Spray Hood adjustment

As originally fitted, the spray hood frame was mounted on the top rail of the gunnels. This meant that the crew (or owner - usually one and the same) had to tread all over the bottom of it when a hand was needed to go forward of the cabin. Clipping on to go forward was made difficult and the centre mooring cleat was also hidden from view. The owner considered this not particularly satisfactory.



The end result

On a wet day (there have been many this month) the owner was visiting Vagabond in her barn and thought it would be an appropriate time to resolve this issue. The spray hood was removed and the frame pivots undone. After an hour or so "fiddling about" and a discussion with the boat builder, it became clear that the pivots could be repositioned onto the cabin sides.

Appropriate wooden blocks were cut and two were glued onto the inside of the cabin wall (out of sight in the internal locker area). Whilst the epoxy was setting, the two external blocks were spruced up and varnished before being screwed through the cockpit side on the inner blocks. Al that remained to do was screw the pivots to the blocks and refix the frame.  

OOPS. The frame wouldn't fold flat, because the frame shape was an even semicircle  and it fouled the cabin roof. The owner recalled his pipe bending skills and eventually shaped the frames into graceful D's to provide the necessary clearance.

More tracks to be published soon. I bet you can't wait!

Ramsgate to Dover

The Owners Agent and I are now of no fixed abode. On Monday last we moved out of the house that had been the family home for the last 39 years and are now in a "holiday let" waiting for the purchase of our next home to go through the various legal hoops. We have frequented charity shops and ebay pages to "downsize" our household effects: the remaining items are located in various storeroom and friends houses.

Suddenly I have time on my hands to paint and varnish parts of Vagabond, culitvate the (newly acquired) allotment and review our exploits last summer.

Today, it's the track of the passage from Ramsgate to Dover.

The wind was astern and you can see that we gybed a few times on the way!