Hythe, Toddling and more HUGE Nordhavn time

We escaped from the polishing and general "catching up on neglected boat maintenance" thing when the Toddlers needed some help for hospital trips etc. So, we headed down the wonderful M4 - at least it is wonderful once you get past Newport, the stupid two lane tunnels and the looooong 50 mph limit section. Thanks Mr Drakeford for yet again canning any improvements to the M4 in that area which is the cause of daily traffic jams........

Some nice weather allowed a whole bunch of hot air balloons to be out near Bristol but getting a picture of one through the car window at speed was tricky, as you can see:

It was a beautiful sight though and it felt almost summer like and rather tranquil..

After some taxi jobs, we made a point of seeing Anne and Izzy again for lunch. As you would expect, Izzy did the usual looking cute and optimistic thing, charming the waitress into cuddles and treats:

She even made friends with Basil the daschund on the table next door, tried to scrounge food from them but when we  all moved onto the coffee and cake course, she gave up:

On the way back to Penarth, we made the kind of diversion that only people with no sense of direction would consider. A trip to Eastbourne to see Alex, Gisele and to spend a night afloat on their HUGE Nordhavn 55. I think we've mentioned how huge it is once or twice before and you've seen the pictures. Many moons ago, before becoming an airspace design supremo in Brussels, Alex was a 737 pilot for Transavia and this mug was very suitable:

although we do think that having pilots who can read and spell would be an advantage in some situations. The drive back to Wales in torrential rain around the M25 was less joyous than than the hot air balloon spotting trip we enjoyed when heading east.

As the boat hadn't been run since our return and because the forecast was for a calmish and dry morning, we decided to do our usual up and down the bay trip. A chance to warm up the engine, wing engine and all the electronics. Departing the berth we were careful to do it properly and not use the thrusters as the weed around the berth had grown almost to the surface. We didn't fancy sucking that into the thruster propellers and then trying to repair the damage. Our bay trip looked and was rather uneventful / almost boring:

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but it did the job. Upon return we had a boat that did not want to turn through 180 degrees and drop nicely onto the berth. The copious amounts of weed just grabbed the keel and stabilisers and tried hard to prevent anything other then forward motion. Yes, the Indian summer we enjoyed had caused other issues. Since more autumn weather had descended upon us, polishing was put on hold and the little Brompton bikes had several outings for leisure / shopping. A little exercise felt good after time in the car. On our rides around the bay, we spotted this rather opulent cruise ship:

It is really an example of how the other half live. 228 passengers, two helicopters on board and a submersible too. Quoted as "6 star luxury". You do wonder why it schlepped up the Bristol channel to the less than beautiful Cardiff docks. 

The bikes are very good news now - the aforementioned Mr Drakeford and his mob had introduced the 20 mph limit on nearly all the old 30 mph roads in Wales. The one benefit is that you have more time to avoid the multiple potholes and admire the cyclists overtaking you. Fine in dangerous areas but it seems to have been overcooked.  As an ex car company service guy, the lunacy of making most ICE cars run at a speed where they are less efficient and hence producing more CO2 over the journey is beyond the captain's comprehension. As are far too many things these days. We are proper dinosaurs.

Maintenance News:

The rather warm engine oil got sucked out and the main was spoiled with a fresh filter and nice clean oil, for the "not doing much" part of the year ahead. The new wiper blades that we fitted in the summer got taken off to preserve them and some older versions refitted. Then the sad bit - removing the flybridge seating and bimini cover, treating the remaining bits with Boracol to stop them going nice and green during the Welsh rain and generally trying to tidy up. Our now topless look was snapped by the same local photographer who shared the images of us arriving through the barrage locks:

Hard labour and visitors

Having returned to Penarth rather early this year thanks to the rotten weather we had "enjoyed" during the summer, guess what happened. Yes, the wind dropped and the sun came out, giving some stunning views like this one across the marina at sunset:

You can play spot the Nordhavn. Actually there is a bit of a Noodle going on - 50% of the UK population of Nordhavn 47s are in Penarth right now. Malaspina (Martin and Inge's rather tidy version) is also moored in Penarth for the winter but out of this shot. It does mean that if we need any spare parts, there is a similar boat to go and "borrow" it from. Only don't tell Martin and Inge.

We carried on cleaning and fettling the neglected exterior of our boat and having some nice cycle trips  in-between our exertions. As you can see, a stop for refreshments is compulsory:

The crew's hand wringing is not due to the impending delight of a flat white and Pastel de Nata. Nor is it because she has come into money. It is simply spreading hand sanitiser around as the covid infection numbers continue to rise....

Annoyingly, it was the crew's turn to get a puncture this time. It happened on a very hot day just after we had raided the supermarket and filled up the bags that you can see in the picture above with stuff that needed to go into the fridge. The Captain cycled back with the perishable items as there would not be time to fix the puncture before things started to "go off". The crew walked her bike back in sweltering temperatures. Annoyingly this time it was not a normal puncture, but a failure of the original inner tube. A better Schwalbe offering was fitted as a replacement.

On another trip around, this scruffy van was parked up on the pavement near the Cardiff barrage walkway. If you look carefully you can see the character who had slept on the roof:

Not quite what we think people mean when they talk about going camping and sleeping under the stars.

We opened up the B and B service again for a visit from John and Irene. The sun stayed out, the fitbits had plenty of steps to count and the aft cockpit was an ideal spot to test some pink prosecco that they had brought with them:

In case you are worried about the material of John's shorts - that is a napkin. He is not that alternative.

It felt rather quiet after they departed so more overdue boat polishing and cycling followed. It was just too hot to walk far, the breeze when cycling was far nicer. Our favourite stop off in Pontcanna was patronised and we watched the stone masons cleaning up the local church. Quite a difference:

As there were no other boat owners down in the evenings in our vicinity, we ran the genset and gave the aircon some exercise to cool down the saloon area. Left locked up, even with the windows open, the boat was pretty hot when we returned. The evenings gave us more red sky stuff to enjoy, although this one brought a load of Sahara sand with it. Yes, we had to hose off the entire boat as it had turned a nice golden colour in one small rain shower overnight:

Maintenance news

Apart from the endless polishing fun, a few other bits and bobs got done.  The steering cable for the outboard on the RIB was removed, the steering tube cleaned up (messy job) and everything was regreased. It felt a lot smoother after that. The external timber was treated to a dose of Boracol to help it survive the winter without going green and a couple of little gelcoat repairs were also completed.

Having polished the port side of the hull from the dinghy, trying to work whilst secured to ropes dropped down from the guardrails and simultaneously attempting to avoid snagging the power cable for our old Rupes polisher, the crew decided that we needed a new cordless version. The captain did not need too much convincing so we bought one of these:

based on a recommendation by Andrew, the owner of Zephyros who you've met in here many many times. It was a good move. Especially as stopping to swap batteries when the one in use goes flat is a great excuse to have a tea break.