We went for a five hour sail yesterday on our spacesailer 20 fin keeler and after we had returned to our mooring i was tying the rudder up and found that one of the two top bolts that bolt the rudder gudgon through the transom has sheared off at the head

Not sure how long it has been missing but i suspect not for all that long and lucky for us the breeze was gentle and behind us for most of the day

I decided to pull all the stuff out of the locker to remove the nut from the threaded shank that was still sitting in the hole so i could take it with me to get the right size bolt

The only way i could reach it was to lie on my back in the locker with my legs on the cockpit seat and reach around the back of the deck moulding

I managed to wriggle into the space and remove the nut but when i tried to get out i found that there was nothing to hold on to to lift my self out

My wife was on board and laughing her head off but was not strong enough to lift me out but had her ipad handy to take a photo and send it to my family who replied to leave me there

To make matters worse a speed boat was buzzing around the mooring area and all the stuff i had taken out of the locker and put on the cockpit seat on the other side was falling on the floor as the boat rocked from side to side and i was telling my wife to yell at him to go away

After about twenty minutes i managed to get my self out with the help of my wife but it was touch and go for a while

I got a new bolt today and we went out to the mooring to fit it and i decided to put her down in the locker as i would be able to lift her out but when she was down there i found that i needed a longer ratchet handle so she could tighten the nut so i left her there while i hopped back in the tender and went to the shore to get one out of my vehicle

While she was there i gave her the i pad so she could play computer games

I wonder what anyone on the shore thought as i motored away from the yacht and only her legs were poking out of the locker

The joys of boating

Regards Don