Hurley 2470 Sailing

Somewhere between sailing on an Oyster 55 this summer (see Artic Circle Sailing) and my recent addition of a home built sailing canoe, there sits my trusty Hurley 2470. Here's a flavour in photos of 'Concord' sailing. With a home port of Milford Haven on the Pembrokeshire coast this provides some excellent sailing opportunities and normally a trip once a year across the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle.

Autumn, first light

Waterford, Ireland

Too cold for sailing!

The Irish ferry needs to be dodged several times a day

One of many favourite and unspoilt anchorages

Docks by night

The Smalls lighthouse

Rigging the new multi purpose genoa

Annual maintenance is very much part of the deal with boats (stripping the antifouling back to the gel coat ready for applying 'gelshield' took for ever last winter).

Some work gets a lot more interesting than scraping the hull, here I rope my Father into making some new wash boards and a sliding hatch for Concord.

Very smart and well sub contracted out on this occasion.

Over the fourteen years which I have owned my Hurley, a large proportion of the fittings have been replaced. This has included fitting a new engine, completely re-wiring the boat, some structural strengthening under the mast, replacing rigging. All jobs which have provided me with some good experience, the odd headache and an empty wallet (even though I complete all maintenance and improvement work myself).

For me a big part of the sailing is the access to the wildlife which it provides. Inquisitive seals always like to check out the boat. Also puffins appear fairly relaxed in our company.

A cliff walk from an anchorage always presents some photo opportunities.

A telephoto lens ensures that others are viewed but left undisturbed in their natural surroundings.