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.
No comments:
Post a Comment