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 !