When I was working full time, April and May were my busiest months of the year and so I always got our yacht ready for the coming season before the end of March because, if I didn’t I woudn’t have the time to do the work needed before June. Quite often our yacht would be one of the first on the swing moorings in April. But April is very seldom a good month for sailing(I think only 2018 was since we have owned Elektra), either very cold or lots of strong wind, most years we would only go out for the first sail at the middle/end of April. So this year with me having become an OAP, I wasn’t going to rush and plan to use the sping tides of 17-20th April to get Elektra back down river to the sea.
I was down to Elektra this morning changing her winter sprayhood and winter cover for her summer sprayhood and cockpit encloser. Then I scrubbed her cockpit and sealed up some tank fittings.
Another difference to other years is that we aren’t paying for a local swing mooring (last year I did pay the £1,200 for the season but only used the mooring for 6 weeks). This year we are planning to be away all of May, back for a day or so early June, then gone again until mid July, back for 1-2 days and then off somewhere else and so on. In the past when I was working, I only had a week long holiday twice a season.
I think we paid £500 in visitor mooring last season also, so I am thinking, I won’t be so bothered about paying for visitor mooring this season, if I haven’t paid for a seasonal mooring. Most of the time we are at anchor anyway for free, but there are always places where your nor allowed to anchor.
We haven’t been north of Torquay in Lime Bay to our east for 21 years, we would like to visit Exmouth and Teignmouth at least once, until we visit a place we have no idea if we would want to go back. So we are going to spend May going east visiting places we know and like and someplaces new to us.
Love Sailing 