28th September ERL on the move

after a facebook warning from Tresaith of high tides and strong winds
had to make a dash for Tresaith to recover ERL  from the beach.
parking was awkward as usual, managed to get help with the boat off the beach.
boat was quickly loaded on trailer as mast was down anyway.
2 straps and a rope around mast ball and we were off.
apart from the van playing up yet again a good trip.
ERL back at home for winter.
not sure what happens in 2020 but it will not be the same as this
one positive was the races at Bala yielded a win in the commodores trophy for cats.
ERL needs a good clean and checked over ready for next years adventures.

ERL goes back to Tresaith 16th july

made the trek back toTresaith to get ERL  back on the beach.
mast went up ok and everything was as should. however i noticed there was water in the lower section of the mast
on the 25th i went back to tresaith and after a failed launch into the surf decided it was too dangerous to sail with it incase of capsize.
i took the mast home and tried to find where the water was.
2 x 6mm holes later the water came out
one was along way from the middle of the section and the other close to the top
that appeared to have filler in it
the water was drained and left to dry.
I then purchased some epoxy resin from easy composites costing over £30
made a funnel and mixed 100g and 33g of hardner. the mast was then tipped so that the resin flowed toward the join section of the mast and create a barrier so that no more water went into the sealed section.
luckily this poured ok , a little latter i checked the cup of resin that was left and it was giving off plenty of heat. on the mast i checked for the same heat and knew where the resin had settled. then using some jb resin filler i put a bolt in the hole to plug it. hopefully will be able to grind this down latter .

"ERL" goes home

ERL goes home

finally sorted a time to recover "ERL" from bala s.c
starting out at 7am the treck to bala started.
getting the mast down went very good with kathleen assisting. everything went really well. a rewarding breakfast from adam at lake view cafe and some cake as well.
a quick walk to the camp site to sort a few things and the trip home began .
next step a quick checkover and then off to Tresaith sc

9th June 2019

Well a busy day before hand collecting the new teardrop sleeper from MEIFOD

weather was forcast initially sunny and 8-12knts   on the day it was looking a bit windier and rain threatening. no rain but wind all over the place.

racing was good but found the tacking awkward at times in choppy waves.

had some good moments and some bad , didnt seem to be able to point well.

did 2 races and decided that was it for today . richard was on his new unicorn and seemed to do well.

RACE 1

RACE 2

Top Spot at Bala

https://www.sailwave.com/results/BalaSC/2019%20Commodores%20Cup.htm

Well i was told turn up,  dont matter  where u finnish, u may win a trophy.
on my first trip to bala i came last in every race i did on handicap, on pts in the Commodores cup with the 3 races  i completed i came first overall.

prev owner Erl Holmberg

sadly i heard today that Erl who prev owned 2007 had sadly died of lung cancer.
from Shanklin he did a lot of good work for promoting the dart 15
i met Erl when he kindly brought the boat to swanage when i bought it from him by looking at pictures only.  he delivered it and rigged it from car topped in under and hour.
the boat had sailed around the iow and also been to the channel islands.

Mutley103 SOLD

After lack of use today i sold Mutley 103 spitfire to Adrian Roberts
who is sailing the boat  back at tresaith as well.
now looking for a mono once again to sail on the sea

Bala S.C first sail 7th april 2019

setting off to bala around 7.20am and arrived 8.50am
found the boat after the floods and set about unraveling the mast and fittings
got it all sorted with about 10 mins to spare to launch for first race.
new mainsail and new downhaul added.
the course was wrote down on the printed map and then used gaffa tape to fix to sail.
the courses can be all over the place so it did help.
the wind was light  but did build for race 3 in the afternoon.
lunch in the lakeside cafe was good  the sun was out so sat outside.
sailing on bala was good but very fickle. thats lake sailing surrounded by trees and mountains.
Boat didnt seem to want to go fast even in the breezy bits. i think the rigging is maybe too tight, early days yet plenty of time to sort.
it was good to be back on the water.  total miles over 14  sailing time 2h 40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZiolFBtOH4&feature=youtu.be  clip from race 3

race 1

race 2

race3

race 4

ERL goes to Bala 25th Feb 2019

after days of putting the trip off we finally set off round 8am and bound for sunny Bala, narrow roads and rugged countryside and views were taken in on the way, breathtaking. we arrived and the boat survived, however we did have to stop to redo the ratchet straps that somehow had worked loose, i think it was where i put them and the boat had shifted forward slightly
we carried on and was ok at the other end.we arrived around 10.45
my crew were briefed on what had to happen.  everything went really well
boat was off trailer ok and only problem was feeding main halyard thru the slot of the mast. we did it with the aid of scissors to help push it down.
the mast went up no problem apart from me not being able to get on tramp with the mast as well. so my crew held it then i got on.
everything went perfect.
just a few jobs to do with trapeze lines and bungy cords. and taping off the split rings .

ERL #2007  new home for 2019

ERL #2007 arrival photo

view down Lake Bala

looking toward the bottom end of lake Bala

2019 plans

i have joined Bala sailing club and will sail weekends on ERL
there is a good cat following  some 17 boats ive heard
regular racing and at least 3 on a sunday.
first planned race is the pursuit on 17th march once i have got ERL to the club.
not sure what the plan is for 103.