Run in with Chain Ferry ?

Notice to Mariners 15, talks about how the Isle of Wight Council is working closely with the manufacturers of the new floating bridge to stop it running aground so often. An incident which left people wading through water and cars stranded on board was not a good start.  A way around this problem seems to be the tightening of the chains that span the river and using the ramps to lift the boat up.  This intern of course means and hence the Notice to Mariners, that the chains are no longer as low as they used to be, problem, well yes!  At or around low spring tides the chains are currently set at 1.5m + tide, so if the tide on the crossing is 1.0m at 2.4m deep I should be able to scrape over.  As the tides can get down quite low 0.1m add to that barometric pressures so a high pressure would push the water lower than predicted and conversely a low would raise it.  This means that for a couple of days either side skipper would have to consider timing his passage so.

So for a change this Sunday not having seen the skipper all week, the pair of them came down and took me out.  Traffic around Cowes Marina's had quietened down considerably since regatta week and we followed the car ferry out.  With the boom lowered to the cockpit more than usual, my main was hoisted with a single reef, soon I was darting across the Western Solent heading towards Beaulieu River wind increasing from around 15kts to 20kts with a hint of Southerly every now and then. My sails had been set well and I was soon pushing 8kts, 9kts SOG the chop was slight despite wind being over tide, as the wind increased speed so did I 10kts at one point and after what was about 4 tacks I was sailing into Totland for a lunchtime stop.

Familiarity usually breeds contempt, but in this case, confidence is the word each time I'm being driven nearer to the shoreline and anchoring off in a better-protected place.  Well, I would've been had the windlass worked when requested to do so, but it wouldn't so we circled round and till skip sorted the problem.  (He didn't actually it was later that a feasible reason came to light).  On the second run round, the anchor was finally laid and some scope was laid out by hand to give me 20.0m of chain in the water, the crew then prepared lunch.  Dark clouds loomed up and a shower ensued but soon passed.  At just after 1530, the engine was back on and the windlass primed.  Skipper had decided that as I was already pointing to windward he'd raise some of the main but as is my way when the chain is being pulled in I tend to snake around, this caused the sail to set and start me sailing.  Skip had to run back to the cockpit and release the main sheet to enable the sail to track the direction of the wind.  An orange buoy is tied to the end of my anchor so that others know where mine is, but also if the anchor gets snagged on something skipper can pull it in the other direction.  As the anchor was being retrieved this buoy disappeared underwater, it had got caught on something.  With the line retrieved it pulled free relatively easy and was recovered back onboard.

With a Westerly wind still, I followed a very similar route back with the wind 120 degrees off my stern, enabling the jib to fill increasing my speed from 4.0kts to 7.0kts as the flood tide began to follow, not bad as the wind had dropped to around 9-11.0kts.  Once back in the river, skip did the usual thing of setting me up for mooring back on the pontoon and the crew check the floating bridge to see what's happening.  It was on the Eastern side with its ramp down, but there seemed to be no movement.  It was soon realised that due to the tide it was in fact not running as Jennie Lee was instead and she had just reversed off of the Eastern pontoon with her passengers. However she did not go into forward propulsion as expected but speeded up and came at me still in reverse, my crew reacted by putting me into reverse gear with as many revs as it took to stop me.  The skipper of Jennie Lee never looked at us until it was on its Western pontoon, despite passengers gesticulating on board.

Once the heart rate of my crew had calmed down, the next issue was the non-deployment of the bow thruster, it had again refused to work, neither was the alternator charging the batteries.  However, skip took the helm and slowly brought me alongside for the crew to step off and tie me up amidship.

It was discovered that the ignition may be the fault that has caused the windlass & bow thruster issues in the past, the key was not fully engaged, which may mean the circuit is broken and so the said items will not work, but of course the engine will continue to run until the stop button is pressed.  Next time skip does one of his visits, he's going to try to replicate it.

The following day, Monday, skip & his crew wrote to the Harbour Master, who on reviewing the recently installed video called the skipper of the Jennie Lee into discuss his actions !

Cowes Week & Fastnet Race

With the Medina River being the only highway for boats travelling to and fro, it was a very busy place to be as boats came in the hope of places to stay and those that had booked looking for their spots.  Needless to say it was busy all week and only quietened down when the weather took a turn for the worse and people sought other entertainment in Cowes, be that East or West.

Skip's been back and forth a few times, replacing the last of the batteries and re-wiring the Rutland turbine back to both banks.  Now it appears to be working as it should, although the display unit is still suggesting that power is being generated by solar panels that I don't have.  Still, I understand that this may be solved by another software update and the unit will be exchanged at the Southampton boat show in a few weeks time.

My Webasto heater has been removed and skip is in discussion with the specialist in Swanage.  It appears as though the ST unit was never intended to be used for marine use and especially for boats of my size.  Likewise, the ducting as installed by Hanse is not the most efficient and skip is now scratching his head as whether to go to the lengths of replacing the ducting to its most efficient, as described by the specialist and leave it at that.  Or go the whole hog and buy a new unit that can cope with the length of ducting needed to heat the Master Cabin.

Skips also been looking at the possibility of fitting a top down furler for the Code 0, but having seen the price baulked at going any further, let's just say it's nearly the same price as the sail.  So it goes on the wish list for now.  What benefit it will bring, well it will enable the tacking to be much simpler and crisp, but then it's not as if I'm taken racing and need a quick tack.  So it'll be a case of working out which is the longest tack and have it set on the one side only, still it's early days and maybe once skip is use to it he'll get the hang of 'bagging' it switching sides and releasing the beast on the opposite tack.

So after all the razzmatazz of Friday's Red Arrows and fireworks, Sunday was the start of the Fastnet Race.  The race that skip and his watch protested when two yachts sailed across the TSS near the Scilly Isles, they lost the appeal at the time due to the fact that 70% of the fleet would have to be disqualified, but the racing rules have since been amended and you are no longer allowed to enter such zones, world wide. So Saturday morning skip & crew turned up and we headed out westerly on the ebb tide, in a fairly blustery breeze on the nose.  So blustery that my occupants looked at each other and decided to run me to Totland under engine in a short choppy water caused by wind over tide. It did test the Rutland however, whether it did what it is supposed to do but it failed and remained in baulk charge mode, rather than going through the three cycles of charging.

With the slack period over and the flood starting to fill, I was positioned much closer to the shore line than before and once sure we were secure, we all chilled out.  Skip had bought some lug worm so gave that a try and Alex having forgotten her book, prepared the evening meal.  The predominant wave pattern in the bay from West to East, with a slight bend in it as it comes round Alum Bay was not unusual, but the wind swinging more Northerly was, and so on occasions, I was turned broadside to the waves, making it quite rolly below.  Needless to say, skip never caught anything and my occupants waited for high tide and any subsequent shift in my anchorage before retiring to bed.

It was a fairly noisy affair, skip not yet sorted out all the culprits, but it was good to be away.

In the morning, the Fastnet fleet started to appear pouring past Hurst Castle on their way to the rock that gives the race its name. With the wind fairly blustery and the anchor stowed, we headed back to Cowes on just the jib on a very pleasant afternoon.