Falanda Sailing

 Falanda is back in the water after a quick haul out for the annual repaint and hull checks. We've had the perfect week for it, allowing me to work on the boat almost every day after my exams. After sanding down the hull, a few seams were recaulked and on went some black primer, giving falanda the appearance of an exceptionally sleek navy vessel.  Although it was alright for the day, I much prefer her usual turquoise colour so back on that went, although very slightly darker this year. After two coats of gloss, on went the antifouling primer followed by new black antifoul. I then chalked on the outline of my mermaid, and spent the next couple of days painting it on. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while and I am very pleased that me and falanda will now have company at the bows of the boat. I sanded and repainted the bilges which are now almost shining, and did an endless amount of varnishing inside and out. I painted various floor boards and repainted the co...

 Well it's slowly warming up so we've just recently had our first proper trip of the year - not too far but still nice to get out of the Exe.  With exams coming up I made the most of my 2 weeks off school spending some quality time with my boat and getting re-familiarized with the bilges.  On Easter Sunday me and Falanda left the river alongside my parents on 'Karuna', after a night on the boats at Turf. We then beat into the wind for a couple of hours before arriving in Brixham.  In Brixham we had the luxury of being alongside a pontoon with access to running water so I made the most of this by cleaning out my water tanks, giving the  topsides a quick scrub and cleaning the bilges. Being based in the muddy River Exe, Falanda's bilges end up being lined with a thin but disgusting layer of mud that I occasionally get the privilege of removing. The wind blew pretty hard that night and Falanda was literally being blown onto the pontoon. By morning the forecast was ...