As we mentioned in an earlirer entry Caressa was booked to go to the Lowestoft Boat Show That was until we took out the engine to fix the leaky stern gland and and found that the fuel tank was made from a metal which was red and resembled flaky pastry: the course of classic yacht ownership never runs smooth!
With only a fortnight to go we needed a bespoke stainless steel tank to be fabricated. The typical lead time for that is two weeks. We found a friend who said he could maybe do it quicker if, if, if, if. He tried his best but he was missing two of the ifs and we missed the deadline.
Step in the lady with a funny Welsh name.
I won't bore you with the details but I think Aneka Rice may have buckled under this challenge. Not however our team and our great allies from Lowestoft Boatbuilding School; Ben, Ray and Alex.
No stop was left un-pulled and Gus at King's very kindly hung around until 8 before putting her at the end of the hard. This would be her first taste of water since she left Falmouth by road in November.
We were a little worried the hull might be very thirsty after all that time ashore so it was with some trepidation we looked for through the darkness at midnight. We needn't have worried next day the bilges were bone dry. She's a very tight boat. | 