We were stuck in Bangor Marina, there was storm after storm and they were all coming from the South, so we could not start our adventure, so we decided to go back to the marina and use the opportunity as a way of sorting out all the wee jobs that needed doing. They were nothing much, but we wanted them done so we did them. So here are the jobs we did

• Put on the backstay - We had purchased a new line for the backstay, so we used a dog rope between the the top of the backstay pulley and the bottom pulley, so that we could remove the backstay line safely. Once we had the dog rope in place we simply cut off the bottom of the rope with the splice in, removed the thingy in the middle of the splice, so that we could put it in our new rope with splice in then as we removed the rest of backstay rope we threaded the new rope through the pullies as we removed the old rope. I had wanted to keep the old rope as a dog rope, but is was so dreadful that we binned it. I also made sure that the new rope was whipped at the bitter end
• Fender Line - We had practised splices on a piece of line, so I used the spliced line to create a new fender line, so that I could replace a worn fender line
• Cruising chute bag - We are using an Ikea bag for our cruising chute, so all I did was put a clip into one of the handles, so that the bag is attached to the boat, after the sail is removed
• Window extension - I used the plastic I had spare from making the windows in the canopy to create a new side panel to our extension. To attach the window to our extension I used a penny washer along with a pit of cord that I stitched around the penny washer so that the penny washer was secure, then I used an anorak toggle to keep the whole thing in place.
• Greasing the furling mechanism - On one particular day, there was no wind, so we dropped the Genoa, so that Beverley could get to the furling mechanism at the top of the sail. Every year, we clean the furling mechanism with white spirit. This year, the top section of the mechanism was particularly dirty, with some of the grease hardened, so it was really good that we did this wee job.
• Fixing the steaming light - The bulb in the steaming light had gone, so we had to get the bosuns chair out. To lift Beverley, we ran the spinnaker line back to the cockpit and secured Beverley to both the spinnaker line and the main halyard. That way Beverley was being lifted with the spinnaker line, but also the main halyard as a backup. To change the bulb she needed Cutters, double ended screwdriver, knife, pliers and insulating tape which I had to send up the mast in a wee bag. To lower Beverly, I put the main around the Genoa winch while still having the spinnaker line around the main winch, that way I could use both winches to lower Beverley

Other happenings

We had a cat visitor, in total she came onboard twice and each time we had to get her from downstairs and throw her off. We also went for a walk to see the waves, which were spectacular, but not something that we are venturing out into