I've owned Weaverbird since early 2016, and spent the summer of 2016 converting her to JR, putting in a composting heads and generally making her fit to cruise. I had three good long seasons of cruising, roaming far and wide in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but in 2020 and this year, I've only managed a month's cruising. It's looking increasingly unlikely that I'll get any more cruising this summer, due to health issues, and in my view continued ownership of a cruiser should mean continued cruising. It's virtually impossible to day-sail out of Ravenglass - when you go out, you've got to go somewhere, and all the harbours in the Irish Sea are tidal, making even relatively short passages problematic. A small dayboat for local pottering would suit me better.
So, it's time to hand her over to someone who can make better use of her. Regular readers of these forums will be familiar with her, but here are the headlines:
![](/resources/MemberAlbums/2757889/A%20wing%20sail%20for%20Weaverbird%20(2)/preview/IMG_0054.JPG)
Rig:
Wing sail based on JR, with JR sheeting. Mast is a one-piece tapered aluminium tube. Sail is from 5.5oz and 7oz regular polyester sailcloth, Yard is an 80mm dia carbon fibre tube. Battens are 30mm dia hinged carbon fibre, with forward ends encircling the mast compression moulded from Kevlar.
https://junkrigassociation.org/wingsail_forum/
6984663?mlpg=10##6984663
Auxiliary:
Haswing Protruar 5.0 electric outboard on transom bracket. 360W solar panel and 20A MPPT controller charging 2 x 100AH Relion lithium batteries (new in 2020, 10 year guarantee on batteries. All working well, and much easier to live with and to operate than the previous Tohatsu 6HP.
https://junkrigassociation.org/technical_forum/
8809939?mlpg=13##8809939
Accommodation:
Forepeak with stowage for small inflatable tender, warps and fenders, hooks for wet weather clothing, composting heads. Main bulkhead.
Galley port and starboard, with single alcohol burning cooker, removable bowl (to be emptied overside), fresh water and salt water pumps, 10 litre water bottle, good stowage for 16cm pans, crockery and cutlery and alcohol bottles, rubbish bin.
Port and starboard settees, with stowage for dry, canned and fresh food under forward ends, stowage for tools, fasteners, spares and materials under after ends. Stowage for clothing and spare bedding in holdalls outboard of both settees, shelf outboard of starboard settee for all the various items essential to running a cruising boat - torch, flares, binoculars, etc etc.
Under cockpit, 4 x 10 liitre water bottles, batteries.
On deck:
Anchor locker with 6Kg Vulcan anchor, 30m of 6mm chain, 30m of 12mm multiplait warp; 6Kg ROCNA, 10m of 6mm chain and 30m 3-strand warp.
360W solar panel, over Houdini forehatch and Air-Only ventilator. 7 Lewmar domino clutches for downhauls. Lewmar 16ST for halyard. Soft sprayhood over sliding hatch, two washboards.
Aft: 3 x 10 litre water bottles in the space where there used to be an outboard well and stowage for fuel tanks.
Self steering gear:
Self-designed and built vane gear to the Hebridean principle.
https://junkrigassociation.org/Sys/PublicProfile/
2757889/PhotoAlbums/63826460
Tender:
3D Superlight Round-tail 180cm single person inflatable. Hardly used at all. I could find no way to row it, and have cut off the oar pins, added skegs and a closed cell foam cushion to kneel or sit on, and propel it with a kayak paddle. A minimal tender, but very light and easy to stow in the forepeak.
Instrumentation and electrics:
6-way circuit breaker panel and watch-keeping timer mounted in enclosure; marine VHF radio; Sony DAB/FM radio; Furuno GPS; Digital Yachts AIS engine (transmits data via wifi to a phone or tablet)l all inside companionway bulkhead.
NASA Cruiser sounder; NASA GPS repeater; both in the cockpit.
Tricolour/all round white light at the masthead; LED cabin light; clock; barometer.
General:
The gear that you'd expect to find on a cruising yacht: buckets, boathook, hand bearing compass, warps, fenders, etc.
Price:
I would like to encourage young people to experience the cruising life. So here's how the price is calculated. Take your age in years (minimum 25) and multiply by 100. So,
If you are 25, you pay £2500 and get an absolute bargain, considering all the expensive equipment aboard.
If you are 75 like me, forget it, you'd be paying over the odds at £7500 and should look elsewhere!
Lying at Ravenglass, Cumbria, UK and ready to sail away. Overnight accommodation available to seriously interested parties wishing to come out here to the further reaches of civilisation to inspect. In the event of an early sale, before the end of August, I am open to persuasion to make one last passage to deliver her to somewhere convenient on the W coast of the UK.