Day haulers

Yesterday was Sunday and the only day at the moment that me and Simon both have off work together. The weather was quite good so we decided to go out in the rowing boat and go fishing! 

I have never really fished much before so wasnt sure what to expect but actually I ended up having a lot of fun. We caught 6 fish , 4 mackerel and 2 horse mackerel . Which I had to ask my brother what they were as I hadn't seen them before. In my excitement I thought they might be sea bass which are delicious and one of my favourite fish. Simon at one point thought he had caught Moby dick but was just a fairly large mackerel instead! But he definatly put up a fight he didn't want to be caught. 

We were out for about an hour maybe a bit longer but the wind picked up a bit and we decided to come back in with our catch. 

Back on board Iris we surveyed our catch, I think we did quite well!

In the middle you can see Moby Dick! Ha. 

Next we obviously had to fillet the fishes, being a fishermans daughter the job fell to me. But as I said to Simon my father has actually never taught me how to fillet fish, so Si asked how I learnt to which I replied not sure. It must be in the blood! Normally I don't like blood and guts but I did okay and filleted all the fish apart from Moby which I let Simon do. 

I had a great afternoon being a fisher lady ! Will definatly go out fishing again, hopefully next time we will catch a few more that we could sell then to one of the restaurants in town. 

It was lovely to do something a bit different with Simon, we have both been a bit fed up recently with things taking longer than expected. So it was nice to just a bit of fun. 

Our plan to the moment to have Sylmara back in the water before the end of the month so we can take part in The Dartmouth Regatta. Which will be great, so this coming week as well as working we have lots of deadlines to complete. And then we can finally go sailing, wahoooo , excited doesn't even cover it!!

We have a mast!

It took my Dad , Simon , Peter and Toby to carry the mast from higher street to the marina in Brixham. I had been using the showers in the marina and came out and exactly the right time to grab a photo of them! 

The mast is in really good condition and it is wood which is even better. It has all the nav lights on top and everything. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to launch her and get back in the water.

This is something that myself and Simon both cannot wait for as we haven't actually sailed her yet , so both looking forward to seeing what she can do. I have a feeling she is going to be fast which is going to be a lot of fun!!

Painting!

Wednesday me and Simon both had the day off and it had also been pay day the day before we were able to buy more paint for Sylmara. The last two weeks the weather has been ideal for painting so we had a good days weather to get the job done. I had to re do the water line on both sides and take it down slightly which I think works. 

A lot of people always stop and talk to us when we are busy working on her ad it nice to hear good feedback on how she is looking. One lady even offered us £10,000 for her but we declined. We got Sylmara at such a bargain and we have both grown to love her and both very excited about our plans on her. At 26ft she is a bit of a squeeze , but she has character and she is ours. I think even if we upgrade in a few years we will still keep her. 

We also picked up a excellent book for 50 p called the Illustrated guide to Sailing by Peter Kemp which we both have already started reading and looks to be a valuable book to have on board!

Where our adventure starts

Hello!

My name is Jessica , and this blog is going to be about me and my boyfriend Simon and our little boat. Sailing is something that I have enjoyed since I have been little. My dad and brother are both fisherman but my father has always sailed traditional sailing boats as well as skippering trawlers. We used to own a little wooden sailing boat named " Peter and Jessica" named after me and my older brother. I used to love day sailing on the boat we used to have so much fun. My father had "Peter and Jessica" for quite a few years until he sold her to a man who lived in France. In 2004 he brought a traditional Cornish lugger called I.R.I.S which we have been restoring for the last 12 years! So sailing and boats have always been in my family. 

It was my father who told me about Slymara being for sale. At the time he was interested in buying her himself but costs to his own Boat stopped him. He agreed a deal with the lady who owned her and secured the boat for me to buy. 

Me and Simon set about finding a loan so we could buy her, unfortunately our loan didn't come through so my Mum very kindly let us both the money. Which we plan to pay back in installments.

So I plan to blog about the progress of us re fitting our boat and our travels we plan take on her. Owning a boat and living onboard is something that both me and Simon have both always dreamed of doing. It is so exciting to think where our future will take us and what adventures we will get up too on Sylmara!