Carra Tidings

16th – 22nd September

Mags had taken the car over early and had been a real star removing the sails single handedly –  not an easy task folding a mainsail for a 42ft boat. She did many other jobs on the list before I arrived. Thankfully I got out of Finland on the last flight before a strike grounded all planes which was just as well as the crane was booked for Friday to take us out of the water.

It was an early start the next day beavering away removing halyards and some last minute jobs before parking next to the mast crane. Dog House Marine were ready for us and they stepped aboard asking if all the electrics for the mast were disconnected ….. arghhh we had completely forgotten to do that! It followed by a session of getting to know your boat very quickly. Some wires had joints but others we needed to modify a plastic housing to ensure the wires could fit though without having to remove the soldered connectors. Whilst we were disconnecting everything, the guys took the boom off and the spinnaker pole. It was beginning to dawn on us how long it was going to take to put the boat back together again next season. Soon the stays were all off and the mast was winched slowly off the deck – the only casualty was the windex. It is a heavy old mast and it took 5 of us to man handle it horizontal and onto the cradles.

Next we took her round to the slip way and soon were hauled out by a very big trailer – a lot less stressful than a crane and slings – which is the way in the UK. As she emerged from the water – it was clear that the UK antifoul is a lot stronger that the local brew as there was no growth underneath – except a bit of a slime. But there was a big knot of fisherman’s line wrapped round the shaft – carefully missing the stripper – which is a gadget that is supposed to prevent that happening. We have no idea where we picked that up – but very thankful that it had not impeded the prop – given that it took 30 mins to cut if off when we were on dry land – imagine if we had had to do that underwater.

Carra was soon in her new home (a shed) for the next 7 months. You can store the boat safely outside but given that we couldn’t visit to check on her after winter storms we decided to go for the safer option. Also it wont be as cold in the winter inside plus when we do come to do work on her – regardless of the weather we will be able to crack on. Many of the locals leave their boats outside and have a big tent that is erected on poles or the other option is to have the boat shrink wrapped.

Very fortuitously there was a mobile platform in the shed which I borrowed, which made washing the hull and polishing her a whole lot easier. Though polishing a 42ft boat by hand is anything but easy as my body will attest too – given that I could hardly move the next day. In order to be able to not walk like Quasimodo, I decided to break down the task and completed it over the next few days. We left a bag of beers for the owner of the platform – I don’t think that I would have completed it without it.

The major job was preparing the boat for winter – which can get as low as -30C. So it was essential to remove all water from the freshwater pipes and taps. This involved using the dinghy pump to blow air down them. Mags at one end of the pipe with the pump– and I was waiting in the heads with a bucket for the squirt of water – as if milking a cow only long distance. Though our neighbour Anders a sprightly Eighty-year-old did suggest using vodka in the fresh water system – no wonder he is spritly! Everything else: engine/ heads/bilge pumps/deckwash/holding tank all now have antifreeze in them.

The only frustration was servicing a winch and a white plastic bit that wouldn’t budge and broke when I levered it off with a screw driver. So much for winches that are easy to maintain according to the maker…

We also looked at all the berths to find suitable ones. Whilst our current berth has an uninterrupted view down the fjord (does Sweden have fjords?). It does mean that we face the prevailing wind and quite a fetch can build up and result in Carra being pinned against the fenders which grind away on the topsides – not ideal. So we are keen to move berth for next season.

It was soon time for me to head home and Mags stayed for a couple more days to tackle a few more jobs and to bring the car back by ferry. But also given that this was our first time preparing the boat for winter in these conditions, we had booked an Engineer to check over our work. He was also able to show Mags how to ensure that water is out of the water pump. We are pleased to report that he gave us a A+.