Sunday 20 June 2010

bits fitted

Not only is the new tender hung happily on the davits, but the new cooker sits on its gimbals!

Its also been tested in the only acceptable way... its cooked a full English breakfast!

To fit it, I had to cut the wooden blocks that the old cooker was mounted to down by 1cm each side... which meant a little contortionist work to remove the blocks...

I then fitted the new gimbal mounts to this... sadly the supplied locking devices don't fit, so will need a little engineering modification... in the meantime, a standard nut and a spanner have met the needs!

Sunday 13 June 2010

new bits!

OK, so the new cooker has arrived... its a Nelson Spinflo, and we are very very pleased with it... it looks to be very well made, and seems extremely robust.. i've got the fun of fitting it yet though... i'm not sure that the gimbals will be easy to mount!

Next, we went Saturday and collected the new tender.... that was fun to get in the car!... fortunately we'd thought it through in advance, and tooks Debs mini MPV... still a squash, but we did get it in enough to be safe, along with the use of roof racj straps to tie the boot lid down... I am absolutely delighted with it... after inf;ating, and sticking it on the davits, I am pleased we went for the 2.5m and not the 2.9m... that would have been too big... the 2.5m is perfect, and looks great on the davits... not only that, but the hard keel with built in hoisting points allows it to sit a good 18" higher when hoisted, so tidier and safer.

Last, but not least, we finally got the measurements sorted for the new sails... what a palaver!

We needed to take the sails off in order to measure luff lengths (by hoisting a tape measure on the halyard)... its easier said than done to remove sails in 15kts of wind when its right up the chuff!... Debs hung onto the sheets valiantly as the sails tried to rip Morgana from her berth, but we got there, and I think Debs only got airborne twice!

We had been hoping to get to Nev and Janey's au revoir BBQ (they're off cruising long term next week), but sadly, we just didn't have time... having to be back for the first match in the world cup at pain of death from Matthew... sorry N&J... we all hope you have a wonderful time, and are thoroughly jealous!

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Summer cruise

As regular readers (if there are any?)will know, we're determined to set off on a long term cruise in a few years time.

As part of this, we'd like to spend a little longer onboard that the normal 2 weeks max, and so, after a bit of negotiating with both our respective employeers, we've got the whole of August off this year, and plan on setting off down channel. The target is the Channel Island and West Country. Hardly ambitious location wise, but a respectable distance for an east coast based boat.

We're all thoroughly excited about it, and are enjoying planning it out with both new and old pilot books!

spending money

I've always beeen very very good at spending money.

I'd like to share news of a few new acquisitions with you to prove a point.

Finally, we've done the deed, and ordered new sails. After much umming and arring, we've gone to Crusader. They were competitive on price (note - not quite the cheapest), but most importantly of all, they have a great reputation for delivering on time. We want the sails for our summer cruise, at the start of August, and would be very dissapointed in missing that.

We've order a basic set of dacron cruising sails, nothing flash. The only extra we've specced is a foam luff on the genoa to aid furling. Otherwise, nothing. The main has no battens, and we carefully avoided exotic materials of any sort. We can't wait!

We do have a few measurements to provide yet, but we are in the queue for a late June/early July delivery.

On top of this, we finally got fed up of the Plastimo Neptune cooker. It works fine, and there really is anything wrong with it, but their are two features that irritate us. Firstly the oven never really gets up to full baking temperature. We're keen on our food, and this is annoying. A casserole takes far too long. Secondly, the lock for the gimbals is unreliable. This could be sorted, but it would be another job on the list. So we've bought a Nelson Spinflo after good reccomendations. It has arrived, and seems to be a very solid bit of kit. We need to install it yet though. It is slightly taller than it predecessor, so will need a little work, but its not a huge job.

Last, but not least, the tender appears to have a slow puncture and over the course of a week between visits, has gone flat several times. It is tired anyway, and the oard need replacing. It has reached the stage where investment in it isn't worth while. So we've treated ourselves to a mini rib. Its 2.5m, with a solid hull, and will be delivered to the chandlery at Titchmarsh next week, where we will need to collect it. It should hopefully be a vast improvement on a pure inflatable.

So, as you can see, we're spending well at the moment!

Tinkles consigned to history

Our friends have heard them all... yes, they bought a boat called Mr Tinkles.... and yes... they've heard them all.

The final straw was port control gently teasing them. Four times.

So a naming ceremony has taken place involving the donation of champagne to Neptune, and lots of cash on new stickers.

Naturally, we shared the moment with them. They'd bought lots of champagne.

Au revoir Mr Tinkles. Step Forward Pipedream II.

May all who sail in her be safe and happy.

long overdue

OK,

So the blog seems to have slowed down a little.... I know, I know.... but hell... how many times can you post about going to Stone Point with out it sounding the same... well..this time I have a good few things to update on... so i'll start with the weekend's sailing adventures...

As ever, we planned a long weekend to Oostende for the latter May bank holiday, and as ever, the forecast looked uncertain. Unlike previous years, due to plans for a longer summer trip (more later on that as well), annual leave was limited, so we added a tuesday to the break, but couldn't add a friday. Departure was therefore scheduled for early Sat am (02h00), along with the Tinkles (rebranded - more on that later... phew!)... we also had guests on board... interesting ones... Karen and Pat, long terms friends and sailors, complete with their now 18mth old son, AJ... it would be a first for them and for us... AJ has sailed before, but never more than local hops..

We arrived at the marina friday at a sensible time, and did the usual stuff... this includes taking the tender and davits off for the Oostende trip, so that we can go stern too... and then grub.... by 20h30, we met with the Tinkles, and mulled over the weather forecast... currently good weather, but with a gale forecast for later in the day Saturday. We clearly needed to get off. So a decision was reached... we'd go for an overnight crossing, and promptly started to get ready to set off.

By 22h00 we locked out... it was still just light, but by the time we'd reached languard at the entrance to Harwich, it was dark.

We motored down towards Cork Sands Yacht Beacon. This is a marginally longer route than via the Medusa channel, but is free of lobster pots, so much safer at night. It is also well bouyed, so easier.

As we rounded Cork Sands Yacht Beacon, up went the sails. This is always a turning point in a North Sea crossing. Its the first time that you point the boat obviously away from land, and so always one that I look forward to. It was improved even more this year by the appearance of 12 to 15kts of wind across the beam!

We shot off towards Rough Towers, and then on towards Long Sand Head, and then on towards the TSS. By the time we reached LSH though, it was starting to get light, and no need for nav lights by the TSS so a nice easy crossing. All the while we'd been romping along at between 5 and 7kts of boat speed. The TSS proved effortless... with virtually no traffic at all, let alone traffic to be avoided. It was nice to have another pair of experienced eyes though!

Past the TSS, the next waypoint is West Hinder. This tower is so large that it is visible from a significant distance. Which is great from anavigational point of view, and rotten from a 'are we nearly there yet' perspective!

It was made substantially easier by the steadily increasing wind across the beam... now recahing 20kts on occasions.. we'd put a reef in the main and genoa, and making great boat speed.

Rounding West Hinder meant that we needed to head up slightly, and with a slowly shifting wind, it came on the nose a bit more... still sailable though, but as it increased to 22 kts, with gusts now reaching 30kts, more reefs went in.

AJ is having a ball.. he's slept well, and is now demonstrating his ability to be completely complacent about living at 45°!

We sail the remainder of the way, heavily reefed, but really enjoying the trip, with a still flat sea, and strong winds, we are really sailing well, leaving the Tinkles way behind!

Arrival in Oostende is straightforward, and by 14h30, we are tied up.... for once, Robert, the Oostende HM has given us a pontoon berth... result!

With various socialising to do, including a mass participation Greek meal (well organised Jim!), the time shot by... with a planned depart on Monday.

Monday was however, determined to upset the plan. The forecast remained stubbornly windy, with F6.... not enough to stop us ordinarily, but is was a NW, so directly on the nose the whole way back, and after a few days, into a rough sea.

It did promise to drop off substantially by Monday pm, so we waited.... and it did... and then we decided to leave early Tuesday... into a dead calm wind wise, and a rapidly dying left over swell.

Leaving at 05h00, it proved to be a long boring motor back the whole way, arriving into Shotkey at 16h15. But as they say, an uneventful day at sea is a good day!

Miles logged 169nm
Miles this season 365nm
Miles since this blog started 4,945nm