuppa in a local café followed by anther pub evening meal and meeting after.

I picked up a number of ideas. Bearing buddies for the trailer was one. A really good informal demonstration and explanation of the navionic chart app for android phones was another. I arrived at the realisation that maybe my white tarp and water pipe cockpit tent may need a slight upgrade (although I don't dinghy cruise often enough to warrant the outlay on something like a duck cotton tent).

Another handy hint, carry a small pot of touch up paint and when there is a scratch or ding, sand it immediately and paint over. Oh how I wished I'd thought of that one so long ago - it would have saved such current anguish over the state of Arwen and the need for this winter refit.

In listening to people and their various stories and experiences it did occur to me that I really don't know enough about sail trimming and rig tuning to get the best out of Arwen. Having sailed for seven years now - I've only averaged around 8 trips a year and most of those are day sails. In terms of sailing hours I guess Arwen and I have amassed something like 400 hrs of sailing since first learning in a laser 1.

I need to contact some navigator sailors, specifically those using the standing lug sail sprit boom yawl configuration. I need specific rig tuning advice and tips.

In the meantime, lots has been achieved: the rudder restoration, new mast supports when trailering boat, a galley box built, a broken cleat replaced, mast fittings tightened and odd shackles replaced, boomkin checked, floor rails on anchor buckets, collapsible sleeping platform built and fitted, mast re-varnished, some hull dents filled, sanded and painted .

So what is outstanding in this refit/refurbishment?

• replacing a through coaming fitting which came loose where the furling line runs
• installing a bilge pump
• repairing a slight crack in the mast foot box
• making a cover to go over mast slot in thwart to sop rainwater collecting in it when Arwen is on the drive
• repainting cockpit sole with interdeck grey paint, which I may even extend up onto the rear   cockpit thwart tops
• some trailer maintenance - re-greasing rollers, replacing a missing rear roller side roller, cleaning wheel rims which have rusted over time, re-inflating tyres to correct pressures after resting over winter
• moving some hatches from thwart side bulkheads to actual thwart tops
• sanding and recoating rubbing strips and gunnel rubbing strake
• painting hull interior
• new varnish to coaming seat backs

Arwen has been neglected for seven years so I guess  its hardly surprising some remedial work needs doing. After all she lives under a tarp on the drive most of her life and I've been remiss in maintaining her. Those odd little jobs that needed doing, well they amassed over time!!

onwards and upwards......a busy week

It has been a busy week. On the work bench now finished - clean up of an old seagull outboard; the sleeping platform and mast supports sanded and Danish oiled. I'm about to disappear in to the garage to finish the sort out of Arwen's equipment. I assembled the runners on the anchor buckets last night and reassembled anchor chain and warps, mousing (? - I think that is the right term) all shackles with cable ties.

I've sorted through toolkits and refined them slightly and reduced the number of spares I carry. I have to put in a new cleat when it stops raining, if that ever happens!

Rudder has been repainted and assembled. Mast refurbished, so only spars now to go and in main they just need a few holes filled and sanded, where I have moved hardware about. Outboard needs a quick service and I am thinking of doing that myself if I can find any information on the internet about how to do it.

On a different note, I have been doing lots in the garden over the last week. We have the upper garden on very steep slopes and it is ancient oak woodland. I allowed it to become neglected and overgrown so this week I cleared 2m high 4cm thick brambles and lots of bracken. I felled 16 small, stringy ash saplings to give more light. and did some hedge coppicing with old out of control hazel bushes and trees. The result? Well this morning we woke to discover fallow deer in the upper garden grazing young shoots. It is so nice to have the deer back in the garden after an eight year absence; along with a fox who is starting to stroll through on a more regular basis; as bold as brass he comes down to sit on the veg boxes so he can stare in the kitchen to see what we are up to - cheeky mite!

Found the long lost steps

Fair to say old Wendy house has had it

Hedge felling 

Found the old tree house but will be taking it down now and reusing the wood for new raised beds for lavender plants

Thinned out spindly saplings and cleared the brambles. 

Ready for chopping in to logs although an old work colleague suggested building a KON TIKI 2

So, some saplings to cut into firewood logs tomorrow; a scheduled rescuing of the cherry tree from ivy and buddleia overgrowth; reducing hedge height and thinning it out between us and neighbour and then the tree surgeon coming back to thin out and lop some of the trees to allow more light back in. Our aim - restoration to full bluebell woodland which is what it was many years ago. It is part of an ancient woodland corridor and nature reserve area so this management will help enormously.

Busy, busy, busy and hopefully some sailing and testing of the new galley box in the next month or so. In the meantime, some more walking on Dartmoor, this time a very pleasant walk with friends up to the ancient Wistman's wood

Dinghy cruising: New article on creating video films in boats

Part one of a three park series now published at http://duckworksmagazine.com/2018/02/so-you-want-to-create-successful-sailing-videos/

Dinghy cruising: building a galley box for a dinghy

Part two of my article about building a galley box for Arwen is now available at http://duckworksmagazine.com/2018/02/building-a-galley-box-for-arwen-part-two/

There was a lovely comment from Seth (thanks Seth) about permanently attaching the straps that keep the lid on to the bottom of the box so that I never misplace or leave them behind somewhere. A great tip much appreciated Seth - thanks.

There is now just a series of three articles to appear on Duckworks magazine about what camera and filming gear I carry on Arwen, how I go about creating a short sailing film and how I am slowly establishing my own YouTube channel. These articles will probably appear in March sometime.

In the meantime, sleeping platform, and mast rests have been Danish oiled and are drying in the garage and I am slowly reassembling what equipment I carry on board her. Although Arwen's hull needs a fresh coat of paint inside and out, I may well slip her back in the water earlier than I intended for some end of winter/beginning of spring sailing and will then take her out again for a paint over Easter/May time when hopefully we will get a few days of sunny dryish weather.

The last of the 'The Gran Canaria Travel Diaries' The second walk to Roque Nublo

Here is the last of the video travelogues.

You can download a playlist of the other video diaries at www.YouTube.com/c/plymouthwelshboy

For the rest of the blog posts associated with our tour search the January 2018 folder on the right hand side of the homepage on this blog.

For those of you only interested in Arwen, normal service will now be resumed. 

dinghy cruising: building a galley box - galley box for Arwen article now published

my article on the galley box I made for Arwen is now published on the Duckworks magazine website. Part one can be found at http://duckworksmagazine.com/2018/02/building-a-galley-box-for-arwen/

I guess part two will be out next week.