Better get on and do something

So, since taking Ciao Bella out of the water there has been very little progress.  She's kinda just sitting on the front garden wondering where the water has gone.  I have cleaned off the weed and barnacles  but that's about it.
There is a list in my head of things to do, I daren't write them down as then they become real :)














While scanning through eBay the other day I saw these LED Stern lights from Marine Scene.  £12.44 including delivery seemed like a so out came the credit card.  It arrived a couple of days later and today I mustered the enthusiasm to think about some kind of bracketary for it.

The old stern light has definately got to the end of its road.  UV has taken its toll.  I had hastily knocked up a wooden bracket for this a couple of years ago.. before that it had been pointing down at a peculiar angle.

I had a nice piece of hardwood in the Garage left over from Number one sons GCSE project.  Using the table saw I trimmed off the bits that I needed and cut a groove in the back of the face plate to accept the mounting block.  These two where then glued and screwed together.

To allow the leads to pass through, I drilled though at an angle from the middle of the face plate down and along the mounting block.  Stopping before breaking through the base and then drilled in from the side.

The unit has nine super-bright LED's mounted on  a PCB with the lead soldered on. Hopefully should help with reliability as bulb holders tend to fur up.

Lamp trial fitted, happy with the position a how it looks, I have removed it again for several coats of varnish and to keep it out of UV until at least the star of the season :)

In other news, my mate Roger turned up with a very welcome gift of some Silky Marine Bright.. Should make a splendid job of cleaning the hull.. I'll let you know.

A little look back

The wanderings of Ciao Bella

Time for a little look back at 2014, and what a bumper year it was. The weather was unbelievable which led to a fabulous years sailing.  So here it is....

• 575 is the number of nautical miles sailed.
• 26 is the number of days on-board.
• 14 is the number of nights on-board.

Favorite Cruise: Has to be Dartmouth for the adventure, rounding Portland Bill, seeing Dolphins and just having a jolly good time.   Dartmouth Cruise Part 1  and Dartmouth Cruise part 2

Dolphins in Lyme Bay

Biggest challenge:  Beating past St Aldelm head when we should really have gone out past the outer mark.  Portland Cruise.

Best race:  Only one contender here as I entered my Maiden race :)  Bart's Bash

Crossing the finish line with a Contessa 26

Best mooring: Dartmouth Yacht club,  Right in the town, friendly club, good facilities.

Worst Mooring:  Lyme Regis,  Expensive, uncomfortable and a long way from the facilities.

Best Anchorage:  Warbarrow bay, Quiet, sheltered and good for a swim.

Swimming at Warbarrow bay.

Worst anchorage:  Didn't really have a bad one but if I have to choose... Brownsea island, only because the mud is particularly muddy and gets everywhere.

Best food cooked on-board:  A poor show this year,  the best I could do was tinned sausage and beans.

Worst food on board:  Porridge with water and nothing else :)

Biggest success: Passage plan in the dark back from Studland.

Biggest cock up: Oh so many to choose from... Probably going aground on the River Frome on the way the Wareham and luring in Liam to do the same :)

I've had so much fun this year,  Going to Devon was a highlight but some of the best days were spent inside the confines of the harbour.  There's a lot of work to do over the winter to get Ciao Bella back into shape and continue her long road to recovery and I am really looking forward to next years adventures.

Cheers for now

Phil