A good jobs day

Kamala in St Helier


Wind: F3/4 NW
Weather: Fair and Sunny
Miles: 4
Motor: 1hr

I set the alarm for 5am and managed not to wake the wife or any of the children. The boat is well stocked with supplied and toothpaste so I only had to get dressed and collect a few things before heading of to the boat.

5:30 was a bit early for the tide. Kamala was just about to float so I couldn't walk the bits out to her, but the dinghy was still aground. Aground and awash. The leak is so bad now that even leaving it on the mooring for an hour or so while I go of sailing sees it with a good few inches of water. I bailed it out into the mud then went for a run while I waited for the tide.

I got back to the dinghy in the harbour about a minute before it floated. Never ceases to amaze me how fast the water rises on springs. On board Kamala around 6:30am.

The jobs on the list were to fit the new guardwires (finshed in two days by Jackson's and at a very reasonable price) and rig a flag halyard up to the spreader. And to have breakfast.

I decided to see if the little harbour at Elizabeth Castle had any suitable berths for reaching across to the spreader, but even from a distance it was clear that this was not the case. Shame, as it would have been a great place for breakfast! I was going to go into the marina but then noticed the berths around the yacht club. There was one little, Kamala-sized space right in front of the Yacht club in St Helier and so that is where all the jobs were done. Including breakfast.

My sturdy new guardwires:


My new flag halyard:




Worth getting up for. A view of Kamala's home port as rosy-fingered dawn turned the streets and houses to gold: