Out Again

So with my skipper turning up on a couple of occasions, first removing the main sail from the mast and storing it in my saloon, then turning up a few days later to do the same to the jib, I should've known something was happening.

With the wind gusting quite strongly, my skipper, complete with back muscle issues, still managed to unclip my main from the mast, which involved climbing the lower part and releasing it all in the flagging Lazy Jack bag, before spilling it on the deck and hurriedly dragging it back to the cockpit and finally down below.  This is no mean feat given the amount of material involved, still he managed it at the cost of a pair of glasses that, due to the rain the sleeves of his coat caught his face removing the glasses from his nose and smashing in two on the floor.

Several days later with the wind still gusty he returned to drop my jib too, sending that down the hatch in to the Master cabin.   Still a job done.

More recently my skipper returned with the crew and moved me from my pontoon in the Medina to the Yacht Haven, where I spent the weekend before being lifted out and stored on the hard once more.  The Medina mud hosed off before being placed in my resting place over winter. Skipper soon arrived to inspect my prop and hooked me up to shore power and had the dehumidifier running, waiting to pack the sails away in their bags before setting up the oil filled radiators.  Then starts the work on his list.  Already I've given him another task by separating the work top from the top of the fridge.  No warning that there was an issue I've just peeled one item from the other, I'm sure its a simple task for him to complete.

My hull has been jet washed removing the gloopy mud that is the base for the very fine weed that gets a hold and produces very whiskers.  Once I'm out and sailing along this mud soon lets go. For now the additional Copper Coat my skipper added last year is clear to see and lessens the effect of the mud.

However, my anodes are shot to pieces but may have been slowed by the additional 'manual' one fitted in the summer.  At least it may have stopped the prop from being damaged further, this will be removed and taken away for further discussion with the specialists. The softer Aluminium sail drive has pitting on it too and this the skipper is going to coat in the left over epoxy resign from the Copper Coat, but of course without the Copper being mixed in.  Then once hardened apply a paint on anti-fouling.

Both sails are now off, packed and ready to go to the mainland to be laundered and serviced.  So with three months I'll let you know how many and which jobs he manages to complete.

Thor II

This week saw my owner arrive with a couple of friends, it was lovely and mild but I didn't get to go out as they were shown around and had tea before heading back.  At the weekend my skipper arrived with another large sail bag - bright yellow and a neatly folded sail within.  I had no idea what this was as I'd not heard any chat from the skipper for a while.

The fog was just lifting gently out of the valley and there was a faint hint of a breeze, ideal I suppose if your hoisting a sail of some size on your own.  Skip delved in to the Gennekar bag and removed the strop from its clew, he then hunted around for a line to act as a sheet and then eased the spare halyard from the bow.  Unfolding the well packed sail to locate the head, clew & tack, each were then connected to lines and readied for a hoist. Skipper cam back aft and put a turn around the winch and released the cutch, then began to wind in.

The dark navy blue Code 0 rose up to about half way up the mast and then the slightest of zephyr's came through and filled the sail.  This took it over the neighbouring yacht and on to the pontoon, at least being fixed at the clew and tack would stop it going any further.  The slightest breeze in the cloth prevented my skipper from hoisting any further without the winch handle, so had to lock it off and go amid ships to retrieve it, stuffing yards and yards of cloth through one of the hatches.  Once in and out of the way, skipper then lowered the remainder and clipped the head to the stays. With everything back on board he then re-packed it back in to the bag making sure he could get to each of the three corners.  Lesson learned, that a snuffler similar to that used on the Gennekar is required.

If it was impossible to raise it in this subtlest of breezes whilst I'm stationary, then trying to hoist it whilst I'm moving may be a task too far.  Better find out now when it doesn't matter than be disappointed later when it may.

So it's been a few weeks and the skippers bag this time with a snuffer to go over the Code 0.  This makes hoisting and lowering a lot more simple for the short crew and is the similar to one supplied with the Gennekar.

He also arrived with the long awaited McMurdo M10 AIS transponder.  This when fitted will enable you all to follow our travels, providing of course that the secrecy switch is off.  More importantly it'll enable the crew to see all other vessels using such devices on the monitor in the dark or fog etc, but unlike radar which of course I have, it supplies an MMSI number so that the skipper can 'phone' the bridge of a vessel he's concerned about to make sure or find out how the impending situation is going to be resolved.  In other words, have you seen me and what action are you taking or do you want me to do something different !  The device also relays lots of information about speed, direction, destination and all sorts, but the important one is the ability to communicate directly to the bridge.  You may recall last year an incident when I was belting back from Alderney at 8.0 knots and a freighter would not respond on channel 16, my skipper new he was the stand on vessel and did so, but kept a careful lookout in case he had to make avoiding action.  With the M10, he will be able to ring the bridge and ask questions, whether dark or in fogy conditions.

Big Brother !

No this isn't about the Hanse 675 but AIS, Automated Identification Systems.  My Skipper bought one back in July with the intention of fitting it to me prior to our cruise in August.  It never happened.  He had wired one in on another yacht some years earlier so was no stranger to the equipment and his youthful years of building and preparing rally cars make him useful to have as a skipper or just on board for that matter.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to me that come august, there was no signs of it, in fact it was still in it's box back up at the house.  Apparently it required the acquisition of an AIS compatible aerial and that had to be sourced from elsewhere, also both these aerials ought to be located in a position that would give them the best 'view' and as centrally as possible.  Clearly my lower spreader would be ideal, if only it wasn't 8.0m up the mast and another 4.0m from the navigation table.  So I see his point and we left without it and the use of mobile phone kept a few in the know of our location.

The device he's chosen is very clever.  It's a Class B, not a mandatory thing but like radar it provides information of other vessels in range, as well as giving them yours if they have one fitted, which on interrogation can be vital to help make informed decision when a possible collision course is likely.  Even down to getting a 'phone' number (MMSI - Maritime Mobile Service Identity) of the impending vessel such with a DSC radio the bridge can be 'called' and a real time conversation held with the man behind the wheel, whatever the weather.  Now vessel over a certain size or carrying more than a requisite number of passengers have to have one and these have to be of Class A origin.

It's taken my skipper 6 weeks to get this little black box working properly.  It's been back to the manufacturer after it crashed during a firmware upgrade, turning the whole thing off. He wanted to make sure it worked prior to undertaking all the necessary work on me to fit it properly.  He still has my old 12v gel batteries that he's loathed to get rid of and with one of them he set it up in his dining room, but to no avail. The GPS was receiving others, but the VHF wasn't letting on.  Various e-mails later the whole lot was moved to the plant room of the house and the bird feeder station was acquisitioned and adorned the VHF aerial at the top and the GPS aerial half way down.  Still no joy, despite the aerial being vertical this time.  A few more e-mails including a data log and it was suggested that there's something blocking the outgoing signal.  Once more the whole lot was moved up to the attic room that overlooks the Solent.  GPS aerial on the sill and VHF hanging upside down out of the window top.  With the lap top plugged in to it once more and the diagnostic check made it was left to do its thing again.

Finally I, or a version of me as it has my data within it, appeared  on any viewing AIS system on the internet, there I was alive and a mile from the nearest water !

Now that my skipper is happy that the little black box is working he'll start fitting it on board.  Then people will be able to follow my track and see such information as Speed Over the Ground (SOG), where I've come from etc.  As well as being there to ensure that a repeat of a couple of years ago doesn't happen, when my skipper was unsure as to what a freighter was doing within the English Channel as we came back from Braye and they wouldn't answer the VHF.  Now he can simply 'ring' them up and ask what is their intention !

September's Drift

The weather is certainly strange and has continued in a similar vain to the weather during my return trip from the Scilly Isles. Overcast, horrible and rain, to clear bright sunny days.  This weekend saw my skipper bring two of his friends with him on a bright and sunny day, both I had seen before but this was the first time they'd been on board at the same time.

Once bags had been brought on board and stowed below I was prepared ready to go, even if one of the chaps did unzip the cover of the spray hood frame, am sure he was just keen to help.  Skipper had brought with him a new flag pole which soon had the huge ensign flying complete with the fly just touching the water as it’s supposed to, if you want to be in keeping with sailing etiquette.  With a close eye on one crew member, the other went forward and slipped my bow line as skipper reversed me to swing the bow out, without Poly Agatha in front of me I didn’t have to swing too far before I could motor forward and have the stern line released .  I remember this chap from Round the Island race when he got in a bit of a mess, this time though without panic he reeled in the warp without fuss and we set off for the Solent.

Now clearly my skipper had forgotten how much rain had fallen recently and so it was fortunate that my main stopped as the reefing lines had got caught, as one crew member was at the base of my mast heaving and the other was to tail off the halyard.  Skipper handed the helm over as he sorted it out and hoisted the rest of the sail with the electric winch, tonnes of water spewed out from the front of my boom around the position one chap had been standing previously !  As usual there were plenty of boats out on the water, every weekend there’s some form of racing and this one was no exception.  Having headed West temporarily in to what little wind there was to hoist my main, we turned and headed East with the tide, making sure to keep clear of the barge bring new rock for the Cowes breakwater, shame the old gaff rigged boat didn't have the same awareness of my skipper.  Both my main and Windex struggled to find any breeze.  However it was a glorious day and so my engine was turned off so the crew could mellow in the quietness, that was till one crew member went below to find a CD to play. Skipper handed the fishing rod to one chap and nervously kept an eye on both the depth gauge and the traffic around whilst I slowly drifted. Lunchtime was fast approaching probably as quickly as  boredom was setting in for both crew members, but having stripped me of most things during my de-camp lunch was not on board.

 

Whilst it had looked towards the end of the week as though wind would be light, skipper had hoped that there would be enough to get us going and keeping everyone amused or busy, sitting in the sun wasn’t preventing the thoughts of food from entering the crews minds. Skipper went down below and brought ‘Thor’ up from below decks and set about setting up the sheets, we had reached Osborne Bay by now and the only shipping, a car transporter plus a paddle steamer had just passed us.  So up went ‘Thor’, but he just wouldn’t fill enough to move us across to the mainland, where another yacht race was taking place although at a snails pace, but there did appear to be more wind.

 

Every time skipper went forward to play with the luff of the sail to try to encourage the wind to fill it, so he checked the depth gauge first. We drifted slowly East. With no luck and without wanting to be a chicane for the Fishborne ferries, ‘Thor’ came down, packed away and my engine went on,  I was taken back to Cowes.  Skipper ran through the procedures of landing me against a pontoon and set up the fenders and warps ready.  We’d have two landings to make apparently, the first one would be a good practise for the home pontoon and so I was brought up behind a small sea fishing day boat on the fuel pontoon, walking me forward once there, to enable the hose to reach my fuel filler.  When complete, they repeated the same take off as before and headed to my home pontoon.  Having done one landing previously the crew were ready again, this one was just as straight forward.

Skipper didn't take his usual care of putting me away, as he wanted to get the guys off for lunch, but he did return the following day to sort me out and fitted the new replacement LED lights as well.

August 2015

It was a slow start on Saturday the 1st for my crew, but the Medina was getting more & more crowded by the hour.  Eventually everything was on board, lunch had been consumed by my crew and the lines were slipped.  Poly in front of me had gone, but Craftsmans Art behind was still on her berth.  The wind eased me off the pontoon and we were away for this years summer trip.

With the wind at its predominant south westerly but blowing around 25 knots I had two reefs put in my sail and off I went, westerly.  It was cracking, I felt comfortable and the Solent although a little lumpy didn't slow me down.  My skipper has a thing with the tides now and so I creamed along at 9.9 knots SOG (speed over the ground, that's my speed plus the tide) after a couple of hours and about a half a dozen tacks I was approaching Totland Bay.  May be this was just a weekender, I hope not.

The crew sorted themselves and got back in to the swing of living on board and at 1200 just before the tide turned, the anchor was raised and I was pointed westward out to sea at last.  The small back eddy took us round past Alum Bay and then we were out past the Needles.  With the promise of 4-5's and strangely south easterly, both reefs were left in, the main eased out I was off again galloping along like one of the New Forest Pony's, that weren't that far north of me.  As the wind appeared to ease so the reefs were taken out.

Mupe Bay was to be my destination originally, but with the SW'ly wind it would've not been the best place to be.  The eastern side, the more sheltered spot, however, as Cowes had been rammed yesterday my fresh water tanks were still low and so I headed on.  Approaching Portland, I was gybed and headed north.  With full main out I was becoming over powered, however it wasn't long before I was turned to windward and the main was dropped completely.  Behind me was the entrance to Portland Marina and I was taken in.  In the sheltered harbour of Portland hundreds of little Toppers were out racing and so I was guided around the outside of their course and on to the first 'Tango' pontoon.  It had only taken 6 1/2hrs to get here.  Once tied on my tanks were soon replenished with water and my batteries at long last had a good baulk, absorption and finally trickle charge from my shore power charger.

With 4 - 5 occasionally 6's promised and much the same the day after, it took a while for my skipper to decided to stick to plan A. The second reef was put back in before I left the pontoon and we waited till the little fleet of Toppers had left before following them out.  This time I was lead to the Naval entrance and once outside the sails hoisted, I was short tacked up the side of Portland. Others leaving around the same time were under engine.  My skipper had timed it just right I got a lift from the eddy around the inside of Portland and just entered the eastern race to tack once more clear of the Bill itself.  The waves in the race always look more menacing from within, but it wasn't long before I was clear of them and pointed at 270 which coincided with the wind 40 degrees to port.

After I had caught and passed two smaller yachts and I think because a larger one had passed me, that my skipper shook out one of the reefs.  Again with 6 hours of tide with me I maxed at 10.1 knots SOG but averaged around 7.  Now I've been to Torquay a few times, but my crew feel it's a bit run down and the marina's full of Gin Palaces, so I was brought in to Babacombe Bay around 1930.  This is the other side of the headland to the east of Torquay.  A beautiful bay and I was the only one in it.  Cary's Inn is to the south and a kiss me quick type area to the north, divided by a number of linking bridges.  My skipper booked in for a meal on Tuesday at Cary's to catch up with their friends in the evening and sit out the 6's that appeared in the forecast.

According to my Skipper, the Cary Inn was a jolly nice Gastro Pub and they had a really nice meal.  More importantly they had a good old chin wag with their friends including a Fastnet crew mate.  For the third time my skipper actually mastered getting the dinghy ashore without getting a boot full of water. It almost looked as though they knew what they were doing as they launched back to me after their meal.  At least they remembered to put my lights on so they could find me on their way back !

Wednesday and the crew were moving around down below around 0900.  My new cooker provided them toast for the first time from the grill.  With that washed up and the four Mackerel, gutted, cleaned and prepared were given fresh sea water and put in the dinghy, for my next passage.  This commenced at around 1130, earlier than the skipper had suggested, but the forecast was for 5 - 6's and at that time the weather had yet to fill in.  With two reefs set and a turn of jib, I was set out around Hope's Nose and across Torbay.  Once past Berry Head the wind built and the seas became more confused.

25 knots across my deck with my hull occasionally slamming in the next trough.  Skipper took over the helm at Start Point. 6.3 knots of boat speed added to that the tide, of course he had the tide worked out and I was pushing 9.0 knots SOG.  This enabled me to push through most waves, but there were times when I rose high only to bury my nose deep in the following trough, gallons of water tumbling down my decks towards the crew in the cockpit, like waves making their way up the beach. I'm pleased to say that my bilge remained considerably dry, although some of the seals on my hatches were tested as was the seal around my mast.

Once clear of all headlands and obstructions I was eased away and on a broad reach and attained 6.7 knots of boat speed.  Eased further to head for the house indicating the outside of the bar at Salcombe the jib was brought in.  Just before the bar I was swung to windward and my main dropped, the skipper radioed the Harbour Master and they brought me in and up the estuary to Salt Stone where I was anchored.  This is a quiet spot, a nature reserve amongst the drying creeks.  I arrived just after low water but had 1.5m beneath my keel.

The four Mackerel, were shown the inside of my oven and served.

As you can imagine it was pitch black as light faded and my skipper hadn’t been quite so generous with the anchor chain as he should’ve been and around high tide at 2300, the anchor alarm sounded as I was being dragged up river.  Fortunately with the only yacht close by having his anchor light on too, and the GPS still live, I was brought back round in to deeper water and re-anchored.  My skipper did stay up on anchor watch to make sure I held until the water started to recede.

The dinghy was taken in to town and more food was brought on board.  The small town is always busy during the summer school holidays but at least we’d manage to miss their regatta week.

On leaving Salcombe a number of dinghy races were going on and so I was taken off to one side of the estuary and headed to the bar once more.  The forecast had predicted south easterlies and 3-4’s so once the main had been sorted out my new sail the G2 ‘Thor’ came out from below and was hoisted.  Once filled I could feel the power that immediately came with it.  The winds were probably lighter than predicted but that gave my crew a chance to try various things and I was gybed back and forth.  With the winds as light as they were Fowey seemed a long shot and so I was taken to Plymouth.  Sutton Harbour to be precise through the lock.  Here my crew met up with another friend for the evening.

Having been replenished once more with fresh water and my batteries re-vitalised by the charging cycles of the Sterling pro-charger.  My skipper radio’d the lock keeper.  The lock itself wasn’t required as the water level enabled free passage in and out, but the footbridge needed to be swung out of the way and this in itself governed which direction traffic would flow.

Once out in to the Plymouth Sound, my sails hoisted and I tacked back and forth out and then to Fowey. To a large mooring buoy near the entrance and Polruen, which is on the east side of the river the town of Fowey on the west.

Again the dinghy was made ready and the crew headed to Polruen as there was a sign saying laundry & showers.  There’s also a pub there and so a table was booked for that night too. On returning to me, they didn’t stop but left the crews handbag and picked up a can of fuel and set off again exploring the upstream section of the river. Lostwitheil was their goal, however on nearing Saint Winnow, the river bed could be clearly seen beneath them.  With uncertainty as to where the actual main channel was, it seemed a good time to turn round and run back with the ebbing tide. The outboard spluttered to a stop, but this was due to it running out of fuel and once topped up started and ran faultlessly back to me.

 

St Winnow in the distance, before retreating quickly

The following day my crew went in to Fowey itself, to the Royal Fowey Yacht Club, where showers were taken, my skipper took his lap top and caught up on some work and the crew went in to town to get some fresh vegetables etc.

Making use of the tide as forecasted winds were to be light again, my crew were up and out by 0900.  Today was not going to be a sailing day, with main out and tight, my engine was left at 2000 rpm and pointed seaward.  With the forecasted winds never materialising, the Autopilot was engaged and a route set, the first time I think this year that it has done that.  It did play up for a short while with the words ‘drive lost’ but after resetting it all was well and I pointed to Helford River.

On arrival my skipper radio’d for the mooring officer, but one didn’t exist at that time and so the Helford Ferry answered instead.  I was taken to the Pool and a green mooring buoy was lassoed, however there was no ring in the top in which to put ‘Loopy Loo’ through and the sinking line unable to pass the weed growth slipped off.  ‘Loopy Loo’ is two lengths of rope with a length of chain between, this stops chaffing. I was motored back downstream to Robins Cove near Durgan and anchored there instead.

Wednesday and my crew were up and ready and so I was sailed out of the estuary and set for the Manacles. The wind appeared light and so the engine was on until a new course was set that would take me past the races off Lizard.  A broad reach was then set and I was sailed until past the Lizard and a beam reach was made towards St Michaels Mount.  Once inside the bay, I was gybed out but the course sent me well out to sea, so a course was made and the sails set accordingly.

Then the wind died.  The crew looked at each other and the jib was furled in, the engine went back on and there was even discussions as to whether 'Thor' could come out.  However no sooner said than done the wind filled in with a 40 degree shift, the jib was extracted and I was now close hauled pointing at Newlyn.

Newlyn is a fishing port and boats like me are foreigners, but we're put up with as we bring in extra revenue not only to the port but the local economy too.  My nostrils filled with the smell of fish and an oily film wrapped around my hull but I had a place to stay.  Fishing boats by the handful prepared themselves and moved around the port like mechanical monsters. The low thud from their engines reverberated as they moved graciously from one spot to another, then eventually out towards the harbour entrance and off to some special spot some miles out to sea.

                              Setting off for the night, week or months ?

Saturday, and the weather looked more than promising, so I was prepared once more and was sent on my way towards the harbour entrance before the water level became an issue.  Once outside and clear and my Skipper had tidied all the lines and put away my fenders, I was turned to point at Mousehole (mouzzall), and up went the main.  With the wind light and not the expected 3 - 4's I was motored out in search of more wind, this came but from a westward direction, the direction I was being taken.  My jib unfurled I was pointed west of south, just off of Bishop's Rock lighthouse, with light winds 'Chianti' a 30 or so footer was catching me up and eventually passed.  The winds strengthened and backed soon I re-passed as we crossed paths once more.  Eventually the swell of the sea and the wind direction was such that 'Chianti' started to motor, I was still under sail.  Eventually the donk came on and I was pointed at St Agnes and Hugh islands, where I was anchored.

                                                Sun set at St Agnes

The following day the crew went for a walk around St Agnes and by mid afternoon I was moved across to St Martins and my crew picked up a buoy. Once more the crew disembarked to pay their dues and returned the following day to re-provision.  Back on board, I was prepared again and was gently motored between the many islands at low water to expose as many dangers as possible, but still the crew took me slowly round, spotting many seals enjoying the sun on my way to New Grimsby Sound between Tresco and Bryher.

On the Tuesday with light winds my crew raised my anchor and I was taken around the northern part of the islands and headed towards the Lands End TSS. Here too, where many of the Fastnet fleet still trying to make their way to the rock.  I was manoeuvred around a few then once clear headed 90 degrees to the shipping lanes.  With engine ticking over, my skipper took a few shots of the Wolf Rocklight house as I passed.  Progress was slow, but eventually the forecasted wind filled in and about 1730 my sails where hoisted and I was off sailing once more.  In fact as the winds were steady not only in direction but consistent in strength, my skipper took time to adjust and trim the sails such that I sailed my self along around 45 degrees off the wind no matter which tack I was on.  In fact the crew coming up from listening to the radio below, hauled me over to the opposite tack and released the helm, once I found the wind I adjusted my angle to 45 degrees.  My skipper was pleased and now wants me to do the same thing at just of 30 degrees to the wind.

By now I was approaching the Helford river again, but this time I was anchored on the southern side.

 

Leaving the Scilly's behind

 

The following day, with a misty murk hiding most landmarks, I was motored across the bay to Falmouth, Pendennis Marina to be precise.  The radar was once more fired up but this time to check for movements in or out of the entrance.  My skipper picked up such a vessel and created a target of it.  Information about speed and bearing was constantly up dated on my screen.  My skipper had been informed on the VHF to put me on D pontoon which meant that I was to be taken around to the far side.  This I did until my depth gauge read 0.1m and my skipper backed me out.  with plenty of space on A pontoon, next to the RNLI lifeboats and near an old gaff rigged vessel called 'Greyhound', my skipper reversed me in.

The harbour master insisted that there should be at least 4.0m.  My crew remembered that when I was in Scotland, the skipper adjusted my depth gauge to read metres under the keel.  My previous owner had me depth below the waterline.  Skip, then checked what he had set me at and realised that the 2.3m that he had entered, didn't take in to account the depth below the waterline of my transducer.  Giving me another 600mm, so it should have read 1.7m.  Once re-calibrated, a lead line was put over the side during several states of the tide to make sure everything was spot on.

Two nights were spent here, whilst the crew did laundry, re-provisioned and managed to visit the National Maritime Museum, which oddly had a theme of the Vikings.  Even time for a meal at Rick Steins restaurant instead of their usual favourite fish & chip shop. With water tanks and on board showers used, it was into the murk once more.  This time I was headed up the Fal River and to a pontoon just SE of Malpas, which in turn is near Truro. A very remote spot with the river surrounded by deciduous trees and occasional rocky shoreline and it all looked a bit pirate as the murky mist still filled the tree tops.

                         Me on the pontoon just down stream of Malpas

The following day I was moved back downstream but instead of stopping at St Mawes, the other side from Falmouth, I was headed out to sea.  Gorran Haven had been mentioned as a possible anchorage to, but in the misty murk I continued past.  Hour after hour I was clocking up the easterly miles, my skipper clearly had other ideas.  Eventually I was gybed north and headed in to Cawsand.

Cawsand and Kingsand beautiful Villages

 

A glorious day was spent exploring the two towns together with a bit of re-provisioning, but then the need to move on came and an overcast day saw me leave my anchorage and head to Dartmouth.

Dittisham was mentioned, but that would be for the following day.  The weather that clearly my skipper was trying to get ahead of, caught up.  The following day I was moved from the pontoon as promised to the harbour master and taken down stream in torrential rain and high winds to Dittisham a place I had been taken to before but unable to find a mooring buoy. My skipper having spoken to the harbour master had been told of two buoys that I could be rafted against other vessels.  As I arrived I was taken low to be turned and headed to wind.  Slowly my skipper edged me closer to the yacht mentioned keeping me under control under the high winds, more so than the yacht I was to be rafted against that swung every now and then.  Despite words being passed between us boats, no one appeared on deck to lend a hand. On the second approach the difference between my high freeboard and that of the smaller yacht on the buoy was evident and the rafting exercise was abandoned.

I was taken to the Anchor Stone where my anchor was dropped, but with around 15m of water beneath me, howling winds and weed, the anchor never really took and so this exercise was abandoned and I was brought under control to anchor elsewhere.  My crew were about to set the kedge anchor to stop me from swinging so violently in the high winds, when on the VHF the harbour master suggested I could be rafted against the old British Steel racing boat back in town. As we approached it was evident that the blue flagged yacht that didn't come to my crews assistance where about to raft on the other side of the same vessel. My skipper refused to speak to them.

That night the winds built and from about midnight to 0400 the wind howled, stretching, pulling at the warps an uncomfortable night for my crew, but after 0400 the wind just stopped.

Deciding that a trip around the corner to Brixham or slightly further north to Teignmouth was not going to give any great benefit, my crew slipped my lines and I was off on the long trip across Lyme Bay.  The wind however was such that a course just south of east was made taking me to around 8nm south of Portland Bill before being gybed round and headed towards Weymouth.  However the crews mother was going to make a visit and the crew decided that a stop in Weymouth could mean rafting and a 90yr old would struggle to get on board, so I was taken once more to Portland where wide clear pontoons were available.  However she did not visit and so I was taken out of Portland and headed to Studland for an overnight stop before heading to Cowes Saturday lunchtime.

Sunday and my skipper had everything on deck to dry out before packing it away. On the Monday my insides where wiped down with disinfectants and all the tinned or canned goods, plus clothing were taken off me.  Another year and another adventure, hopefully it won't be too long before I am taken out once more.  There's rumours of yet another sail to be added to me suit.

Welcome - Thor

I thought I had been neglected as a couple of weekends have passed and I've been sitting here on my pontoon, over looking all the activity that's been going on at the East Cowes Marina and the children at UKSA centre.  The big blue bag has been in my masters cabin since the Round the Island Race.

This weekend though saw my skipper arrive, but this time instead of his usual lighter weight air cooled Honda outboard being on the back of the dinghy, the heavier water cooled Yamaha was powering him up toward me.  This usual means one thing, preparations for my month at sea, as it is this slightly more powerful engine they put their trust in when I'm anchored off shore.

But no, more crew turned up and we headed out in to he Solent on a very warm and windless day, as my skipper had said. Once clear of the Fairway and with the flood tide still heading eastwards, the tide not the wind took me in that direction.  With full main hoisted, the sail, a Gennaker G2 was hoisted from the master cabins hatch.  However, with little in the way of steerage, its launch was halted as there was also a problem trying to find the tack to attach the guys to and so it was sent back down where it came from.

With a steadier breeze and steerge regained, the blue bag was brought up on stored on the foredeck, clipping the bag to the rails.  With the halyard re-attached, the guys clipped on and the clew attached to the bow by means of a strop, skipper went back to the cockpit where it was hoisted and ground in.  Pulling on the snufflers lines it rose slowly, eventually skipper got his Helm to make a to the south and the westerly wind filled the base of the sail and the snuffler went skywards.  Thor appeared rising from the deck as the sail filled with air.  Despite the Helm not being happy with the Royal Blue colour, I dipped my shoulder down in recognition of the new power and as I stood back up I powered up.

This pleased my skipper, especially as a freighter had opted to enter the channel I was in. I crossed the channel and in no time at all lunch was being declared.  The drop was simple, skipper untied the snuffler line from the base of the mast and pulled the sock over the sail all the way to the rail.  Then it was a matter of unclipping the strop from the bow and then bagging it as the halyard was released.  Once packed and tidy, I turned to windward, the main was dropped, anchor prepared and I was pointed towards Osborne Bay.

After lunch with the wind now in exceedence of 15 knots, it was unlikely that the G2 would be used again, in fact a single reef was put in to the main before the anchor was weighed.  With all whites flying and a southerly wind I was taken towards the Forts. On reaching the red can, a marker for the port side of the small channel the change of helm gybed me slowly over under the guidance of the skipper and headed towards Lee-on-Solent.

With the ebbing tide skipper took over the helm and headed west back to Cowes, 8.5 knots SOG, he spotted a car transporter leaving Southampton Water and so opted to cross right across.  This he did and caught and passed a Sigma 38 on the windward side, even with a reef in my main it still dwarfed the Sigma's. Slowly, majestically I pulled passed, the skipper on board the Sigma had tried to push me to starboard and luff my sails, but he'd gone too far himself and had to bear away enabling my skipper to do likewise and present my sails better to the wind and so the quicker I was able to pull away.  None of my crew looked directly at them, but they were mine, none to happy to have been passed with such grace !

The Medina was extremely busy as Panneri Classic Week was about to commence, but once passed the melee of yachts and motor cruisers, skipper took over and guided me back to my spot, however the tide was now running fast in the River and so at the second attempt he lined me up near to Polly Agatha and reversed me in to the spot.  Once in, he transported the others back to the public pontoon and tidied me up, happy that enough was away and clear. He headed off himself.

Sunday he returned, checked the fluids in my engine and cleared the filters of any debris.  He sat in the sunshine in the cockpit with his tea, reading the instructions to the latest gadget the McMurdo AIS class B transponer.

As for the month at sea, I understand that's coming up.  Will Thor get to add the miles to my passage as intended, we'll see !

Round The Island Race - 2015

It was on the Friday that my skipper turned up with one of his crew members, to start to prepare me for the following days early start.  Instrument covers off, wheel & winch covers off, main halyard attached and lazy Jack bag unzipped.  Even to the point that the gas cylinder was switched to ensure no need to change it should it run out part way round.  The only thing left to do in the morning would be to sort out slips and clear away the springs.

With more or less everything done in advance that could be, a visiting yacht was spotted coming in to Polly Agatha's space.  So skipper & crew, leapt off me to go take their lines.  Miss understanding the Belgian flag for the German one, the only English speaking person on board asked if it would be ok to stay there for the night with 3 other boats rafted, they could be seen to be heading in a line back up the Medina.  My skipper climbed back on board and grabbed the hand held radio and called up the harbour master.  They soon came down and explained that they should continue down river to the Folly Inn where there would be space.  The Belgians where totally unaware that the busiest race in the world was about to occur.  Once they were happy as where to go, skipper climbed back on board and used the VHF to forewarn the Folly berthing master of there impending guests.

Once happy that I was more or less ship shape and ready for the morning they checked the new cruising chute, a Gennekar G2, but clealry it wasn't the colour that is should've been !  With it re-packed they boarded the dinghy and disappeared in the afternoon sun.

From that point on, the Medina was getting busier by the hour and yachts were starting to raft. Rod the old live-a-board, who used to be at the end of my pontoon, had been shifted to make space and temporary re-located next to me.  He had nearly set fire to his boat, dropping something on the batteries during a charging session I think he said !  Still he did look a bit be-draggled as he came out on deck covered in white powder.

At around 0630 on the Saturday my skipper was dropped off from the dinghy, climbed aboard and started my engine and fired up all the instruments.  When he was satisfied everything was talking properly to each other, he set up the slip lines and took in the springs.  More and more people arrived, until there was eight on board.  Following a brief safety talk and everyone in their position, I was put in reverse until the bow came out.  However the chap on the stern slip, was a tad slow or didn't appear to know what he was doing.  Rather than pull the line in he waited till I had pulled it all off the pontoon and in to the water before retrieving it, despite the numerous instructions that were being hailed at him fro various points on my decks.  As fenders and lines were stowed, my skipper had everyone wear their viking helmets ready for the start line and to give spectators something to giggle about.

This year, the tide was still going to be against us at the start.  My skipper took me quite far east to hoist the sails and off to the far end of the start line, to keep the wind that otherwise could be shadowed by the island closer in. We were about two minutes behind our start time of 0740, but at least in reasonably clear water.  Plan A was to take one long take up to the Needles, but the wind direction changed this.  It was hoped to make the Needles by 1100 and this was easily achieved and I had passed Freshwater Bay by then.  By this time with more sea room the fleet dispersed with two distinct split in tacticks.  Some went out to get a more consistent wind angle, others kept in to keep out of the stronger ebbing tide.  I was taken out.

The wind steadily built and once past St Catherine's point, close to where my crew abandoned the race last year due to no wind,  26 knots was blowing across my decks.  The swell was coming from the starboard rear quarter, lifting that corner of my stern and trying to turn me round.  Skipper was caught out by a gust and a large wave and couldn't stop me from turning head to wind.  Many other boats were also broaching with a few popping their spinnakers too.  Once a reef was ground in and my skipper happy he turned me round and headed back on course under much more civilised control.

One gybe later and I was pointing to the only mark on the course Bembridge Ledge Cardinal Buoy.  Although to get a better wind angle I had to be pointed higher and my skipper was playing with the turning tide to push me back out again.  Once round the mark Ryde Sands becomes an issue for me and so I was taken out to the port mark marking the edge of shallow water.  Then it was a case of praying for the tide to assist, but this is the Solent and tides do strange things here, and tacking as least times as possible to get across the correct finish line.

It was a struggle getting across the southern finish line as the tide was pushing me away from the committee boat and the winds appeared to go light.  But cross it we did in 9 hrs 50 minutes

SB3 - Serene Affair

Whilst I know my skipper will be busying himself looking up weather predictions and pouring over surface pressure charts during the lead up to the Round the Island Race this coming Saturday  (27th June).  He's also been overlooking the whereabouts of my new sail, from the suppliers to the art workshop and somehow back to me.

Amongst all of this he and his crew, will be preparing Dagmar House and the food for the 7 guests that are about to descend for the weekend.

If there's was to be any time to sit down and take stock, then this has been used to promote the sale of his other pride and joy Serene Affair - the SB3 that used to be on the hard at Shepards for a while till he moved it to an indoor secure unit, closer to where he used to live.

My skipper had brought it down from the largest reservoir in southern England, where he used to potter about in it many years ago, in an attempt to undertake a sail for Charity.  Nothing trivial as you'd expect from my skipper, no, he was going to attempt Cowes to Cherbourg in the 6.1m dinghy !  He'd arrange a land crew to bring it back from French soil and free passage from Brittany Ferries.  He'd arranged for friends to be on board a ghost yacht that would also cross the channel and pick up  radio messages and relay them back to the coast guard to report hourly positions, as well as being first call if a problem was encountered.

So the SB3 was brought down to Warshash, in the Hamble and he signed up for three of the Spring series races, just to learn how to sail the dinghy once more, one of those was becalmed.  After that he sailed it over to Cowes, when the following year it was entered in to the Round the Island Race and crewed only by my crew, there was no third person.  That year the 80th event, the wind was far too strong for such boats so having woken early, returned home.

Now Serene Affair, is to be sold to a Danish Charity sailing school, similar to UKSA here where I'm moored close to.  My skipper has been running around unrolling sails to take pictures, up to the boat to take some more and make sure that everything is together.  I wish her well in her new home and hope she brings many years of joy to the young.

                                                  SB3 - Serene affair

Last year I too didn't make it round, not due to too much wind but due to the lack of it.  Becalmed at St Catherine's point and opting to abandon the race to get back at a reasonable time.  That year I had trouble with my fan belt, this, there should be no issues I know of.

Preparations will no doubt heat up as the day closes in. I'll be in Black group and have a start time of 0740. My skipper has been told not to put the sponsors logo on my hull, as he's still got a small patch of the old glue to remove from last time !  Hopefully my new sail will arrive, due Thursday pm now slipped till Friday morning !  I'm not aware of any last minute works he's intending to do, but that doesn't mean to say there isn't.

You can keep an eye on my progress by looking at http://ngtrack2.ngresults.co.uk/raceplayer/ find the tab for boat name and enter Norse King.

I'll let you now how my crew did after the race.

Glorious June - Part II

You have to pick your days, but there are some sunny ones in amongst the not so sunny ones and this weekend was no different.  The weekend started with a busier river than normal.  This I understand to be due to the Isle of Wight Festival being held near Newport the main town that the last of the navigable Medina flows through.

Saturday afternoon my skipper arrived and spoke to the small yacht that had been sitting in the vacated space of Polly Agatha's having lunch.  Once on board he fired up my electrics to discharge my battery bank that had been and still was, being charged by the Marlec wind generator. With the radio on and the VHF in the back ground, each of my four winches were taken apart, cleaned re-greased, re-assembled and tested. Two pins that failed to come out plus the electric winch drive gear, stopped him from getting to my parts 100%, but at least they were re-greased if not completely taken apart.  Am sure he'll not let that rest and will soon have them apart again.

Next he was in the engine bay checking the oil in my iron sail and topping up the coolant level, finishing off by cleaning around the engine.

Before he left the pontoon, he checked the Craftsmans Art, the ketch behind me. It had been pulled tighter in to the pontoon so hopefully if I was to go out it wouldn't be such an obstacle as it was last weekend.

Sunday started misty, come 1030 and my crew arrived and got me ready to slip.  With the wind to the north west and no Polly Agatha in front, my bow was soon blown off, with the stern slipped, we motored out. There were several large schooners and other wooden gaff rigged boats in full sail, shortly followed by two lound bangs from the start cannons from the Royal Yacht Squadron.  It's said that those cannons were gifted to the then newly formed RYTS and that they were the cannons from Henry VIII's childrens minature galleons he had had made for them.

The wind was coming from the north by north west and so pointing to windward, my main was raised until it reached the first reef, put in whilst on the pontoon. Once my course was set the sails were adjusted and off we went, westwards. The wind was fickle and the sun threatening to come out.  Within an hour the reef was shacken out as the wind max'd at 12 knots. Salopette's & coats too came off as the sun burned through and by the time I was crossing the paths of the Yarmouth to Lymington ferry's the wind too had dropped to between 3-5 knots.  The iron sail was re-ignited and I was motored in to Totland Bay.

With little wind and glorious sunshine my crew had lunch in the cockpit, the tranquillity only broken by a RIB towing a water skier near the beach.  They had time to relax, although my skipper chose to service the pulleys and jib furling system and did the washing up. With the last of the ebb slowly making its way between the narrows at Hurst Castle, my anchor was raised.  Whilst my skiper was stowing the anchor, a process of swing it up in an arc and down in to its locker, using the hydraulic dampers and springs, the rib appeared saying that I was dragging an orange buoy.  Once the skipper worked out what they were saying he pulled said buoy out of the bucket and showed them ! This he uses tied at the front of the anchor to show others where my anchor is and so hopefully avoid anchoring close by.  Also if the anchor fouls on something then it can be towed backwards and away from the problem.

With the anchor stowed, the main hoisted, a back eddy was used to push me in.  By the time we reached the narrow gap between Hurst Castle and Fort Albert the tide had indeed begun to flood.  The wind however was more fickle than ever in its direction and only by adjusting course could he insure that the sail didn't gybe over.  Polly Agatha  was back on her berth and I was lined up facing both wind and tied and soon was directed at my spot between the two.

Next time out is for the Round the Island Race I heard and my new sail may be ready in time !

Glorious June Part I

It has been a few weeks since my skipper last came down, the fishing vessel that had appeared at the end of the pontoon has now been oustead and replaced with the very large ketch, Craftsmen. This may only be temporary as she's been on the outside of the Yacht Haven since the begining of the year but the week just gone has been busy down there with the bicenteenary of the Royal Yacht Squadron Sailing Club, culmanating with a visit from the Duke of Kent and the Royal Yacht moored outside of the Medina, which of course meant that HMS Northumberland too has been moored outside all week, undertaking security checks in and around the area.  Although this is the place that Craftsman used to moor, so we'll see if he is moved back or stays.

Friday & Saturday were quite blustery and I'd heard one of the small privately owned cruise ships that had anchored in the Fairway outside of the harbour entrance, had dragged its anchor pulling up the gas pipe line from the mainland that serves Cowes.  So it was on Sunday my Skipper, crew and a dog arrived on the Sally taxi.  It was a sunny day and the wind had disappeared, the tide had just turned and was flooding the river once more.

I was made ready and soon the usual proceedure of turning the Marlec wind generator off, isolating the battery banks by flicking the master switch and priming the bow thruster was all done.  With the tide on my bow, the ballon fender was set up at the rear and the front line slipped. Selecting reverse the stern line pulled my back in against the fender and pontoon and the bow went out in to the tide. Once my skipper was happy that I was pointing clear of Polly Agatha in front, forward was selected and the stern line slipped. Once clear, my helm was handed over to the crew and Skipper pulled in the fenders and cleared the lines.

There were a lot of boats out there, as I past the Red Funnel car ferry, I could see two or three mini cruisers, the Royal Yacht, HMS Northumberland and two large motor cruisers all pointing towards the flood tide.  It being a sunny Sunday, the day boats were joining the race boats that were joined by the cruise boats.  A similar display of motor boats too.

Remembering to release the number one reef, but forgetting number two, my main was hoisted in to the blue clear skies, the jib too pulled and winched in on the partially serviced rear 46.  Just the wind had failed to come to the party, what wind there was, was used to set my sails, but that soon changed as the wind changed its mind and direction and eventually disappeared.  We drifted for a while in the sun, making sure that the dog had plenty of water.

My skipper did his usual trick with the fish research and by the end of the session had the same results. With nothing happening skywards, possibly too early for sea breezes and the fact that without a reasonable flow of water over my rudder, direction was optional, my engine went back on to tickover and I was put back in forward gear.  Eventually, my sails were dropped and I was turned round to head for Osborne Bay, with the tide coming in I was taken close in and the hook dropped.

After lunch and still with no signs that any sailing could be had anytime soon, they opted to head me back home.  However the Skipper ever the viglant chap had noticed a small motor boat drift past struggling to start its engine and called over to them.  Once the anchor had been stowed, he prepared towing lines using one of the warps and looped both ends around the main winch taking it over the rear winches through to the rear.  Then the 50m springing line was attached using a bowline loop and the free end passed to the motor boat to attach to the bow.  At a steady pace we trundled back to the Fairway, where the Skipper called up the Harbour Master and arranged for my new cargo to be handed over.

The Medina was busy, the swathe that the City Of Chichester had cleared in the main channel had soon been filled with boats again. My crew were soon in to their stride of making landing preparations.  The skipper sorting out the fenders where he wants them, getting the shore lines ready and priming the bow thruster.  Then once past the fuel pontoon he takes over and gets the feel for the actions of the wind and tide against my hull.  He then swings me round in a circle and adjusts steerage, throttle and checks the bow thrusters deployed and working.  Poly Agatha was out but in its place was a large RIB, the kind that deploys its own wheels and can drive up the beach. Craftsman stern was sticking quite a way out in to the river. As I approached the crew got the lines in hand and prepared to step off, but the overhang of Craftsman needed to be cleared first, with the power back on and feet to spare I was swung in to the pontoon and immediately swung out again as I came alongside, engine in reverse I slowed to a halt, bang on my mark.

May Bank Holiday II

Following a brief outing last time in which I took my crew up to Horse Sands Fort at speed.  The second May bank holiday has just past and so it was on the Sunday my skipper and crew complete with provisions arrived. 

Two new pulleys have arrived and have been fitted to the D rings that have the safety line attached.  They both have some elastic looping over the top safety wire to stop them bashing the deck.  They have been added as it sounds as though I'm soon going to have a new sail, a G2 Genakker complete with a snuffler.  This will be my down wind sail and be able to be de-powered by pulling a huge 'sock' over it by one of the crew, whilst the other remains on the helm.

With the conversation about it deminishing, I was prepared and the lines slipped. There were a vast number of yacht out in the Solent, racing, cruising or just visiting.  My nose was tipped to the east and once clear, the main was hoisted shortly followed by the jib. With the tide and on a broad reach I soon hit 8.0 knots.  Within an hour I was at the Forts again but this time continued east, in fact we reached the entrance to Chichester harbour but time was against us as high tide was fast approaching.  My skipper was unhappy of the possibility that I could find myself not only punching the ebbing tide out of the channel but with the wind around 15 knots, making manoeuvring difficult when finding a visitors buoy amongst other yachts on their swinging moorings.

I bore round and headed back west.  My skipper kept a careful eye a stern on a small container vessel that was entering the main shipping channel.  In fact he tact over to show clearly that not only had we seen him but was keeping out of his way.  This new bearing took me towards the Wight Link ferry from Wotton Creek or Fishbourne as its otherwise known.  After a few minutes I was tact again back on the original bearing, again showing the ferry awareness.  This new bearing brought me close to the freighter once more, but by know the pilot was aware of what my skipper was doing and a visual check out of the bridge side window and an acknowledgement wave, proved the point as soon as he'd passed I went across his stern, as the previous bearing was compromising me with wind angle.  The crew on board the freighter clearly found this amusing as camera's came out and they stood at the stern taking photo's of me.  Travelling at around 7.0 knots, I headed up the main channel until Osborne House was on my port side, then I turned and headed across towards the bay.  This had me crossing in front of a cruise liner, but my skipper had judged this one to perfection and I was leaving the channel on the other side we before the liner was upon us.

Rounding up in to the wind the main de-powered and the engine was on.  With sails down I was taken further east of the Bay than usual and anchored.

With 20m of chain out and the wind building, my crew retired for the evening.  At around 0230 my anchor alarm sounded and my skipper was soon at the GPS to see what was happening.  Simple really the setting of 30.0m radius on the alarm was just not enough, being 14m, the combination of chain and the location of my GPS antenna took me 4.0m beyond the range and so the alarm kicked in.  I was surprised at how quickly the skipper had realised this in the middle of the night and he reset the distance.  Mind you he does lie there listening to all my noises and reacts accordingly or not.

In the morning the Solent was flat calm and the skipper emerged after breakfast and stripped down my starboard side Harkenen 46 winch, that was stiff, this usually takes the jib sheet.  Once done and re-assembled I was back on my way to my pontoon.

May Bank Holiday I

Well it wasn't the usual bank holiday weather that stopped me from going anywhere, but the family members of the crew, who complete with little one, wasn't going to go anywhere near the waters edge let alone out with me.

The weather was, as expected, not very good, but my skipper came on board to check things over and carry on with some work.  This was a bit limited, but the sticky substance left behind by last years Round the Island Race sponsor has finally been removed from the port side.  The side that was moored against the pontoon.  It was a case of easing out my stern and pulling in my nose, so that he could reach.  In fact once he'd removed it all, he then set about rubbing down the dent that the anchor had put in my nose, when I was borrowed by his friend many years ago when I lived in Scotland !

Talk about taking your time to get round to things !  Still the dent, about the size of a 50p piece, was filled when I was out of the water around Christmas time.  He set to, with wet & dry paper and rubbed it down and sprayed over, rubbing most of it off before applying the next.  He did this several times before leaving it for another day.  This is how he repaired my damage from Poly Agatha and filled the holes where the Marlec once was.  So it will soon be back as new.

The ammeter is working properly, there was a decent amount of wind and it was showing a charge.  Batteries were at 100%, with the volts at 13.1 dropping to 12.7v when he put on all the nav., equipment, VHF and stereo to discharge them.

Friction is the biggest absorber of energy and so the deck tidy on the starboard side that passes many of the halyards from the base of the mast to the guys at the back, will be the next item to have attention.  Its removal to remove the salt crystals from within effecting the bearings over time until,  it seizes the wheels. A simple form of maintenance is to wash down with fresh water after every trip, but being on a remote pontoon this is not always practical and sometimes seen as not necessary.  However, it is almost seized and was to be removed, immersed in water back on land and stripped down.  One of the Alen headed bolts has got very tight and previous attempts to drill and extract failed. I am sure this will soon be resolved.

Following this Sundays (10th) run out it would appear that the deck tidy is not the only thing causing friction.  My rear winch, the smaller 45 has stiffened up over the winter period, So that'll be another job to do, have all four apart and re-grease.

Sundays sail was cracking and I think the crew are back in the groove.  The first reef was set prior to me leaving the pontoon, which required adjustment once the sail was hoisted.  I was taken east for a change, but that's due to the tide.  The wind was southerly and about 8 knots gusting 12, and so my sails were set for a broad reach, we drew level with a smaller yacht.  That's always a challange for my crew and so with sails trimmed I started pulling away.

The crew were puzzled as to why I was sailing at 7 - 8.5 knots  of boat speed and thought my wind instruments were giving false readings.  So the skipper got details from both weather stations at the Bramble Bank and that off of the Chichester entrance, no my instruments were fine.  In fact as we caught and passed other yachts, it soon became apparent how quick I can be.  The sun struggled to make any real impression on the temperature and as we passed Ryde for the first time jumpers and jackets came out of the wardrobes.

As we drew alongside Horse Sands Fort, the marker for outer likits of the WWII anti-submarine barrier on the mainland side, the depth gauge showed that just 2.0m remained beneath my keel.  Allowing one of the Brittany Ferry fleet to pass as it made its way in to Portsmouth, the skipper tacked out into deeper water and headed due south.  Once level with No Mans Land Fort he tacked again allowing plenty of sea room for the approaching car carrier and ran me close to Ryde Sands heading west out of the way. With a course set for Osborne Bay, the sails were re-trimmed and again speed over the ground was 6 - 6.5 knots, with 1 - 1.5 knots of tide against me.  East Solent was bustling with races apparently being held everywhere.  So much so that the decision not to stop for lunch in Osborne due to the number of boats in there was made, although the fact that I was catching two more yachts may have had something to do with it.  Once they had been dealt with, I was brought in to wind and my sails dropped.

Once back on my pontoon, the crew had lunch and packed me away.  It may have only been four hours but it was packed to the brim with speed.

Easter and Beyond

My skipper has been back and forth most weekends and some evenings too.  The repairs to my hull top sides where the anchor of Poly Agatha dug in and also where the Marlec wind generator was originally located, prior to the accident is looking really good.

The scar and the four holes have all been filled rubbed down and re-filled; topped up with a Gel-coat resin; rubbed down again then sprayed several times rubbed back each time before a final coat or two of clear lacquer.  It virtually impossible to see that anything happened.  Just the end piece of teak decking to drill and fit, but that will need the pullpit railing to be removed.

The additional layer of loaded copper in the Copper Coat, is colouring up nicely with absolutely no sign of weed, even with this sunny weather.

The ammeter stint has been re-wired and adjusted again and now gives far more accurate readings, which were giving some concern to my skipper following his initial installation.  With all the navigational equipment, fridge and internal lights on there's a discharge rate of 12.6amps.  Likewise with the engine running there's an immediate charge rate of 35amps which reduces probably due to the fact that the batteries are kept fully charged most of the time by the Marlec.  I know he wants to move the stint to another location to minimise and reduce the lengths of wires running about.  One thing that's not showing is the rate at which the Marlec charges, but this is shown on the Marlecs own regulator at the nav table.  I'm sure he'll work that out too soon.

So Good Friday and I had been prepared to go to sea, the destination was for St Vaast. This was due to an offshore race heading to Cherbourg at the head of the peninsular, St Vaast is to the east and abut another hour further on.  The issue with St Vaast is that it has a lock which opens 2 hours either side of high water.  This meant that we ought to be in the Solent for 0600, so that I could catch the tide round the point and arrive a few hours before HW.  The forecast was not looking that great for both Friday & Saturday with the wind dissappearing for Sunday & Monday.  It wasn't till Saturday morning that the crew turned up with the last of the food, but there was a chill in the air and the wind fairly breezey.  Following a long discussion the decision to head for Weymouth had also been cancelled and so they ate on board before the skipper dropped the crew off and carried on with my hull topside repairs.  Will I ever get out ?

Sunday dawned a beautiful day and finally my lines were slipped and we headed out.  With very little in the way of wind, the main was hoisted and set, more to dry it out then use it to attempt to sail.  With the engine on tick over we headed west. Clouds started to form both south and north of me and so the layers of clothing started to be added to my occupents.  Rain could be seen to be falling in the distance and sure enough by the time we were nearing Yarmouth, the wind picked up and so the engine was off.  I was sailing at last and on main only.

It wasn't long before the tide that was rushing out of the Solent had us out past Hurst Castle and so I was prepared for our usual anchorage.  With the Webasto still not working as it should, it was to be a cold night in the cabins.  However with the sides lined with pillows and a second duvet covering their legs they remained toasty.  My skipper, who should have had one of his best nights sleep, was woken by the very few noises I made.  With no wind the sea was flat calm, but the odd wave came in and the squeak of my boom as it rolled gently to one side was enough to remind my skipper that there was still some maintenance of the bearings to do.  Likewise with the build up of condensation in the cabin dripping on his head, also was a poinient reminder to get the Webasto to  work.  At 0500 the Needless lighthouse fog horn sounded, a consequence of a warm front rolling in over the cold surface of the sea.

After breakfast the fog had gone and I was on my way back, picking up the last few hours of the flood tide, this time without the main, just on tickover.  With the crew run ashore my skipper remained to put me to bed once more.

A few weeks later and I had two more crew on board, one was only 6 years old, but my skipper had chosen the right day for someone so young to go out for her first time.  We left the pontoon as usual but my bow thruster refused to raise, so the skipper shut down the engine and fired it back up, this cured the issue and up it came.  Once out the main was raised and we headed towards Lee-on-Solent, with the wind increasing slightly to 6 knots, the newly laundered jib was unfurlled.  With engine off I also was doing 6.0 knots.

With a small freighter heading for the North Channel, with what looked like a collision course I was tacked over just as we reached Universal Marina Buoy and headed for Ryde Middle buoy once over the bank I was gybed over and headed downwind, to Osborne Bay where we stopped and had lunch. With everything packed away, the little one helmed me back to the Medina, where the skipper took over. He took me past the aera where a change in currents have been brought about within the Fairway of the River due to the new breakwater construction.

I look forward to my next venture.

Shakedown

Apparently it was the first public holiday since Christmas and as always I know somethings about to happen when provisions start arriving.

I now understand that on the Friday, I was to be taken to St Vaast, a place I've not been to before, but that the trip had to be timed just so.  Now St Vaast is on the eastern side of the Cherbourg peninsular and I've battled for many an hour against the tides crossing, so I understand the need to arrive when the flood tide is spilling south around the corner of this bay.  The port itself is protected by a lock which opens 2 hrs before high tide and closes 3 hours after, retaining just enough water to keep me off the bottom, just.

A late or early arrival means anchoring off the coast line, which depending on the prevailing winds may or may not be pleasant, so I've heard.

However, friday dawned cold and dark, and with the winds predicted to be strong, my crew opted to leave this one for another day.

Saturday broke much brighter and the winds had eased but still from the east bringing a bitter chill to the proceedings.  My crew arrived with more provisions and prepared my lines.  Soup was called for rather than to cast off and so the changed plan to Weymouth, also took a knock.  Finaly on the Sunday, my lines were slipped and we headed out in to the Solent once more.  There's a new breakwater being built, I remember seeing something whilst in the yacht marina, but now there it was sticking out of the water like a whale's back.

Now today there was little in the way of any wind, but the main was hoisted, more to dry out after the long winter spell in its bag.  I was left in tick over and we headed west.  So far so good, the autopilot engaged, no squealling from the fan belt, wind instruments working, log working, it all felt good.  To both the south and north of us, clouds started to form, cutting out the sun. Eventually beads of rain could be seen falling, this brought with it wind and the cold, so jumpers, jackets and even gloves were brought out from their hiding places and the engine turned off.  I was actually sailing for the first time this year, main only and with the tide pushing 8 knots.

As we were passing Yarmouth being pushed faster as the Solent ends, Hurst narrows takes over and finally past the shingles bank.  Except we didn't and headed to our usual spot in Totland Bay.  The windlass worked too !

As the night was clear the temperature dropped, as did what little wind there was.  The Bay was flat calm.  I was woken at 0500 by the sounds of the Needles light house fog horn, sounded twice every two minutes.  Sure enough I couldn't see further than a boat length away.

New Season

Having been moved back to my pontoon where I joined my old friend Polly Agatha, plus another small yacht who I've not seen before.  My skipper has been back and forth over the last couple of weekends cleaning the decks and white work.  He arrived last Sunday and hoisted out of the dinghy the laundered jib, laid it out on my foredeck and working fore and aft hoisted it back up the forestay.  After making sure it was tight at the leach, furled it in.

This time last year, I had no main sail and so if you remember I took my crew and get up with the ebb tide to Totland bay for the night and back with the following days flood.  Hopefully this year, weather permitting, we'll venture further afield as I'm all ready to go. The bump stops at the ends of the self tacking track rod ends, was a job that was to be done whilst I was out, is the only thing that needs to be sorted before I'm let loose.

Since being back in the water, the remaining scar on my hull where I had a coming together with Polly, plus where holes were drilled for the foot of Marley the wind generator, have all but gone.  Skip have rubbed them down with wet wet & dry, sprayed them and rubbed some more.  The result is that you'll soon not know where the repairs have taken place.

The electric fan and variable rheostat switch have gone oon shore, so am sure there's something a foot to have those fitted, enabling the hot air from the diesel fired Webasto heater to be drawn through to the master cabin.  This has never really happened for one of two reasons. Firstly, the fan on the Webasto heater is not powerfull enough to get the hot air 40' away, even when closing the other vents. Secondly a combination of the fan not man enough to get the heat away quickly from the overheat sensor, together with the cross sectional area of the ducting being to small.  Apparently bit like a water hose the smaller the diameter the higher the pressure you need to get it to the end, or something like that.  So not only will the fitting of a fan draw the hot air away from the unit but it will get it to the front as well.  Why has nobody else thought of it !

The battery amp & volt meter is likely to have the engine battery wired to it.  The unit is currently set up for the main bank only although the system was manufactured for two banks. Other changes to the wiring is also being considered to ensure accurate readings.

With the wind instruments working, autopilot working I could be starting a season at 100%, just need that shake down sail to see if that's the case !

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