August Bank Holiday - The trouble with gauges!

So with the Bank Holiday here in the UK approaching the crew were on their way back from Essex from Grandparenting duties and so on the Friday before the weekend, a chill-out day was called for, rather than turning around packing again and heading off.

So it was the Saturday morning before everyone arrived and I was prepared to head out for the weekend.  Sunday would see the Powerboat  Cowes Poole Cowes race and so I was expecting to be in Totland to watch them go by.  Light and fickle winds in the Solent saw us take an age to get to Totland however, we did manage to pass a yacht with its gennaker up which was mildly amusing. With plenty of light still to hand, they opted to don on my donk and dialled the autopilot in for Swanage, not crew’s first choice, but Skip finds Studland full of noisy people and craft, especially as the Sunday we would be waking up to a would be a turning point for the powerboat race.  It’s no wonder that the Seahorses can’t breed in there, it’s not us yachties pulling up the seagrass with our anchors, it’s the fact they can’t hear mating calls for the sound of high-speed twisting props!

We anchored in Swanage Bay closer to the beach than we had done before and Skip hoped that he had set enough chain out to hold my weight in the benign conditions, I don’t think the anchor bit and remembered last time we had an issue with a dragging anchor over weed. Skip took bearings on church spires and sought sustenance whilst everything settled, he also took a reading from GPS on his phone and wrote that down in case he wanted to check it during the night.  The night was not peaceful down below, I don’t know why but he didn’t really prepare me for anchor, no anchor snub didn’t remove the main halyard, nor oiled the Gooseneck etc, etc and paid the price. However, 5.0m was all we’d moved during the nights' change of tide, the neap range was a mere 300mm.  We set off with the tide and Skip always forgets how long sailing takes, he thought that Portland had come into view, then quickly then realised it was the other side of Anvil Head, a slow-moving biplane flew overhead.  Chapman’s pool, Warbarrow Bay, then the fog rolled in bringing with it wind oddly. With the sails set we hit 6.5kts in the fog, the AIS priceless in these conditions but wary of the odd vessel that hasn’t got one or lobster pot buoys.  The crew had become disorientated and so Skipper took the helm until the crew regained the hang of sailing by compass alone.  Lifejackets were worn and the fog horn came out ready and used in earnest to warn the one vessel whose track was a similar reciprocal course to ours, we never saw them, but they too had a foghorn and so could hear them go past.  The fog cleared and we were back under engine for Weymouth, the new gauges fitted by Skip had the oil pressure drop dramatically and recover, once in Weymouth he would check my oil levels.

Rafted up in Weymouth

The hope that the fleet of French yachts sailing East had left Weymouth empty didn’t ring true, it was rammed and we rafted alongside a sailing school who was leaving at 0400!  We opted to switch round and so Skip tied me to the 53’ yacht next to them, the stern line straight to their stern and the bowline taken all the way around the Schools yacht and back to the midships. With my engine running and bow thruster ready, the sailing school slipped out from between us, everyone except Skip wondering how this would pan out.  He pulled in the stern warp and the crew took in the slack on the bowline until able to pull directly against the yacht, as she did Skip applied the thruster and in we went.  Once tied up they helped bring the sailing school in on our port side and set his alarm for 0355 to assist their departure.  Weymouth was busy all round and choice of eating out was not only very limited but also came with a long wait, once fed they headed back on board to watch the fireworks. Our new neighbours were intending on leaving later around 0800 as like me and my mast, he has to be going under the Itchen bridge 3hrs either side of high water to get under.  At 0400 only one chap was up and he headed off to use the marina facilities, about 40minutes later they eventually left to head around Portland and on to Dartmouth.   We left about 0730 and with no wind had the Donkey do the work as the wind couldn't make up its mind whether to assist or not, it didn't.

Expecting to have the tide with us and wondering why the Sailing School chose to cross Lyme Bay at this time, Skip realised that the Easytide prediction information was miss-leading.  It suggested that low water was at 0750 and so what comes next is a flood tide which should take us East, but no the current didn’t turn till 1330!  There was a spell of some wind but by the time they were adjusting sails it disappeared as did everyone else as the fog rolled in and thickened once more only clearing as we approached the Needles.  With four hours of the tide with us left, they opted to head for home rather than anchor up at Totland at 1500.  During our passage, the oil pressure gauge kept flashing again as the pressure fell below 25psi.  Skip had checked levels in Weymouth and it was just below max but it did it again on our way home and so dug out the spare oil from under the bunk in the rear port cabin beneath all Gennaker, clean bed linen and pillows.  Now unlike petrol engines, Skip hadn’t realised that venting through the cap doesn’t occur on diesel engines and tried to pour oil into the filler only to see it go vertical!  He got the crew to put me on tick over to reduce pressure and the same thing happened. Finally, after turning the donk off and knocking the oil over, he used what was I had left (120ml) and the gauge went immediately back to 40-50psi.  They lowered the revs from 2200 to 2000 as the tide was by now kicking in behind and with more oil the water temperature dropped by a degree, such is the sensitivity and accuracy of these new gauges.

Fog pouring over Tennison Down

Opting not to anchor in a busy Totland Bay at 1530 and with another three hours of tide behind I was decided to continue to home, giving the crew time to sort themselves out before re-packing and heading back to Essex for more Grandparent duties.

So an interesting weekend, Weymouth rammed and eating out an issue and rather than queue for a beer in a traditional pub they headed back to me and sat and watched what they could of the fireworks.  Clearly, the forecast of good weather and little wind had all the big gin-palaces out too.