Lively Levante's First Cruise

With more than enough work now complete for the boat to be very comfortable to live on we could look forward to having our first week on board and some good sailing should the weather be kind enough to allow it!
The first couple of days were not promising with gales all along the south coast but they were forecast to give way to a ridge of high pressure and a period of stable weather, which would be ideal - if it happened. 
Living on board with just two of us is quite a luxury now that we've got everything organised; some of the less attractive aspects such as the lack of storage and space in the heads don't matter so much . The new galley works really well, especially the fridge which swallowed up an enormous amount of food for the week. It was a shame in a way that the days are so long at this time of year as the oil lamps make the saloon so inviting when it eventually grows dark in the evening. Fortunately we've found plenty of room to keep our walking gear under the bunks in the forepeak so spent the first day walking followed by a relaxing evening enjoying a steel band that was playing at the club. 
Monday dawned and amazingly for us the wind had moderated, as forecast, to a force five so we could set off for Cowes. Even the tides cooperated with high tide at mid day so we didn't even have to get up early, and with a full spring tide we'll get away quickly. The little Yanmar engine started first time and we were soon through the lock which was in free flow and motored down past Ichenor to East head and out to sea. We'd put a reef in the mainsail to kept her stable and she slid easily through a rough patch over the bar into clear airs. With the genoa up we could see how she really performed in a 20-25kn northwesterly, this was no disappointment!  We were soon beating over to Bembridge in the company of a rather larger racing yacht and a similar size Westerly. Amazingly we held onto the racing yacht whilst the Westerly sagged down wind of us, going to windward had become enjoyable again!
After a quite exhilarating sail through the forts and past Osborn Bay we came up to Cowes just before the tide was about to turn. What had been really noticeable was how easy she was to helm, light but responsive, very different from what we'd been use too, it certainly had Lynda's approval! It's always great to spend a night in Cowes and this was no exception, just the way to spend the first night away from home.
 The following day the wind had really dropped off with only about five knots most of the time so after shopping around for the many bits of safely gear we lacked we set off for Yarmouth. We had expected to motor all the way and in bright sunshine, it was not hard to tolerate. A gentle motor across the western Solent past Newtown River was very pleasant  and a good way of building up confidence in the engine anyway. With only a bit of throttle,  she motored at a steady 5kn making little noise even though there was no sound insulation installed yet. 

Once we'd rounded the pier the harbourmaster came out and escorted us to an alongside berth; such a luxury, thanks to being out of season. With shore power connected up we were able to keep the wine and beers cold so able to enjoy a couple of sundowners  to mark the end of a wonderful sunny, summers day.
As it was all just too good to miss we decided to have a lay day and booked in for two nights enabling us to have a fine walk over Tennyson Down the following day with it's glorious views over the Needles and the Solent. We'd found an excellent delicatessen in Cowes so ate well that night on board; the cooker had proved itself too!
Time to move on and Buckers Hard the choice, without much wind it was time to relax rather than try to be too ambitious. We tried to sail but even the Contessa's hull, that was so easily driven, failed to make much progress so it had to be the iron sail again. It's not far over to the other side and into the Beaulieu river so it didn't take long and we were soon safely moored up at Bucklers Hard. It was like old times motoring up the river past our old mooring and Ginns Farm where we'd had so many enjoyable evenings. Another lay day was called for and despite a band of rain passing thorough we enjoyed a walk up to Beaulieu for lunch.

It was quite a wrench leaving such a pleasant  stopover the next day, all the more so as there was a food fair in the grounds of the Master Builders Arms which we couldn't  miss.  Although we ended up with  late start we had a brisk, favourable wind to take us home, a good15 knot southerly. With full sails set  we had a fine sail past Portsmouth in perfect conditions. Just for a change we let the autohelm take over for much of the time to get used to it and found that it also performed rather well even though it's one of the few bits of of original equipment and considered rather suspect. After several days of fiddling I'd managed to master the plotter and instruments which all worked well except that there was no way that we could display the bearing and distance to the next waypoint, it was only shown on the plotter down below, a minor incovienience.
After a fast passage we arrived just before high water, went straight though the lock and moored up in time for tea; very civilised! After a week on board it felt that all the hard work and expense of restoration just might have been worth while. What was particularly satisfying was the number of very favourable comments made by those passing by, there are clearly many closet Contessa lovers out there who envy her sailing characteristics but have chosen a more conventional, more modern, yacht with greater accommodation.  For us anyway, the ease of handling and splendid sailing more than make up for the compromise made on space in a marina.

First Sail

Nothing's easy or simple on a yacht, fitting the deck organisers so we could run all the control lines back to the cockpit and go sailing proved this immutable rule. They have to fit on the coach roof which has a gentle curve to it while the organisers are flat. This meant that we had to have some teak pads made to sit underneath them and also find a way of fitting them without having access underneath. Not too difficult to sort out but enough to

slow progress and delay the first sail.

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!

Finishing off weather

With a bank holiday weekend extended to have the whole week off we'd hoped to be able to go out and have a sail to christen "Lively Levante" and get her back into commission. Nothing too ambitious, just a trip around the harbour with a few nights at Sparkes or Northney. The cat had been booked into the cattery from Tuesday onwards to allow the first few days of the week to be spent getting her seaworthy. Naturally the weather intervened to upset our plans; although initially bright and sunny soon 50 knot winds were forecast, and did set in from Thursday onwards. Turning adversity into advantage we decided to give the work outstanding a real bash and also spend a few nights on board to get organised.

The sails proved to be one of the most awkward tasks to finish off. Whilst it didn't take long to set up the headsail after being shortened, fitting the stackpack on the boom was fraught. After several attempts and conversations with the sailmakers and Z-spars we took out the feeder at the end of the boom (rather brutal!). We then had to fashion a smooth entry in the extrusion and with a little help from a former Storm competitor that we'd met, managed to fit pull the bolt rope at the foot of the sail through boom with the material of the stackpack around it. With the sails up and after a day spent compounding the deck she looked so much better.


With several wet and windy evenings in prospect we thought that we'd spend what we'd save on marina costs on the interior and get the main bulkhead between the saloon and the heads sorted out. We gave in to the temptations to buy not one but two ludicrously expensive but very attractiveDanish oil lights. Together with the downlighters that now replaced the fluorescent strip lights and some strategically placed reading lights we had all illumination options imaginable from bright working conditions to atmospheric. There's nothing nicer that being snug down below when the wind and rain are raging outside, it was just a shame we were in a boat park and not safely tied up in some more remote part of the harbour like we used to be on the Beaulieu River.

Eventually most of the jobs were completed, as always most took longer than expected. I'm really impressed with the NMEA 2000 instrumentation, it all worked straight away after being extended. Finishing off the portlights and fitting blinds was the opposite; I couldn't face replacing all the screws with ones that were the right length so just ground them off but it was a long messy job. With most of the restoration materials and tools taken off the boat it was possible to build up a stowage plan and fit in all the bits and pieces we'd grown accustomed to having on a cruising yacht. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" is the theory but putting it into practise took many trips to various shops and chandleries, yet another dent in the credit card and lots of time but we did get there and are now, at least, are reasonably organised. We've found that a boat is just like a house, you have to live in it for a while to find out what works and what doesn't. 

It felt good putting the charts and all the other navigation stuff back in the chart table, we could imagine being out to sea even if we couldn't be there yet. Now that the electrics are largely finished and from a sailing perspective it's only the deck organisers that we're waiting to fit (which we can easily improvise) we're ready to go as soon as the weather improves.We celebrated being "back in commission" and hoped for better weather sooner rather than later. There's still rather a long todo list but it's mainly things that are non critical that can be deferred; it's time to see how she sails! So frustrating not being able to take her out yet after working solidly over the past eight months; as Paul (The shipwright) said "its time for her to start paying you back".

Afloat At Last!

Looking back over the last week, I feel it's better to focus on the result rather than how we got there, it was a tad stressful and touch and go to say the least! The good news is that Lively Levante is now safely moored in Chichester marina as we had hoped and in time for a week's holiday we've planned starting from the bank holiday next weekend.
We knew it was going to be challenging as everyone in the yard has been under pressure from owners to get their boats back in commission and in the water by the weekend to catch the tide to be ready for the bank holiday weekend, just like us. Due to the bad weather during March most owners had given up trying to get the season started with an Easter cruise so the yard was jammed full. Boats had to come out in a pre-defined order and if one had problems...
The start of the week was relatively calm with the engine being craned in which happened

without too much trouble. Having been cleaned up and with new ancillaries in a refurbished engine bay it looked like it should do with everything in good shape and in sharp contrast to it's original state.  Paul managed to finish off fitting the cooker and to install the anchor winch; he also managed to fit the collar for the mast on the coachroof by Wednesday.
The difficulties then started with the mast when Barry, the rigger, identified a number of additional items that had been missed out; fortunately he had been able to get a mast coat which could have sunk our plans, without that we would have been in trouble. With all the halyards rigged and the mast dressed he was ready for the hoist which should have been at 11am on Thursday. 
Unfortunately the crane was stuck on another yacht that had problems with the fitting of a new keel that wouldnt fit. Eventually in mid afternoon the new mast was raised into

position and, just as it was about to be lowered, the crane came to a halt! Barry requested valium, other jobs were slipped and after more sitting on hands the crane eventually got re-started setting the mast in position on top of the keel. Naturally much of the work that need to be done to set the mast up had to slip to Friday, the day she was meant to be going into the water.
Although many boats were being queued up for launched our slot came up on time just after mid day and Lively Levante was gently lowered into the water with the rigging still being completed. This was just as well as there's less than a two hour window when there's enough water to take her to a berth. It was a wonderful moment to see her back in her element at last as she was towed away to her berth, looking just resplendent in the bright sunshine. Seeing her from astern her beamy hull was deep down in the water, so different from more modern yachts that seem to sit on the water rather than in it.
That afternoon the plan was for Dale to run up the engine and make sure she was ok for the trip, yet another emergency intervened and despite the best of intentions

Dale didn't arrive. Soon the water had disappeared and there was no chance of completing this task, it would have to be done just before we left on Saturday.
Barry finished off his work as far as he could without parts such as the fitting to take the strut for the boom; we'd just have to manage with an improvised kicker. It was now up to us to set the sails and flush out any issues before we were due to sail away the next day. Naturally enough there were surprises such as a lack of mast slides and a boom that would not accommodate the stack-pack; however after a quick dash to the Marine Super Store we got on top of them. The more significant problem was that the shackle on the Furlex was much higher above the deck that the old Hood furler so we couldn't tension the genoa, not much sailing tomorrow, it would be for emergencies only!
The following day Dale arrived just as the water was flooding in and soon got the engine running sweetly. Re-assuringly it started with the first flick of the switch and water was soon splashing out of the exhaust, showing all was well. After a few more improvisations and safely stowing everything on board we were ready to go the moment there was enough water to leave the berth. Impatiently, we tried an hour and a quarter before high tide but couldn't get out, 15 mins later it was a whole foot deeper and enough to clear the mud around the berth. I was pleased to have Clive on board who knew Mill Rythe well as we followed the narrow, shallow channel out to the deep water mindful of the yacht, Sparkle, that we'd watched go aground the previous day.
We were free of the Yard at last but this pleasure was tempered by the wind suddenly piping

up from 10 knots to 25, not exactly as forecast! Despite this It didn't take long to motor round to Chichester which was all we could do really and with the lock in free flow were soon in the marina. The gusty northerly winds made mooring a final challenge but we got there in the end. It had been touch and go all week but thanks to the many players who had helped us overcome a succession of problems we'd stayed on track, she was now afloat and safely in her new home at Chichester.

Racing To Catch The Tide

It's a bit muddy out at Mill Rythe where Hayling Yacht Company is so with a deep fin keel we need a spring tide to be able to get out into the main channel. The next full moon is on Thursday the 25th so the following weekend is ideal to get Lively Levante over to Chichester; the high tide is 5 metres at 1pm, perfect!
The only difficulty is that there is still rather a lot to do before we can get her into the water and seaworthy. I've managed to finish off the electrics and electronics, so we have an echo sounder now which is highly desirable. The instruments all worked immediately on switch on, the NMEA 2000 bus is fantastic compared with all the faffing about that was needed to make the earlier systems work. The yard need to finish off the installation of the cooker,

install the anchor winch and re-spray the stern; good job the weather forecast is for dry conditions so this should be complete in the next couple of days.
The main priority though is to crane the engine back in together with the mast. The engine should be straightforward as all the ancillaries are there, it's just a matter of shiming up the engine mounts to get the shaft alignment right so that the SureSeal will do it's job and keep the water out. The Mast is more problematic with several key parts we still need that could delay hoisting it. The first problem was the furlex, which was in short supply; fortunately some prompt intervention by Richard, who runs HYC, in the form a sprint over to Hamble, seems to have solved the problem. Hopefully all other bits and pieces needed, in particular  the mast coat, the kicker and the highfield lever for the inner stay will appear whilst the mast is being dressed over the net couple of days. A brief meeting with Barry the rigger and Paul the shipwright the previous week turned out to be invaluable in planning what's needed to set the mast up; it was only then that we realised how much work was needed to fit the collar to the deck that made this mast different (but much better) than the original. It's all nail biting stuff but we're optimistic that the she will be in the water by the end of the week.

The new floor and a couple of coats of varnish has transformed the interior from a building

site into something altogether more civilised.   II'm really pleased we did take the floor out and refurbish it as that was the only way it was going to become really solid again. There's no dodgy give now when you stand on it and it looks really smart and appropriate for her age, shiny but with a few imperfections to give the "patina of age". I'm equally pleased with the varnish work which has now sealed the woodwork and put an end to all that dust from the sanding. The two pot varnish has been a great success as it meant that it was possible to put four coats on over the weekend. The saloon is now starting to look warm and inviting; hopefully the surface will be really hard wearing too. The only disappointment was the main bulkhead where some marks are left from the various bits and pieces that had been tacked onto it over the years. We'd sanded it as far as we dared go but there is a limit, we didn't want to go through the veneer, so we'll just have to find something to fit on it and cover it up!

There's Change In The Air

There's change in the air, thank goodness the cold spell has been broken and we've had a bit of sunshine for a change. The boatyard has become much busier as everyone who didn't get their boat in the water for Easter scrabbles around to finish off the antifouling whilst they can. Last Saturday the riddle of the mooring at Langston was solved; in the autumn all the boats suddenly disappeared, why? Driving past it all became clear, the owners club together to get a crane for a day and have a hauling fest; suddenly it's a hive of activity and they're all back in the water.

On Lively Lady it's been a bit of a slog to get all the systems installed but now there are real signs of progress which is just as well as time is slipping away so quickly. The Hydronic heater is now installed neatly in the engine bay and just about up and running apart from a few problems with air in the pipework. It's just like a home central heating system really with two fan assisted radiators (like car heaters) from Kurunda installed, one in the saloon and one in the forepeak. They're both connected to the tiny eberspacher heater unit using car heater hose and a gazzilion jubilee clips. You can just see one of the blowers on the right under the port bunk all boxed in so that the air gets sucked in from the saloon ducted to the blower, nicely warmed up and out again. Can't wait for a chilly evening out on an anchorage to try it out for real!

This is also where the domestic pressurised water pump, the accumulator to smooth out the flow and the piping for the tank has now been re-instated. It's been a bit of a faf to find sensible places to locate and fit everything in but this arrangement seems to work alright. As the water tank has osmosis which will taint the water we've installed two filters under the galley, one standard one and a ridiculously expensive one that's apparently guaranteed to take the taint out of the water. The remainder of the installation is in the forward end of the sail locker where the little calorifier (the blue hot water tank in the photo on the right) sits at the bottom surrounded by pipework and ancillaries. I can't get over how many jubilee clips were needed, we're now over 100, I always seemed to be at the ABC chandlery next door to get more. At least there are plenty of drain and  venting points which should help long term, hope they don't leak!

The other systems that have taken an age to install are the electrics. All the heavy current and charging equipment is now installed so the switch panel is live which was cause for celebration. On the left you can see the new battery boxes for the starting and domestic batteries, the 110 amp/hr battery here is paralleled up with another in the forepeak which should give us plenty of capacity. It's all industrial strength, fused and switchable to avoid any problems later on; hopefully this will all just stay under the covers and never need to see the light of day. Next it's finishing off the low current wiring from the panel and the NMEA network; the end is in sight!

The change of the seasons has been really noticeable, especially as the evenings are now so much longer. The geese seem to have noticed too, they were around in huge numbers a little while ago but have now left for the summer. It was quite difficult to concentrate on one day when there must have been a thousand or more geese feeding on some unfortunate farmers land adjacent to the yard. In desperation he set off a maroon to scare them away; it made a mighty crack and sent them all up in the air, at least for a while, an amazing sight!

Lively Levante

It's just great to be back outside away from all the dust of the osmosis shed. It has been convenient to be under cover but now the hull is finished and watertight it's so much better to be outside. Even though the weather is rather cold and wet, at least most of the work to be done is down below. We're now on the far side of the other workshop in a sheltered position, and most important of all, adjacent to a power distribution panel to gain advantage from the work over Christmas installing the shore power system! The rain has washed away most of the dust leaving the hull sparkling after Bassie had done such a great job of polishing it a few days ago. At long last it's starting to feel like a yacht again now that it's more complete and after the removal of many of the boxes inside. The new instruments and compasses give her a very different feel outside, still traditional Contessa but updated.

The last big job got started this week, the removal of the floor which we'd left to the last. Naturally there was  a bit of a horror story underneath but nothing that's been too difficult to remedy. The floor bearers have delaminated and are caked in baked on engine oil and dirt. It's now cleaned up, repaired, and with a new hatch making the area look like new; hopefully James will be able to give the floor itself the same treatment as well as strengthening it and tidying up the access panel surrounds. The countdown to re-launching in mid April is generating a sense of urgency now! there's too much to do and only a few days left so it's time to have a hard look at priorities and defer all the other things that can be done later when she's in Chichester.


On the positive side the galley really has started to come together. The corian top that's now in place complete with new fiddles all round looks both smart and practical. It may not be the cheapest way to go but we really wanted a change from tiles.  Eggo has made a particularly neat job of the cold-box lid which fits snugly and the infill for the sink has a chopping board in the reverse side; a nice touch of luxury! The job now is to put in all the plumbing, connect those taps up and get the water system working.

After much too-ing and fro-ing with the Registry of Shipping and Seamen we've finally got the name sorted out. As it's fully registered, not just on the small ships register, we've had to choose a unique name and most of the obvious ones have already been taken. After Shamal, Meltem, Lebeccio and Alize we just had to name her after a wind and Levante, a breeze that blows around Gibraltar sounded right. FIrst we tried four different spellings but they were all taken, then a few other more obscure winds, we were trying to resist the suggestion from the Registry folk that we add "of Chichester" to the name. None of this worked but we finally thought of "Lively Levante" which, we think, is particularly fitting for a Contessa and that proved to be unique and is now her name. With this critical decision behind us it's now possible to get on with all the other bureaucratic stuff like radio licences and the more interesting choice of the sign writing on the stern.