2007 in review

Well, what a year its been....January started as a cold an unpleasant month, with mixed feelings.... we didn't have a boat after Maggie had been sold the previous September, so I was somewhat glad that the annual delights of antifouling could be missed out, yet I was watching the weeks tick by on the calendar with our house sat stubbornly on the market and showing no signs of selling... and starting to see a saeson starting with no boat to use... it wasn't nice.Matters came to a head in January when we attended the boat show, and realised that this was an untenable position, so reviewed our finances, slightly reduced our budget and declared loudly 'sod it' and started looking for a boat...Several came on the market, including a rather appealing Sun Magic 44, that upon viewing was rather disastrous, with massive cracks in the keel grid. My heart was looking for a solution, but fortunately my head won out.... so we kept looking.... eventually a rather nice First and Feeling popped up down in the Solent, and we rushed down to take a peek.... not what we were looking for in either case... well actually the Feeling looked nice, but the decks were shot.... but alongside the First lay a rather nice looking Oceanis 400.... we asked for the keys in passing, wandered aboard... and there was our boat... we knew almost instantly.... it was just 'right'...A deal was constructed.... and with a bit of a last minute panic caused by the broker screwing up, but eventually solved, we collected the boat over Easter...I'm still waiting on the final bit of paperwork/letter... Ancasta, I haven't forgotten.... you clearly have.... shoddy. You didn't do a good job.A long windless trip back to the East coast with Jim, Lynn, Chris and John, and she was back in our new marina, Shotley....We made a few trips to start to get used to her.... what a wonderful experience... space, heating, hot water, comfortable berths, space in the cockpit... everything we'd dreamed of....By late May, as June crept in, we set off on the now annual Oostende trip.... great fun... what a pleasure crossing the North sea in comfort... and so much quicker!We proceeded to have a great week in the company of Sirenia and crew culminating in a brilliant BBQ on the beach at Stone Point... one of the highlights of the year for us....June too was a very special month.... besides a number of lovely sails, our dear friends Jim and Lynn hitched the knot in spectacular fashion, using their boat as transport to the wedding... another highlight of the year.... one we'll remember fondly for many years....July appeared rather quickly, and the weather hadn't been living up to the expected standards, but during the month, we organised the Pirate weekend, for which the weather relented, and we had a superb fun weekend, with a massive bonfire on the beach... marvellous stuff...As August approached, the summer cruise plans were being developed... a romp down channel was on the cards, but a slightly less than ideal forecast, along with pleading kids saw us back towards Holland... we ended up again on the lovely Bastien de Langeplaat island, spent a few days there, completely and utterly chilled out, cruised on a bit, visited some great destinations including Veere and Goes and then headed back to Ramsgate, crossed the Sunk (another big tick in the box) and then on to Burnham for the last few days of Burnham week with our friends.... great fun as usual, and then finished off with a wonderful night sail back to Shotley.... a first really for SWMBO... she's now done quite a bit of night sailing, but never set out in daylight, and sailed into the dusk and night.... she loved it!September saw our other annual event, the 'girls and boys' weekend.... as usual, a riot.... the boys were on Morgana this year... a bit of drama....miscalculating the depths over the Ore/Alde bar and loosing the steering... but nothing too exciting!!!!!!!.. as usual, we drank too much, ate too much unhealthy food, and generally misbehaved....Along the way, we all met up at the Deben for a lovely weekend at anchor....a good month.In October, the weather was frankly, rubbish... so it was with some surprise that Jim and I, after driving to Scotland to sail with Silkie, experienced superb blue skies and gently breezes to see the West coast at its absolute best.... another of the big highlights of the year....But by the end of the month, the weather had deteriorated to the extent that the planned 'last sails' of the season turned into trips to prep the boat for winter....November saw her lifted, and there she sits ashore, stripped out, with dehumidifer onboard, waiting forlornly for the end of Feb, when she'll be woken up, put back in her natural element, and the season begins again..... can't wait!Happy Christmas and a great New Year to everyone... hope '08 is everything you wish for!

All's well

Down to the boat yesterday...to check her over...All is well..Dehumidifier seems to be doing the job... boat didn't feel at all damp. Also grabbed the final few bits off the boat such as spare oilies and two sleeping bags....Measured up for a few jobs later in the winter such as a fitting the davits and a permanent plotter mount.We have a grab rail in front of the steering pedestal that I have used to mount the plotter to... its only temporarily fitted at present and i'm going to make up a wooden plate to fit it more permanently and neatly...Must get a few other things under way... the genoa needs a little attention... a few bits of frayed stitching here and there, and the UV strip needs replacing as its started to rip in one little place... better that than the sail I suppose..

empty

Down to the boat yesterday morning, and brought back a car full of cushions (and I mean a car full!), along with charts and books....Also put a dehumidifier and small greenhouse frost guard heater on board..... will have to go back in a fortnight or so to firstly check that the heater and dehum are OK, plus there are still a few bits that I want to retrieve....Ho hum.... still... its only 3 1/2 months till she's back in....

shut for winter

Today changed from a last opportunity to sail into a trip to start emptying the boat... the forecast was poor, and so we decided to cut our losses, and start the sad process of winterising her...Firstly the sails came off.... easy with the furling genny, but i'd never removed a furling main before... access comes via two small removable panels on the mast, and I was surprised to find that it was actually quite easy... the only fiddly bit was undoing the two shackles that hold the sail to the top swivel and the base swivel (exactly the same as a furling genny) through the small holes, but once that was done, then the sail just fell down.... the act of folding was interesting.... less difficult for the small main, but the genny was rather large to fold on the foredeck... but we got it done...Then the sprayhood came off... I hate this job... its the one that suddenly makes the boat look bare....We loaded all the main berth cushions into a trolley and marched them up to the car.... they clearly weren't going to fit in, so we marched them back, and instead filled the car with duvets, pillows, etc...Next the water system was drained... took 20mins of running the taps, and then the calorifier was drained fairly quickly with the manual lever on the front of the tank.... As part of the process, I spent 20mins locating the previously absent switch for the calorifier. I knew there must be one otherwiuse you couldn't have shore power on without frying the heating element, but had never managed to find it.The fridge was the next target, being emptied, cleaned and left open after switching off...Finally, after various piles of other bits and bobs were carted off to the car, we dismounted the liferaft, outboard, lifebuoy, danbuoy and various other attached implements and stashed them below.I've got to go down again next weekend to bring the cushions back, and all the books and charts, as well as winterise the engine before she is lifted on the following monday.Its very depressing walking away from a 'naked' boat knowing that its several months until you'll be sailing on her again.So.... this winter....A long list of tasks (who said that older boats need more work doing?)... including:

mounting the Davits
fit some cockpit speakers for the stereo
fit u-bolts for harness clip on points in the cockpit
make a permanent mount for the plotter
re-engineer drain arrangements for the fridge so that it drains!
fit a windex (will have to wait for boat to go back in the water!)
repair and re-waterproof cockpit tent
make some dodgers
fit extra clutches for kicker and spare genny halyard
insulate Eberspacher pipes
replace gas pipes
replace mainsheet and kicker ropes
re-varnish washboards
fit cockpit LED lighting
fit hydrostatic release to liferaft
remount clock and barometer (removed to fit cup holder and so neeed relocating)
fix transom shower (currently disconnected and blanked off)
paint top of gearbox (slight corrosion)

And all this besides the normal list of cleaning, polishing, antifouling. anodes etc etc
Plenty to do to while away the cold winter weekends!

cold but clear

Another stunning day....Yesterday (monday) was a bit of a wash out.... cold, wet and no wind.... C celebrated (and proved her age categorically) by staying in bed until 15h00, while SWMBO and I sat on the boat, read, drank beer, ate an excellent curry, and generally wasted the day away with great satisfaction.... M was less than impressed, but somewhat placated by promises of being allowed to fish tommorrow...So upon awaking this morning, I was delighted to see a clear blue sky, gentle 9 to 13kts of breeze, and very little traffic about.... so we slipped out, sailed up the Orwell, stopped at Pin Mill for lunch and generally just idled... perfect...Only mistake of the day was in the lock on the way back in, where I suggested that M could slip the stern line upon leaving.... we had the wind blowing us on, and I didn't make it clear that he needed to pull the stern in when the bow had slipped free to allow us to spring off... my mistake, which only resulted in us bumping along the fenders until we were able to slip clear.... nothing serious!Autumn seems to have arrived with vengance though.... bitterly cold.... the season is nearly over.

Miles logged 10nm
Miles this season 1,140nm
Miles since this blog started 2,937nm

warm weather

We arrived at the boat Thursday morning after deciding to enjoy a lay in and not head down Wednesday night, to find overcast weather. This was the cue for a 'marina day', which is code for doing absolutely nothing, and just chilling out. This went completely to plan, as we achieved sod all!Friday, we finally felt that a sail was in order, especially as the clouds had disappeared, and there was a wonderful autumnal blue sky. It was a bit chilly, but with the sun out, it felt much warmer than it was. After a family discussion, a plan was hatched to head up the Stour, another location not yet suitably explored. So we popped out of the marina, and set the sails in just 6kts of breeze and gently wafted up to Wrabness, and upon reaching it, turned round and headed back, into the tide with little wind, and thoroughly enjoyed making just 0.4kts over the ground.... perfect!We sailed past Shotley and into the Orwell, grabbed a buoy at STH for a quick cuppa and then back into the marina.... very pleasant.However, the main purpose of the weekend was the Laying down supper from the YBW forum east coast section, and by 19:00 Dave and Louise had arrived, two of our crew for the weekend. As has become tradition, Dave and I sat and drank red wine until the wee small hours, and generally put the world to rights. By 10:30 the following morning, Bernie, our 3rd crew member had arrived and we got her on board and set off.The forecast was for very very light winds, so I expected that we'd motor up to Bradwell, so was somewhat surprised to lock out and find a stiff breeze blowing. In fact by the time we'd rounded Guard buoy we had 21kts over the deck. In what can only be described as 'business as usual', it was dead on the nose, but I accepted it, knowing that as we rounded Walton headland it would be a glorious beam reach. Typically, it died right down as we reached Walton, and shifted so we had a beat the whole way up the Wallet in just 10 to 13kts.... still fun though. It was cold by the time we reached the Knoll buoy marking the entrance to the Blackwater, with grey overcast skies, so we were glad to get tied up in Bradwell.The evening consisted of a great meal in the Green Man... loads of food, loads of drink, plenty of merriment and excellent company.I awokde Sunday with a slightly fuzzy head to see a misty start to the day but with obvious potential. By the time the crew were roused and rounded up at 10:00 it was time to leave. Much later and we would have struggled for water out of Bradwell creek. So out we slipped, and into the Blackwater. What a wonderful day. The skies were brilliant blue. It wasn't hot as such, but with virtually no wind and stronf sun, it felt like a spring morning. We motored the whole way, with the wind never going above 3kts.As we came round Walton, it had become very warm indeed, and with completely flat seas and great weather, we decided to take the opportunity to relax for a tiny bit longer, so half a mile off Pye End we dropped the anchor and ate lunch out at sea. It was perfect!Soone enough we were on our way again, and locked in by 15:00.Excellent weekend! We've still got two days of annual leave to go, so not sure what we're going to do Mon/Tues... perhaps Hamford water?... weather looks settled for more of the same.

Miles logged 65nm
Miles this season 1,130nm
Miles since this blog started 2,927nm

closing out the season

Its getting really close to the end of the season.... no sailing this weekend as its C's birthday, and we have a house full of kids.....But next weekend we have a laying up supper at Bradwell, and also have the Thu/Fri and Mon/Tue off work, so hopefully, weather permitting, we'll get a few a chance to go hide away somewhere for a few days.... we are hoping to find a quiet anchorage and just sit and chill a bit...Boat comes out on 5th Nov, so we may have another weekeend before she's lifted, but suspect that'll be used to start the depressing process of emptying the boat for her winter layup...

East goes north

This weekend, Full Circle and I headed north...... way way north, to assist Silkie of these parts with his kite flying technique...Its was a loooooooong drive... 420 miles to be precise, leaving the East Midlands at 15H00.... we left Oban to port at 22h40ish, and FC looking visibly distressed at the close proximity of closing time, got his foot down.... it was a small, narrow windy road, with unpredictable corners and bumps, but once i'd convinced him to slow down to 70mph, it felt a little safer. He even was sensible enough to reduce his speed to 60mph on the single track road approaching Balvicar. We saw the lights of the 'bridge over the Atlantic' ahead, and after a handbrake turn around the unexpected right angle corner and cottage hit the bridge at sufficient speed that we just about landed in the car park for the Tigh an Truish. It was 22h59. The car was abandoned outside the pub front door with the lights on, doors open, and engine running, and two strange english blokes crashed through the front door with outstretched arms holding sufficient coinage for a pint to find a scene of utter tranquility.... Silkie sitting at the bar, where he'd been waiting for us since 20h00, looking a little glazed, and a landlord who was somewhat amused at the idea of a closing time....Ah.......A couple of pints later (see, there was no rush after all), and we moved the cars the 2miles to the boatyard, where we nervously lifted Silkie's half inflated tender down to water, laughed at him as he was the only one with wellies on (guess who had to push the boat off), and set off with Silkie rowing for all his heart, while we sat buried under a small bags of clothes each, and an enormous bag of food and drink (well, a little food was in there). Silkie immediately demonstrated his Scottish guile, and inbuilt Scottish ability for subtle revenge by taking a good hard pull on the oars and soaking the posterior of one Mr Full Circle. We gathered aboard the good ship Silkie, and did the decent thing. We opened a bottle of whisky. It was a bit later by the time we poured ourselves into bed.Arising the following morning, we discovered a rather classic west coast of Scotland day. It was raining.Being hardy souls, and seeing the look of dissapointment at the potential for not getting his kite flying on Dave's face, we decided to set off anyway. His dissapointment was well disguised, as he spent a good few minutes staring at the whisky bottle and muttering things like "Dinna ye want ti wait for ra rain te stop?". When we cheerfully replied "no thanks", he even managed to look sad.So we cast free of his bouy, and set off. Dave immediately decided that crew was a good thing. He sat down, handed us the tiller and started relaxing. He even only managed 'slightly nervous' as we cleared Clete Rock and Cuan, and pirouetted our way down into more open water.We'd been out for as long as 45mins, and were thoroughly soaked. Undeterred by this minor set back, FC started to rig bits of rope, pulleys and god knows what else in strange and exotic positions. Extensive use of jubillee clips and screwdrivers added a certain degree of 'the unusal' to the experience of flying a spinnaker. But he seemed happy, so we let him get on with it.Before long, there we were, with a kite rigged, ready to go. Everyone was having a ball.

And just a few minutes later, there was a rustling noise, I looked round to see Dave with his eyes closed, fiddling with the main sheets in a way remarkably reminicent of rosary beads, and gosh. The kite was up.

We had a splendid sail down to Dunstaffnage, where the volume of water now inside rather than outside of our oilies suggested it was time to stop. That and the appeal of a shore power cable and warm dry pub.So we tied up, with FC and I laughing hysterically at the aisle widths.... room to maneouvre?.... you could anchor between the blummin aisles....A fine performance by the Northern hemsiphere teams in the rugby suggested a drink or two, and we tried our best to meet the challenge.... but being sensible people, we even maintained a degree of moderation by moving on to halfs after the first two or three pints. I believe Dave managed about 8 halves.A wander/stagger back to the boat was made even more entertaining by the lack of basics. Like bolts joining the finger pontton to the main aisle pontton, but a headfirst dive over the guard wires saw us OK. Naturally, more whisky was appropriate. In fact FC provided a rather interesting bottle. The colour of licquorice. Both in and out.By 01h30, there was only one thing left to do. Eat Lorne sausage. So taking care to not burn his fingers too badly lighting the stove, Dave soon completed a sterling effort, aided by regular visits to his glass, and we sat happily eating Lorne sausage rolls while the world slept outside.Of course, we knew that we wouldn't be believed. So we documented it.

There was a distinct lack of grissle. I feel undersold.So you can imagine our surprise to arise the next morning to see a misty start, but with the real threat of a bit of sun. Even Dave looked surprised. No. In fact, he looked shocked. And maybe a bit hungover.So, after a hearty breakfast, with a bit more Lorne sausage thrown in, we cast off, and headed back towards Balvicar.Something wierd happened. The sun came out. In fact, it shone its little heart out.

it got so warm that we ended up in T-shirts.Dave claimed that this last happened in 1983.After motoring for a while in the complete lack of wind, sighting an entire pod of Porpoise swimming along, and unusually even getting quite ambitious with their jumps, we decided to pop the kite again.It was flown for 2 hours. We even got Dave to Gybe it. Grin. He was like a Cheshire cat.Apart from one or two minor events, like nearly hitting an enormous island, we had a non eventful run back. Dave said it wasn't that unusual for the depth to reduce to 2.2m. What would we know. We sail on the east coast. Its unusual for the depth to go above 2.2m where I come from.Being a bit (like 2 hours) ahead of the tidal gate back through Cuan, we decided to grab a buoy at Easdale. Dave said it was well marked. He was of course talking relative. The marks are a slightly wonky green pole, and a stub of a pole that is 12 inches above the water line. Oh, and another pole with a green beer barrel on top of it. Class.As an anchorage, it didn't have a lot going for it. All it could offer was stunning scenery, complete shelter. And a microbrewery. Harumph.

So as the tide conditions resumed there normal status, we cast off, and headed back through the Cuan area again, demonstrating our ability to steer completely randomly while the tide actually decided where we would go, and slipped back to the mooring, which yet again, wasn't really worth going to. Miserable views.

Thanks Dave. It was a ball. Your sailing area is absolutely stunning. The welcome was warm, and both Jim and I had a really really marvellous weekend. Was it worth a round trip of 900 miles for?.... darned right it was!

Tigh na Truish

After a passing offer made much earlier in the year, Jim and I have finally got ourselves sorted enough to be heading up to Scotland to help Silkie with his spinnaker handling..The Scots contingent have spent enough time extolling the virtues of the 'bridge over the Atlantic' and the 'House of Trousers' public Inn, so we'll now be able to verify their claims...Really looking forward to sampling the delights of the Tigh na Truish, Seil island, Balvicar and Puilladobhran in Silkie's Hurley 22....

well.... it keeps me out of trouble... (just)

We've had a ball!Friday evening everyone gathered dowm at Morgana, and by 17h30 we had a full complement.... so we did the only honourable thing, and after chewing the fat for a while, we went to the pub!To be precise, we went to the Bristol Arms, which yet again excelled itself as a fine venue for a bite to eat.A great meal, with enormous portions of more than acceptable quality for a very reasonable price.... mixed in with a grand pint of Adnams (or two), a lovely whisky (or two), and a great musician, with a real sense of humour made for a brilliant evening.We eventually swayed our way back to Morgana, swapping text messages with the girls querying their sobriety, and drank a little more... several bottles of red and a good few snifters of an excellent Irish whiskey.... 02h00, and the crew all made their excuses and went to bed...The following morning was pretty relaxed..... we'd decided that the early morning tidal entry for the Ore/Alde (our chosen destination) was just a 'little' too early at around 08h00, so we'd have a mooch around at sea, and aim for the afternoon opportunity.... any time after 15h00 from my calculations (more on this later)...So after a decent fry up (spotting a trend here?), we left at about 10h00, and sailed off up the coast....Well, the weather was just glorious.... warm, indeed hot, and the wind across the beam at initially just 8kts, but eventually building to 17kts....We soon passed the Deben, and as we were going to way too early for the Ore/Alde entrance, we decided to head out to sea.... hard on the wind, and with 15kts true, we were making 7kts through the water.... it was T shirt weather.... unbelievabley good... the boat was flying, everyone loving the sail.... Full Circle fell asleep on the foredeck..... it was so nice that we were regretting not bringing our passports, as we could have quite happily just carried straight on towards Oostende or Nieuwpoort or somewhere similar.... but it wasn't to be....By 13h30, we tacked around, and headed back to the entrance....Timings wise, it looked OK, so we went for the entrance... past the safe water mark, and to the red can.... we set course for the green, and it started to shallow off quite dramatically.... I called the depth under the keel out loud....1.1m...... 1.0m..... 0.8m..... 0.7m.... by the time I'd called 0.4m everyone was looking distinctly nervous.... we still had the main up, dead downwind.... so if we hit it was going to be a good one, and we'd be well pushed on.... so the main came down... and we crept as slowly as we could.... and heaved a sigh of relief as we finally cleared the green and the depth started to improve.... it went down to 0.3m under the keel... far to close for my liking... OK on a large open piece of water, but not sensible in a river entrance where tides can run at up to 5kts....A drains up later that evening revealed a major flaw in my calculations for the time of LW.... we'd just entered the Ore/Alde in a fin keeler drawing 1.75m bang on Low Water.... phew..... moral... don't do the calcs when pissed!Anyway.... with no harm done, we crept up the river past some lovely looking anchorages.... ideal for a complete 'get away from the world' type of experience... and cariied on up to Orford where we grabbed a visitors buoy...We proceeded to cook a great suasage casserole with mash, which was consumed with gusto, and then went ashore for a drink... Michael sadly had to depart at this stage due to babysitting challenges, and the remainder of went to the Jolly Sailor.... where we found Micahel propping up the bar waiting for his taxi!Several pints of Adnams finest later we even managed to get into the tender without getting wet, and quickly returned to the boat.... Orford is a delight.... it is very quaint, and has a real 'sailing' feel about it... we did nearly manage to wipe out a couple of guys night fishing from the quay on the way... or at least their fishing gear... but narrowly avoided it in the end...Another late start.... we'd done the calcs sober this time... and we could leave any tine after about 09h00 through to midday..... so a gentle start... another monster breakfast, clearing up all the bacon and sausages, and then about 10h00 we slipped the lines off the morring buoy....I decided to let the boat drift back from the mooring on the tide a little to avoid the pick up line... and as we got about 15ft from the bouy, engaged forward gear, and the boat promptly did a 90 degree turn to port...... umhh.... this didn't feel right.... so I grabbed the wheel to swing it over.... there was a strange graunching noise and it went completely slack, and then locked itself solid...... Oh Shit!.... the steering had just failed.....We had 2 kts of tide slinging us back up the river.....I engaged reverse and Morgana did a graceful turn and stuck her stern into the tide.....I immediately asked Chris to go remove the retaining pin from the anchor while I did my best to keep her off the bank with alternative blasts of reverse and forwards..... somehow or other we ended up just uptide of the mooring we'd just left, and by very gentle throttle application we managed to drift down on it, which thankfully Jim and Chris managed to grab first time.... phew... at least we were secure....I opened up the access hatch to the rudder post, and it was quite obvious what had happened.... the admittedly slight loose steering cable had jumped off the quadrant.... so we had no steering at all.....Just 10mins with a pair of spanners had it fixed.... drama over, but crikey, it was a bit of a heart stopper!So on the second attempt we left the river... this time seeing no less than 1.1m under the keel (although I suspect more water was available slightly to the right of our final track), and with the wind coming directly along the coast had a beat back towards Harwich.It was a bit windier than the previous day, although still quite warm, but the cloud just taking the edge off.... but we set the sails, and started to tack our way up the coast..... with the tide against us we were fighting a loosing battle, and after standing out a fair way to sea twice we were only just a mile from our starting point... so rolled up the genny and motor sailed back to Harwich seeing the wind rise to about 20kts....We were soon locked in... and with a bit of tidying up, left by 16h00....What a truly grand weekend..... excellent company.... excellent food... laughter the whole way.... and to really cap it off, some of the best sailing of the season so far.What more could anyone want?

Miles logged 42nm
Miles this season 1,027nm
Miles since this blog started 2,824nm

another girls and boys weekend

Following on from last years roaring success, we're repeating the girls and boys weekend... this time the girls are heading to Burnham, and disappearing on Full Circle, and the boys are on Morgana...We're (the boys) planning to head up the Ore/Alde, and enjoy the scenery.... the girls are planning a weekend of pontoon bashing and wine tasting...The boys crew is 6 people, mostly people that I know well and have sailed with many times, except one new member of the gang, Michael, who I've (we've) met a couple of times now, and I think Pat knows quite a bit better, who we've convinced after a long campaign of brow beating to join in!!!!!(I know Michael reads this blog..... looking forward to getting to know you a bit better Michael, and proving that we aren't always drunk.... well maybe not completely proving it......!)Maybe this will be the weekend that pushes the annual mileage over the 1000nm mark....I've also booked Morgana's lift out for 5th Nov... and lift back in for end of Feb.... we did contemplate leaving her in, but two things stopped us.... firstly, the last few weeks have seen a bit of weed growth at the waterline, so she obviosuly needs antifouling.... and secondly, we'd want to remove most of the soft furnishings, remove the sails etc etc, which would make winter sailing both uncomfortable, and a lot of hassle to bend sails back on etc etc...Laying up supper planned for end Oct.... West Mersea again.... can't believe its nearly a year since we sold Magna Carter.... time flies...

SIBS

No sailing this weekend, although we'll probably go down to the boat Sat night just to sleep over, and maybe grab a bite to eat at the Shipwreck.... and then on down to SIBS on Sunday....Targets:New oilies for SWMBO and ILook at offers on dual station DSC VHF (main set and command mike)Set of D rings for clipping on in the cockpit

two visits to the bar...

This weekend, the weather inevitable cheered up considerably, and the sun shone consistently... the kids have gone back to school of course, so good weather is almost guaranteed.We'd arranged to meet a group of friends at the Rocks anchorage in the river Deben. This was a good plan in many ways.... firstly, the tide timing was excellent, and secondly, SWMBO had never been up the Deben, something that needed fixing as a matter of urgency!We slipped from Shotley at 08h30, and headed out towards the guard buoy, just 1/4nm from the marina, where we found a lovely 12kts of breeze.... it was up the chuff, but we'd had enough of motoring recently, so we set sails, switched the engine off and pootled out towards Languard.... as we reached the Languard buoy, we headed north, and the wind came across the beam, presenting a fabulous reach at 5kts SOG to the Deben entrance..... it was hot, sunny, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed getting the sails out again.... as we were arriving at the Deben bar 1hr after HW, I couldn't afford to be sloppy with my course, so I dropped the genny, and we motor sailed into the river, and then on up to the Rocks anchorage...For those that don't know this anchorage, it is fantastic... a reasonably wide bit of river, with loads of space to anchor, great holding, a lovely little beach, and wonderful views....Half an hour later, Bernie came and tied up alongside us... she'd yet again had engine trouble, and so was less than keen to anchor, and being alongside us gave her more options to get away quickly...By 18h00, we were all on the beach, and a great BBQ was had by all.... and a few new faces in the gang, which was great....We eventually returned to our boat by 20h30 (party animals!!!) and with the kids exhausted, and pretty much straight to bed, SWMBO and I sat and relaxed for a short while, listening to the total silence, interrupted only by a wide range of bird calls.... this has to be one of the very best bits of owning a boat. By 22h00, we too retired for the night.... folowing a trend, I slept like a log... something I never managed on Magna Carter.... I don't know why, but I sleep really well on Morgana at anchor.... not complaining mind!We arose quite early the next morning, around 07h30. I guess the early night was to blame, but yet again, it was already beautifully warm, so we enjoyed a silent coffee in the cockpit, and watched the world wake up....About 08h45, I had to fulfill a promise made to the kids the previous evening, and we jumped into the tender, and set off to motor up a small creek.... what a great decision that turned out to be.... we crept a good way up the small creek, and as we rounded yet another bend, there sat on the mud was a young seal, sunning himself.... we immediately shut the engine down, and I rowed gently towards him, while he sat and stared at us.... we got to within 30 feet of him before he decided we were a bit close, and slipped off into the water.... he then proceeded to poke his head up, and watch us, as we left the creek.... what a wonderful thing to be able to do.... how lucky all us boat owners are!By 10h00, we weighed anchor, along with all our friends, and all set sail, and mooched up and down past one another for 15 mins or so, taking photos.. hopefully some of them will be good!Sadly, by 10h15 we set off towards the bar for the second time, and by 10h45, had safely crossed back out to sea... The Deben bar has a fearsome reputation, and I can see why.... at HW neaps, there was plenty of sand showing, and you do have to stay quite close inshore.... but follow the route correctly, and its perfectly safe... and even SWMBO has to admit that it wasn't that bad, and certainly worth it for the lovely anchorage at the Rocks.We had a bit less wind heading back, and by half way, had to give up and motor sail.... with the tide turned against us, it was slow going under sail..... nevertheless, we got a good 3 hours of sailing this weekend, out of 4hrs of travelling time, so a welcome relief after our 'sail free' summer cruise!We were a bit slow locking in, as we had to wait for a casualty in the lock... someone feeling very unwell aboard another boat, and carted off in an ambulance... hope you get well soon whoever you are.We ate on board, and then after tidying up, and getting Morgana put to bed properly, we were away by 15h00....A grand weekend... hot and sunny all weekend.... even feeling a little burnt... perhaps the nicest weekends sailing so far this year?

Miles logged 25nm
Miles this season 985nm
Miles since this blog started 2,782nm

Homeward bound

We'd decided that we'd take the late tide back to Shotkey on Sunday evening... it meant that we'd get the whole of Sunday in Burnham.... get a night sail back, and still be able to get away to home at a sensible time on Monday.... so about 21h00, we slipped our mooring and crept off into the dark...Leaving Burnham in the dark is great.... a lot easier than daylight... the lights are more obvious, and so we took a little bit of a plug against the tide (and wind surprise surprise!), and made our way out towards No.6 and Whittaker, where we truned left towards the Wallet spitway, which was very easy in the dark... the lights stand out brilliantly.... and then into the Wallet.... the tide turned to give us a push up the Wallet, and I stayed well offshore to avoid the worst of the pots... and we soon saw Walton headland appear....M had fallen asleep in the cockpit although he'd fought valiantly to stay awake as he was really excited about his first proper night passage where he was allowed to stay up!Harwich was a blaze of light, but i've done it enough times that it is now quite easy, and soon enough we were radioing Shotkey to be let in through the lock....We'd motored the whole way with virtually no wind... it had literally fallen to zero knots by the time we rounded Walton, so we had it quite easy....Into our berth and tied up with the engine off by 02h00....What a fabulous fortnight.... we'd had a great time despite the lack of sailing.... but thats Holland two years in a row.... god knows where we'll go next year!

Miles logged 36nm
Miles this trip 333nm
Miles this season 960nm
Miles since this blog started 2,757nm

racing or is it drifting with style?

Over Saturday and Sunday we raced aboard various boats, with C joing the crew of Vreny in class 5, and enjoying the use of a kite, M and I going on Sirenia in class 6 a white sails only class, and SWMBO hopping aboard FC to compete with Sirenia.... Sunday saw M and I aboard FC, while the girls went shopping....The general story for the two days was how to drift in style.... there was little or no wind.... we tacked back and forth, generally losing ground due to tide on each tack....never mind... it was hot.. the beer was cold, and the company excellent.... we all enjoyed it...

Miles logged 21nm
Miles this trip 297nm
Miles this season 924nm
Miles since this blog started 2,721nm

Burnham bound

After some consideration, we decided to head for Burnham, to meet up with a few other East Coasties, and to enjoy the first two days of Burnham week...Tides were civilised, suggesting an 10h00 start, to take the tide round North Foreland, up to Fishermans/Foulgers gat (dependent upon sea state for crossing the Sunk sands) and then over Sunk sands, and plugging the tide for an hour before it turned fair back intowards the Crouch...So we had a relaxed start, went for fuel, and upon getting ready to leave the fuel berth, the engine wouldn't start.... it turned over perfectly well, but wouldn't fire.... I checked the stop solenoid, and tried again, and after labouring for a few seconds it fired up..... later considering the situation, I decided that the combination of very rough seas the few days previously, along with low fuel levels had probably put some crud into the fuel pump system.... its been fine ever since....So we left Ramsgate to a much flatter and altogether more pleasant sea state.... still a bit lumpy but bearable.... and true to form, the wind was on the nose..... still it'd be OK once we turned towards the Crouch....We motored up to Foulgers Gat (i'd decided the shallower Sunk crossing opposite Fishermans Gat wasn't wise in a falling tide with a lumpy sea running) and after passing through the gat, then crept gingerly over the Sunk sands.... no problems at all.... in fact, plenty of water the whole way over.... and then we turned westish towards the Crouch.... i'd noticed as we crossed Sunk that the wind was fading... so as we turned west, i discovered that the sea breeze had kicked in, and killed the wind... we in fact had 3kts... on the nose.... sigh.... anyone want to buy a set of sails?... only very lightly used....so it was a tedious motor up to Whittaker, and down the channel into Burnham... interesting at low water.... shows the hazards that you must avoid quite clearly!at least it was hot... in fact lovely and sunny by the time we reached Royal Corinthian.... where we grabbed a buoy, blew the tender up (roll on them davits!), and the motored over to see the 'gang'... we ended up leaving the morring and going alongside Full Circle for the night where we sat and enjoyed a bottle or two of wine in the usual pleasant company........ racing tommorrow aboard various boats.... hope the wind comes back!

Miles logged 47nm
Miles this trip 276nm
Miles this season 903nm
Miles since this blog started 2,700nm

windy in Ramsgate

We'd been looking at the forecast and watching a big high coming in which was obviously good news, but unfortunately, it was also squeezing a low out of the way, threatening some very strong winds for a day or two...The trick for us was to avoid doing the crossing back to the UK during those two days, but also to try and avoid getting stuck in one location for too long...As we'd arrived Saturday afternoon in Nieuwpoort, and the wind looked like it was going to come through Wednesday and Thursday, we decided to head back towards Ramsgate on Tuesday..... this was a bit of a shame as Monday had been particularly wet, and we'd not got the chance to ride our bikes out through Nieuwpoort and along the sand dunes.... but if we'd stayed it would have possibly been until Thursday, and more probably, Friday.... So we cast our lines at 08h15 on Tuesday, and motored out into a very light North Easterly, at just 5 or 6 kts, matched with a decent sized running sea.... not a great combination!As our course was down the Belgian/French coast, is South West, the wind was right behind us... we contemplated sails, but then watched a couple of other boats with their rigs slapping and making just 2 or 3 kts over the ground.... we couldn't afford to go that slowly, so we motored... We made good progress, past Dunkerque, then Graveline, through the rade de Calais, and then out towards Ruytingen, marking the start of the Dover TSS.... still no wind, so still we motored.... as we turned a little further north to cross the TSS, the wind died further still.... by my count that means that we've thus far sailed for 2 hours this holiday in total..... not good....The traffic was kind, although very busy.... and we made one slight alteration for a ship in the North East lane... not a problem, as it helped us to get some more west in our course to reach SW Goodwin buoy.... and it made for a better course through the lumpy sea... we were now getting 2m waves... while there was no wind here, there clearly was some somewhere!As we exited the TSS we set course for SW Goodwin, again the very light wind right behind us and soon reached it.....As we rounded the buoy, the skies started to grey over, and the wind picked up.... now 12 or 13kts.... but bang on the nose!!!!!!!So we continued motoring for a while, and decided that if it stayed like this, then we sail and tack in a bit..... but 10 mins later it was blowing 20kts, and the sea, already lumpy, had started to build.... the bad weather was arriving....Half an hour later, and with 8nm to Ramsgate, the conditions had deteriorated further... we were now heading directly into and riding up over large waves and slamming off the top of them into the troughs.... spray everywhere, and not very comfortable... I was starting to get very nervous.... not with the current situation.. Morgana was fine..it wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't troubling.... I was more nervous that as we approached the Ramsgate entrance, we'd be beam on to this sea, and some of the waves were getting very large, and starting to break at the crests.... not ideal across the beam... we'd have to wait and see what it looked like as we got closer...I steered the course as close to the shallower inshore water as I dare in order to minimise the cross sea leg.... and as we reached Ramsgate entrance, the one thing i'd hoped for followed through.... the shelter from North Foreland was reducing the sea somewhat.... so while the entrance was rolly, it wasn't dangerous.... and after radioing for permission, we gratefully motored into the flat water of the outer harbour...... Update at 23h00..... 35 kts in the marina... boat being rocked about a bit, and all the boats in the marina surging against their lines.... extra lines added before bed!

Miles logged 59nm
Miles this trip 229nm
Miles this season 856nm
Miles since this blog started 2,653nm

Belgium bound

By 08h50, we slipped the box... very easy given that we'd gone in backwards, and motored round to the first bridge... if we'd thought the chaos we'd previously seen was madness, then this trumped it.... at least 20 boats waiting, but in a tiny space.... phew... really really hard work keeping clearance... and repeated at each of the 5 bridges as the 'armada' worked its way down the canal... by 10h45, we'd reached the Vlissingen lock and tied up to be let back out to sea for the first time in over a week... it was a little later than i'd have liked for the tides, but we didn't have any choice as we'd taken the first lifts of the bridges anyway...by 11h00, we locked out. It was good to be back out in open water.... the forecast was for a South Easterly 4 to 5, going variable 2 to 4, so I was dissapointed to see the wind firmly in the South, meaning our course was tight on the wind.... reagrdless, I'd had enough of motoring. It had seemed almost acceptable in canals, but not for open sea, so up went the sails and we sailed tight on the wind, slightly offshore of the ideal course, but non-the-less, sailing.... in 15 to 18kts of wind, and with the strong tides in this part of the world, we were making 8.5 to 9kts over the ground.We sailed happily for 2 hours, and then as the course came round to port, the track we were able to make became so far from ideal that it looked like we would have to tack... this coincided with the wind dropping to about 6kts, and the tides starting to turn, so on came the engine again.... at least we got a couple of hours of cracking good sailing....The course led us past first Zeebrugge, then Blanckenburge, past Oostende, and finally, we wiggled our way around the sandbanks towards Nieuwpoort. As we approached the coast again, the rain started, a shame as it had been quite good up until now.... and soon I was alone on the helm in full oilies while everyone else sensibly retreated below or under the spray hood...The entrance to Nieuwpoort became obvious, and the traffic lights led us in easily.... a quick call to the Airforce marina saw us with a berth allocated... it was by now just 16h00.We motored into the marina, identified the berth, and went towards it.... we were pleased to see the marina, as previously had been the case, send someone to take out lines... hindsight would prove this delight misplaced...As we entered the berth, SWMBO passed the willing helper the bow line, and walked back to handle the stern line.... I motored gently forward and suddenly came to a crashing halt... the stupid numpty had taken out bow line and made it off on the outside end cleat on the finger.... ****.... our momentum instantly spun the stern out.... what a bloody mess... I yelled to get the line realeased, and SWMBO ran forward and retrieved the situation by putting the stern line on, to stop the stern swinging too far.... eventually, the bow line was released, and with a bit of gently fending off from the neighbouring boat, we got in, and settled the boat down.... turns out the 'helper' was a work experience student, and didn't have the first idea what she was doing!Never mind... we walked upto the marina office, and settled up for two nights... a mere snip at 37 Euros, including electrics etc.... while we were there, SWMBO spotted a service delivering fresh bread and croissants to the marina first thing... so fresh goodies for breakfast in the morning!Finally, it came to eating.... as is ever the case, its rare for us to eat a full meal at sea, and we'd just snacked... so a good feed up was needed.... and here's the magic bit.... i'd been hassling SWMBO for the last 3 years about the virtues of Fray Bentos pies... which she'd decided were the spawn of satan, but had relented. and bought one for this trip.... it was duly cooked... and the verdict.... she very begrudgingly had to admit that they are delicious!... a result if i've ever had one!Its now pouring with rain... we luckily put the cockpit tent up, so we have space to move about.... but an evening on board, and a late and relaxing start is on the cards...

Miles logged 36nm
Miles this trip 170nm
Miles this season 797nm
Miles since this blog started 2,594nm

back in Middelburg

The plan for the next day was to head towards Middelburg again as a precursor to heading off down the coast towards Belgium and France... This meant going to Middelburg on a Saturday... given the amount of boats about, we realised that we needed to be in Middelburg early to have any chance of getting a berth... it was therefore fortunate that it is only 4nm!We exited Veere by about 10h00.... a little later than we planned, but it was easier to wait for the rafts to disperse, than to start moving boats around.... so by 10h30, we locked back into the Walcheren canal, and headed the very short distance to Middelburg... as we approached the holding pontoon, the harbourmaster directed us to a box mooring in a great location... outside the bridges, and in a quiet corner, yet close to all the facilities.We'd previously planned that if we ended up in a box we'd try to go in stern first... its a long way down from Morganas bow to a pontton, and there's a decent sized lump of heavy ironwork hanging off the bow.... so we passed the box, and started to reverse back... as we got ready to turn in towards the box, another boat squeezed past us.... abort.... try again... this time, with a clear run, we lined up nicely, and reversed between the posts.... not bad... somone ashore took our lines to make life easier... it wasn't perfect, but not bad.... lessons learned... once the stern is through the posts, keep going to avoid the bow being blown off, and secondly, remove the fenders... they catch the posts!After a quick wander around Middelburg, including a couple of beers in a cafe, we relaxed on board for a quiet evening.... off to Belgium tommorrow, as soon as the bridges start opening, which isn't until 09h00 given that it'll be a Sunday.

Miles logged 4nm
Miles this trip 134nm
Miles this season 761nm
Miles since this blog started 2,558nm

Veere

Despite planning for Colinjsplaat, the mood took us upon waking to head towards Veere instead....This proved to be a good decision...Exiting Goes wasn't anywhere near as challenging as i'd suspected it would be, as the boats rafted in the spots in front of, and behind us, decided to ledave too, so we had a realtively simple departure.... getting out of the bridge and lock was nowhere near as straightforward... we waited for ages for the bridge... in a very narrow river with a group of 10 or so boats.... hard work keeping clear of each other.... and then again at the next bridge... the one that had threatened to close on us just the day previously... so we motored through nervously when it eventually opened... but it stayed open for a while... obviously not automated as I had previously suspected... and then finally the lock... wind straight up the chuff, and again, just bollards set into the lock sides... anyone who wants to brush up on their close quarters handling should come to Holland for a few days... its constant!We motored the 1.5nm to the entrance lock to the Veerse Meer (no wind at all - still no sailing), and then into the Veerse Meer itself.... it was an amazing sight when the locks opened to let us out.... at least 50 boats waiting, and all very tightly bunched, and pointing in completely different directions.... chaos reigned.... especially when we noticed that some of the boats were big, old, heavy and not very maneouverable!Up the Veerse Meer, the wind returned at just 5kts... but bang on the nose (still no sailing), and so we motored the 12.5nm to Veere.As we approached the entrance, it certainly looked pretty, with wooden piers jutting out from a castellated building marking the entrance channel... we passed through them, and an amazingly pretty little town emerged.... a very narrow channel though, and the harbour master was directing us to turn around before coming alongside a boat already on the quay.... oh dear... would we overcome the fear from the previous days disaster?.... yes... a perfect rotation in a slot not much wider than the boat is long, and alongside neatly and easily.... great!Veere is fabulous.... tree lined avenues, stuffed full of traditional Dutch gabled front architecture..... but only small.... we loved it, but decided that leaving the next morning was sensible, as there wasn't two days worth of sightseeing.... We went for a walk, and when we got back everywhere was 3 boats deep... we were in, and staying in.... a quick poll discovered happily, that everyone was also leaving the following morning however.The only downside we could find to Veere is that the Dutch clock chimes were rigth next to the quay, and rang out loudly for a good 30 seconds, every half hour... great during the afternoon, in fact added greatly to the atmosphere... but less appealing at 03h00!

Miles logged 14nm
Miles this trip 130nm
Miles this season 757nm
Miles since this blog started 2,554nm

Goes pinball

Given that we were well ahead of plan, and that we had no intentions of rushing, we decided that another night at Baastian de Langeplaat was a good plan.... as it happens, this worked out well for us, as the morning forecast suggested less than ideal weather, with South or South-west 6 or 7...So we stayed put... ansd gradually as the morning dissappeared, so did the sun, and before too long, there was a constant cover of cloud, and the wind had freshened to about 20kts.... throughout the day it got windier, and eventually, and unsurprisingly, started to rain... we'd had the sense earlier in the day to put the cockpit tent up, so nothing too serious... however, the wind now touching 32kts in the gusts had us well pinned against the pontoon, so extra fenders, check the lines and all was well.... the boat was well healed over, and the wind created waves made an annoying slap against the side of the hull as they were right on the beam....We however, slept soundly, despite the noise... and rose in the morning to an altogether different day..... still windy, but not so much, reaching 25kts in the gusts, and veered a little so slightly less on the beam.... but more importantly, the cloud had cleared to show blue skies....I'd spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon with Alan Watt's book, 'instant weather forecasting', and was delighted that my own predictions had proved spot on... a fine book, and worth getting if you haven't come across it before....We decided to leave, and head towards Goes, a nice easy passage... but sadly straight into the wind for much of the journey again, with the only bit really worth sailing, just 10mins duration.... the lock out of the Veerse Meer was straightforward, other than some prat coming in way too fast, and hitting out stern anchor roller.... no bother for us, but he did put a nice gouge down the side of his boat... he also caught our outboard... no harm done as it simply moved on its mounting bracket, as he only just touched it.....We soon locked into the Havenkanal, the run into Goes, and set off... This is a canal a scale smaller than we have previously used, and was very narrow.... so we kept in the centre, and saw no traffic coming the other way... we did however catch one small motorboat up when we reached the first bridge.... this was only a tiny one, and with no room to turn around, and nowhere to tie up and wait we crept forward verfy carefully at a respectful distance, slowly creeping towards the bridge... we were pleased to hear the opening bell ring as we got close.... and watched the motorboat go through... we followed... as we got entered under the bridge, the lights turned red.... I slammed Morgana into reverse, but quickly realised that we weren't going to stop in time, so gunned her ahead, and shot under the bridge as she started to close... phew!A couple of miles further on, we started the run in to Goes, and saw the large bridge that we needed to pass under to get to the two marinas in the distance... it was open... but we didn't make it... just before the bridge was a short commercial quay, so we grabbed a slot and waited for the bridge... it transpired that the bridge only opens on the hour.... so we had a wait.... eventually we were through, and directed by the harbour master to the further marina... which was a concern as I wasn't sure of the depth being enough.... but we had no choice... the first marina was full... and this bore out as we motored by.... we had a further bridge to pass through, again shut, so we tied up alongside a boat and waited... only for a few mins.... and then were told to head to the very far end of the marina, which we did, creeping slowly along being unsure of either the berth situation, or the depth... a lot of boats already in and tied up... rafted 2 deep on one side, and every box full on the other... eventually we saw a boat at the very end of the marina, along the end wall, and decided to go alongside them... as we got closer we realised that it was getting very shallow... the boat we had seen was a southerly... and must have lifted his keel!Emergency stop, and emergency about face... the aisle being no more than 2 feet wider than Morgana is long.... we got 90% of the way round, but I couldn't avoid the outboard just (and only just I hasten to add!) pinging against an anchor sticking out.... again no harm done... but a little embarassing, and I feel sorry for the outboard... its had a rough day!We crept back 3 or 4 boat lengths and tied up alongside another boat.... they had seen our drama, and were ready with full fenders, and extra hands.... I suspect they were terrified as we came alongside!!!!Engine off, deep breath, and a coffee... wow....Time to take a first proper look around us.... fabulous location... right in the middle of the town... wonderful gabled architecture, very traditional look and feel.... and wonderfully sheltered.... there's another front coming through!

Miles logged 11nm
Miles this trip 116nm
Miles this season 743nm
Miles since this blog started 2,540nm

Baastian de Langeplaat

When we'd arrived at Middelburg, the harbour master had stuck us on the short term pontoon for the night, which is outside of the bridge.... it had power so we were quite happy there, but he'd told us that we'd have to move when a 4m box became free the following day... however, by 18h00 on Sunday, we'd suspected that he'd decided to leave us where we were... which suited us just fine... and it proved to be the case...So we got the folding bikes out, and rode them around Middelburg for a while before eventually ending up in a small cafe.... a large Duvel beer later on an empty stomach, and riding back proved more interesting!Another early night and we arose by 08h00, fully refreshed from the crossing by now, and ready to move on.... so by 08h45 we slipped and headed to the fuel pontoon, which is run by the chandlery... while we were there and while I filled her up, SWMBO had a quick peek around.... which was fortunate.... inside they had the last pair of Vetus Davits reduced to 195 Euro from nearly 500 Euro..... a heavy cast Aluminium set that mounted directly onto a vertical surface.... perfect... and less than we'd been bidding on eBay for a secondhand pair of far less quality.... well done SWMBO!!!!!!!Soon we slipped, and motored up the remainder of the Walcheren canal and then waited 20mins for the lock, slowly circling while the number of boats waiting steadily increased.... as the lock opened, the now expected mad dash to be in first (why don't the Dutch have more world class F1 drivers?), left us a port too spot (hoorah!), but right into a recess, making the exit challenging (boo!).... but we made a fine job of both arrival and departure, and popped into the lovely Veerse Meer...The wind had appeared at about 12kts, but given that we only had a mile to go, and that it was pretty fine on the nose, and we would be heading yet further into it just round the corner, we elected to not bother putting the sails up (i'm beginning to wonder if we'll sail at all this holiday!), and within a short while had reached the entrance to the little island that we enjoyed so much last year, Baastian de Langeplaat.The island is horseshoe shaped, and another island closes the loop bar two small entrances either end and we crept in through the shallow entrance, reading just 0.4m below the keel at its shallowest... good job we're east coasters, and used to it!The pontoon we'd earmarked is at the centre of the pool in the middle, and we could see that it was free... and the only one free... as we motored towards it, we saw another boat enter the other end... so throwing caution to the wind, and ignoring the shallow water, we gunned the engine to get there first... it was a drag race... and we won!Soon tied up, the engine off... the sun shining, and all is good with the world.This evening, after a day of thorough relaxation, including a swim off the back of the boat, a gentle walk round the island, and quite a bit of reading, SWMBO really topped off the day perfectly by producing a full roast beef dinner.... which complemented the excellent bottle of wine sublimely.... how much better can life get?

Miles logged 8nm
Miles this trip 105nm
Miles this season 732nm
Miles since this blog started 2,529nm

Vlissingen

Well, what a trip....The forecast had promised light to non existant winds, and thats what we got...We set alarms for 01h30, and arose to a glassy sea, and a warm night.... it took us little time to prepare for sea as we done most tasks the night before, so by 02h00, we slipped out of the lock to perfect calm...As we exited the Stour, we passed the BBC celebration of the pirate radio station, an old light ship broadcasting for a month... all lit up like a christmas tree!As with previous trips, leaving the Harwich area in the dark is a challenge, with the nav marks quite difficult to pick out against all the background light... but a lot easier when you've made it past Landguard cardinal...We set course for Cork Sands Yacht Beacon, and as has happened regularly, had actually passed it before we saw it.... in my opinion, this mark is downright dangerous... it marks a very shallow area, and is virtually impossible to see in the dark.... if it weren't for the plotter, this would be far to risky to undertake....Round Cork Sands and off towards Rough Towers... two Cardinals, a westerly and an Easterly, both of which could be seen from a long way off, and then to port slightly towards Long Sand Head... we would normally have headed much further North than this, but with the new traffic systems and TSS's round Sunk, this seemed a more sensible route...We'd had the tide with us, and with zero wind (literally reading zero on the gauges), we'd motored... and so, we were well ahead of plan already... i'd passage planned at 6kts, and we'd averaged over 8 so far... so arrived at Long Sand Head 6nm ahead of plan.... all good!Following LSH, it was towards the TSS, some 12nm distant.... and still we motored... the wind had finally arrived... all 4kts of it... and to rub salt into the wounds, dead on the nose!As we approached the TSS, I sighed at the usual procession of traffic... in fact it was worse than usual... as we popped into the system, I'd altered course slightly to cross at right angles, and counted 11 ships that needed watching.....It was however, truly remarkable... we threaded our way straight through them without altering course or speed!The North bound lane wasn't so busy, as the tide was still against them, but still we saw two, and had to duck one....Nevertheless, we were still miles ahead of plan, and as we left the TSS we put more north back into the course to head towards Vlissingen, and the tide turned to support us again... perfect!... so the 30nm to the entrance channel shot by at an average of 8.5kts....I'd previously decided to try a new way into Vlissingen... marked on the charts was a narrow, but buoyed channel, alongside the inshore one from the north... looked perfect... avoided the big ships, but didn't involve a large detour... the pilots didn't mention it....As we approached it, I started to realise why!The first mark was barely visible... it was a red can, but in the shape of a pillar... it eventually made itself visible, but the next was a mile away, and could hardly be seen... it took the use of binoculars, and careful attention to the sounder to find our way in.... there were eventually 5 such marks, all about a mile apart.... into the main Vlissingen channel, and things became a lot easier... just dodge the big ships, and make our way down to the lock....We eventually reached the lock... a bit of a plug, as taking the benefit of the north flow assisting our North sea passage, meant taking the pain of the ebb... which isn't to be trifled with in the Westerschelde....We called up the lock, and were let in, along with 5 other boats... we were last in, and tied up port too.... the lock kepper held the gates open, and we wondered why..... 10mins later, a darned great big trawler turned up.... so we had to shift over to starboard side too, alongside the other boats.... we then had to all shuffle forwards to give him enough room to get in behind us.... now this is easier said than done... the Vlissingen lock doesn't have pontoons, but bollards set into the walls... they are about 30' apart, so you can't just drop one and grab the next... you have to push your boat along the wall by hand, slipping the lines, and then lasso the next bollard, and drop the previous one... so for a few minutes, the lock was full of white fiberglass hermit crabs, scurrying their way along the walls...Eventually we made into the inner harbour area, at the fabulous time of 16h30.... a full 7.5hrs quicker than last time we made the trip in Maggie, and while heading towards the marina, realised that the bridges were still lifting or swinging.... we hadn't factored this in, given the last time arrived it was the middle of the night... so a quick onboard conference, and we decided to head towards Middelburg instead.... 5 bridges later, and we had reached the marina in Middelburg... the harbourmaster was just going, so he chucked us onto the holding pontoon.... fabulous..... 19h00, and a full day ahead of plan... better than last year, where the weather made us 3 days behind!!!!

Miles logged 97nmMiles this trip 97nm
Miles this season 727nm
Miles since this blog started 2,521nm

decision made

Holland it is.... with the light winds forecast, and then stronger winds mid week, the CI doesn't seem the sensible option....The forecast is for 2 to3 Northerly, swinging South Esaterly later tommorrow... hope it doesn't swing SE too soon... but we should be pretty much there by the time it swings too far..... looks like plenty of motoring ahead!I can't wait....Plan is to enter at Vlissingen, through Middelberg, into the Veersemeer for a few days of solitude, and then make it up as we go along... perhaps Goes, perhaps into the Grevelingmeer.... who knows... who cares!Updates along the way if I find wireless, but suspect I won't!

fitting davits

Having twin aft cabins, locker space is at a premium, and the inflatable currently fills at least 60% of one of these lockers.... on top of this, I am planning on making a rigid tender that will also sport a sail, so that we can go dinghy sailing with the kids, plus row more easily...All of this suggest that davits make sense, especially now we have a boat that they won't look out of place on....However...I'm not really sure how best to fit them..Here's our transom...



you can see, we have plenty of space vertically, but the horizontal bit on the bathing platform has lockers in it, so neither strong enough, or sensible to mount them on here... the bit of transom behind the pushpit is sloped, and doesn't have any horizontal area at all...We can only afford the plastimo davits... these ones...

And so, I need to work out how I get them modified to fit...Current thoughts are:get a crank welded into them, and mount them on the vertical surface ie

this however, will prevent them from being able to swivel inwards, and will require their full removal to reduce LOA, plus i'm not sure about the loadingsalternatively, I could get a box made up ie

but this puts a largish stainless 'lump' onto the transom either side.... which may or may not be a problem... the base plate on the davits is 150mm dia, so the box will extend by 20cm or so....last, but not least, I could get the davits modified so that the mounting plate is angled to match the profile of the sloped part of the transom behind the pushpit ie

This does require carefull checking to see if the davits clear the pushpit neatly, and also has the disadvantage of putting them quite a long way forwards, and thus reducing the reach out over the stern..Any thoughts, observations, ideas anyone?

Just a quiet marina weekend

Didn't sail this weekend...Spent the whole weekend cleaning the boat....She sparkles!We also re-arranged the stowage... found room for 4 folding bikes.... amazing how much you can get in with a bit of intelligent packing...New gas, full water tanks, full fuel tanks.... ready for our fortnight cruise in a couple of weeks....Can't sail next weekend due to family commitments, so next time we are down, it'll be to go off on hols!Plans for the fortnight have changed somewhat.... we may be able to get a slightly extended holiday next summer, so we are going to leave the down channel cruise until then, and in the meantime, will instead, head for Holland again this summer...Shame about all the passage planning i've for once done nice and early!

sunshine!!!

Finally the sun came back this weekend!My cousin, G, came down this weekend for a sail before she goes off on a world tour, and after arriving Friday by 20h00, we realised that we'd left the cool bag with the milk and meat in it sat on the working tops at home.... so a trip to Tesco to replenish, and by 23h00, tired we all went to bed...We arose the next morning to find a breezy and grey day, so a decision was taken to stick within the confines of the Orwell, and we then enjoyed a marvellous sail under just genny up to the Orwell bridge and back... stopping at Buttermans bay for a couple of hours for some lunch...A number of friends had arrived in the marina, so we gathered a quorum, and by 19h30, headed for the pub... the Bristol arms.... the food was excellent, and at £20 a head including drinks, fine value too.... (we did also have to make a small trip before heading to the pub to fetch the latest Harry Potter novel!)A late evening ensued... SWMBO, G and the kids retired to bed, and I found myself with Full Circle, and Dougie-3-bottles (who had arrived by car after finding the conditions a bit rough for a Mobo trip down from Lowestoft) sat in our cockpit, drinking red wine until about 02h30.... we did the usual male thing after a decent amount of plonk (sorry Doug - it was really a rather nice red!), and put the world to rights...This ensured a start at what might be described as a civilised time the follwoing morning, and after a fried breakfast, we noted the distinct absence of wind, and this strange yellow orb in the sky..... sun I believe it is called...So, with Doug roped in as well, we went for a sail with a vague plan of heading towards Medusa.... the wind was just 4 or 5 kts, so as we passed Languard cardinal, and raised the sails, along with killing the engine, we drifted pleasantly.... about 20mins later, a bit of a sea breeze kicked in, and at 12kts of wind, we freed off a few degrees, and flew along at upto 6kts over the water.... it was hot, and this was very pleasant indeed!Sadly by about midday we decided that everyones need to be away at sensible times required a tack and reversal of course, so we came about, and headed back... just as pleasurable for the next couple of hours.... a lock in, and then alongside... really really hot.... We sat and read for a while... and then saw CentaurPipeDream returning... he'd only made it just outside the lock on his journey back to Bradwell when his exhaust muffler failed.... filling the boat with noxious fumes and water.... and with very little wind decided that a sail back wasn't sensible... so returned... Doug took him to several chandlers, but no joy on a replacement.... so he's camped in Shotley this week.C saved the day by producing a marvellous Spaghetti Bolgnaise, and fed and watered, we set of home, a little redder than Friday, happy, and with two very very tired kids!

Miles logged 26nm
Miles this season 630nm
Miles since this blog started 2,424nm

Pirates spotted!

What a great weekend we've had...The weather curtailed plans slightly, in that we couldn't take the kids round the island (too windy) and its was a bit cold on Sunday for the water fight and plank walking.... but otherwise, a fabulous weekend...We started Saturday by gathering on the good ship Morgana, drinking a sensible amount of beer, and then going ashore for the treasure hunt, and BBQ...The fire was lit, looked great, including two park benches, a garden fence, and a whole tree!!!!And general piratical consumption ruled... or actually, the kids ruled... with EVERY kid dressed as a pirate, it was a treat to see them enjoying themselves... with lots of 'pieces of eight' and 'jim me lads' going on... but this pair of the youngest pirates stole the evening, when the retrieved Jims 'Jolly Roger on a pole', and made a two man attempt to stand it.... lots of ahhhhs.. they were ultimately unsuccessful, but it sure was a grand sight....

And to finish off what had been a fabulous afternoon, the sun decided to treat us to the most spectacular sunset

Everyone stood and looked on in awe.All that left was for the Rum and Bourbon to be drunk, and much booze fuelled discussion on the important aspect of sailing.... such as what the 'eck is this flag

What a truly excellent weekend.... same time next year folk?

Miles logged 11nm

Miles this season 604nm

Miles since this blog started 2,398nm

exciting weekend plans!

Pirates are invading Stone Point.......!We've organised a Pirate weekend for the kids....At the latest count we've now got 12 boats and 13 kids joining in...Activities includes a trip round the island in tenders exploring Arthur Ransome's 'Secret Water', and darned great big beach fire, a treasure hunt for the kids, following a recently discovered treasure map... BBQ's, beach games, kite flying with the kids from the Old Gaffers Association, who will be sailing their traditional tenders round the island too... then a big water pitsol fight, and finishing off with 'Captain Dew' walking the plank at the point of a Sabre!Everyone will be dressed as pirates, and ample evidence of Jolly Rogers is planned!Going to be a real laugh, and hopefully something that the kids will remember for years.....

summer returns (almost)

It wasn't one of those weekends that has the red tops screaming "phew what a scorcher..", but it was a whole load better than we've experienced recently....Things got off to a good start when we were able to get away unexpectedly early, arriving down at Morgana at 20h00, and settled in quickly.For what seems the first time in weeks we were able to go to bed with the hatches open to avoid the dreaded condensation, and slept a full and sound nights sleep. Our plan to head for the Backwaters meant looking for an entry at any time except +/-1H of LW, and with LW at 11h00, and an hours run to the entrance, we decided to wait until after, rather than before.... so a very leisurely start.... by 10h00, we had finished the normal routine, and were kicking our heels... the lock was busy with a steady procession of boats, so we set off out..Fabulous weather.... warm... sunny.... and about 13kts.... the course towards the entrance to the Backwaters, via the Pye end buoy was a beam reach, so with full sails set, we had a brilliant sail in that direction.... it was so nice, and we were so early for the tide, that we carried straight on, all the way out to Medusa buoy..... suntan cream... where is it?... not needed it for months!!!!Sadly, by 11h30. we turned around, and headed back towards Pye end.... another beam reach as we re-traced our course.... and we soon came upon it, and tunred into the backwaters.... we were able to sail half way up the channel, but then it was a bit on the nose. so rather than short tack in what is quite a narrow channel in places, and without a decent rise of tide, we motored the rest of the way...Plenty of space upon arrival, which surprised us, as it is a popular anchorage, and by 13h30 we were hook down, and relaxing again.... it was positively hot!... After a slow lunch, and a glass or two of wine, we were hailed.... it was Bernie.... she anchored just behind us... but was for some reason very concerned about the lack of water.... we should have paid more attention...Eventually, the kids exerted enough pressure, and we took them ashore, loaded with the full complement required for a picnic.... a good while on the beach, and then as we prepared to BBQ, the heavens opened.. so we made a mad dash back to the boat... or rather we tried.... half way back, the outboard concked out.... so I ended up rowing.... not the fastest of transport modes in an inflatable with 4 people on board, against the tide... and we ate on the boat....When we reached the boat, Bernie was also struggling to get her outboard running, and after we had dried out, de-sanded the kids etc and then eaten, I went over to see if I could help.... I couldn't.But as I rowed back, Morgana seemed to have an inch or so more boot topping showing than I am used to seeing..... my blood ran cold.... 2 hours to LW, and we were on the bottom..... it was then that I remembered the offset I had removed some weeks ago..... argh....So, I scrambled aboard, hit the windlass, and literally dragged her off the mud.... fortunately, she had only just touched down, but with such soft mud, and with no swell at all, no one had felt it.... she came off relatively easily, and we anchored again 30' further out.... enough to add 4m extra depth under the keel..... I then put the offest back kind of speedily! I think that she'd have sat quite well in the mud, as it is so soft, but with probably a further 1m to fall, it wouldn't have been fun....The anchor again set beautifully first time.... I am very impressed with the Delta... it seems to bite and hold really well... and because of this, I sleep well on Morgana at anchor... I am much less nervous than I was in Magna Carter with her CQR.... maybe irrational, but thats the way it is.We went ashore again later, after the skies had cleared, and had a lovely walk on the beach.... the sunset, as is often the case here, was truly stunning, with a georgeous red glow lighting up the water....The following morning, we arose at a very civilised time... the same LW timings meant no exit until after lunch.... so after our now customary hearty fried breakfast, we went ashore.... the outboard ran half the way, and then I rowed the rest.... I suspect old fuel....As it was 1hour before LW, we could walk out onto the sandbanks, and walked a good distance off the beach.... absolutely teeming with wildlife..... shells, molluscs, jellyfish, tube worms, and loads of different sorts of sea weeds..... only spoilt by a solitary rusting beer can.... what a sad race we are. I was keepinga close eye on the tide times.... with such flat sands, the water can come in at alarming rates, so I chivvied the kides off the sands, after paddling in shallow pools, where the sun had warmed the water to the temperature of bath water.....We retraced our steps, and I took (rowed) the tender back to Morgana.... it was still only midday, so we again, enjoyed a lunch, and then sat in the sun..... C got out the words for her school play, and started quietly learning them, M sat and cast a fishing rod over the stern again and again... and SWMBO and I sat and dozed in the sun, while we listened to relaxing music...... It is times like this that it is important to take a big mental step backwards and remind yourself just how bloody lucky you are..... I coudn't have been any happier......By 13h30, impatience had the better of me, and I decided to face the gauntlet of the shallow entrance! (I make it sound like Hades!!!!!)..... and we motored out.... after the first dog leg, we raised the sails, and with a beam reach again (thankyou!!!!), we made just over 6kts through the water.... in fact, this was a bit much for me.... as we were still in very shallow water.... as the sounder reached 0.5m, I was just about to reach for the sheets and slow her down a bit, when we went into deeper water (relatively anyway... 2m), and I relaxed again.... the kids steered all the way back into Harwich, and only as we reached guard, did we have to drop the sails.... not because of wind strength or direction, but because we were in the shipping channel, and a Maersk ship was wanting to come in! (we don't argue with them)We then had a long wait to lock in.... with about 9 boatd in front of us... but had a good lock through, and then nearly made a complete mess of getting on our berth.... my fault... the wind was more across the berth than I had figured, and I turned in too late, meaning we were not lined up.... only the chance availability of a free double berth opposite us, allowing me to motor backwards into it and have another successful go, otherwise, we'd have been on the linear pontoon at the end of the aisle....A fast tidy up, and away by 16h45, via the chandlery, not for more expensive marine bits, but far more vitally.... ice cream!Home by 19h00... a little redder than on Friday... weary, but happy!

Miles logged 19nm
Miles this season 593nm
Miles since this blog started 2,387nm

weekend weather

For the first time in weeks (actually more like months), the weekend forecast is looking OK...Plans to head down to a quiet anchorage, a BBQ ashore, and a bit of relaxation.....I am looking forward to it enormously!

Well washed foredecks!

This weekend, we'd agreed to meet up with a gang of friends in Bradwell.... seeing the forecast, i'd been less than thrilled with the idea... but no-one had wanted to call it off, so we decided to go. It wasn't the wind... only forecast 4 to 5, but the forecast for constant heavy rain that had me less than optimistic about the cahnces of a good weekend.... we'd got friends, Dave and Louise along, and they arrived about an hour after us Friday evening at about 22h00, at which point we settled in to a quick beer, which turned into quite a few 'quick' beers....mistake number 1... by 02h30, we'd had enough, and bed beckoned....When the alarm went off at 06h30, I could have cried. Not only did I have a thick head from too much beer the previous evening, but after getting up at 06h00 every day during the week, an early rise wasn't high on my list of desireable activities.Regardless, I was somewhat pacified by the grey, but dry skies, and the 15kts max wind.... The direction, a SW, spoilt it slightly, but better... much better, than forecast.... mistake number 2.... So we locked out by 07h10, after a bit of a delay in the lock, when the lockeeper opened the outer gate 12" to let it level, and then went to the loo... we sat there for a good few mins....Soon we passed the Guard buoy, and set the sails... a tight leg up towards Walton Headland, just staying off the Naze Ledge... the wind had built as we cleared land, and now sat at a fairly constant 20kts.... as we rounded the headland, and set course for the far end of the Wallet channel, we were straight into the wind, and as the old adage says, "gentlemen don't sail to windward", so on came the engine... actually, I often do sail to windward, but with a building breeze, and a typical short steep east coast chop, it didn't hold much appeal, so we motor sailed into it..With the tide assisting us, it was a fast run, and we rounded the Knoll buoy by 10h00, and headed into the Blackwater.... soon enough we saw the Bradwell creek entrance and being still 3 hrs before HW, crept in carefully as it can get awfully shallow in there... but no problems... in fact it never went below 3m..A berth was allocated over the VHF, C13 port side too, better by the minute, as port too is easy with our gentle prop kick...So down aisle C we went..... Bradwell seemed however to had omitted to put numbers on any of the berths, or at least numbers that could be read from a boat... so we ended up having to do a 20 point turn, trace our route back out, another turn, and finally we were in.... mistake 3...We then settled in, had some lunch, and put the cockpit tent up... good call, as it started raining quite hard....What followed was a splendid evening.... over the next 3 or 4 hours, everyone else started to arrive... CliveG who had followed us out of the Orwell, but had rather manfully decided to tack up the Wallet, Bernie, with new crew Dougie 3 Bottles on board, and Jim on Full Circle, who had single handed round from Burnham.Jim's better half Lynn arrived by 18h00 by car after having to work for the day, and Kas and Patrick arrived by car too, as Vreny is currenty undergoing repair after having her nosr bashed while on a mooring, and Jim then performed a remarkable feat, by supplying the ingredients for, preparing, and cooking a very very good curry, complete with all appropriate sides, for 17 people!!!!!!!!!We retired, as is the only sensible thing to do, to the Green Man, and enjoyed a night cap or two, and by midnight, wilting from the previous nights exertions, slunk off to bed.... leading crew hands, and chief party attenders, Dave and Louise were obviously feeling the heat too, as they weren't far behind us.... as it happens, a reasonably early night proved sensible...We awoke the following morning at 08h30, feeling refreshed for a decent nights sleep, except C, who, rapidly approaching the age of 12, has decided that teenage behaviour is something that needs practising for, and stayed in bed until 09h30.The forecasted very wet 4 to 5 was somewhat inaccurate. It was quite warm, light cloud, but no rain, and blowing 21kts in the marina.... a listen to Thames Coastguard and the forecast had become F5 to 6, occ 7, sea state moderate... ah.... the low forecast to hit the wesy country must have tracked over a bit farther east than predicted.... oh well...So, suitably filled with a fried breakfast (i'm getting to be a dab hand with the frying pan!), we cast off at just after 11h00, and easy exit, well easier than I had anticpated, as we were being blown straight out of the berth, so I wasn't sure how easy the stern would be to get round before we were on the boats the other side of the aisle, but Morgana is just so easy under power, and she shot round without grumbling at all....Again we crept out of the creek with no problems, and set off towards the mouth of the Blackwater. The further we got, the windier it got, and the bigger the sea got. By the time we reached Knoll Buoy we had a reasonably consistent 30kts of wind, and a quartering sea, that was the largest I have seen in the Wallet in the 3 seasons I have been sailing there.... Rounding the Knoll towards Walton, it became obvious that it was going to be hard work... the wind was absolutely dead astern, and the sea was too.... every wave was a battle with the helm to avoid a broach as we hit the trough.... I headed up slightly to take them on the quarter a fraction, but every minute or so, we had to head off downwind and surf as one of the larger waves came through..... given that I was the only experienced helm on board, and the wind being dead astern, I decide that we would motor.... in 30kts, an inexperienced helm in those seas could get into an awful lot of trouble, awfully quickly..... so it was with great relief that 1.5hrs later, as we rounded Walton headland again, the sea settled down dramatically under the shelter of the headland, and I was able to hand the helm to Dave and get some respite.... and a much needed cup of tea!I was also able to do a few other jobs that people don't think about, like cleaning the salt off my sunglasses.... not easy when you are effectibely single handing....Before too long we were entering Harwich... the sea, which had flattened considerably decided to paly its last card, and for the last mile, the wind piped right up to 35kts, and the sea built quickly again... not ideal considering we were now beam on.... sigh....I radioed the lock good and early, as we rounded Guard given that there were clearly no boats waiting, and I could see an ominous black cloud on the horizon, and the lock keeper opened up, and gave us a green as we approached the outer posts.... starboard side too, only sensible choice given the howling wind blowing us that way, so SWMBO and Dave crawled onto the foredeck, and set lines both sides so that we were also ready to go onto our berth.. (we always put fenders both sides)..... the lock was OK... harder than usual in this wind, but not dangerous, or even overly difficult... the weather still hadn't had enough flesh from us, so as we wiated for the lock to fill, the heavens opened, and in a minute we were all soaked to the skin.... and we locked into the marina to see its still pretty breezy... however, easier, as it was straight down our finger, so an easy motor into the wind, stop her, and we were on....What a weekend.... Dave and Louise seemed to enjoy it... pity we couldn't have sailed more, but safety and common sense ruled. They did seem pleased at having experienced their first genuine F7!!!Secondly, I was delighted with Morgana. While helming her in that sea and wind was hard work, it was more about maintaining a less stomach jarring motion than worrying about her safety.... she wasn't really threatening to do anything nasty, and even the bigger rolls were really quite unsevere in the great scheme of things... her motion was manageable. And despite her definitely being in the 'Average White Boat' category, she handled it with aplomb, and it gave me a great deal of additional confidence in her.All in all, a pretty successful weekend. Don't envy Clive much tommorrow though for his return journey in the same forecast!

Miles logged 50nm
Miles this season 574nm
Miles since this blog started 2,368nm

Boat jobs

Thought it was perhaps time that I recognised that while Morgana is a lot newer than Magna Carter, and less 'major' work needs doing, there are still quite a few small jobs that need addressing... some less critical than others...On the major list, is the engine... three things...firstly, a minor one, its puffing a bit of blue smoke... Its obviously oil smoke rather than steam, and isn't black, so not unburnt fuel.... Suspect that the bores are getting a bit worn... its not a huge problem, as the oil consumption is very low, so i'm not going to get too hung up about it... esepecially as she starts beautifully, on the first turn every time.... but perhaps worth keeping an eye on..Secondly, the temperature guage on the cockpit doesn't seem to read properly... it starts as you would expect, but then maxes out at about 45 degrees... opening the engine compartment after a long run confirms that the engine isn't running at that temperature!, but I need to get to the bottom of it, as it might not set off the overheat alarm if needed... suspicion must lay with the sender.... usual process of elimination will be followed...Finally, as far as the engine is concerned, I need to stick a bit of paint on the top of the gearbox.... the impellor cover leaked, and now it is fixed, its time to sort out the small patch where the saltwater has caused the surface to corrode before it turns from a cosmetic to a mechanical problem....Outside of that, the ST50 GPS works OK, but takes a while to get a fix, and isn't as accurate as the GPS on the new Lowrance plotter, so that needs connecting up in its place... easy enough, but a ball ache job to run the cable through....The Autohelm seems to be working just fine now... it hasn't played up at all since the delivery trip, so I wonder if a bit of use has perhaps freed up a sticking gimbal in the Fluxgate compass......I still need to replace the cap on top of the shroud guard.... the new one I bought is the wrong size.....A couple of the hatches need a bit of careful inspection... I thought they were leaking, but opening them properly, and giving the rubber seals a proper clean with soapy water seems to have cured the problem.....I need to fit a 'string hammock' above the shelf behind the chart table... there is a large unused space, and if I can get the significant pile of 'useful bits' such as various chargers, spare bits of string, etc etc off the shelf, then I can use it as a very acceptable bookshelf, and get the alamanc, pilots etc out of the way, making access to the binoculars, and other essentials easier...There is a small edge on one of the cockpit seats where the teak is lifting... it needs a dab of sikoflex to put it back down...The gas pipes between the cooker and the solid copper need replacing, and it'll be a good opportunity to get the cooker out and clean behind it properly.... also, i'd like to fit a short wire strop at the same time to restrict the swing backwards, as currently it is possible for the oven to 'bottom out' under extreme angles, and i'd like to prevent that..I need to get the chain out, and mark it up properly... its been guess work thus far.... with me probably letting out too much, but if summer ever arrives, then tighter anchorages might mean a bit more prudence in scope... and I also, at some point, need to splice on a bit of anchorplait, as currently there is only 30m chain....And last, but not least, I need to plumb the shower back in on the transom... that means draining the water system down, otherwise, I'll have a repeat of the soaking that I got last time I disconnected it......Its so nice to have a list of jobs to do that generally aren't on the list marked 'reconstruction'!!!!!

Slightly damp

Is it June?We got down to the boat a bit late on Friday to be greeted by a persistent drizzle.... never mind.... we got the kids to bed... no small challenge given the two extra kids being dragged along, and got ourselves to bed at a sensible time....Arising Saturday morning, it was unsurprising to see a fairly consistent grey cover of cloud, and the odd slightly threatening darker cloud on the horizon.... never mind... we set off with vague plans for Stone Point..... we'd only been out an hour or so when this plan seemed somehow inappropriate... out past Landguard point, it was a nice 18kts of breeze, but actually quite cold..... I can't believe its the height of June.... this was more like March weather... along the way we'd seen CliveG out on Sirenia, single handing again... he's getting to be quite a dab hand at this solo stuff!So we turned tail, and decided to head up the river towards Pin Mill to grab a buoy for some lunch.... a short tacking contest entailed between us an Sirenia.... not really a fair competition for Clive, but his excellent boat handling kept him ahead of us for a lot longer than I would have liked.... After maybe 20 tacks, the crew were complaining of exhaustion, a little excusable considering we were tacking every 45 seconds!We saw Clive heading for the shallows to drop his hook, so called him up and invited him over for lunch... a lot easier for him to raft alongside us anyway.... and a pleasant lunch was enjoyed.... the sun even shone for 10 or 15 mins....Then we decided to head back for the marina.... While we waited to lock in, the heavens opened, and a wet and cold crew entered the marina, and took a while to dry out...1 hour later, we all agreed that, given the improved weather conditions, a walk was in order, along the footpath up the side of the Orwell.... if anyone ever wants a nice walk, try this one... its lovely... load of wildlife, fabulous vibrantly coloured wild flowers, and great scenery....About 2 miles in, we could see black clouds looming on the horizon, so decided to avoid a soaking and head back... as we walked back (a little faster than the casual stroll heading out!), we saw Clive heading up the river towards Shotley.... looked like he was coming into the marina... he'd been to Levington to collect a visiting friend....We got back to the marina, just 500yds from the boat when there were several ominous flashes of lightning..... I looked towards Clive and then all hell broke loose.... there was a huge flash with an immediate crash... a very very close strike, and the rain started to come down so hard that visibility was reduced to just a couple of hundred feet..... Crikey... that strike had looked awfully close to Clive.... We sprinted into the shelter of the shower blocks, and looked out while the car park flooded in seconds....5 mins later, it seemed to have eased slightly so we made a dash for the boat... just 500yds.... half way there, the deluge restarted.... 6 very soggy people clambered into the refuge of the cockpit tent....I tried calling Clive.... no reply on his VHF, no reply on his mobile.... oh dear.So I stuck the VHF on ch80.... just 10mins later we heard him request a lock in.... phew.....So with the rain eased right off, I ran down to help him.... as he came through the lock he was obviously a little wetter than when he had left!!!!!! (he told me afterwards that the rain had put 3 inches of water in his cockpit despite the drains!!!!)The lock keeper informed us that the lightning had hit one of the cranes at Felixstowe.... just another 500yds farther away than Clive.... not a nice thought...So... we provided a cold beer or two to Clive and his crew, which seemed to cure their ailments.... and then all went to the Shipwreck for a pint and a bite to eat....On getting up Sunday, the weather seemed to be offering much the same pleasures, with perhaps even more rain.... so by 10h30, we packed up, locked up, and went home....So much for 'flaming June'....

Miles logged 16nm
Miles this season 524nm
Miles since this blog started 2,318nm