It's Back

It's been months, but finally my main sail was returned to me last Saturday.  A gang of four arrived, to lift, hoist, clip and re-attach the reefing lines.

It was a sunny day with the light wind coming from the north, the direction I was pointing, so no need to turn me round or loosen the main sheet.  First, my skipper arrived in the dinghy with the sail bag dwarfing it and he soon man-handled it on to the pontoon and returned to pick up the others.  With a strategy in place, I had one person on the electric main winch and two others on the pontoon lifting my huge sail over the safety rail.  My skipper was standing on the boom and with one hand holding him to the mast; one bringing the sail to the cars; one feeding the grommets into the cars and the other releasing the car pins, withdrawing and replacing once the toggle lined up.  With so many hands he'll be useful at buffets.

Slowly the main reached the top as each toggle was attached to the cars and raised for the next and my big white sail gleamed in the mid morning sunshine, the new sail numbers all present and correct and at the leech of each battern was a new tell tale, who's job it is to show how the air is flowing over the sail.

With both reefing lines re-tied and tested, it was lowered back into the repaired lazy Jack bag.  Unfortunately my skipper spotted that both reefing lines, plus the clew were over the zip rather than under.  With that in mind they all disappeared down river to Cowes for lunch.

The skipper returned a short while afterwards on his own and sorted the overlooked zip and re-tied the lines.

My bilge pump impeller was removed and found to have one of its fins broken, explaining immediately why it didn't want to suck any water from the hull.  My skipper took it with him when he left.

Late on Sunday I was boarded once more and this time we set off on the ebbing tide and headed west once more.  With a fickle wind unsure of where it wanted to come from the new main was kept in its bag and the jib was raised to pick up what wind there was.  Just before sunset we anchored back in Totland and set the alarm.

With 21m of chain out and the alarm set to 20m the electronics waited till 0200 to warn of possible dragging.  As it happen to coincide with high tide (0230), my skipper got up, let out more chain and reset the alarm for 30m before turning in to hopefully a more peaceful night.  This is never normally the case under anchor as all the creak and groans that are inherent with anchoring, within the solitude of the vast emptiness.  The wind had found itself again and started to howl through the rigging.

The previously forecast 3-4's had changed to 4-5's ocaissional 6 later so the thoughts of catching the last of the ebb around the Needles and heading back east and to the south of the island changed and the early start became more leisurely as it was felt now wasn't the time to discover there was an issue with the sail that had not been hoisted in anger.  With one reef left in and picking up the flood tide I was lead home and back to my pontoon.

With the last of the flood tide making its way down the Medina, I was turned to head into it, as usual to help slow me down.  However the strength of the wind and more importantly the effect it has on my high sides meant that I was taken past and turned round to approach from the other direction.  With the anchor from the Kedge Poly Agatha ready to do more damage should the approach be wrong and the catamaran in front of me to slam into should I fail to slow down in time and over run.  However with the timed use of reverse I hit the spot and was lashed to the pontoon amidships and the other warps could be sorted out at leisure.

Once lunch was complete, the bilge pump was reaquainted with its one way valve and tested, following the discovery of endless bubbles, the impeller was turned 180 degrees and I could have emptied the river beneath.  The filter of the fresh water pump was also removed cleaned out and replaced after the sounds of the pump re-pressurising the system where heard far more regularly than usual.  With the sail zipped up and all systems bar the auto bilge shut down, the crew left.

I notice that the electric motor from my auto pilot was on board and the fitting kit for the wind generator likewise, there's always something to do.

Easter

So I spent several weeks in Shepard's marina hooked up to shore power.  The heaters and dehumidifier trying to combat the inevitable damp that is inherent within us yachts.

The intensity of my skippers visits increased aver the preceding weeks before Easter, with all the little jobs being completed, or not in the want to get me back out on the water.  The repair works to my port rear quarter is almost complete, all the metal work including the wire stays back in place, with a view to looking at re-fitting the windex generator, although missing parts put a hold on that.

My main, that was sent off to be serviced, cleaned and have my world wide individual sail number applied, has still not been returned.  But I'm sure my skipper is well aware of my limitations without it.

Previsions loaded and even some of the bed linen removed to be tumbled dry before fitting, meant that I was expected to head somewhere for my first real trip of the season.  The plan to head across the channel to Cherbourg amongst the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) on Good Friday followed by a short trip to Alderney, before returning to Weymouth and home, was a wish too far as the sail loft still failed to understand that for the first major holiday since Christmas, it may be the wishes of others to have their sails back.

However with guests arriving and more food being delivered, an alternative plan was hatched.

So a mid morning arrival, on Friday, my lines were eventually slipped and I headed back up the Medina to the Solent once more.  This wasn't quite as straight forward as my skipper, clearly rusty after the winter break took two attempts to get me out of my berth, his plan was sound but his execution didn't follow the plan until he realised and put his actions in sync with his brain.

As expected my skipper had the tides down to a tea and I motored with the tide until we reached a favourite spot at Totland Bay, where my anchor complete with brand new swivel was deployed.  Around lunchtime the following day in glorious sunshine, I again was pushed in to the tide and headed east to Swanage.  Due to the underlying north easterly wind I was placed  near the cliffs on the north side of the bay, away from the town, but a constant swell made living on board uncomfortable and so I was moved to pick up a buoy nearer town.

It became apparent after several aborted runs, that visitors buoys had yet to be deployed and with two hours of daylight left, my skipper made the decision to run to the shelter that is Poole harbour.  The ebbing tide created overfalls by Old Harry, which I've not been taken through before and Studland Bay the other side looked idyllic, but having , for the first time put my nose around, my skipper decided that with winds still expected from the north east, it wasn't the place to be.  By now though the ebbing tide out of Poole meant a slow passage in.

Sunday and the weather came in making for a miserable day, their guest was picked up and taken home, a second night at a different berth ensued.  Early doors Monday, saw me out of Town Quay to pick up the ebbing tide, which made a huge difference in time in getting out.  My skipper happy that enough water existed over the bank took me across and we headed back to the Needles again timed such that the tide was soon at my stern and pushed me.  The north channel at Hurst Castle is somewhere my skipper has only been through in the dark, so the opportunity was taken to visually see how close to the shingle bank the channel was.

I achieved a staggering 9.2 knots, without sail, in little wind such was the timing my skipper had put me here.  It was just a few hours that I was swung round and taken back to my berth between the oversized catamaran and the gaff rigged Poly Agatha.  This time the actions were in sync with the skippers brain and we came in nice and gently.

I understand that I have been entered in to this years Round The Island Race, but am sure my skipper has other trips up his sleeve before then.

Holiday - or so it seems

This weather has been strange.  In Scotland it was simple it either rained or snowed hard or blew hard or it was summer.  Down south, things are very different.

The period of high winds has abated, for now at least, but I've had more water under my keel in the Medina than I've ever had before, I understood that high tide has topped the quay wall and flooded the High Steet to about 150mm.

As promised I have been moved, the wind eased on Sunday and I was moved to Shepards marina next to the Yacht Haven.  With both heaters and dehumidifier plugged in, I can at last start to dry out completely, for now at least.  The work with the Mast Gaiter tape that was applied some time ago appears to have stemmed the flow of water but with it being much warmer at the moment condensation is just getting every where and with the gales and driving rain leaving a hatch even slightly ajar isn't an option.

All the new metal work is bolted on to my deck and the guard rails wire has replaced the temporary rope.  I've even been measured up for a new piece of Teak to replace the slat that was damaged in the accident.  The second half (port side) of the ceiling in the saloon, is in the process of being removed ready for the new LED strip lighting matching that already done on the starboard side.

The small section in the port rear cabin is still off whilst my skipper scratches his head as how to stop water from dripping off of the screw or bolt ends.  The floor panel under the navigators table is back up again waiting for the new fan to be put in line along the heating duct and the remainder to be replaced with an insulated upsized duct to the master cabin, where the heat fails to reach.

Of course the wind generator needs to be put back once the frame is attached to my new pushpit, but at least the new shore powered generator my skipper installed last summer is up and humming nicely keeping the new batteries nicely topped up too.

I understand that my main sail will be off soon and sent to the cleaners, like the jib was last year, with my allotted sail numbers added.  The boom too will be removed and taken to a work shop to have some precautionary strengthening work where the Vang attaches to a plate under the boom.

So no rest for the wicked and I look forward to returning to my pontoon all ship shape.

Winter Wonderland

Prior to my skipper and his crew bringing me down to this Island off the south coast, I would have to endure freezing temperatures, snow & ice, storms and high winds.

Whilst I agree that recently high winds have swept the nation, my little berth down the Medina river is pretty well sheltered from most things.  Ok southerlies and conversely northerlies can be a problem but even then I'm either facing or stern to them.  The biggest issue at present is condensation.  I am literally heating up inside when the sun does come out removing moisture from within to the colder portholes and hatches.  Unfortunately I then perspire and moisture runs across the roof linings and drips.

The work my skipper did to the mast base, seems to have stemmed the tide but there is a leak from top decks through to the rear cabins, a puzzle I have set my skipper to resolve.

The last few weekends he's been down to check me over, run my systems, fire up my heater, but I haven't been out now for ages.  However I am supporting new stainless steel pushpit and side gate and it wont be long before all the wire is replaced and the wind generator is installed and running again.

I have it on good authority that I'm going to be moved to Cowes Yacht Haven for a month, where I can have the dehumidifier and heaters running and dry every sinu out.  But as always its more than that, my main sail is to come off and be laundered like my jib was;  the boom will come off and have the Vang bracket strengthened, not that its a problem at the moment but my skipper has spotted something that has been added to his wish list.  The lazy Jack bag can come off and a new one made.  I may even come out of the water altogether and have my anodes checked again.

The tube lighting on my starboard side is being removed, replacing it with the same LED pink lighting strip that adorns my port side, so most of my ceiling panels are currently off.  I am sure that once I am returned to my mooring at Whitegates, I'll be in much better shape and will be out in the Solent once more.

£7M Super Yacht sinks in East Cowes

That was the headline and I saw it all.  On the opposite side of the river and slightly downstream of me a huge fire took hold of a motor cruiser.  Not one of the new Sunseeker types, but a more old fashioned with tall fly bridge.  Up to 30 firemen were present, trying to keep it under control, until it eventually sank on its mooring.  Now lots of barges and cranes have appeared around the location where it sat, to lift it up and take it away.  Rumour is its an insurance job, it was for sale, but that's for the experts to judge.

Barges preparing for lifting operations

There have been a spate of burglaries too, with eight boats having electronic gear removed, more retro-fit gear than built in, but still not pleasant.

So on Sunday my skipper came on board with another bag of bits and was obviously pleased to see that the cleaning of my top sides and hull were not necessary as the wind during the fire was blowing away.  With engine & gas on to top up the batteries and make tea.  He set to, first replacing one of the anchor rollers he had had made, the old one had seized and in doing so the chain had worn it away.

One of the ceiling supports that had come away was replaced, but unfortunately had left the other behind, I assume this is in order that the ceiling panel can be put back and then the lights on the other side can be done.  He removed the small ceiling panel in the portside rear cabin and exposed one of the three nuts that holds the pushpit on.  Although it is bound within the fibre-glass resin, so almost impossible to remove and I could see him working out a way to remove it, which was cause for a cup of tea of course.  Following a brief rest bite in the cockpit he then proceeded to cut at the pushpit with the junior hack saw.  Slow progress, but I can see what his thinking is, cut the top and twist the remaining rail to partially unscrew the 'fixed' nut, then drive it from above to remove it.  The saw went away, a larger one is called for. One of the stern guard rails was removed assume this is to have a new one made up along with the two that were also damaged at the side.  I must be close to having all the damaged parts replaced and the wind generator re-installed.

With that the companionway came up, exposing the engine, not that he did anything to that, but fixed a small panel to seal a gap between the floor and the woodwork at the base of the stairs. The intention is to providing an element of noise insulation to the saloon.  A small improvement to the wire rack support in the large galley cupboard, means that during choppy conditions the rack doesn't slip and wedge itself.

A new rubberised tape was carefully stretched around the mast, to prevent the ingress of water, so am sure the weather will soon put that to the test.  Not the easiest of jobs to do to hold it in place, then stretch it as it goes round without it slipping.  It took several attempts and looked like stringy chewing gum at one stage. Finally covered with duck tape to provide a more aesthetic look.  Hopefully this is the retro-fit answer and the issue of the leaking mast gaiter can be put bed, not sure if it was his confidence but he took with him a small panel to use it as a template to make a new one. It fits over the hole where the mast comes through the deck, the old one that had suffered from water damage, snapped during storage.

Once happy he'd completed those tasks he'd set himself, he left also taking the life-raft with him, this is to ungo a service by Ocean Safety, who'll set it off, check the seals and repack, including the first aid kit and any food & water pouches that may be contained inside.  Not that in times when this last hope life saving method is used, they'll be worried that the food pouch or water is beyond its sell by date !  This is the first service it will have had since it was purchased at the time of my commissioning.

St Jude - Sunday 28th October Storm

My skipper obviously has one eye on the weather and this weekend it proved useful.

Arriving by dinghy as he does, he came armed with the replacement stainless steel, pushpit and side gate parts together with one of the panels from the ceiling.  As usual the radio & VHF goes on and in return I play him music and keep him informed about movements in the Solent as well as more local Medina traffic. Rain had had its usual effect and so the bilge the first job to attend to and is pumped dry.  Then the ceiling panel fitted.

With no milk, the kettle remained dry, more so than him, with his sweatshirt damp from the earlier rain and his T shirt also damp from the effort in getting the outboard fired up and him out of the drizzle.  With the sun now out and his sweatshirt in the companion way drying, so the buckled side gate came off and the new one encouraged to fit in its place.  The pushpit at the rear will be a longer job as there's wiring to thread through to the GPS & Navtex aerials as well as the replacement stern light.  The nuts that hold this on are also located in inconvenient places too.

So with the new one stowed in one of my stern cabins, he set to tying the lazy bag that contains the main tighter to the boom and checked me all over for anything that could be caught by the wind.

And the wind came - Reports of 100mph winds hitting the Needles fortunately had 'eased' if thats the word by the time they reached me.  If the wind generator had been re-fitted, then I'm sure I could've supplied Cowes with both power and light.  My wind vane flickering and wind speed indicator was close to overheating, but then I have a tall mast and that's where most of the wind was lower than that and the wind lessened.  Fortunately I'm moored on the west side of the Medina so with SW'erlys I'm tended to be blown away from the pontoon, offering some relief to my fenders and missing the rocking of the pontoon.

On Monday evening my skipper returned to find I was just as I was when he left me, with the exception of more water in the bilge !

Pre October Storm

It's been a while since I've had a visit, but my skipper arrived on Saturday and set too with various projects he had up his sleeve.  The weather down here is so much milder than I remember in Scotland but still wind and rain are the main factors of the weather systems.

So my skipper arrived with a dinghy full of goodies for me.  As always he turns on all my systems and dials in to the the three channels on the VHF 12,16 & 69; the first being Southampton VTS listening out to the shipping that's moving around the Solent and up Southampton Water, now the aerial is connected properly I cover a much better range.  16 of course is the standard channel where all sorts are relayed be it May Days, Pan Pan or just Fred seeking Joe and channel 69 is the working channel up the Medina river, where I'm now based.  My rear cockpit speaker as 'built' in true Heath Robinson way by my skipper keeps blearing out.

Without the wind generator available at the moment my engine is run for a while to re-charge the batteries until the water in my Clarifier (hot water tank) is able to wash up his mug at the end of the day.  Also my oil fired heater is turned on and allowed to run.  That was a new part he brought with him.  The electric fan I've seen before but he's bought from China an electric variable switch such that he can vary the speed of the fan and draw heat from the unit and not only prevent the unit from overheating but move that heat to the master cabin where it currently fails to reach.  There's some ducting to replace as it has also been discovered that it has partly been crushed, but larger ducting is needed to get the heat forward.

The new 'mood' lighting or as my skipper says 'tarts' lighting has been fitted to my port side and with the ceiling panels re-done and cleaned up they will be fitted one the weather is kind enough to allow them to be transported to me.  Then obviously the Starboard side will be done.

The new anchor roller that replaced the worn unit, needs to be put back on the lathe to have 1 or 2mm shaved of it to enable it to turn freely.  Otherwise that's all ready for the next outing.

The new oven catch is ready to go on, just the old one is being too stubborn to come off, so a small grinder is needed to remove the head of the screw and leave enough behind to remove.

A new shelf has been fitted to the cupboard under the sink, doubling the available space with a simple improvement.

I understand that the replacement metal work has arrived from Germany, the push pit and side gate, so can only assume my skipper will soon be replacing my damaged parts and putting back the wind generator and returning me back to my full self.  I still have an issue with my auto pilot but an e-mail from its makers, may guide him to working out where the issue is coming from and then replace the part.  I know that my main is to be laundered as was my jib last year, this enables the lazy Jack bag to be removed and a new made in its place.  Other works suggested is to have the boom removed so the Vangs connection point can be strengthened, my skipper not happy that the manufacturers welds have thinned the joint.

Also on their way are my replacement saloon windows that have started to crack where the port holes have been cut in.  My skipper reckons that the openings should have been laser cut and they weren't so everytime I hit a wave or drop into a trough with some force the crack extends like a cracked cold windscreen does when the heater is applied.

So whilst I sit here waiting to be taken out, obviously there's a lot going on in the background with lots more work to be done to keep me in tip top condition.  My skipper is not interested in a sailing season, if we can't go out then he's always doing something and only when my main is off, will the opportunity to sail be temporarily halted.  There's lots happening and I look forward to the attention