Haha, me too! I set up that shot to fail. I genuinly thought the rudder would stick again and need a bit more but in she went!!

Yes, surprised me to be honest. I thought I would be there fettling all day but it must have been about there. Good news!!

@@SailingWithDave Some jobs just go to plan easily and others fight you all the way. It's just the nature of these things. Have a good Christmas Dave.

@anotherangleUK Cheers Phil, same to you!

I've read mixed things about galvanising paint, but I guess if you cut something then its better than nothing. I imagine not quite as good as proper galvanising? Have you used it at all?

@@SailingWithDave yes the guy that did my trolley welding recommended using it

@@Spud63 oooh, its on the Christmas list then, i'll need some for my trailer!!

Haha, she's not been out for months actually so it was good to have a fly!!

Hi Louise, cheers for the comment. That opens up a big debate, believe me!!! I made and tested a harness strap and got quite a bit of flack for that. Some liked the idea, some thought it was dangerous on a dinghy to tie yourself to it. It has left me partially confused!!! I still have one but haven't used it, I guess I sail in conditions where its not really needed.

Good advice. I hink this has tabs to connect one too and I have plenty of webbing left from my tent projects so will try and make one.

Haha! I'll have to call the next sea voyage "the voyage of Sinbad"!!

It's proven to be a great PFD. I do like pockets and this one has a lot of them!!!

Many thanks for the comment, hope it helped!

My partner has one of those as she doesn't really come sailing very often, so just wanted a cheap one. They're really good for the price and work well. My little one has one too and the straps for her are really good on them. I actually rate the Decathlon stuff. The sailing gloves have outlasted anything else and are stiull going string and the waterproof boarding top I have is very handy for a light shower and still works well too.

I wish it was, I could use it to go back in time to brilliant sailing weather days and go sailing!!!

Definitely a better fit and I love all those pockets!! I looked at the Palm kit too, but I think many of the ones I liked were simply not in stock.

Aha, yes I think it snaps in onto an adapter. I have a cheap knife that keeps going rusty and needs sharpening so I may have to look for one soon!

Cheers FIbber. I really do try and show the thought process as often in the sailing world you don't get that and its hard to understand why people do things. Glad to have helped!

Cheers for the advice David. I check the top chain part periodically, especially where the shackle is attached, but the chain was new when my mooring went in so it's still in good conditions. We have lost a few boats the past few years though, that have broken free. Fortunately they don't get very far. One got stuck on the nearby shore and the other at the top of the lake!! One of the boats has a very long strop and mooring buoy which I have to often negotiate to get out onto the lake, I know what you mean by keeping them shorter and not letting them wander off!!

Many thanks for the comment David. Oh Yes, I think there was one of those for sale about a year ago. Bacially a Lugger but with an inboard engine. Definitely would make for a great shallow waters boat. The rudder on the Lugger is a bit of a pain!!

Hi Paul. I love my little dremel and its definitely seen some decent use in the 3 or 4 years I have had it. I think the battery lasts a decent amount of time, i've never run out when needed, maybe needed the 2nd battery on high use days. However for me having a battery version is essential due to the remote locations I work in. I could run one off my camper battery but thats a bit awkward. Its a proper "Dremel" brand and you can get all kinds of accessories for it too for cutting circles and routing etc etc. I also have a little Drill press jig that I got for Christmas last year that turns it into a drill press. I use it in the van sometimes!!! I use it a lot more than I realise. When you work out what bits do what then it really is a swiss army knife!!

Definitely on a Drascombe it does!!

Yes, especvially on a lighter boat where you can pootle along quite merrily on 20-30% power.

Cheers Phil. Big job, made all the more difficult with dodgy fitting stuff! I don;t think anything fits right on a Drascombe, part of the "charm"!

I think Dave's lugger will end up like the Sailor's Knife, it will have had three new handles and four new blades, and be as just as good as the day he bought it when he comes to sell.

Hmmmm, well I have literally never had anything that fits, so this is no exception. The top bearing doesn;t fit at all, but the lower one at least just needs a bit of fettling!

I htnk thats what I did last season. Of course no tide on the lake but I attached it to the chain. I thin I like that best.

Definitely needed to get that crack done and quickly. It ended up almost double the size by the time I got home!!

Hi Christophe. If I keep the motor at 300W, about 1/3rd power, then it goes for about 5 or 6 hours. At full power it lasts about 1.5 hours. It's a little underpowered on the Lugger, noit quite getting her up to hull speed, even on a flat lake but its more than enough for a calm day out or getting on the mooring. I wouldn't use it on the sea though. I also have a home made scooter backup battery that works pretty well too, so plenty of battery for a long day out if theres no wind. If you search the channel you should find lots of videos about the ePropulsion outboard. Its particularly good on the Mirror. It'll last all day long!

@@SailingWithDave Thank you for your answer. 5 or 6 hours !!! I am surprise ! (on a good way🙂) In this case, I must think about ePropulsion on my sail and oars little boat (3.90 m, 250 kg) when I'm on the canal which goes all across Brittany.

@@christophe6065 Yes I think if you're careful then you can get that. There's a video where I use the epropulsion on the River Dee. That was about 6 miles and I was 80% the last half. I still had plenty of power left. The trick is to not get seduced into doing hull speed. Its amazing how much power you need to eek out thaose last 0.1 mph's!

Practise definitely makes perfect and the trailer is now properly tweaked so she comes back on level. The new swinging cradle just took time to get right.

Hi Paul. On the back burner for now. It was a difficult project to get finished. The whole back of it became a bit of a challenge so I basically ran out of time. It's not dead, but just dormant once again for now!

I will have to try and remember! I do put the original date in a field when uploading so I was hoping it would show up somewhere!

@@SailingWithDave It may do and I haven't looked or listened properly. It was just that apart from the fact you were putting the boat in the water and not taking it out (so to speak) everything looked like it was this week.

Oh ytes, lots of Faffing going on this season to get everything ready! I think you also get those "not sailed for a while" jitters so you want everything working properly!

Thank-you very much Kimberley!

Hi Kimberley, The outboard is a 6HP Mariner, but one thing was that the throttle was rarely above 30%, in fact I was surprised at how little throttle we needed to keep going. I guess its hard to work out what HP was being used as the scale of throttle to HP isn't linear. I also have the "Sailpro" propeller, which is better suited to sail boats. I think it gives the boat, almost like, more torque at lower speeds.

Cheers Marc. Feeling much better now, yes I too hope I never need help on the water but you never know!!

Hi Donalh! Many thanks for the kind comment. Still plenty to come and glad you're finding them useful.

I haven't read that book yet but would love to read it, although someone else told me it's the quickest way to be put off the sea!!! Apparently they spend most of their time on the side!! Bit like Webb Chiles and the Lugger where, granted he did cross the pacific ocean, however the Lugger was swamped for half the trip with him keeping afloat in his inflatable for weeks until he could bail the Lugger out. To be inspired often takes someone crazy to push the boundaries though!!

Hi Christophe. Yes I did, last year some time, but they are "Adventure Expedition" lights. Right here: www.adventurelights.com/product/guardian-expedition/ Very clever little lights. The batteries last ages, they have a long range and you can flip the batteries over and they flash instead of stay on. I carry them as emergency Navigation and anchor lights, although on a dinghy you rarely need any!! Shoip about for them as the prices varied wildly.

Good advice, I htink this is the first of a few storms coming too. We're in for another good winter I think!!!

@@SailingWithDave I assume we are none-the-less going to get to enjoy during this winter, the last (wet) summer again vicariously through your adventures. I look forward to it. I swear there are traces of webs growing between my toes.

Many thanks for the comment Jago. Yes an Enterprise is the big sister to the Mirror in many ways. Both Jack holt designs and still popular dingies. Alas for me the Mirror was a tickle too small to take cruising but I do have plans to get her out on the sea next season. I sailed her at the end of last season again and forgot how much fun she was!

Oh yes, takes me back a bit that one, those summer days on the lake were unbeatable. Such a lovely place when the weather's like that!!

Cheers for the comment Tim and glad you liked it. Just watched this video myself as I remember the shackle going overboard. So glad it wasn't the block!!!

YEah, its a bit of a tangle in there but not much you can do about that in a little box. Should be good.

Here's hoping! I think its tad too low but if it works then i'm happy!

Cheers Marc, yes a lot better than the first one. This should be a lot more waterproof!

So Battery box MK1 used my old "all-in-one" charger but it was flwed really. the connectors rusted up quickly on the sea and as soon as any water got into it, it just failed. I salvaged the battery from it, but the rest was gone. It was a very old power bank, not very big so it wasn't a big loss. You definitely need better connectors that will resits the water and salt.

yes, especially with the winter we'bve had!

I think you;re referring to the new lower rudder bearing that I fitted over the winter. In order to check if it lines up you need to feed the rudder into the 2 bearings and you can;t do that onl the trailer, even if you move the rudder slot back to clear the trailer. I "think" its about right as there are guides in the fibreglass to set the bearing in. but until I test it you don't know! I couldn't do that today as I couldn't get Lulu into the water, but next week we do!

That doesn;'t surprise me. I fyou look all aorund the world, heat and rian fall records are constantly being broken right now. It's not good is it?

Hi Paul, Cheers for the comment. I used Waterpoof Ripstop Nylon, PU coated 80gsm. It has a Hydrostatic head of about 1200mm. www.profabrics.co.uk/products/waterproof-ripstop-nylon-pu-coated

Yes I agree on the mental health, us older guys need to talk about it more and also health issues. Not soldier on as we tend to do. Hopefully thge water wont be as bad as last season. I remember missing 2 weeks of sailing for holidays and then another 2-3 due to the water being super high!