Tiller and Bridle or Horse

This set-up is a problem.  Originally, well, recently anyway, Fair Maid had a traveler in the cockpit for the main sheet.  That has been removed, and somebody fitted a rope bridle instead.  It's annoying and puts the mainsheet block at somewhere near head height as she swings across...

We need to come up with a new solution...

Sailing, Monday Oct. 30:

Engine in

Saturday afternoon we drew Fair Maid over beside the club jetty and swung the new motor over, using the boom as a gantry, and lowered it into the engine room.  We fitted two bolts to the engine mounts, then knocked off at that point and went for a sail.

The next step is to hook everything up:  Wiring, fuel, exhaust, sea water.  Lots to do...

Actually, there are many different and vital systems on a yacht, a surprising multiplicity.

1.  Rigging and sails
2.  Motor and propeller, including cooling, fuel, exhaust, mechanical controls (gear and engine stop), starting, gauges, and charging.
3.  Steering
4.  Anchor, lines, bollards, fenders, etc.
5.  Safety, including EPIRB, life-ring, life-jackets, marine radio(s)
6.  Battery charging (via alternator, solar, and shore-power)
7.  House power and lighting
8.  Navigation lights
9.  Head (i.e toilet)
10.  Galley, including stove, icebox or fridge, and sink
11.  Bilge pump(s) including automatic level switches
12.  Depth, speed, and GPS location indicators
13.  Navigation, including compass(es), charts (electronic and/or paper), etc.
14.  Cushions and other creature comforts.

All of this requires addressing on Fair Maid.  Much of it is present, some of it in poor condition, and some of it entirely absent.  Over time we intend on putting everything into good order, and making her as seaworthy and as pretty as she has ever been.

Sailing...

Fair Maid sails nearly every week on the Swan River Estuary.  Being engine-less for the time being, we are sailing her off and onto her swing mooring, which is only 10 metres or so from a mud bank hazard, making for a real challenge to navigation.  So far we've been aground on the mud twice, once kedging her off, and the other time being towed by a yacht club rescue boat.  All in all slightly embarrassing, but considering the degree of difficulty and our unfamiliarity with the boat, I think we've done OK.

The allure of sailing is difficult to describe to the uninitiated.  It combines many elements, all of which are fabulous: being on the water, isolated from the hard, solid, daily world; no mechanical noise at all, no fuel or oil smell either, just salt in the nostrils making one feel clean and invigorated; the power of the wind, which until it is experienced as it is on a yacht, is either unnoticed or only seen as destructive; the aesthetics of a sailing craft, which are beyond compare; the feeling of liberty which is comparable to flying; the sheer joy of the whole experience, the senses filled with sweet, gentle, things.

The following are some sailing pictures, illustrating the beauty of this part of the world and the serenity and attractiveness of sailing.

A couple of weeks ago the Duyfken passed us running her engine...

And Saturday (Oct. 21, 2017) our twilight sail turned into a half hour of magic towards the end, as the breeze dropped to a whisper and the sunset exploded into liquid gold, with a spectacular, almost mystical, counter-glow in the East, with a huge double rainbow over the City of Perth filled in with pink.  I cannot recall a more beautiful evening.