Bristol towards Cardiff

Julian and I drove down to Bristol together on 20^th, and Julian got very grumpy about the state of the boat. There was too much to do before we left on the 21^st and the work we had had done was not obvious, except in negative ways. We bent the main sail on easily enough, but when I came to run the main sheet the shackle which held the block onto the horse fouled the tiller. It seemed as though when the horse was put back into the cockpit it was set about 5mm lower than before, so there was not enough clearance for the shackle when the tiller was centred. Julian ended up making a shallow grove in the tiller so the shackle could run freely.
I went up the mast again, to re-run the topping lifts. I had put the rope the wrong way round in the blocks before, so they were fouling themselves.
I suddenly noticed that the main cabin lights were on. I must have left them that way when I was last on the boat a fortnight ago. Then Julian checked the solar panel and realised that when he replaced my chock block connections with a more solid soldered one he had accidentally connected them up the wrong way round. Our battery had been trying to charge the solar panel not the other way round, and that combined with the lights being left on meant there was not enough charge left in the battery to start the engine. Even when we tried switching batteries to “both” the engine did not have enough power to start. Hand cranking did not help.
We bit the bullet and bought a new battery. It will replace the old one (which should have been replaced in 2016 at Tobermoray). Julian hunted on the web, and found the best deal was at GO Outdoors. Luckily there was a Bristol branch and I could drive and collect it in the morning.
I had damaged the water pump when fitting the new filter, resulting in a constant drip from the connector. Julian had a look at this while I drove to get the battery and some supplies, and decided that the simplest thing to do was replace the whole pump. The new pump solved the leak, so I filled the water tanks that I had cleaned on the last visit. Another job ticked off the list. What with £74 for the battery, £71 for the pump, and paying for a month and a half’s mooring at Bristol it felt like an expensive day, and we had not even left the berth yet!
When I got back with the new battery we found we could not get the old one disconnected and free from its snug housing. In the end we used the new battery to jump start the engine. This worked fine, and we warmed up the engine, then came off the berth at 10:30. Ready or not we were due at Junction Bridge for the bridge lift I had booked last week at 11:00. We motored out of the marina, and through a flock of small Pico dinghies, crewed by even smaller sailors, then headed up the harbour, to have a look at the SS Great Britain from the harbour. Julian bent on the stay-sail as we traveled.
The bridge swung for us (and only us) just on time, then we were in the Cumberland Basin and waiting for the duel carriage way bridge to swing and let us into the lock. We waited for what felt like ages, and I began to panic slightly. I was certain the harbour master had told me that once the Junction Bridge swing was booked everything else was too, but what if I was wrong? A slightly panicked radio call to the HM reassured me that they just had to wait for the crew to get from the Junction to the Basin bridge, and everything would happen...
We were in the lock, once more having it to ourselves, by 11:20. This was the last lock out of the day, nearly high water, and we only had to drop 2’ before we were released into the river.
Down the Avon toward Cardiff
We left Bristol in bright sunshine, and motored down the river. The depth gauge was not hooked up to the chart plotter yet, but at high water, and with our inbound track to follow I knew we did not need it. The river was just as interesting heading down as it had been heading up, but unfortunately the sky clouded over just as I suggested we should have our bread and cheese picnic before leaving the river.
Big ship entering Avonmouth docks as we exited the river, saw 2 other yachts heading for Portishead
I raised the main sail, it was past time I did that again rather than always leaving it to Julian, and bent on the no 1 jib. We then sailed most of the way to Cardiff, making 7 knots at times, but the speed mostly due to the tide as the wind was very light. Kept engine on most of the time to charge main battery, only used it once, in the middle of shipping lane when we lost steerage way and needed to get across pronto rather than drifting down the middle.
Took the inshore route, vie North Cardiff buoy, the one I had bottled out of when Julian wanted to take it on the way to Bristol. The river “water” was more like thin mud, with thick clumps of denser liquid swirling on all sides. I was sure that I felt the keel dragging on mud a couple of times, but we hardly slowed down, so I was probably imaging it. None the less Julian ducked below and connected up the depth gauge to the plotter so we could check the drying areas marked on the plotter had not moved too much and there was enough water. There was. We turned the engine off as we approached Cardiff, and the quiet was wonderful!
Once we reached the entrance channel for Cardiff docks at the North Wrass buoy the engine had to go back on as the wind was now on the nose. I dropped the main, then three fishing boats powered past us to make the 16:45 lock in. They were friendly and waved, but the wash was a bit nasty. I heard them calling up the barrage lock to ask which one to use, and they were told no 2. By the time I called them, at 16:40 just as Julian headed Robinetta into the side channel to the barrage lock, I was told no 3. They had obviously cycled the lock early since there were already three boats in it.
Hanging around in the lower lock basin for half an hour gave us plenty of time to get the bowsprit in and ropes and fenders sorted. Once in the lock (by ourselves again!) it was crash filled, with water surging everywhere. We were at dead low water, and there was a long way to go up. I was glad we were alone and tied on with our newest lines!
Our antics were watched by tourists on every side and when I waved as we headed out of the lock we got a lot of friendly waves back.
We intended to go to the Cardiff Yacht Club for the night. They had been very welcoming back in October and their free pontoon berth made them even more attractive! First we decided to go to the Town Quay “pay and display” pontoons; at £1 an hour, maximum stay 24 hours, it was not a bad price, and very cost effective for a larger boat. There was plenty of space and we could haul Worm out of the water onto the wide pontoon. After a good look round at the wide range of restaurants we ended up at Carluccio’s and had a very nice meal with wine.
We got back to Robinetta at 21:00, just as the last light left the sky. Once we had put Worm back in the water and switched on the running lights I backed us carefully out of the berth with Julian checkeing we were clear at the bow, then set off to follow our chartplotter track to the Yacht Club. Julian suddenly announced, “It’s dark. Lifejackets!” and dashed below to get them.
Once we were properly dressed I decided to speed up a bit, and put the throttle forward. Nothing happened. No change in the engine note, no increase in speed. We were in gear, and moving forward, but at only 1½ knots. Luckily it was not far to the yacht club, and the engine did come out of gear when I wanted to slow down in the approaches. Robinetta carries a lot of way, and it takes her a long time to slow down unless I give her a burst of power in reverse. I was sure that option was not available to us. We were safely tied up by 10:00, with Worm once again hauled up on the wide visitor pontoon.
The club house was deserted, so we lit Robinetta’s paraffin lights and relaxed for a little before getting out the bed and turning in. There was no point looking at the engine problem in the dark, especially after a bottle of wine!

Getting home across the Raysand Channel

Julian and I headed back to North Fambridge after work on Wednesday, to spend the night on Robinetta before sailing home on Thursday, but she was no where to be seen when we got there! It took us quarter of an hour to find her tucked in between two larger boats in a different part of the marina!

Low water was at 0900 next morning, and there is a sill at the marina entrance that is too shallow to cross an hour either side of low water, so when we woke at 0530 we left and went to tie up at the yacht station pontoon for another couple of hours sleep. It was so peaceful there that after breakfast Julian tried climbing up the ratlines and onto the mast hoops to reclaim our lost top sail halyard. He got onto the first hoop but decided against trying to climb higher, and came down again.

We set off down river at 0905, on a rising tide, with the wind on the nose, but unlike last Sunday today's wind was only forecast East, or North East f3-4, and so not too rough. We had the main and stay sail set, but were relying on the engine to go anywhere, and we had a timetable to keep. By 1130 we were past the entrance into the Roach, and motor sailing to keep up a speed of 4 knots against the tide.

Normally heading home from Fambridge we work with the tide, and head all the way out to the Spitway, but today we had decided to use the shortcut across the Raysand channel, (pronounced raisan) so wanted to be at the Outer Crouch Bouy by 1230, two hours before high water to cross the drying sand bank with enough rising tide in hand to back off if we grounded. I was extremely nervous about this passage, but we had planned it carefully, and taken all care we could, so after we passed Outer Crouch and reached the narrowest part of the Buxey sands, with a least depth of 0', we left the Whitaker channel and sailed over the sand.

This was a good point of sail, a very pleasant reach, and we put the engine in neutral, but kept it on in case of problems. I was helming, and concentrated on following the "deepest" path shown on our GPS charts, while sailing Robinetta in the slight swell. I asked Julian to watch our depth gage, so I wasn't worrying about it, and he kept up a constant and reassuring report of "no change" after an initial "5 foot". Once the GPS showed us in a non drying area I turned the engine off and relaxed, and let Julian look up again! He said out least depth had been about 3', which gives us 2' beneath the keel. Not great clearance but enough given the sea state.

We were clear of the sand with 1 1/2 hours of rising tide, so stayed in the shallows, taking the most direct course to clear the end of the drying area of the St Peter's flats. Julian made lunch, in a suddenly rolling sea, while I sailed Robinetta, then after we ate I gave him the helm, and we sailed all the way up to our mooring, picking it up under sail at 1540, after nearly a fortnight away.

Worm towed beautifully all through out expedition, but something definitely happened to her, possibly when the North Fambridge marina staff moved her. When I went to get in to head back to the pontoon at West Mersea Julian noticed that the front thwart, where I sit when rowing or a passenger, was only attached on one side. Not good, and I was glad the outboard was working as I held my seat in place for the trip!

Robinetta's bows are now dry, but she is letting in water somewhere, as we pumped on a regular basis on every passage. Julian had a look, and he thinks it is coming in through the stern gland; stopping that, and reclaiming our top sail halyard are our next maintenance tasks. I also want to put another layer of varnol on the cap rails in the cockpit. The sadolin wore just as quickly, but the varnol looks so much better that I want to keep it smart!

The Fambridge Rally

We picked up a buoy at Burnham overnight, then used Worm to get ashore for some shopping on Saturday morning. Ben was due to join us for the weekend, so we waited until he joined us for a late lunch before running up to Fambridge.

The wind had picked up again, and it only took us an hour to get there, even against the tide. Given the high winds over the past week there were a lot of boats on the yacht club pontoon. Aussie II, Baldrick, Gwenilli, Mole, Robinetta, Quiet Days, and William. Janner was only just back in the water, but stayed in the marina while her crew joined us at dinner at the Ferry Boat Inn.

Robinetta draws too much to make it to Battlesbridge, so next day Mick King gave us a lift up river in Baldrick, his Memory. We had a nice run up there on jib alone, with the centre plate up, and Mick desperately hoping he could remember how to find the deepest water. There was only just enough space with sufficient depth to turn Baldrick, and too little water to get to the pontoon to tie up, so we rafted up on a friendly barge, as did Mole, Quiet days, and William. Aussie II did make it to the pontoon, but only just!

Coming back down river after lunch was a graphic demonstration of the difference wind over tide can make to a situation. We were motoring for a start, since the wind was on the nose, and Baldrick has a small outboard, mounted beside the rudder, which it can foul unless both are steered at the same time. The prop is shallow, and with waves over 2' high and closely spaced the prop was out of the water more often than was healthy for it. Then there were the moored boats...

Heading up river with the wind and tide the boats on their moorings had all lain the same way, without moving noticeably. Coming back they formed a moving maze that had to be navigated with extreme caution; not all the moorings were properly spaced and we saw at least two boats colliding with each other on their moorings. Thanks to Mick's skill we made it through without touching a thing, but it was very hard work for him!

The rally plan was to pick up the larger boats (Gwenilli and Robinetta) from Fambridge, and continue down to Burnham for dinner, but the trip back from Battlesbridge had been such hard work that only William continued on. Quiet Days went straight into the marina to join Janner, while the others just tied up on the pontoon, and had dinner at the Ferry Boat Inn again. We had hoped that the forecast for tomorrow would show a decrease in the wind, but it still predicted NE f5-7, so we decided not to go. Ben caught the train back home, while Julian and I stayed on Robinetta.

We regretted staying on the pontoon after the tide turned again after midnight. Robinetta was plunging up and down, constantly snatching at her mooring lines. When we listened to the 0600UTC forecast there was a gale warning, so we ended our rally by motoring Robinetta into the marina, and tying up next to Janner, while we headed home by train.

Sailing!

We left Ramsgate on Friday morning and fought the wind & tide up to North Foreland. It was a little choppy but nothing bad. Once we got to the Outer Fisherman's Gat buoy we turned into a sailing boat!

The wind gradually got up as we went and we rolled more and more of the main onto the boom and eventually put the jib away.

We haven't updated the charts. A mistake. The Sunk Beacon has gone.

Once we got into the Whitaker we were on an almost dead run all the way to Burnham, touching 6 knots (with the tide) at times.

It was sunny all day and quite lovely.

Worm towed beautifully.

Worsening Weather

We had a day ashore on Tuesday, fixed the cabin lights, stocked the larder and got diesel. Went to the Royal Temple Yacht Club for a drink and then had a lovely Italian meal. We planned the passage to the Swin but as the day went on the forecasts got worse. The strong advice in the Royal Temple was to abandon our plans, wait until a wind window on Friday and head straight back to the Crouch.

Darn.

We caught the train home on Wednesday morning to see the family.

Flat Calm

As the wind was set north-easterly we decided to cross the Thames and check out Kent. The idea was to head over to Ramsgate for the night and then head through the Swale. We expected a good run/broad reach to Ramsgate an planned it on 4 knots. We left at first light, motored out of the backwaters and raised sail. We tried to raise the topsail but messed up and lost the halyard up the mast.

The winds were light at best. For most of the way it was a flat calm and we alternated between motor sailing, sailing and motoring all the way across the Estuary. The London Array wind farm is under construction but they do seem to have left a gap for Foulger's Gat.

There were a large number of ships anchored south of the Gat.

Once we got alongside the Kent Coast we finally got a bit of wind and we broad reached into Ramsgate with a bit more power than we would have liked!

We had really nice fish & chips at Peter's Fish Factory.

Lovely evening

After tea we snuck up Kirby creek looking for a hole to anchor in but it was already full with two boats and then up Landemere Creek where we found a vacant buoy. It was a beautiful evening and we had dinner, let the sun go down and watched the birds and the sunset before turning in for an early night.

Secret water

Snuck up Oakley creek on a rising tide then anchored in Hamford Water for a cup of tea. Lots of seals on the banks of the creek, some obviously young

Where did the wind go?

We beat up the Wallet in the haze but the wind dropped off and we wanted to get there while it was still Friday. We put the engine on and made it into Shotley in time for bed.

Cruising

Off to West Mersea this morning to catch the afternoon tide to Harwich for the OGA Easter Egg Rally at Shotley. Alison has strengthened Worm's rowlock mounts and re-instated the rope fender. We should also have a working outboard. I'm going to try emailing from my (unsmart) phone to keep this log up-to-date for the 11 days we are away.