Stargazer's skipper makes his annual London pilgrimage. To submit documention in support of his six month French Visa de Long Sejour application.
Stargazer is joined in the yard by yachting royalty. In the form of Sir Alec Rose's Lively Lady. ( See this post for his & her story)
Her long keel's towering draft requires deployment of the, rarely resorted to, 'Big Cradle.' Despite her slender beam and modest (thirty six foot) length.
Work is crossed off Stargazer's spring fit out list: Engine service, Saildrive oil change, replace anodes, polish hull, two coats of antifoul. But unexpected jobs are added: Replace the engine starter panel, which fails whilst testing the motor post service; Replace the diesel tank deck filler valve, which has developed a slow weep over the winter; Repair or replace the anemometer cups, of the masthead wind instrument (only five years old), which have unaccountably seized since the autumn. Parts are sought. Meanwhile the countdown, to April's lock closure, ticks inexorably by.
