Port Saint Mary (IoM) 54:04.3N 004:43.9W
Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Sun 30 Jun 2013 21:13
(we will try to provide regular updates of our whereabouts on the blog site: http://blog.mailasail.com/pelagia) Sunday 30/6/13: Finally managed to get the boat clean and ready after 4 days of hard work since she was put back in the water, not aided by the newly refurbished Turbo being fitted incorrectly and spewing coolant everywhere. The mechanic had decided to use a fluid gasket rather than the specially designed Volvo gasket.Sarah's parents Tony & Lucy were able to come aboard when they dropped us off as we had to leave the car at their house. They had not yet seen the boat and were pleasantly surprised by the comfort it offered, I think they had visions of their daughter slumming it in cramped conditions with hard bunks and substandard facilities… they should have known better! It was great that they could come on board and see Pelagia after hearing so much about her. Departed Liverpool marina on the first lock out which was 6am. The forecast was for force 4 to 5 in the Irish Sea which actually increased to a force 6 at times which had Sarah complaining about my planning. This being our first sail of the year she had hoped for a gentler start. Sarah got drenched by a 10 meter wave as she stuck her head briefly over the spray hood (in reality it was a tiny 2 meter wave that splashed a few drops of water down her neck as it hit the side of the hull). It was great to watch the Gannets again, these are one of my favourite birds (must be in the name Sarah reckons), we had one diving for a fish a mere 20 meters away from us. Picked up a mooring in Port Saint Mary on the Isle of Man… about 6 attempts to actually get the line on the mooring buoy, our seamanship still a bit rusty. Launch day: with newly applied CopperCoat, 14 new Seacocks and brand new feathering propellor. The CopperCoat will go green as the copper oxidises.  The Liver building in the background:  Gannett: |