Today my crew turned up and took me out to stretch my legs.
My GPS repeater that sits at the end of the table in the cockpit, was returned and wired back in. With the sun shining but 5-8knots of variable winds I was taken out in to the Solent once again and headed West with the ebbing tide.
According to my crew the forecast was for Northerly backing Westerly winds, however the Solent as always did its own thing and South Westerly's crept in more often than expected. The last third in fact saw me sail due South in order to keep moving with a modicum of speed. I was happy to show my crew that the speed encountered previously wasn't an ill calibrated instrument and within an hour and a half we were up by Hurst Castle and turned to head back. Rather than Goose wing on a dead run, which a number of smaller yachts were doing, my skipper not a great fan of this angle of sail, he kept the jib filled and gybed back and forth back to Cowes. In fact he maintained a reasonable speed of 5.0 - 6.0 knots of boat speed as the tide turned increasing SOG (Speed over the Ground) as defined by satellites.
The wind had been fickle all day, Northerly , Westerly and South Westerly never exceeding 10.0 knots, yet I clocked up 8.0 knots at one point.
My Marlec wind generator is still not working and the bolts that hold it all together are proving a little awkward to loosen off, Skip has the bearings to replace but without getting the unit off he'll struggle to fix it. The solenoid for the winch, hasn't been freed yet either, assume that'll come shortly.
Assume these things will be tackled shortly.
Sunday 17 April 2016
Tuesday 5 April 2016
Spring Sail
No not a rush to the shops, but I was taken out for a shake down weekend.
Firstly I thought it was my new prop that was being tested as I headed straight out in to the Solent with the tide against me. At 1,600rpm I was running at 6.6 knots, clearly the swap for a 10" blade has or will pay dividends as I was barely making 5.0k knots at 2,200 rpm last year. So less stress on the engine, better fuel consumption and more nmpg (nautical miles per gallon). Last year it was around 4.5lts/hr so it will be interesting to see what the consumption will be this year.
Although there will be an unknown factor introduced in the form of the Webasto heater. Having been serviced with a new burner fitted and following the planned works, including the provision of insulation sleeves over the ducting, the new in line fan. This should blow hot air through new larger ducting to the master cabin, getting heat in there in volumes without over heating the unit, the first time this will have happened since it was fitted from new. So there will be some diesel used but I'm sure my skipper will be able to find out how much the Heat Top 5000 burns per hour.
After five minutes I wasn't turned to wind ready for the sails to be hoisted but instead I was pushed on and headed up Southampton Water, more reason to believe I was on a test. Skipper brought me round in to Town Quay and I ran parallel with the outer pontoon, two things then happened, firstly the yacht that arrived a few minutes before me had managed to get a stern warp on, but the wind that had freshened had blown his nose clear of the pontoon before they realised. It was now 90 degrees across my bows, although at the far end. The second thing, was that on tick over I was still pushing 2 knots and whilst the crew stepped off my speed towards the other yacht was such that the mid ship warp couldn't be wrapped around the cleat quick enough before the line ran out. By the time the skipper had slowed me down, the wind had caught me broad side and I was 2-3m off the pontoon. Fortunately the marine assistant and a chap from a rib had managed to attach my bow line, so I was reversed back and manoeuvred against the pontoon. With the lines sorted and shore power plugged in it was clear I wasn't moving anywhere, in fact two guests turned up and after a short while they headed off in to town.
After a slow start, probably due to the effects on the crew of the previous evening. My skipper allowed the wind to push me off and reversed me clear. The instant power from the prop pushes water over the rudder in enough volume that control is not long in coming. Once away from the usual ferry traffic, both my skipper and his colleague sweated the main, the lady took in the slack and my usual crew member helmed. With one reef in I headed back down towards the Solent, the wind was such that each tack put me directly on the other side of the River. It soon became apparent that the either the new laundered sails or the fact that my hull is clean or a combination of the two, that I was easily catching & passing others that were around us. A sleek blue hulled, carbon fibre masted race boat came out of the Hamble and we appeared to jostle for position, whilst they sorted themselves out. On the tack past the west side of Bramble bank we were the only two that remained within reasonable correlation with each other.
Heading up the Western Solent, the pair of us caught and past many boats our boat speed ranged from 7 to 10 knots, the tide was about 1.0 knot against us. My skipper and his colleague were heard discussing whether I needed to be re-calibrated again. The wind dropped and the slick boat shook out its reef, but my skipper is a little more circumspect when it comes to sailing in the Solent with all the wind shifts that occur. However, he too decided that the time was right and so I was headed in to wind and the last of the sail was hoisted, manually of course, as the solenoid to the electric winch was stuck. With the main full, I bared away but by now the slick machine had gained on me and others behind had made ground. Within minutes I had put water between us and was pulling away up went the speed again and the GPS at the chart table consulted to try to make some sense of it.
The plotter in the cockpit had also decided to fail. This my skipper has since discovered not an unknown fault to Raymarine and is the diodes that control the back lights, fortunately their facility is not far from where one of his jobs is, he's already taken it in to be repaired.
With big smiles on their faces and a touch of confusion on their brows we sailed out beyond Hurst and tacked back in to their favourite anchorage Totland Bay. Although the whereabouts of the windlass control caused some last minute panic, buried within the port side stern cabin that had become a dumping ground of everything that wasn't wanted. This cabin is usually reserved for guests, but the Marlec wind generator noise had meant the skipper had switched the guest sweet to the starboard side further away. However the swell that was coming off of the south coast was likely to create an uncomfortable night and so before light had even started to fail, apart from the obvious greyness from moisture that was making its way up the Solent, the skipper decided to take us all to Lymington where not only were we back on a pontoon but the electric heaters could be deployed keeping my occupants toasty once more.
Due to their antics the previous evening, a meal was cooked on board and a reasonably early night was had by all, after a debrief was had on my days performance. It was decided that on Sunday, I would be timed over a distance to answer the question as to whether my instruments were in fact out.
Once showers were had and breakfast served, my skipper again reversed me out from a tight space and set me off down the river. With the main hoisted and the first reef re-set we set off east, the wind completely different to that forecast, but that's the effect the land mass around the Solent has. And so I was timed, the crew on the helm let go of the wheel to show the skipper that he'd got the sail balance about right, two tacks later and the shaking out of the reef I'd covered 15nm in 2 hours, it appears that my instruments are not if in fact out at all. The reading given would've been influenced by the tide on the nose raising it by a knot or two. With skipper still at the helm and trying to get lifted, he managed to get me to the North Cardinal buoy, the entrance (or exit) of the north channel before gybing me round. However having been standing in the same position for so long, when I changed direction as asked, my skippers left leg failed to support his weight and folded beneath him causing him to collapse to the deck. Strong hands on the wheel as always he pulled me further over than intended, he tried to get up but his leg was having none of it. Eventually his colleague came and took my wheel, whilst skipper got up, blood returned to where it was needed and normality flooded the deck apart from the laughter. With the wind behind me, my skipper held out the jib and thought that I had stopped, contemplating as to whether the engine was needed. This was soon quashed when my speed of 6 -7 knots was called and again those boats that were behind drifted further away.
Allowing the ferry traffic to clear. my sails we're dropped and I was brought against the outside of the visitors pontoon to drop off the guests from where they arrived. My crew then headed back with me under engine once more 1,800 rpm with 7.0 knots, allowing the crew to tidy me up and the skipper clearing the decks for an early departure once back on my home pontoon.
He returned the following day, to pick up all the bits that had been left behind and to clean me up some more. As I said he removed the cockpit plotter and turned the master cabin shower control back the right way round as he'd fitted it incorrectly after sorting out the slight leak.
As for the drumming noise of my Marlec wind generator. Well, he's found out that whilst I was on the hard with it down at an angle and prevented from spinning, it is highly likely that the bearing within have been exposed to rain and have rusted. He's ordered two new bearing and will replace as soon as they come.
My next trip, well I heard that the first Bank Holiday in May the RORC fleet is heading for St Vaast, so my skipper has switched and will be heading to Cherbourg instead. Let's see if all the repairs are ready in time and if my performance is verified.
Firstly I thought it was my new prop that was being tested as I headed straight out in to the Solent with the tide against me. At 1,600rpm I was running at 6.6 knots, clearly the swap for a 10" blade has or will pay dividends as I was barely making 5.0k knots at 2,200 rpm last year. So less stress on the engine, better fuel consumption and more nmpg (nautical miles per gallon). Last year it was around 4.5lts/hr so it will be interesting to see what the consumption will be this year.
Although there will be an unknown factor introduced in the form of the Webasto heater. Having been serviced with a new burner fitted and following the planned works, including the provision of insulation sleeves over the ducting, the new in line fan. This should blow hot air through new larger ducting to the master cabin, getting heat in there in volumes without over heating the unit, the first time this will have happened since it was fitted from new. So there will be some diesel used but I'm sure my skipper will be able to find out how much the Heat Top 5000 burns per hour.
After five minutes I wasn't turned to wind ready for the sails to be hoisted but instead I was pushed on and headed up Southampton Water, more reason to believe I was on a test. Skipper brought me round in to Town Quay and I ran parallel with the outer pontoon, two things then happened, firstly the yacht that arrived a few minutes before me had managed to get a stern warp on, but the wind that had freshened had blown his nose clear of the pontoon before they realised. It was now 90 degrees across my bows, although at the far end. The second thing, was that on tick over I was still pushing 2 knots and whilst the crew stepped off my speed towards the other yacht was such that the mid ship warp couldn't be wrapped around the cleat quick enough before the line ran out. By the time the skipper had slowed me down, the wind had caught me broad side and I was 2-3m off the pontoon. Fortunately the marine assistant and a chap from a rib had managed to attach my bow line, so I was reversed back and manoeuvred against the pontoon. With the lines sorted and shore power plugged in it was clear I wasn't moving anywhere, in fact two guests turned up and after a short while they headed off in to town.
After a slow start, probably due to the effects on the crew of the previous evening. My skipper allowed the wind to push me off and reversed me clear. The instant power from the prop pushes water over the rudder in enough volume that control is not long in coming. Once away from the usual ferry traffic, both my skipper and his colleague sweated the main, the lady took in the slack and my usual crew member helmed. With one reef in I headed back down towards the Solent, the wind was such that each tack put me directly on the other side of the River. It soon became apparent that the either the new laundered sails or the fact that my hull is clean or a combination of the two, that I was easily catching & passing others that were around us. A sleek blue hulled, carbon fibre masted race boat came out of the Hamble and we appeared to jostle for position, whilst they sorted themselves out. On the tack past the west side of Bramble bank we were the only two that remained within reasonable correlation with each other.
Heading up the Western Solent, the pair of us caught and past many boats our boat speed ranged from 7 to 10 knots, the tide was about 1.0 knot against us. My skipper and his colleague were heard discussing whether I needed to be re-calibrated again. The wind dropped and the slick boat shook out its reef, but my skipper is a little more circumspect when it comes to sailing in the Solent with all the wind shifts that occur. However, he too decided that the time was right and so I was headed in to wind and the last of the sail was hoisted, manually of course, as the solenoid to the electric winch was stuck. With the main full, I bared away but by now the slick machine had gained on me and others behind had made ground. Within minutes I had put water between us and was pulling away up went the speed again and the GPS at the chart table consulted to try to make some sense of it.
The plotter in the cockpit had also decided to fail. This my skipper has since discovered not an unknown fault to Raymarine and is the diodes that control the back lights, fortunately their facility is not far from where one of his jobs is, he's already taken it in to be repaired.
With big smiles on their faces and a touch of confusion on their brows we sailed out beyond Hurst and tacked back in to their favourite anchorage Totland Bay. Although the whereabouts of the windlass control caused some last minute panic, buried within the port side stern cabin that had become a dumping ground of everything that wasn't wanted. This cabin is usually reserved for guests, but the Marlec wind generator noise had meant the skipper had switched the guest sweet to the starboard side further away. However the swell that was coming off of the south coast was likely to create an uncomfortable night and so before light had even started to fail, apart from the obvious greyness from moisture that was making its way up the Solent, the skipper decided to take us all to Lymington where not only were we back on a pontoon but the electric heaters could be deployed keeping my occupants toasty once more.
Due to their antics the previous evening, a meal was cooked on board and a reasonably early night was had by all, after a debrief was had on my days performance. It was decided that on Sunday, I would be timed over a distance to answer the question as to whether my instruments were in fact out.
Once showers were had and breakfast served, my skipper again reversed me out from a tight space and set me off down the river. With the main hoisted and the first reef re-set we set off east, the wind completely different to that forecast, but that's the effect the land mass around the Solent has. And so I was timed, the crew on the helm let go of the wheel to show the skipper that he'd got the sail balance about right, two tacks later and the shaking out of the reef I'd covered 15nm in 2 hours, it appears that my instruments are not if in fact out at all. The reading given would've been influenced by the tide on the nose raising it by a knot or two. With skipper still at the helm and trying to get lifted, he managed to get me to the North Cardinal buoy, the entrance (or exit) of the north channel before gybing me round. However having been standing in the same position for so long, when I changed direction as asked, my skippers left leg failed to support his weight and folded beneath him causing him to collapse to the deck. Strong hands on the wheel as always he pulled me further over than intended, he tried to get up but his leg was having none of it. Eventually his colleague came and took my wheel, whilst skipper got up, blood returned to where it was needed and normality flooded the deck apart from the laughter. With the wind behind me, my skipper held out the jib and thought that I had stopped, contemplating as to whether the engine was needed. This was soon quashed when my speed of 6 -7 knots was called and again those boats that were behind drifted further away.
Allowing the ferry traffic to clear. my sails we're dropped and I was brought against the outside of the visitors pontoon to drop off the guests from where they arrived. My crew then headed back with me under engine once more 1,800 rpm with 7.0 knots, allowing the crew to tidy me up and the skipper clearing the decks for an early departure once back on my home pontoon.
He returned the following day, to pick up all the bits that had been left behind and to clean me up some more. As I said he removed the cockpit plotter and turned the master cabin shower control back the right way round as he'd fitted it incorrectly after sorting out the slight leak.
As for the drumming noise of my Marlec wind generator. Well, he's found out that whilst I was on the hard with it down at an angle and prevented from spinning, it is highly likely that the bearing within have been exposed to rain and have rusted. He's ordered two new bearing and will replace as soon as they come.
My next trip, well I heard that the first Bank Holiday in May the RORC fleet is heading for St Vaast, so my skipper has switched and will be heading to Cherbourg instead. Let's see if all the repairs are ready in time and if my performance is verified.
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