Aleria's Adventures

This past weekend, we finally had a chance to launch Aleria . The weather was calm and sunny on Saturday but we lost several hours when the keel kept getting caught on the straps and we couldn't leave the launch well. Finally, Alex and I lifted the straps and untied the ropes the yard had used to tie the two straps together. It was hard work but we were finally free.  Our first task was to liberate halyards that were stuck at the sheaves at the tops of each mast. We each had to climb a mast. He got the main this time and used the Topclimber. I got the mizzen and was winched up in the bosun's chair. Missions successful.  We shlepped lots of boxes of stuff from the car to the boat and laid out lots of ropes in preparation for raising the sails. The wind, contrary to forecast, was stronger than expected and out of the east. We were facing west at the dock. We tried to turn the boat around so we could hoist the sails into the wind, but the engine kept shutting down. The fuel filter

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