We'd planned to take her out for a while so when the appointed day came and the conditions turned out to be perfect, bright and sunny with a north westerly force 3-4, we were really pleased . With some help from Clive we soon got started on sorting out the many control lines, separating the ones we'd use regularly (like the reefing lines) from those we'd only use occasionally (Spinnaker lines!). Naturally once we'd got them in place we realised that they wouldn't work very well that way round and had to re-reeve them in a different order. This was due to the winches being on the mast side of the jammers which is the opposite of the way modern yachts would have them. With no room to fit more we just had to make sure that winches would be available, at least most of the time. With the wind coming from the bow we were able to try hoisting the main sail and pulling in the reefs, which was just as well as we found that they didn't work. The folds in the sail were not long enough to enable the reefing cringle to reach the horns on the boom on the new mast; we'd have to improvise!
After a couple of hours of faffing about and with the tide rising nicely we were keen to get out of the marina and sailing. Once clear of the lock and into Chichester Lake we hoisted the mainsail; in a light breeze disturbed by the trees we unfurled the genoa and sailed fitfully towards Ichenor. It's always a pleasure to switch the engine off and set sail but that moment had a special significance and although it wasn't exactly fast, it was wonderful to be underway with just the sound of the wind and the waves lapping around us.
Once clear of Birdham we got into some clear air and she started to speed up, Soon the sails were in tight as we sailed, close hauled up the channel. The headsail looked surprisingly good and only needed some minor adjustments to the sheeting angle to make it set well. The mainsail looked rather sad at first but we soon realised that despite it's looks it needed quite a bit of tension to pull it into shape. With the knicker hard on and a bit of clew outhaul the sail set well and looked remarkably good for one that had seen many years of use, it was certainly going to be good for another year or two.
It was amazing how little effort was needed to propel the hull forward, she just slipped through the water with such ease. In 15 knots of wind we were soon doing 6 knots through the water according to the log, not that I'd want to trust that figure without calibration. Whatever the actual speed she felt fast and was responsive with just a touch of weather helm, just what was wanted. It felt like all the work over the past eight months had been worthwhile, she was going to be great fun to sail!
The recent spell of remarkably stable, sunny weather had been ideal to complete the varnishing of the interior. There hadn't been time earlier to strip the woodwork around the companionway, the table, the heads and all too many other areas but a spell of settled weather had been ideal to get all this finished off. Naturally it's a messy, time consuming job but satisfying once done and (hopefully) the last significant job outstanding. It's meant that the heads are now finished off and looking more complete now that the sliding door has been replaced. We had hoped that the list of jobs outstanding would be much reduced after several days with James, the chippie, on board and another couple of weekends spent finishing off. Unfortunately it's as long as ever but that's probably the way it will stay for a while, but that doesn't matter now we're sailing!
