Despite the toing and froing, the issue with the batteries charging under engine still isn't resolved. A new 100 amp hour alternator has turned up with an intelligent regulator, but despite being sold as plug & play, it isn't quite that simple and my skipper will have to read & re-read the manual to ensure it's wired correctly.
Still that hasn't stopped my departure from Cowes Friday (1st August), and for the first time for a while I was heading back to Totland Bay for an overnight stop moving at 7.0 - 8.0 knots been awhile but good to be back in the groove eventually reaching 9.0 - 9.5 knots whilst passing Hurst Castle as the tide really pushed. A south easterly to south westerly wind was forecast and so I tucked in tight but still leaving a metre of water under my keel at low tide, a quiet night was had, no disturbance from the GPS anchor alarm.
So an early start to get the last hour of ebbing tide out of the Needles and in to the forecast southerly 3 - 4's. Yeah right, the early start was ok, but the wind was south westerly 5 - 6 and so the reef put in to my main was a shrewd move. However it did mean that I struggled to point to windward and soon I was over by the Shingles Bank, so much so that despite the charts indicating 4 - 6 m of water, I was tacked back out to sea with the depth gauge showing an astonishing 0.6m under the keel !
The 3 - 4's never came to fruition, instead my crew had to endure 5 -6's and basically from the direction we wanted to go, it wasn't Swanage or Studland Bay as I'd expected, but to push on to Weymouth. The drizzle ensured that my crew were well covered, despite the fact is wasn't cold, but the wind went fickle and died as I approached St Albans Head, the reef I had was shaken out and the wind filled in again. By now my skipper was trying to pinch every bit of west he could and with the tide easing managed to round St Albans without the need for a tack back out to sea. It did mean however that I was being taken straight through the races, confused seas just off shore.
There where smaller boats staying well inshore but no we went through the middle, rudder hard over to maintain a straight course at times, but you couldn't tell that from my wake. The Coastal watch guys at the top of the cliff must have had something to say, yet the VHF was full of two guys in the water within the Portland harbour sailing area, reasonably protected when compared to this. With full sail I was over sheeted as we headed to Weymouth, but by pinching to windward, I spilled the wind from my sail and kept an honest 6.0 knots.
On arrival, my fan belt didn't complain and we motored in and moored up as usual near the Harbour Masters office. Where my skipper noticed that the piece of wood or bird he saw plummet in to the sea just after the Needles was infact the Windex at the top of the mast, probably one of the reasons it had stopped working, it was not connected properly ! So something else for him to fix !
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