A short clip sailing Tiffane off the coast of the Isle of Man

We’ve always had trouble going astern in Tiffane.  She just doesn’t respond, even stopping is very difficult.  We had the prop checked last year but it wasn’t worn or slipping.  However, it was a very small 2-bladed job, more suitable for a small petrol engine.

This year we therefore decided to replace it, but unfortunately the new one hadn’t arrived by launch day.  So this week-end we beached her and the engineer replaced it.

Beaching in Conwy river is very easy, there are so many mud banks to choose from!  As there was quite a breeze blowing (3 gusting 5 in the river, 4 gusting 6 out at sea), we went for the upwind shore – trickier to do the beaching but trivial to get her back off again.

The bad news is that although she performs better, the problem isn’t fixed.  I personally think the gearbox is slipping so that’s another job…

We launched late this year, mainly due to being pretty busy at work earlier in the year.  While she was out of the water in 2008 / 2009 we had all four chainplates replaced as one was showing signs of raising up.  We also replaced another section of the cockpit (Starboard side) where the seat support had collapsed, which involved removing the aft Starboard locker lid.  I suspect the Port one will need replacing in the next few years.