THE DUTCHMAN
Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Sat 12 Apr 2008 22:36
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Thanks to Dave and Cat Prentice, plus their three
stalwart young lads, AQUILA is now sporting her mainsail complete with the new
Dutchman sail stowing system - all now protected by a very smart blue sail
cover. She has also had her first voyage of the season - all of 50
yards! This was to a berth that allowed us to be moored head to wind so as
we could set the main. After 4 hours of concentrated work (with a 30
minute interval while rain stopped play) the mainsail was bent on, the Dutchman
control lines were set up and adjusted, and all the reef lines rigged. And
then, as an added bonus, Dave hoisted me to the top of the mast to unship the
wind direction transmitter - which came off very easily. Only trouble is,
the new vane I had ordered is of a different type - so maybe I'll just have to
resort to checking out all the Osprey nests to see if I can find the
original! After the young lads had also had a go at the bosun's chair, we
had a cup of tea to round off the day, and Cat and Dave presented me with an
original - painted by Dave, and depicting our forthcoming voyage (compete with
great circle route and a very good miniture likeness of AQUILA). Lack of
bulkhead space may preclude hanging it aboard, but it will certainly have pride
at place once we reach home. Now all I have to do is cook supper - time to
tackle that onion!
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