The first views of the completed paint job

We've just been sent these first photos of the completed paint job. Quite a transformation, don't you think? Graham visited on Friday morning but that was before the blue stripes were added.





The shiny mahogany-coloured paint below the waterline is the Coppercoat antifouling and they have achieved a really smooth finish so we should be good for an extra half-knot of speed!

We'll get new graphics for the name on the transom, refit the boarding ladder and Windpilot steering system then she'll be ready to go back outside to have her mast rigged. We can't wait to see her for ourselves.

The repainting project moves on

The process has moved on from stripping old paint and sanding the hull to applying the first 4 coats of primer. It was all going too well, of course, until we received an email from the yard saying that, after the first coat of white primer, they'd found lots of pin-holes in the gel-coat. Apparently this can happen with older boats and the suggested solution was 3 more coats of primer, applied with a roller rather than sprayed on, to fill all the pinholes. This has been a success but has added cost (no surprise there, this is a boat after all) and has requred extra sanding down.





The first gloss topcoat will be sprayed on Monday, followed by a couple more. As you may have guessed by the primer colour, Maunie is going to look a lot lighter! She looked huge in the spray-bay!

Ashore for some serious winter work!

Maunie's now out of the water for the first time in over 2 years (the odd inter-tide dry out for antifouling excepted)- we have a big winter makeover planned!

A couple of weeks ago we groped our way up the Dart in seriously thick fog to get to Baltic Wharf in Totnes at high tide. We were hauled out onto the quay by a very professional team and spent the weekend preparing for the next stage of what will be an interesting and expensive few months. We removed sails, boom and halyards then disconnected the mast cables to allow the mast to be lifted off a couple of days later.

After a bit of swearing and some hot water, all the seacock hoses were persuaded to come off and the seacocks themselves (probably the originals) loosened for later removal.

The big project ahead of us? Well, Maunie is about to get a smart new paint job and an anti-fouling system called Coppercoat.



We always planned that one day we'd have to repaint the boat - the original dark blue gelcoat looks lovely from a distance but, in previous ownership, Maunie's suffered a fair few scrapes and dings and we've probably added a couple since. The hull is also quite abraded in places where she's rubbed her fenders and we've joined the commonly-held opinion that dark blue's a nightmare to maintain. It absorbs the heat of the sun like mad, too!





So we're having her repainted in a new colour - won't spoil the suspense by telling you which just yet.

Once the mast was removed the first job was to blast the hull clean of many layers of old antifouling paint. The contractor did a brilliant job, taking 3 hours to do what would take painful days by hand, and the hull is in good condition; it's remarkably smooth after the blasting. We'll have 2 coats of epoxy primer applied to give it a good protective seal before the copper-rich Coppercoat paint (which does the job of antifouling without the hassle of annual scraping and repainting).





The work is being done by Baltic Wharf Repairs; director David Sharp showed me a SS31yacht he's just repaired and repainted after a very nasty collision with a fishing boat, so we're confident that Maunie will look fantastic when she rolls out of the shed in a month's time.

Will keep you updated..

Dartmouth Regatta 2011

Once again we were aboard Maunie for the Regatta but, for the first time, just the two of us. We had some excellent sailing and the racing fleet enjoyed Force 4-5 conditions for most of the 4 day series so there were some entertaining moments. We went out to the big-boat course on a couple of the days and hove-to near the windward mark to take photos. The absence of the Red Arrows was sad but otherwise there was plenty to watch in the river, with lots of helicopter displays and an amazing parachute display.


Mind that mast (1)




















Mind that mast (2)





















Mind that seagull!

















How not to do spinnakers:
























We're planning winter work on Maunie so will probably just have one weekend's sailing left before she's lifted out for the winter. We'll keep you updated on progress.

Proof that Laura saw dolphins at last!

After years (about 10, I'm told, not 7 as previously mentioned) of failing to see dolphins with Laura aboard, her reaction as they (about 20, I'm told, not a dozen as previously mentioned) came alongside this time was suitably euphoric!

Photos from our final night in the Channel Islands and the passage home

This was the view from Maunie on Friday evening from our anchorage in Havelet Bay, just outside St Peter Port. Castle Cornet is a fascinating fort, with layers of ever more recent fortifications including German gun emplacements from the occupation. We enjoyed a very peaceful evening, with a few sea shanties wafting across the water to us - Friday Night is Music Night at Castle Cornet apparently.


Beating back towards Dartmouth




A slightly chaotic handover of the helm - an unplanned gybed followed seconds later!


Order restored - Amy back in control



Last job of the evening, back on the mooring in Dartmouth - Di makes the bread for breakfast

Photos from Sark

Here are a few photos from the past couple of days:


Climbing up from the anchorage at Havre Gosselin on the west coast of Sark


The view down to Havre Gosselin - with the private isalnd of Brecqhou in the foreground and Herm in the distance


The first view of Sark for most visitors - the tunnel leading through the cliffs at Maseline Harbour on the east coast.


Main Street in Sark - the taxi rank and bank


Maunie at the Havre Gosselin mooring, with the tide sluicing between Sark and Brecqhou behind her. Our previous experience of an overnight stay here was of some very rolly waves so we elected to head back to Guernsey for a more sheltered anchorage.