Our journey across Europe had been hasty and a bit fraught with the Mercedes B giving all sorts of fault conditions from inoperative tyre pressure warning upward. We were now under time pressure to be in Stockholm by the First of June to collect our tickets for the Stockholm Music festival.
Our first task was to try to understand the new toilet system that had been installed; finished only just before we arrived. The system includes an electric toilet, a biggish holding tank, five operating valves and an emptying pump. It is a mass of valves and wiring. The engineer gave us a run through but we needed the boat launched before we could test it properly. In addition I had to put back an internal door and a lot of panelling and also to devise a shelf to disguise but not hinder access to the controls.
There were other major tasks to do before launch including stowing all the clothes and kit we had brought with us, unloading tools from the boat (used only in fitting out) to make room and the usual round of bottom painting, sea cock checking and we had three clear days to do it.
We did make it but are beginning to feel our ages and cannot as hard or as long as we used to do.
Launch, for once was at a civilized hour so we could breakfast at the hotel and have lunch at the catering school. The latter is working fine and still has super salads and home made bread. We also have gone back like homing pigeons to Kohiro, who still make superb suchi.
After launch was another familiar programme of fitting boom, mainsail, calpack, battens, reefing lines, greasing the Furlex system, fitting genoa, jib sheet ( we use just one, doubled).
In Darthaven chandlery I had bought on spec a can of magic spray intended to make sail raising easier. I applied it to the Furlex, mainmast and boom slots and to the relevant sail edges. I had no great faith in the product which appeared to be soapy water but it made raising the genoa much easier than usual and also fitting the main into the boom slot. Yes it definitely worked.
Finally we had to buy and stow food for the trip to Stockholm. The weather, previously good had turned cold and we had to rig our cockpit cover and to use thermals and the extra blankets in bed. The outside temperature dropped to less than 7C at night and the cabin temperature to 12 -3 C by morning. The next question was "when can we leave with a reasonable forecast?"
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