Introduction: What this blog is about

This is likely to be a very occasional blog about some of the techy bits of living aboard whilst cruising.

The boat is a Rival 41 called Spring Dawn, previously Greebo. She is a centre cockpit Peter Brett design, built in Southampton in 1983 by Rival Yachts at Willments Shipyard, Woolston. My association with Springy began in 2009 when I bought her through Berthons in Lymington. She was out of the water for much of that year, initially at Berthons and later at Saxon Wharf in Southampton. This was partly because I wanted to coppercoat her bottom and partly because I had no other mooring arranged. She was launched in October 2009 and spent her first winter in Swanwick Marina, moving down to a pontoon on the Hamble in early April 2010.

In 2010 we sailed the west country and learned that the sails were really as bad as they looked, worse even. So in the winter Peter Sanders made a new main and furling genoa. The main is vectran with 5 battens, the jib dacron and about 120%. The old genoa had been around 130% but was heavy to handle when close hauled, hence the slightly smaller replacement. Winter 2010 was again spent in Swanwick.

In June 2011 we left the Hamble to go cruising, this story is told in our cruising blog.

btw, the photo appears slightly cropped as taking another step back just wasnt an option :)