She sails

 Yes this is Valmik finally sailing with full main and Genoa. It felt sooo amazing to finally have Valmik sailing after all this time. It was such a joy. This pic above was the third time that I,ve taken her out, the other two times were with  jib only.

We were rowing and sculling against the tide with a slight head wind here, it was hard but enjoyable. We could probably do this for a few hours, but with more wind or tide we would be going backwards. I have no engine and  am not to keen on getting one. I love the space where the engine was.

Well my plans have all changed once again, I have learnt that these sorts of things should not be rushed, especially since my life will be depending on this little boat.

Most of the big jobs took as long as I thought they would to do. It is all of those little ones that you don't think of, or that take a little longer longer than you thought, which draw the whole process out. But the planks have "taken up" nicely, there is still a little water coming in but not a lot. I still need to do a little bit of a refit and some work on the rig.

But am returning home for six months to see friends and family, do a bit of yacht cruising related study, party a bit and relax.

finally in the water

I bought Valmik in march 08! The old owner was trying to give the boat away, but no one would take her! I had wanted to learn how to sail for some time, here was a old wooden boat that the yard would be burning if no one took her, this was my chance. The local shipwright convinced me that sailing a little boat like this home would be the trip of a life time. He also volunteered his tutoring and mirror dingy for practise.

The restoration has taken way longer than expected and is still not finished. Out of the three years and two months of owning her, one year and three months have been spent full time on  the reconstruction and one month making the sails for her. My whole life, since buying this folkboat, has be devoted to this cause!

And now she is finally in the water where she belongs. Valmik has been out of the water for over seven years. The planks were mostly in good condition for a 50 year old boat. But the heat was really starting to open them up. It is so good to finally have her in the water :-)

When she was lowered in I quickly jumped on to check how much water would be coming in, (An old wooden clinker built boat, that has been out of the water for a while, will need to soak for a few weeks before the planks take up and all of the leaks will stop) I was expecting lots but was still shocked to see water coming in everywhere along every plank and filling up quite quickly. So I did the best thing I could think of" go for a swim IN my boat".

This was a picture I took of Valmik before I bought her.

 I will hopefully have all the work finished and ready to sail by mid June 2011.
The plan so far is to have a nice leisurely practice sail, learning how to handle the boat, around the Swale for a few weeks.

Then taking it slowly, sail around the U.K .And hoping to be in the Med by the end of the year!