2025 plans

 went to see the harbour master at Aberaeron today to see if moorings were available for November onward 

looking good, so get the boat prepped for the sea and a new adventure in 2025 

Sad day

 Sad day today. Should have been doing the Bala long distance race. Would have been my 3rd maiden sail on a new boat for the race unfortunately bad health and a few niggles with transportation and rigging have not let me progress to getting it launched on time

On a good note my old boat Black Magic did start the race and I hope Dave had a good lap of the lake , always next year , at least the mast is up on Aquila but the rest of the rigging is to be sorted to how it should be …….

more kit

Whinch to be used  replaced the cable with dynema 6mm or 4mm
 

 

gin pole

 after doing some research about mast raising solo or easierr with 2 people i have decided to go down the gin pole raising the mast route 

so i have ordred some alluminium tubing and do a 2 piece setup 

thanks to the many you tube channels for all the different ideas 

top of pole arrangment

purchased from metals for you 

more to follow 

Mast raise day 1st June 202

engine fully in up position in cockpit 

angle and postion of controller to remove easy 

engine fully down in the cockpit (storage)

 0720 myself and my helper Sophie set off to Bala to attempt to raise the mast on Aguila.

it looked like it was going to be a nice day at Bala and no rain as such till late.

the car was packed with kit to do any job that needed to be done.

we set out to first untie the mast  move it back and slot it into the tabernacle, we managed it with a lot of juggling around.

we also tested the engine in situ as it has to go from underneath as the motor and prop is too big to go down the engine slot, after alot of jiggling we worked out the best way to do it, not easy at all.

then howard and John R came over and we got the mast up , at first the shrounds were holding us and then the jib forestay , we did achieve our goal   with mast up the shrouds were tensioned

spare wheel was taken off after last trip to get over the ramp failed

using my bluyeti 600w power bank and disc cutter.

stuff prev on the boat was taken off and the sail was added for storage and 2 external cushions.

not much water had leaked into the boat so fairly pleased as we had a lot of rain .

i routed some  ropes but some were tight at the top of the mast so i reckon it may have to come down

boom wasnt added because of this, the rear stay was put on and all seemed fine 

it was now 1pm so we packed up and headed home a busy morning .

internal pics

original layout

ori

 

18/5/24 boat move day

 got the the club at 8am ish 

had to sort the jockey wheel as it was too low so couldnt get it to car hitch , had to empty car boot to use the car jack, job done readjusted so i could use it properly 

 

opened the cabin window and gave  the boat a good airing all day . finally finished around 1630

didnt have time to do the mast windex install, do that next week

loaded what kit i wanted to keep on the boat the rest was brought home.

overall it is a project but the boat can be sailed once rigged.

 the electronics look a bit sad and tired so i will rip them out and do a new cockpit fascia board varnished and then mouny the new Garmin striker vivid 4c a race watch and the nasa clipper wireless wind 

the internal wiring i will completly renew , sttart afresh and use 12v 7ah sealed agm batterys which are very portable  and should last a while, the boatttt did havea sollar panel so seew hat that can do 

ive got a victron smart controller

oh well overall i can see the potential so im pleased , got it for a good price despite the problem with the trailer , that cost me £397 for the starboard wheel hub and bearing the left side needs doing as thats bad as well.

then the brakes need fixing on starboard side  then the brake cables need renewing as they are rusty

for now get boat launched then sort later.