First time off the mooring . . .

It's actually warm in the sun onshore, with a light breeze from the South-East. Time to kick off this year's sailing season.

I untie all the extra bits of string I'd attached just before the hurricane force winds we had in the January storm. Fairwinds has survived her Winter swinging to her mooring in the bay with nothing worse to show - I think - than a thin  beard of weed round her waterline.

The engine starts with one cylinder decompressed . . .  must get round to fitting the 'new' dynastart I scored a couple of weeks ago form a lucky Vega owner who is re-engining with a new Beta 13hp. I check we have forward and reverse from the dreaded Combi mechanism before dropping the mooring, and we motor out of the bay. There's the usual blue smoke, but everything seems OK . . . or is it? I motor for 15 minutes and the engine reaches its operating temperature ( a fraction over 80 deg C) then the temperature goes up to 90, then drops suddenly to 60, then rises to 90 and stays there for a while.  Should I have changed the impellor? Why is it doing this again? It seemed to have settled down at the end of last season. We  raise sail and cut the engine, two seasons with Fairwinds has taught us not to think about our crappy old Volvo MD6A too much - it's too frustrating. ANy anyway - it's a sailing boat for God's sake.

The SE wind means long tacks then short tacks as we beat down the Sound under full sail. We are heading for Craobh Haven to fillup with diesel and water for the start of the season.

As we come out into Loch Shuma past Degnish Point the wind strengthens. It is blowing directly out of Croabh, so we hold the Port tack until almost at the fish farm at the top of Shuna Sound. 22 knots over the deck and she's overpressed - time for the first reefing manoevfre of the season and it goes OK - usually something happens: last year the first time I put a reef in I tore the luff, the year befoire I forgot the toppin glift . . . but this year it all goes smoothly and soon we are sailing much more comfortably, still making over 5 knots close hauled in spite of the beard.

We tack past the bottom of Eilean Scoul (or Robin;s Rock as we now refer to it, after the Minister's husband wrecked his boat there last year) and head towards Arduaine.

A couple more long tacks and we are half a mile from the entrance to Craobh. The wind goes gusty then light, and we drop sail and motor in. Operating an Albin Vega in a confined space is always a little trying - long keel, offset prop with no propwash over the rudder, plus the dreaded Combi variable pitch prop - but the fuel berth in Craobh is fendered and coming alongside it is a non-traumatic first marina manoever of the year.

We fill up with 48 litres in total - 20 in the jerrycan and the rest in the main tank. Must have been pretty low - we should have left the tank full over Winter, but we didn't . . . and I haven't changed the filters either. But at least we have those spare filters we bought in Galway last year on our trip round Ireland. As I do the tank cap up again I casually chuck my best pliers into the water beside the fuel berth. Oh well, every season needs a sacrifice to Neptune at the start, and at least this was cheaper than last year's start of season offering. (A full bottle of Speyside malt lost during a dinghy transfer between boats in Lochaline).

There is very little  wind as we leave the marina, and we have to motor out to the island before we can sail at a reasonable speed - the clocks have not gone forward yet, and it still gets cold and dark early. The engine threatens to overheat again. I vow to order a thermostat and impellor before next weekend.

Once we get the sails up and the engine off we enjoy a great run back, sometimes goosewinged, sometimes reaching in the gusty wind blowing out of Loch Melfort. Once back round Degnish the wind gets flukey with some strong gusts that have us close reaching at well over 6 knots, interspersed with light airs and calms. We sail back then motor onto the mooring . . . ten miles logged, sea legs back, the season has started.

Off mooring:        14:00   Back on mooring: 18:20   Distance Logged: 10 nm   Engine Hours:      50 min     To Do:   Mend mainsail (torn at fwd end of 2nd batten pocket)   Fit new impellor and thermostat to try to improve engine temp-erature fluctuation

11:02 PM - Mar. 20, 2005 - post comment

MD6A

Hello Fairwinds 2005.
I'm visiting from the Vega Group. ( Vega 1563," Frana" on Lake Champlain NY)
I've also got blue smoke from my engine. It is not heavy, but it's there. I never have any problem starting the engine as the compression is fine. In fact, the engine seems to start better than most diesels. Someone told me that that a little blue smoke from the volvo is not critical but I am uncertain whether this is common with these engines. I snagged a dockline on the prop last year and seriously damaged the combi and the stuffing box, so I will be taking the the whole affair apart.
You're lucky to be on the water already. Here in the great white north the lake is still covered with ice. We do not expect to get our boats into the water till around May 15. Do you have any more insights on the MD6A and blue (ish) smoke?

Best Regards,
Antonio Virgini
Frana Vega 1563

Anonymous - 7:58 AM - Mar. 28, 2005

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