And so, how about a sail?

5 weeks of hard work, worry and toil, taking the boat out of the water, removing and selling the old engine, fitting a new engine and associated stern gear, worrying about whether it would all get done on time, and then whether it would start, whether it would all function correctly, and finally, triumphantly riding around the bay with our brand spanking new engine, purring like a kitten.

So, as you can imagine, we couldn't wait to switch the damn noisy thing off.......

The purpose, of course, is to sail. So, Saturday morning, with the Wales V Australia game on in the bar at 14:30, seemed a perfect opportunity to get out for a few hours of relaxation. Tides would have meant we could not get back in in time for the game, if we ventured out into the Bristol Channel, so we sailed in the bay.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cardiff Bay"][/caption]

 The Bay, naturally, is very popular at weekends, with boaters of all abilities keen to play. I prefer to get out early, at least you can get an hour or two before it becomes too much effort to concentrate on so many craft. With light winds, we slipped through the water at a leisurely 3 knots or so, sipping tea and coffee whilst Tigger barked aggressively at anyone careless enough to get withing 3 miles of us.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Bay"][/caption]

 We knew many of them, of course, and waved to Chris, Peter, Vince and Neville as they passed by on their own boats, tacking this way and that, and generally enjoying themselves as much as we were.

Clouds of tiny Optomist dinghies joined in the festivities, trainees, some of whom were very young indeed. Starting early seems a great way to learn the ropes.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Optomists"][/caption]

 

There were other boats too, vibrant colours in the early winter sunshine, against the backdrop of Penarth head.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dinghies and Penarth head"][/caption]

 

It really was very enjoyable, spoiled, only slightly when the engine would not start when we were ready to head in. Louise suspected a misaligned 'O' ring on a filter, and set about fixing it. I thought, 'I wonder if I can sail right back onto our pontoon berth before she gets the engine going?'. It gave me great satisfaction to do just that, although a painful trip when dropping the mainsail blackened my mood somewhat, as did the rugby later.

A lovely day thaough, and, hopefully, after the trials and tribulations of the last few weeks, hopefully we can now say that Ishtar is back to normal.

Sea Trials

Well, not the sea, actually, just Cardiff Bay.

On Sunday we returned to the boat. I removed the steps to see about half an egg cup full of greasy water in the bilge, clearly run through from the cockpit locker where some diesel soaked rags lay. No leaks then!

The warranty card required that we run the engine for 15 minutes at 50% revs, 15 minutes at 75% and 15 minutes flat out. We left the pontoon, still not quite able to grasp the fact that Ishtar now answered the throttle immediately, no 30 second delay whilst the old engine gradually heaved Ishtar into motion.

The movement now was instant. The prop walk, unnoticeable with the Bukh, was clear, and going astern in a controlled manner, choosing your direction was now possible. Off into the bay we went. We ran through the checks, watching the warning lights all along for any problem. None. Running a brand new engine at 3600 revs seemed very harsh, but that was the manufacturers recommendation, so we did it. No sign of any problem, and 6.4 knots, Ishtar's hull speed reached.

We spent another hour running back and forth across the bay. There was a slight squeaking at 2000 revs, which dissappeared above that, which will have to be identified. The ventilator fan, recommended by Beta but missed out by many people we have spoken too, was a lot lounder than we had anticipated. Apart from these minor issues, everything was perfect.

So, engine is in, seems fine. Now we have to put the boat back together. Clean up. Put away all the tools, put back the cushions, food, water and so on. Hopefully, in a week or two, we can be out in the Bristol channel, using Ishtar as she was intended, and this last six weeks will all be behind us.