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

Tuesday

The rolls from Maasholm bakery are simply great, I can fully recommend them. a great breakfast of bacon rolls ..I decided the only way ahead was to motor and  sail back down the Schlei..The forecast was now for rain and storms for the rest of the week and after such a crap 36hours I decided I was not going to bother with trying to get out on the Baltic.

I cast off and motored against the wind and waves down to Kappeln passing under the bridge again..there were quite a few boats coming back this way.I had decided to pass Arnis under motor and then set the sails and sail down the long stretch of water to the next bridge around 5 miles away.  I turned the last corner in Arnis and saw the white water that was ahead of me with the wind howling through my rigging.. mm not a place to be. I turned around and ran into Arnis yacht club to await the weather front passing over.3 hours later saw me under motor again..the wind had died a little and was not enough to power me with any speed over the waves..
I stayed on the motor now all the way to where I met Ulli with his little boat on the GroßeBretie.. we then sailed back together.. the wind died at about 2100 and i started the motor again.. clunk..the shear pin for the prop snapped and left me sitting there in the middle of nowhere..Ulli bless him towed me back to my mooring. I dread to imagine what would have happened if it was 24 hours earlier.. Toy Box would now be a pile of matchwood and fiberglass on the beach !

Ulli´s little boat..! 

Another lesson learnt.. I am even after all these years still learning and spending my life with good luck following me. I hope it never runs out.

Monday..no sun day

Waves were sloping over the deck in the morning as the wind had gone all the way around to west leaving me open to the force of  the wind and waves.. The anchor held well and I was not too worried the wind was going to die down later.. So I was led to believe..I spent the day reading and planning what I was going to do for the rest of the week ahead..Wondering where it would take me.
Time flew by and I was still sitting there awaiting the wind to abate.. the Anchor alarm (depth sounder) told me that I was dragging the anchor towards the shore. Decision made I was going to weigh anchor and motor around to the harbor itself and take shelter there.. I should perhaps have gone sooner the waves by this time were reaching over 1 meter in height.. I went forward and dropped the anchor ball and started to raise the anchor, the wind was strong and tore the ball away from hands as I tried to secure it.. Bugger another 10er gone..The anchor was really deep.. how come my alarm went off.. I was not thinking straight and simply raised and stowed it quickly before getting back into the cockpit.. I was knocked of my feet by one wave and felt rather small in all this power of nature.20 minutes later I was safely at a mooring having given all the big boats a bit of a shock seeing me coming in..Toy Box being so small in comparison.

Oh well I learnt a lesson ..it can be too late..if you think about it do it ..or it may be too late..! I will admit to scaring myself a tadge..we all learn from our mistakes next time I will be more careful. It was late and I was now tired and simply wanted to use the loo and go to bed.!!

Saturday eve..at anchor

At Anchor..Sunday eve saw me tucked in behind Maasholm the wind was now from southeast and I was safe here for the night.. Forecast was for more of the same weather. My plans for a trip out onto the Baltic itself were slowly diminishing as the wind was definitely not that I was expecting, what ever happened to those balmy days in July as I was a child and youth ? I seem to be simply plagued with bad luck in my attempt to sail to Denmark again.
It was only last year that I sailed from Flensburg with Toy Box to take up her new mooring here on the Schlei, was I never to leave the entrance again ?

I settled down to a peaceful night despite there being a 25knt plus wind howling over the peninsular in front of me.. the water around me  was calm, I was only 100meters from land. Around me was several other yachts all thinking the same as me and saving the mooring fees in the Maashlm harbour..It sarted to rain..and I mean rain..it came down in buckets

This was to be the way ahead for the next 24 hours..!

The Sun day...

I awoke after a good nights sleep to the gentle rythm of Toy Boy as the bow  rose and fell with the waves.. Waves ? I was surrounded on 3 sides by land and the forecast said I should be ok .. Instead of the said southerlies it was blowing out of the northeast.. Exactly in the direction I wanted to sail..I anchored in a small bay with a long sandspit along the southeasterly side and had expected to see even more of it as the southerlies uncovered it... Now it was a case of  beating to windward for the rest of  the day. So off we set close hauled in a  freshening breeze. I thought I had seen a friend of mine passing under the bridge on his way home.. I was to think of him later that day. After sailing past the larhe ships moored there I passed under the next bridge at Kappeln

Summer sailing ...I laugh !

I had been planning this trip for weeks and looking forward to it for months. Perhaps that is the thing one does wrong, anticipation being better than the real thing.. What ever, I had 10 days to sail to my hearts content my intention was to use then to the best.
So plan was sail as much as possible without motor..Friday was a day of little wind with Saturday being the same until midday..So Saturday midday I was aboard with provisions for a 4- 5 days with the intention of a resupply underway.I sailed with a light wind northeast towards the Missunde straights and passed under the lifting Lindaunis rail bridge at 1945hrs. I decided I was going to anchor in a small bay I knew a mile or so north of the bridge. this I did in 2 meters of water. Safe from all directions apart from the northeast. The forecast was for southeast/south winds so I slept well. I took time to tidy up the boat. As always I seem to generate a large amount of "mess" everywhere.

I spent a while contemplating the weather forecast and it´s affect on my trip. the following week was set to ba a great one with light southerlies to southwest and sunshine. i looked forward to getting over to Denmark again with Toy Box. With this thought I went to sleep feeling satisfied and happy...

Back onboard

It has been a strange few days without the boat. I awoke 10 days ago to feel dizzy and nauseated, and felt very unsure as to what was happening, it was so bad that I had to hold onto the bed whilst laying on it as i thought I was going to fall off ! After a weekend of worry and fear for the worse I was diagnosed on the Monday afternoon as having an inner ear problem, this after a CT scan to make sure I had no brain..tumour..I was advised that the only way around it was to carry out a special manoeuvre which entails throwing ones upper body and head into different states of repose holding the pose for a minute and then doing the same again on the other side.. the problem is getting better.

I left Toy Box to her own self for the whole time. I returned Saturday and fitted her with the new solar panel I had purchased with 20wts it is double the capacity of the old one.The weather was not as fore casted...again and so I decided to make the most of it and went window shopping instead.
Sunday lunchtime saw me on board and I actually went for a short sail around the local harbours, a bit daft as the dizziness is only being suppressed with drugs. I am to see a specialist tomorrow I hope he can help clear this problem once and for all.
As you can see from the picture it was a little bit dark at times even in the middle of the afternoon, though it never rained.
I did my good deed for the day by rescuing this lovely toy for a chap who said his rudder had stopped functioning.. Seems it shot off into the distance and simply stopped working.

I reunited the owner with his expensive model declining the cash reward.. I can be nice sometimes.. I now await 1, a favourable visit at the Doctors and 2, favourable weather for the weekend, being a public holiday thursday I have taken friday off to elongate the weekend.!

Sunshine and a light breeze..!

I returned Sunday afternoon to find all well apart from the howling of wind through the stays and lines of every boat moored. Weather for Monday was promised as being a Northeasterly which was going to be great for the trip back down the Schlei, it runs roughly Southwesterly from its start all the way to Schleswig..I slept well on board and was getting used to being on board. It is nice to get back on the water and meet new people I find boaters especially sailors to be friendly bunch in Germany with less of the snobbery one finds in England. this is reserved for the "new rich" here, or at least that is how it appears to me.Maasholm is originally a fishing village.
The Statue is a reminder of how Eels were caught in the winter months to help them get over the long winter months. They were simply skewered with the fork in the mudflats.

Long winter months .. to the south there are summer like temperatures but up here in the north it is still chilly at the present with 10 deg C..Monday is going to be 15 deg so keeping fingers crossed.

  Monday morning and the wind from last night was gone and instead the sun was shinning at last..After a leisurely breakfast I sailed away from Maasholm with a following wind..Slowly.as the breeze was light.It was to be the same for the remainder of the day  under a blue sky I sailed down the Schlei untill I dropped anchor in a small anchorage and simply watched the day end with a meal of bacon and mushrooms..luverly grub

 Here a few pictures seen from my boat as the evening drew to a close.The young couple were simply passing through and I thought it looked too good a picture not to take it.

.

The sun sunk behind "Burg" the hill top used to be a "Viking" settlement and still shows traces of the fort etc if you take a walk around. The whole of the Schlei is steeped in history I would love to write more on the subject from a laymans point of view. I think I shall have to do some serious research for that.

Tuesday morning I awoke at 0530 as the boat was swinging around on its anchor as the wind had increased causing the water to reveres it´s flow or something . I actually felt dizzy laying in my bed with the view constantly changing so swiftly. I decided to get up and make a move back to my berth in Schleswig. Mike Fish or who ever it is had forecast a stiff breeze and at 0630 it was already blowing a good F4 and I didn´t want to risk being stuck in the Anchorage all day through too much wind even if it was from the right direction. Under main alone we were swept along at 4,5 knts and quickly made it into the berth.. I am not too pleased at the German style of berthing with poles and jetty.. bloody difficult to jostle around with 4 lines at the same time with a stiff wind from astern trying to shove the boat at an angle to the berth.
I took the idea this trip not to use the motor unless really required and that plan i stuck to. Apart from Saturday morning when wind rain etc made it a must i only used the motor to give me steerage way through the bridges and at anchoring up when I had to test the depth the old way.. I must get the transponder sorted asap.. All in all I am pleased with the way things went.. Costs were 5 liters (actually a little less) and 16 Euros berthing fees for the two nights in Maasholm. So not an expensive trip by any means I and I have left enough tinned food and water on board for another trip later this month should the weather allow.!
Thanks for reading the blog.. drop me a line or leave a comment.. cheers.. Jim

April showers

I managed to get away a little earlier than planned for and arrived at the berth a little after 1300 on Friday afternoon. It was dry but was blowing half a gale from the west. Micheal fish must now be working for Windfinder.com. I was caught out in the gales that hit UK in the late 80´s I was windsurfing in northern Holland and had a fantastic time..! Back to the present ..i took my time packing all the gear on board, do I really need that much food and stuff for 4 nights away ? Finally with everything stowed in the fashion of what has become a case of "junk on bunks" I sat down and had a cup of coffee whilst contemplating the situation.. There was no other boats getting ready to sail..mm what to do ? Strong westerlies meant that the water level at my berth were becoming low, if I did not sail soon we would be sitting on the bottom if the wind kept up. Because of the shape of the fiord the prevailing wind acts like a tidal machine pushing the water in and out. So decision made I was going to set sail.. First of all a reef was required.. I was reminded by something Steve wrote to me, "if you are thinking about it, it´s too late.".So reefed down and nr 2 Jib set I left the berth under motor for the first 200 mtrs. to windward. Then Helm over sheets in and off we went ! Flat water and a beam reach.. with F6 of wind ..wow exhilarating to say the least.. swiftly passing Gull island I headed NEast and on a broad reach was soon up to 6,8 knts ..without a tide ! Toy Box was low in the water due to all the stores but she seemed to really like it. We flew towards the first navigation point which is the " Enge" it is a sandbank that reaches left and right into the deep water channel making it a maximum of 40 meters wide at this point. We slipped through here with a current that pushed us through despite being in the wind shade of a stand of large trees. I passed the sandbank about 15 meters of my port side. Then followed a quick crossing of the open water and into the small winding stretch of the fiord the Missunde Enge..

 Still under sail we carried on nort east with the plan to drop Anchor near the small island that would shelter us from all directions.. Fishermenn seemed to have taken a last resort chance to lay nets along every stretch that I thought suitable to stop over.. A quick look at the Chart and decided to go for broke at the next cove ahead.. Forecast was westerlies becoming south and then strengthening from the east. Dropping the hook with its new ground tackle in what was to be an ideal place to stop over.. The wind died down and apart from the sounds of nature I was alone with several million mosquitoes.. This was not discovered until I arose at 0530 to find the boat covered in them.. I had not one single bite though... do the things metamorphose or something..into biting machines.?
I slept well with the knowledge that the anchor was going to hold no matter what.. The forcast Easterlies were not there.. it was blowing strongly from the Northeast and looked like rain.. I decided to get under way on motor and see what the day brought me..

I managed to stay under motor for the next 4 hours with rain and wind becoming more severe as the morning went on. I passed the SS Alexandra as she left her berth in Arnis for the trip back to Flensburg.. Steam and the smell of coal filled the air..
I simply carried on and decided to stay over at Maasholm untill the weather cleared on Sunday afternoon.I am now in Kiel and will return to Maasholm tomorrow afternoon.

Other Owners..

I have just finished packing my kit for "The Cruise" .. I am off from Friday sailing until Tuesday..Forecast has changed once again.. it is going to be a case of suck and see..

I have today received Emails from two other Jidzo owners, one from Germany the other from UK .. I am hoping they will contribute a few pics and stuff to the  "Jidzo" site" as well as exchange ideas and experiences with our boats.  Perhaps if interests grows I can add a simple forum to the site. I wish both of you safe sailing and a "hand spans water under the keel" ..

This is Cheap Cheap owned by Alex in the UK.. I really like the way the nonslip areas are in blue.. I am tempted to follow suit but with grey once I get around to giving Toy Box a facelift..A nice looking boat Alex.. If you have any more pics I would be pleased to see them.. How is the cockpit drained on your boat? I need to look at the way mine is set up.

My new Anchor chain is fitted, 6 meters of 6mm (1900kilo breaking strain) weighs about 6kilos  attached to my 5 kilo Bruce and the rest with 12mm (2400kg) line.. I used 8mm stainless shackles which are rated at 3200kgs ..so Toy Box is going to be pretty safe sitting at anchor in future..Nothing like being sure when sleeping aboard to be still in the same place when you wake up. I have a Fisherman's anchor as a spare on board but do not like the bloody great thing with it´s flukes. But a kedge anchor should be carried...

I was asked about weight distribution on board.. I have all my kit placed either in the centre or as near as possible to it. with toolbox etc under the V bunk to balance the outboard out.. I feel she is fairly good balanced and even with all my cruising gear she still makes a good speed..( I logged 6knots last weekend).

So Folks next posting is going to be over the weekend when I get into a harbour with WLan.. If you are out sailing take care..