With the travel hoist booked, you would have thought the exercise to relaunch would be ‘plain sailing’, given all the time to prepare, but not so and the tale of woe continues... Unfortunately, the six months ‘down time’ waiting for the lift onto the keel was not used productively by the retained engineer, despite my... Continue Reading →

So, the 26th of July 2023 marks one year since Hejira was craned out and ‘blocked off’ ashore for her planned refit. The extent of the work is/was substantial, but it would all have been completed in time for this sailing season, had it not been for a six-month delay in being lifted back onto... Continue Reading →

Reunited, yes, but it was not a seamless or satisfactory ‘coming together’… The keenly awaited, programmed date was initially postponed because of rain on the basis that the mastic to be used on the joint would not adhere properly in wet conditions. This I understood and accepted but, due to the vagaries of the British... Continue Reading →

I write this in March, with Hejira ashore undergoing a major refit. Having carried out the remedial work and with the keel refurbished at the original foundry in Cornwall, I have been waiting since last December for the first lift of a probable total of at least four to complete the exercise. The awaited ‘lift’... Continue Reading →