Robinetta suffered a lot during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Bad weather meant we were unable to repair her broken rudder at the end of the 2019 sailing season and she was left to languish in her mud berth in Tollesbury. I tried to visit our 5½ ton, long-keel gaff cutter every month to turn the engine but lockdown travel restrictions meant I couldn’t continue to visit her. Once out of lockdown, she was towed and lifted out of the water for the new rudder to be made; her engine had not been used for months and it had totally seized when we relaunched her in October 2020. In the spring, we ordered a new one and had her mast revarnished. During this time, we had also moved to Scotland.
By the end of August 2021, was finally ready. Julian and I drove down and spent the first morning washing off mud residue then painting on antifoul. Time was tight if we were to head north. There was no time to touch up the topsides that still sported their crack-filling layers, and
