Sold..!

Toy Box was sold last month to Steffi who is going to rename her.. It was a hard decision to make and even now I am not sure if it was right.I have bought a new boat a Foxhound 24 which is going to be my companion on my trips around. I picked her up from Roskilde in Denmark and after an interesting week aboard finally got her home to Schleswig. I will write up the trip when I get time to do so. So unless anything drastic happens this Blog is gong to stay online as it is. I will add a link to my new blog as and when I get around to starting it..

Thanks for reading this so far.. I wish Steffi al the best with TB I know she will look after her . and TB will look after Steffi as well as she did me..
I am off away sailing my new love who is named.. Jimoni.. so folks .. thx again..

Jim

Sunday 14 April

It was friday afternoon that with the help of Steffi I finally got the mast sorted out and setup ready to sail. So a couple of hours on the water was allowed to calm down from the stress of it all... The spreader bars hd become jammed in the mast at an angle, I shall have to get a better look and sort that out when I take the mast down in autumn.
So plans were made for a sail on Sunday and Steffi bless her was raring to go. The forecast was good with F3 to 4 with sunshine and 17 deg. We met at 1000 and after an hour cleaning the deck, (I didn't want the new head sail foot getting grubby).
We set sail and soon had the new head sail set. It was a good romp with Toy Box simply over on her rail and charging away. We logged at one point 6,7 knots and were making a good 5knts close hauled. I was impressed and am pleased with her performance.The sail at 9,5qm is a little too long in the foot and fouls the shrouds but apart from that all is well. I will only be using the sail in light winds as above anything above f3 Toy Box is just as fast with her working jib.
I made a series of short films and simply threw them together on YouTube here is the result

 Jidzo sailing

As you can see it was overcast all day long, also if you are sharp eyed you will see i managed to drop the videos in the wrong order..We changed down to the working Jib after lunch as the wind had picked up. I really enjoyed having Steffi on board she can sail the boat quite well and it left me time to film and simply relax and be a passenger on my own boat.I look forward to sailing with her again in the future.

Well as you can expect Toy Box is back in her mooring and we are all now simply waiting for the season to get underway ..

Relaunch 2013

Managed to get the boat relauncher ahead of the forcasted rain, blasting cold wind from the east, still she looks good back in her element. Now all we need is good weather! 

Another day spent on "refit"

I managed today to get the anti fouling on and even fitted the new cleats to take the halyards when the sails are raised. So quite pleased with myself. I sat in the cockpit and simply took in the sound of the wind, it was blowing about a 5 or 6 from North East so was chilly but the sun was shining and the world felt great.
Toy Box was getting herself ready for the water as well, I could feel the surges of power going through her every time a slightly stronger gust hit her mast and transferred the power down through into the hull. She seemed to come to live with a pulse of her own, willing me to get her finished so that she can turn her bow to the waves.instead of the blank wall of the boat shed.
I opened up the storage bins and dug out the old can of white paint I had there and painted the insides of the bins. It will simply make getting things out of them "nicer" as apposed to scrabbling about in a grubby hole now when opened there is a white area of hull to look at .! 

The epoxy on the keel was still not hardened through so am hoping it will be ok by Saturday when I intend to have her brought to the crane and lifted so I can sand down the area and get the anti fouling on.. Then Monday morning is launch time.. I hope !!

 Here a short film I have put together.. please leave a comment !
Schlei scenes ..A short video have a look what do you think ? Should I carry on

Spring Refit the second time around !

Today I managed to take advantage of the "warmer" (5degC) weather and of course the wonderful sunshine, and do some work on Toy Box, she now has all the lines from the mast leading into the cockpit for ease, of course the safety aspect cannot be ignored. Not needing to go forward on a lurching deck in the dark to sort something out is a plus when sailing alone. I am surprised it has taken me this long to fit the bits and bobs I have had some of them laying about for years..!

Here a photo of the main and job halyard with their new clamps and winch !
I had help from a work colleague (Steffi) who unlike me has all her German Sailing papers.I have "only" my RYA stuff saying that I have never yet been asked to show them anywhere..Yet.. grins.It´s nice to sit and chinwag whilst actually doing something on the boat. let´s face it aftert 5 months of winterit was simply wonderful to be outside again if if it is still chilly in the shadows.
I managed to slap some epoxy filler onto the damage on the Keel today so that should be dry in a few days..says 24 hrs at 20 deg.. ! so it is getting help from an infrared lamp ! ..
I intend to slap the anti-fouling on tomorrow so will be busy with that most of the morning. I shall have to finish off the sanding of the keel when the epoxy is dried and then anti-foul the rest it at the same time. 
Here a photo of me under the boat today .

 Here is a photo taken last summer whilst sailing on the Schlei.

I met and sailed with Peter last year he also has a Jidzo and made the trip through the canals from Bremen to visit the Baltic. Here is a short video of him sailing in the Schlei taken from aboard Toy Box.

Peter's Jidzo sailing on the Schlei !

I have heard from him recently and he is thinking of selling his little boat ! Shame as she was nice looking with a lowering mast !

 

I dropped in to check up on the boat yesterday afternoon good job I did the shrouds had worked loose in the last storm and the mast was just short of falling over. I quickly did a temp repair..

Well I spent an hour in the freezing cold today and got the lower shrouds sorted and tightened up nicely so there is no chance of the mast crashing down in the near future.. grins, my own fault I must have not tightened the bottle screws enough when we raised the mast.. Ah well no damage done. The cockpit is full of snow and ice so no work going on there until the thaw.!  Took a couple of pictures and a short film to give an idea of the temperature.I am already thinking about what to do next winter. I think the way ahead is get all work done in October and simply leave her standing on the hard covered until a day or so before her launch when I can quickly step the mast and slap on the antifouling. ! Last year I launched on March 23rd, unless the weather makes a drastic turn it will be later this year..! 

Video of Harbour

Sunday and it 's snowing as if it was never going to stop. The wind is causing it to drift across the fields and around the house making it look ever so like Christmas.. I was hoping for Easter myself with sun daffodils and all the other stuff.. you know sailing and being able to go out without a coat !
The boat is simply going to have wait under the weight of snow untill the weather clears up, at least this cold winter will have reduced te amount of bugs and stuff that plague on on a warm evening at anchor.

Me I am going to carry on varnishing the wooden parts of the boat that I have here at home and keep myself warm. I hope if you are reading this that you are alos in a warm place.

Spring refit 2013

I had to postpone raising the mast as a friend let me down.. I am rather onnoyed about that as the weather will not hold for long and I need to get it done. Next winter the mast stays on I do not need to lower it as long as all is workig up top. ! So Tuesday finished early at wrk and came down to boat .
It took just 15 mins to raise and set the mast the help was reqiured for just 5 mins of that time..So now I can get on with other jobs as well.
I have now rearranged the lines on Toy Box so that the halyards now lead back into the cockpit along with the kicking strap and the topping lift.
I set the new (used) foresail and she sets very well even if she is a  little on the large side.. I can only really test it once Toy Box is sailing ad can see where it fits and where it doesn't But the leading edge reaches from deck to the mast fitting with only a small amount of room left over. Looks as if it was made for Toy Box..
I am so looking forward to the start of the season and being back on the water.The small winch I bought two years ago along with the line clamps will be fitted as as soon as the weather allows as after the early start of  what appeared to be spring have ended, as a strong easterly wind brings icy cold with it.. Winter is once again returning to make life miserable.

The epoxy I require to repair the damage to the keel has arrived and once again this will also have to wait until the temperature rises to allow me to use it, plus 10 deg is recommended so once the sun is back I will warm the area of the keel and get that job done ready for the anti fouling to go on...
I shall have to sort out the tools on board and see what can be taken off the boat.. I seem to carry way too much weight on board with spares and such..but then again it is better to have them and not use them than not have them with you when you need them.!
I have sewn a new boom tent and wil be finishing that off once I get a second pair of hands to help me get it straight on the boat.. Not easy to measure up and hold at the same time.. I am looking at this first cover as a test piece. so if it goes wrong I can start again as it was not that expensive to buy the material.The problem lies in my sewing abilities.. Not being as good as I thought I was .. grins..

I was in the water last year in March I hope I can say the same again this year.. Easter is early and it would be nice to get an Easter tour in.. ss long as it is dry and not too cold why ever not..!

March 2013

Well it has suddenly become warmer and so I spent Friday afternoon taking the cover off Toy Box, she was a little gruby but all is well with her.
Saturday despite the weather once again turning cold, I spent 5 hours polishing the topsides to get them back to white again. I still need to wax them but I am pleased with the result so far.

Monday I am going to try and raise the mast and start measurements for the new Boomtent I am going to make on my new "1954" sewing machine..!

So all in all the season can slowly et going again !

Well the winter is still here and I am getting tired of waiting for a warm day or two so that I can work on the boat. I have sold my larger head sail as it was not the right shape for the boat and had little difference over the normal Jib. I am at this very moment waiting for Ebay to tell me if my bid on a used sail is going to be enough to secure it ! Keeping fingers crossed of course