Putting Aleria to bed
Alex and crew got Aleria down to Kilrush and hauled out last week. But they didn't get to remove the sails and take home all the bedding etc, only fresh food and dirty linens. So yesterday Alex and I drove down with the trailer in tow behind Lilly. There's a huge storm churning in the Atlantic and will be delivering waves of nasty weather to us. It was imperative to remove the headsail at least and to reduce windage overall. We got up at 6:00 am and were on the road shortly after 7:30. Three hours later, we were on deck and working hard and fast. It was supposed to be calm and dry in the morning. It was neither. A heavy mist kept descending and ascending, while a breeze blew steadily but not too hard. We took down the headsail first, sort of flaking it on deck, then with a halyard dropped it into the trailer parked beside the boat. Alex guided the sail while I worked the winch. It was a huge messy ball but it was down. Next alex worked on the mainsail while I worked on the mi