Way..heyyy!!!! .......We met Tracy Edwards!!!!

Round the world race sailor Tracy Edwards, holder of many world records in sailing and all round super-woman, came to give a presentation at Stafford Coastal Cruising Club last night! Suffice to say it was brilliant! Many of us bought copies of Tracy's book, all she had been able to bring, and had it signed by her. Fantastic!

Tracy with me

Tracy with Pat Garnett (past Commodore of SCCC) and me

Pieces of Eight!

OK! I managed to make a short video of the launch of Blue Star. I will try to do several videos during our figure of 8 trip around Great Britain. You can see all the links on the Videos page to the blog.

It took me ages to make the first one - you probably think its still rubbish, but I think I've spent long enough on it.

Here is the link anyway:
Pieces of Eight 1: Blue Star goes back into the water, April 2015

Back into the wet stuff......

The boat finally went back into the drink a few days ago. Roger and I spent a few days doing maintenance jobs and checking for leaks etc, after Blue Star was lowered back into the water. There were a few 'egg cups' of water and oil, and we are trying to track down their source. Not easy. There were lots of other 'simple' jobs that needed doing too, but when they came to be done they somehow metamorphosed into intractable time consuming activities. Even re-fitting the lazy bag took ages because for some strange reason the support batons wouldn't fit into their pockets. We ended up sawing the ends off to make them fit! We wondered whether the bag had shrunk during valeting? Still more jobs to do....but we are getting there!

Here are some photos of the boat being taken by the tractor to the crane, the crane putting the boat back into the water, and a photo of Roger christening the boat with a glass of champagne!

Did you notice.....?

 

Did you notice that I have sneaked it up? What is he talking about I hear you say. Why, our target of course! Yes, the amount of money to raise for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust by team GBchallengecrew. With the recent contribution from Amaze, and all of the donations to date by all the other wonderful people, we had all but reached the initial target we had set of £6k. Since we have not even set sail yet, I thought we might now aim for £12k! OK, its a stretch target....but lets give it a go! All in a good cause! Well done, and thank you to everyone who has helped so far!

New crew?

These are the photos of Ace, the new member of the Dan & Jess household. I suppose he is cute. But I still don't think he should be part of the ship's crew. And there is no point in trying to stow away by hiding in a crew bag!

She go crazy!

....so I told Diane about the jobs list, and I said I had a lazy bag, and she went crazy! She went crazy! Tch! I mean what is up with her! Tch!

..........(Stickers to you and I)

Roger and I spent most of yesterday putting decals (stickers to you and I) onto Blue Star. You can see the results below:

There are still more decals to be applied - probably another 3 at least. Hopefully they will be available for fixing very soon!

There are still a number of jobs to be done on the boat; they ought to be do-able in the time available, but time does seem to be passing by very quickly at the moment. Some of the things still to be done include:

* replacing two through-hull fittings and stop-cocks
* removing prop and taking to be coated to prevent fouling
* painting saildrive leg with anti-foul
* fitting new navigation electronics
* new marine toilet
* tune up of standing rigging
* change spinnaker halyard
* re-fit lazy bag, and re-rig sails and lazy-jacks
* re-fit cockpit awning
* collect various bits of ancillary equipment from chandlers
* service heater
* fit new radar
* fit deck-mounted safety gear, yet to be acquired!
* MMMmm, this list seems to be going on a bit, I think I'll stop before my head hurts.

Blue Star goes back into the blue on 21 April. I will be there to check for leaks!

And another thing.....

The brilliant, amazing, digital marketing and technology consultants 'amaze' have agreed to 'sponsor' the Blue Star GB challenge by donating a large amount of money to the GBchallengecrew charity account!

http://www.amaze.com/

Thank you amaze! We are so pleased with your support!

More on 'the quilt'....

I have just learned that the Blue Star quilt is now receiving much praise on the Janet Clare blog.....

http://janetclare.co.uk/

 ....need I say more? (Best to buy your tickets asap!)

Talking of draw prizes.....

The Blue Star quilt - a creation by that well-known quilter extraordinaire, Susan Oakley - is almost completed. Here she is having her "crusts removed" or edges trimmed for the non quilter! (Personally I rather like the crusts that you eat, and as you may have noticed, they make my hair curl!) Just the binding to go on now, and then she will be ready to take part in the raffle to make much needed funds for CF. If you would like a preview she will be exhibited in Staffordshire's very own quilt show at Uttoxeter race course 24-26 April before she goes off to Southampton for viewing at the big Sail Away party on the 16 May. Watch this space to hear about how to enter the draw for the quilt & other prizes.

Well done Susan!