Sunday 28 June 2009

installations

Batteries duly installed....

The three batteries fit into the space previously occupied by two batteries perfectly.... and with the exceptionn of the missing battery terminals are all installed..... most satisfactory to see the battery voltages drop so very little when a load was applied.... and to start the engine off the engine starter battery!

While we were at it we got a few other jobs done.... there wasn't any point in going sailing.... the water was like a mirror, and you could barely see Felixstowe through the haze....

We scrubbed the decks of their weekly deposit of Seagull Guano.... (our next door neighbour berth holder is always dissapointed when we depart for the weekend, as its the only time the seagulls target his vessel.... on all other occasions, our own deck seems a preferablt seagull latrine)

We removed the cockpit tent for a hasty departure next weekend...

We also played around with the in mast/boom position to ease furling/unfurling.... I took a large right angle to the boom, and was surprised to find that my 'normal' furling settings for the boom height were way off from a right angle... so the topping lift is now marked.... the outhaul track car freshly treated with graphite spray, and in and out she went as easy as an easy thing!

Last but not least, I filled the water tanks.... at which point SWMBO asked why there was a leak below.... a small compression fitting had started leaking.... so quick dissassembly revealed a small fibre washer that wasn't in perfect nick... but a bit of PTFE tape, and careful reassembly set it all right....

Perfect... all ready for Pirate weekend... hope the weather holds out.... currently v. hot, and forecast to get hotter!

Friday 26 June 2009

change of plan

New batteries have arrived....

110Kg!!!!!!

However, they didn't remember the battery terminals..... they'll be here Sat in the post....

So... plan now is to just head down Sunday, and fit the batteries then... and maybe get a few other jobs done while i'm at it... such as starting to plumb in the watermaker...

That way I can take SWMBO sat night to her hen party, and earn a few serious brownie points!

Thursday 25 June 2009

Boys trip this weekend..

Girls away at a Hen night.... and so it'll be me and M, and possibly my father too... don't know what we'll do, but the forecast is for light winds, and quite warm, so no doubt we'll end up at anchor somewhere...

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Batteries

New ones ordered today....

Previous domestics were 2 x 110Ah, both very large at 530mm by 190mm.....

Into the same space I can squeeze 3 x 110Ah at 330mm x 175mm....

and an 85Ah for the engine...

So... more capacity, new batteries.... and no money!

Sunday 21 June 2009

all quiet...

With the weather forecast to be OK on Saturday, with perhaps the odd light rain shower, and nice on Sunday, we decided that we'd head out to Walton Backwaters, get the hook down and chill a bit... planning to enjoy the beach for a walk Saturday evening, and perhaps a bit of a sit in the sun on Sunday.

As it worked out, the weather let us down a bit really.... while Saturday was very much as forecast, Sunday turned out to be dull as well.

We got into the Backwaters around 11h00 Sat, and soon got the hook down.... I wasn't quite happy with where we ended up, with the wind and the tide doing battle over where the boat should lay, so we had a second go, with which I was much more comfortable...

And we then just chilled... a pleasant lunch aboard and then a quick trip ashore for a walk (dashing back as the skies darkened for yet another shower)....

The outboard engine is playing up again.... It really needs a darned good service... it needs full choke to even run, and then isn't running at all well... I suspect the carb needs a good clean again... and maybe some fresh fuel wouldn't go amiss... it'll come home shortly for the treatment!

It was nearly 22h00 before I needed to stick the anchor light on... as you'd expect at Summer Solstice.... and this was a good thing... the batteries are clearly tired, and are running down far to quickly... they had reached 12.5V in no time at all...

Still... I had the engine battery isolated, so no worries... (more on this later)

We sat below, and enjoyed a quiet evening, using the paraffin lamp for both battery conservation, and for more atmospheric lighting.

Sunday, as previously mentioned was dull, even threatening more rain, so after a good breakfast, we decided to head back... I got the boat ready, set the switches to use both battery banks, stuck the keys in the ignition, and "click.... click"..... nothing... so I ran below, suspecting that the low domestics were dragging the engine battery down, and tried off just the engine.... not even a click... completely and utterly dead.... so I tried of just the domestics.... "click..... click"... it wasn't going to start....

We had about 6kts of wind bang on the nose, and the tide still coming in... so i'd decided that we wait for it to go slack, and then we could sail off the anchor.... darn... that meant pulling in 25m of 10mm chain and a 25Kg Delta anchor... that was going to be fun!!!

Anchored in font of us was someone we met once or twice before while out and about.... and he was close enough to talk to... I explained my predicament, and he immediately offered us one of his batteries to get her started.... brill.... so I dropped the tender back in (viva la davits!), and motored over to fetch it... it was a few mins work to stick it on the engine, and she started first turn.... a few mins to let some charge into the domestics, and taking great care to ensure that the domestics were still connected to the alternator to avoid blowing the thing, I removed the battery, stuck our own engine battery back in, and took the battery back...

So what had been the problem?

Well... my conclusion is that I am lazy, and never bother to start the engine off just the engine battery, instead using both engine and domestics.... I reckon that the engine battery must have died some time ago, but my laziness had hidden the fact... combined with tired domestics that had been run down overnight, it left me stuck.... ah well.... lesson learned....

Anyway.... after 20mins of running the engine, we were still chucking 35Amps into the batteries, and I decided that we'd been running long enough to try the windlass.... no problem.... up came the anchor and we were off... at least we thought we were...

As we motored past the boat that had leant us the battery, he called over.... "any idea why everything on board is completely dead?"...

"oh heck I thought.... i've killed his battery"

So I tied up alongside him, and helped him try to get his head around it.... with a meter, I soon established that the batteries were fine... the fuses were fine... but nothing at the battery selector switch...

This made little sense... the only thing between the two was a thick battery cable... unlikely to fail without some evidence eg smell/smoke... and no power had been applied anyway...

So that left the earth.... a little hunting... and voila!... another earth cable on the batteries that hadn't been reconnected when they were plumbed back in... 30 secs later, all was well!

And so we left, and headed back to Shotley... got the cockpit tent up, watched the Grand Prix on telly, and headed back for a sensible arrival time home...

I'd measured the battery compartments before leaving, and will be ordering new batteries this week... more money!

Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 326nm
Miles since this blog started 4,223nm

Monday 15 June 2009

Pictures of Vreny

Sailing Vreny in the Suffolk Classics

Wood heaven!

Classic boats have always been food for the eyes of any true sailing addict, so when you are given the opportunity to go sail on one, amongst a fleet of 60 odd of the best the east coast can offer, you don't turn it down!

Karen and Patrick had asked me to come along and do foredeck on Vreny, who is a really pretty Stella class, at 26', and 50years of age. The event was the Suffolk Classics regatta, out of Suffolk Yacht Harbour, and event now in its 8th year, and seemingly getting bigger every time.

Vreny was one of 16 Stellas entered, which meant that we had our own start, so even better than just racing her, we had class racing.

The weather couldn't have been kinder, with 12kts and warm sunny skies...

The first race set us up nicely for the weekend... we'd watched the forecast, and seen that it was suggesting the wind would veer through the day, so as we all set off on Starboard off the line, we tacked early onto Port.... everyone else held the starboard tack, expecting the shallower water to get them out of the foul tide, and 10 minutes later realised that they were being steadily headed, and we, having tacked alone were being lifted up towards the first mark.... an hour later, we remained close hauled, laying the mark without having tacked again, while the rest of the fleet, now some way behind had freed off to the point of reaching... yes they had better boat speed, but we were a long way ahead.... and so we rounded the windward mark first!

Eventually, a quicker boat (funded with a large budget, including new sails, a near professional race crew, and the very best of everything equipment wise) overhauled us on one of the downwind legs, but we beat them fair and square on the tactical front.... a 2nd place in the end, and 3rd over the line as the faster classes overhauled us... we ended up 4th on handicap across all the fleets.

The second race saw us tick off a 3rd place...

The evening was great, with a live Blues Band, and a few pints with friends... and Sunday dawned to be another glorious day...

A 4th place was put in the bag... it seemed a bit of a lottery as the wind died completely mid course, but again, we'd guessed which side it would reappear from, and set ourselves up nicely to consolidate our results...

By 17:30, after prize giving, where Vreny took her 2nd in class, to roudy applause (they're a great bunch, the Stella fleet!), I set off home, alittle sunburnt, and thoroughly satisfied with what proved to be a wonderful weekend.

Thanks Karen and Patrick... hope for an invite again next year!

Miles logged 30nm
Miles this season 314nm
Miles since this blog started 4,211nm

Saturday 6 June 2009

Winter work

Looks like this winter's major task will be to replace the standing rigging....

Its been bothering me for a while now, as its 15yrs old, and while showing absolutely no signs of any problems, really is due for retirement....

I may well have the mast down this winter, in which case, it'll be a case of taking the old rigging off, sending it to a rigger, and they'll send replacement rigging back, all via the post....

I'll probably ask them to also convert one of the stays into an inner forestay while i'm at it, leaving the length to be cut by myself, and putting a swageless fitting on....

Cost looks like it'll be about £1500 to £2k if I take the above approach, plus about £100 to get the mast dropped and stepped.... it needs doing anyway, as I want to fit the windex, service the anenometer, and check out all the sheaves etc etc anyway...

Seems a little premature to be planning all this, but the money needs planning for!

sailing classics

Not sailing this weekend.... too much to do at home....

But I am looking forward to next weekend, where i'll be crew on Vreny, a rather lovely Stella, competing in the Suffolk Classics event.... better get my camera card emptied... all those lovely wooden things to look at!

Monday 1 June 2009

not really saily

We had to be back Friday, as we had been invited to the 50th birthday party of one of our close sailing friends on Saturday evening....

And what a night it was!

We camped at a local camping site.... a real reminder of how much you forget to appreciate a loo on board!

Sunday was a steady start..... including a walk down to Essex marina.... on a truly glorious day, It was rather frustrating to see boats setting off down river on a broad reach in 15kts of wind, and with 25° temperature..... offset by the chance to see Sirenia, whom we helped to clean out the previous autumn after she sank, back on the water, and looking better than ever, in fact, better than before she sank!

Besides this pleasure, we've managed to convince a group of Solent sailors that they should be heading over to the East Coast in the autumn, in return for the numerous trips we've taken with them over the years.... really looking forward to that... plan is to head to Nieuwpoort.....