Monday, 3 May 2010
The view from the foredeck
This is my recollection of the struggle into the Spitway. After dropping the sails, we tried again under motor alone. It was really hard to make any progress at all. The GPS told us our speed was usually between 0 and 0.3 knots over the ground. After a while we put the staysail up to try to steady the boat. Under full tension it was pushing the nose around too much but with the halyard let off to scandalise it we decided it was worth having. After what seemed like ages we noticed that the jib was coming lose in the forepeak and we had some lines trailing in the water. I clipped on and went forward to fix it. The seas were quite rough by now and I lay on the deck tying the sail down more securely. After about 10 minutes I had things stowed but I was thinking we really weren't going to make it and I was going to suggest to Alison that we give up. I turned to go back to the cockpit and saw the Swin Spitway buoy far behind us! While I was forward Alison had caught site of the Wallace Spitway buoy on the far site of the cut and this had given her the confidence to make progress. Suddenly going forward seemed as easy as going back.
Through the Spitway, just...
By 7am we started preparing the boat for sailing, in case of a fair wind. The 7:10 forecast came on the VHF and the Force 7 was only expected in the south of the area! Where we were the wind had abated from 5-7 to 5-6 so we decided to go. We cast off at 07:35, following Deirdre down river. She already had her sails up, while we raised them under way as normal, and we never caught her up. We were sailing well by 08:00 though, on fully reefed main and jib, heading out of the Crouch as close to the wind as Robinetta would sail. I had the helm and decided sail trim while Julian navigated and did all the deck work; we kept that division all day, and it worked well.
Emma Hamilton motored past us just after we tacked between the Crouch and Outer Crouch buoys, and hopefully took our picture in the swell. The seas were not too bad until we were past Ridge at 09:50, but after that they got up a bit more and knocked Robinetta back. She was making a lot of lee way too, so we put the engine on to compensate after 10:00, and it stayed on the rest of the day. The top sail was rolling about in the lazy jacks, so I asked Julian to tie it to the boom so we would not lose it.
We got to Whitaker 6 at 10:25, and saw Cormorant catching us up. She had spent the night at Fambridge, and like us used the tide to help her down river. She doesn’t have an engine but caught up with us, without needing one. We sailed in company up to the Whitaker channel buoy, then we tacked together at 10:51 towards the Swin Spitway buoy. That was when everything got very difficult. It should have been possible to just sail into the Spitway on that course, but the seas made it absolutely impossible to get past the buoy. The flood was running now, pushing us west onto the Buxey and we tacked about for 45 minutes, making very little headway even with motor assist. Robinetta's port winch kept slipping which made hauling in the jib sheet in on that side very tiring and we had a couple of nasty moments when the angle of heel got a bit worrying and I couldn't hold her on course. I would have felt totally incompetent, except Cormorant could not make the buoy either; after three or four approaches Cormorant gave up, and turned to run back towards the Crouch. That was her only option without an engine, but Julian decided we should persevere.
The jib would not furl head to wind, I turned Robinetta onto a short run and we tried again. It turned out the Wykeham Martin gear was jammed, so Julian had to go on the foredeck to get the jib down. We were already wearing our life jackets, but Julian got his safety strop, and tied himself on; the first time we’ve felt the need for that precaution on Robinetta. It turned out that the furling line had taken a turn around the bottom of the spool but Julian did not spot it at the time, and had to lower the sail and lash it down on the foredeck.
We finally got the jib down, then motored head to wind to get the main down. I asked Julian to tighten the topping lifts to raise the boom out of the way, but they would not shift, so after that I had to keep ducking under the boom. Luckily I did not need to shift from one side of the boat to the other very often, and it did mean I could just stretch up to see over it when I needed to.
We had managed to get within forty metres of the buoy at one point, but it took nearly an hour to motor back that close after our short run, and we did not reach it again until 12:44. Julian offered to make lunch, but I only wanted a slice of bread and butter and an apple. Without a gimballed stove, there was no way to heat water for tea, but I could not have spared the concentration to drink one anyway. Julian raised the staysail to try to steady us, but the wind was too strong, so we kept it slack while we crept up on the Swin Spitway buoy at less than a knot under full engine. The seas were huge (for us in our 22 footer anyway) and confused. Robinetta’s gunwale went under the water at one point with the pressure of wind on our slack stay sail, and steering was an aerobic exercise until we were past the Swin Spitway buoy. I really regretted Robinetta’s flat seats as I slid around all over the weather side, but it was possible to brace myself against the other side with my feet, and I never felt in any danger, despite the times when the spray broke over the coach roof, and the gunwale was only four inches clear of the water.
I finally spotted the Wallet Spitway buoy and had something to steer for, on a course where the stay sail could work (even though it was still slack). We went from 1 knot to 4, and with the staysail steadying us steering became less of a battle. Julian had to go back to the foredeck to tie down the jib which had worked lose, and was surprised by our progress when he came back to the cockpit. He tried hauling the staysail halyard tight, but unfortunately our lee way meant I had to round up to make the buoy, and I could not hold Robinetta on the course. We had to slacken the staysail again and bash through on the motor. The seas around the Wallet were as confused as those around the Swin, and it took us until13:30 to work clear of the Spitway.
Julian gave me a course to steer once we were clear of the Spitway that still made it impossible to use the staysail, but as soon as we were far enough into the Wallet to be safe from being blown back onto the Buxey Sand we turned northwest and could “sail”. It’s amazing how much easier everything becomes once Robinetta is doing the job she was designed for; once Julian hoisted the stay sail properly we throttled the engine back to save fuel and still made 3-5 knots depending on how hard the wind was gusting, and he stopped worrying about us getting onto our mooring before the tide turned against us.
The seas moderated after we passed Knoll (not very close) and Julian wondered if we should put the main sail up again, but the stay sail was enough for me, and we were both too tired to want to work harder, so left it alone. We only had to tack once, to clear NW Knoll at 1427, and I pretty much kept us on our outward track without trouble. The relief when I finally spotted the Nass beacon was immense. Once we were past it at 1533 I suddenly realised my neck was getting stiff from being in one position too long. That normally happens after only an hour of sailing, proof of how much I had to move around to keep her on course!
I handed the tiller to Julian, and he threaded his way through the moored boats. It felt like a long way to our mooring in the Ray Channel, but I picked it up at 1606, and we tied on with two mooring lines. I put the kettle on while Julian tidied the foredeck, and we had a very welcome cup of tea, the first since seven in the morning! The wind was still blowing hard, and it was very cold, with no shelter on the top of the tide, but the water started draining while we tidied the decks and by five we had shelter. I discovered why the topping lifts would not work when I found the sail tie we had used to secure the top sail to the boom jammed into the main sheet block so the sheet would not run. I had to unthread the main sheet to free it, not something we would have wanted to do while under way in rough seas!
Neither of us was in a hurry to get in the dinghy, so we pottered around getting Robinetta tidy, after which Julian heated up some soup and we had soup and sandwiches for afternoon tea. We repacked our bags, and left a lot of things behind so we only needed to make one trip in the dinghy, then finally left Robinetta alone on her mooring at about six, after the hardest day’s sailing Julian and I have ever experienced.
Robinetta does not have a wind speed gauge, so we can’t be certain what winds we were actually sailing in, but the gauge on Cobmarsh Island, West Mersea, recorded gusts up to force 7, and average wind speeds of force 6 about the time we started trying to get into the Spitway. It’s good to know we can handle that sort if wind, but if we’re going to make a practice of it I want storm sails!
Emma Hamilton motored past us just after we tacked between the Crouch and Outer Crouch buoys, and hopefully took our picture in the swell. The seas were not too bad until we were past Ridge at 09:50, but after that they got up a bit more and knocked Robinetta back. She was making a lot of lee way too, so we put the engine on to compensate after 10:00, and it stayed on the rest of the day. The top sail was rolling about in the lazy jacks, so I asked Julian to tie it to the boom so we would not lose it.
We got to Whitaker 6 at 10:25, and saw Cormorant catching us up. She had spent the night at Fambridge, and like us used the tide to help her down river. She doesn’t have an engine but caught up with us, without needing one. We sailed in company up to the Whitaker channel buoy, then we tacked together at 10:51 towards the Swin Spitway buoy. That was when everything got very difficult. It should have been possible to just sail into the Spitway on that course, but the seas made it absolutely impossible to get past the buoy. The flood was running now, pushing us west onto the Buxey and we tacked about for 45 minutes, making very little headway even with motor assist. Robinetta's port winch kept slipping which made hauling in the jib sheet in on that side very tiring and we had a couple of nasty moments when the angle of heel got a bit worrying and I couldn't hold her on course. I would have felt totally incompetent, except Cormorant could not make the buoy either; after three or four approaches Cormorant gave up, and turned to run back towards the Crouch. That was her only option without an engine, but Julian decided we should persevere.
The jib would not furl head to wind, I turned Robinetta onto a short run and we tried again. It turned out the Wykeham Martin gear was jammed, so Julian had to go on the foredeck to get the jib down. We were already wearing our life jackets, but Julian got his safety strop, and tied himself on; the first time we’ve felt the need for that precaution on Robinetta. It turned out that the furling line had taken a turn around the bottom of the spool but Julian did not spot it at the time, and had to lower the sail and lash it down on the foredeck.
We finally got the jib down, then motored head to wind to get the main down. I asked Julian to tighten the topping lifts to raise the boom out of the way, but they would not shift, so after that I had to keep ducking under the boom. Luckily I did not need to shift from one side of the boat to the other very often, and it did mean I could just stretch up to see over it when I needed to.
We had managed to get within forty metres of the buoy at one point, but it took nearly an hour to motor back that close after our short run, and we did not reach it again until 12:44. Julian offered to make lunch, but I only wanted a slice of bread and butter and an apple. Without a gimballed stove, there was no way to heat water for tea, but I could not have spared the concentration to drink one anyway. Julian raised the staysail to try to steady us, but the wind was too strong, so we kept it slack while we crept up on the Swin Spitway buoy at less than a knot under full engine. The seas were huge (for us in our 22 footer anyway) and confused. Robinetta’s gunwale went under the water at one point with the pressure of wind on our slack stay sail, and steering was an aerobic exercise until we were past the Swin Spitway buoy. I really regretted Robinetta’s flat seats as I slid around all over the weather side, but it was possible to brace myself against the other side with my feet, and I never felt in any danger, despite the times when the spray broke over the coach roof, and the gunwale was only four inches clear of the water.
I finally spotted the Wallet Spitway buoy and had something to steer for, on a course where the stay sail could work (even though it was still slack). We went from 1 knot to 4, and with the staysail steadying us steering became less of a battle. Julian had to go back to the foredeck to tie down the jib which had worked lose, and was surprised by our progress when he came back to the cockpit. He tried hauling the staysail halyard tight, but unfortunately our lee way meant I had to round up to make the buoy, and I could not hold Robinetta on the course. We had to slacken the staysail again and bash through on the motor. The seas around the Wallet were as confused as those around the Swin, and it took us until13:30 to work clear of the Spitway.
Julian gave me a course to steer once we were clear of the Spitway that still made it impossible to use the staysail, but as soon as we were far enough into the Wallet to be safe from being blown back onto the Buxey Sand we turned northwest and could “sail”. It’s amazing how much easier everything becomes once Robinetta is doing the job she was designed for; once Julian hoisted the stay sail properly we throttled the engine back to save fuel and still made 3-5 knots depending on how hard the wind was gusting, and he stopped worrying about us getting onto our mooring before the tide turned against us.
The seas moderated after we passed Knoll (not very close) and Julian wondered if we should put the main sail up again, but the stay sail was enough for me, and we were both too tired to want to work harder, so left it alone. We only had to tack once, to clear NW Knoll at 1427, and I pretty much kept us on our outward track without trouble. The relief when I finally spotted the Nass beacon was immense. Once we were past it at 1533 I suddenly realised my neck was getting stiff from being in one position too long. That normally happens after only an hour of sailing, proof of how much I had to move around to keep her on course!
I handed the tiller to Julian, and he threaded his way through the moored boats. It felt like a long way to our mooring in the Ray Channel, but I picked it up at 1606, and we tied on with two mooring lines. I put the kettle on while Julian tidied the foredeck, and we had a very welcome cup of tea, the first since seven in the morning! The wind was still blowing hard, and it was very cold, with no shelter on the top of the tide, but the water started draining while we tidied the decks and by five we had shelter. I discovered why the topping lifts would not work when I found the sail tie we had used to secure the top sail to the boom jammed into the main sheet block so the sheet would not run. I had to unthread the main sheet to free it, not something we would have wanted to do while under way in rough seas!
Neither of us was in a hurry to get in the dinghy, so we pottered around getting Robinetta tidy, after which Julian heated up some soup and we had soup and sandwiches for afternoon tea. We repacked our bags, and left a lot of things behind so we only needed to make one trip in the dinghy, then finally left Robinetta alone on her mooring at about six, after the hardest day’s sailing Julian and I have ever experienced.
Robinetta does not have a wind speed gauge, so we can’t be certain what winds we were actually sailing in, but the gauge on Cobmarsh Island, West Mersea, recorded gusts up to force 7, and average wind speeds of force 6 about the time we started trying to get into the Spitway. It’s good to know we can handle that sort if wind, but if we’re going to make a practice of it I want storm sails!
Sunday, 2 May 2010
What Sun day
Last evening over thirty Old Gaffers got together at the Fambridge Marina Bistro, a short walk from the Yacht Club, and had a good dinner and chat. The rain was still just drizzle, and walking back in the dark not too difficult. Even on an overcast night in the middle of the country the lights of Southend lit up the sky enough to see by.
Just after we got to bed it started pouring down, and hardly stopped all night. I already knew that Robinetta’s cabin roof is not water tight, but by ten the next morning a lot of new drips were making themselves known. It was also bitterly cold, with a northerly wind blowing 10-26 knots. Just like the forecast. The main event for the day was supposed to be a sail up to Battlesbridge; it was too shallow for Robinetta, but Deirdre draws a foot less and had offered to take us. In the end only one boat, Mike McCarthy's Emma Hamilton, a shallow draft motor boat, actually headed up river, and the rest of us travelled by car. The barbeque turned into an inside event at Toad Hall, lasagne or shepherd’s pie in front of a roaring log fire, with music from the gaffers band.... Not a bad way to spend a freezing afternoon!
After we got back to Fambridge most of us followed the plan and dropped down river to Burnham to moor for the night, with drinks and food at the Royal Burnham Yacht Club. It was an hour of very cold motoring to get there, but shortening the next day’s journey seemed like a good idea. The forecast was bad, northerly 5-7, occasionally 8 in south, with rain, and neither Julian nor I were sure that taking Robinetta out in that was a good idea. We decided to leave the decision until hearing the 07:10 forecast in the morning, and going straight away if it had eased at all.
Just after we got to bed it started pouring down, and hardly stopped all night. I already knew that Robinetta’s cabin roof is not water tight, but by ten the next morning a lot of new drips were making themselves known. It was also bitterly cold, with a northerly wind blowing 10-26 knots. Just like the forecast. The main event for the day was supposed to be a sail up to Battlesbridge; it was too shallow for Robinetta, but Deirdre draws a foot less and had offered to take us. In the end only one boat, Mike McCarthy's Emma Hamilton, a shallow draft motor boat, actually headed up river, and the rest of us travelled by car. The barbeque turned into an inside event at Toad Hall, lasagne or shepherd’s pie in front of a roaring log fire, with music from the gaffers band.... Not a bad way to spend a freezing afternoon!
After we got back to Fambridge most of us followed the plan and dropped down river to Burnham to moor for the night, with drinks and food at the Royal Burnham Yacht Club. It was an hour of very cold motoring to get there, but shortening the next day’s journey seemed like a good idea. The forecast was bad, northerly 5-7, occasionally 8 in south, with rain, and neither Julian nor I were sure that taking Robinetta out in that was a good idea. We decided to leave the decision until hearing the 07:10 forecast in the morning, and going straight away if it had eased at all.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Off to Fambridge
The weather looked a little dodgy for the May Day weekend, but we decided to go to the Fambridge rally anyway, as it would be our first sailing event with the gaffers this year. It was also our first trip out from West Mersea, so I was a little worried about how we would load Robinetta up with food and bedding, and the other bits and pieces we needed for a three night stay on her.
Julian took the Friday off, and we worked on the wooden dingy together for most of the day, before heading to West Mersea at six. The car seemed quite full, so we were expecting to need two trips to get everything across. Julian filled up the inflatable dingy and headed out with most of the luggage, while I took the car round to West Mersea Marine where we would leave it for the weekend. Finding a space to park was not easy, and in the end I parked near a caravan (which I must not do again, because I accidentally blocked someone in despite being careful). I then headed back to the pontoon to wait for Julian. Unfortunately I had asked him to bring the big box of paint/varnish back from Robinetta, which meant that I should not have taken the car away when I did.... After a walk back to the car with the paint box I got in the dingy with the rest of the luggage, and Julian and I headed out for our boat. We got there just before it got totally dark at nine o’clock, and I heated up some bean stew and bread for dinner. After that we planned the passage, and decided to try to leave at 06:30 next morning.
I slept awkwardly, and ended up with a stiff shoulder, and consequent headache, which did not lift until the afternoon, but that was not going to stop us, so we cast off the mooring at 0650, and Julian took us down the channel. It was two hours before low water, so there was very little water, and a lot of boats sitting in it. West Mersea is a crowded place! Because of leaving so early we did all our sailing prep while under way, so we were not really sailing until 08:00, having eaten breakfast and put all the bedding away while moving. We knew the winds would vanish in the afternoon so we made the most of what we had, with full sail including the topsail. We were in the Spitway by 09:30, being very careful to keep in the centre of the channel as it was low water. Last night I had written out a list of buoys to look for, and after we left the Spitway I expected us to head for Whitaker 6. Julian did some panning around on the GPS chart and started heading straight for the Whitaker beacon. That felt wrong to me, so we had a look at the paper chart, and compared the depths on that, the GPS chart, and Robinetta’s depth gauge. The GPS chart has some serious issues with its depths, so Julian soon changed course to the one we’d decided on last night!
I helmed for some of the time, but the head-ache would not go away, and once we were well into the Whitaker channel inside Foulness sand Julian suggested I should have a lie down, and try to sleep it off. That felt like a plan to me, so I went down and shut my eyes while Julian helmed in the increasingly light winds.
A while later I heard Julian laugh, so I went on deck to see why. We were getting near a buoy we needed to honour, so he had tacked, and discovered that even with all sails up the only reason we were moving was the tide. After tacking we were supposedly heading in a different direction, but the GPS reported that nothing had changed in our vector; we had cleared the buoy but we were drifting sideways down the channel at a knot and a half! That ended our sailing for the day, and we furled away the jib and put the engine on to give us steering way. I took the helm while Julian made himself a sandwich, but I did not feel like eating, and after Julian finished I lay down in the cockpit to soak up the sun while Julian helmed again.
Once we got to Cliff Reach, where the river runs NW, we did try sailing again, but there was not enough wind to steer us, so we motored the rest of the way to Fambridge in bright sunshine, eventually tying up alongside Toby's and Hugo's new boat Janner on the yacht club pontoon at about 15:00. It had been a totally pleasant day up to that point, but rain was forecast, and by 1600 it began to drizzle. I should have thought about putting on the cockpit cover, but getting on and off Robinetta with her cover up is a pain, even though Janner is a good boat to more alongside height wise for us.
Julian took the Friday off, and we worked on the wooden dingy together for most of the day, before heading to West Mersea at six. The car seemed quite full, so we were expecting to need two trips to get everything across. Julian filled up the inflatable dingy and headed out with most of the luggage, while I took the car round to West Mersea Marine where we would leave it for the weekend. Finding a space to park was not easy, and in the end I parked near a caravan (which I must not do again, because I accidentally blocked someone in despite being careful). I then headed back to the pontoon to wait for Julian. Unfortunately I had asked him to bring the big box of paint/varnish back from Robinetta, which meant that I should not have taken the car away when I did.... After a walk back to the car with the paint box I got in the dingy with the rest of the luggage, and Julian and I headed out for our boat. We got there just before it got totally dark at nine o’clock, and I heated up some bean stew and bread for dinner. After that we planned the passage, and decided to try to leave at 06:30 next morning.
I slept awkwardly, and ended up with a stiff shoulder, and consequent headache, which did not lift until the afternoon, but that was not going to stop us, so we cast off the mooring at 0650, and Julian took us down the channel. It was two hours before low water, so there was very little water, and a lot of boats sitting in it. West Mersea is a crowded place! Because of leaving so early we did all our sailing prep while under way, so we were not really sailing until 08:00, having eaten breakfast and put all the bedding away while moving. We knew the winds would vanish in the afternoon so we made the most of what we had, with full sail including the topsail. We were in the Spitway by 09:30, being very careful to keep in the centre of the channel as it was low water. Last night I had written out a list of buoys to look for, and after we left the Spitway I expected us to head for Whitaker 6. Julian did some panning around on the GPS chart and started heading straight for the Whitaker beacon. That felt wrong to me, so we had a look at the paper chart, and compared the depths on that, the GPS chart, and Robinetta’s depth gauge. The GPS chart has some serious issues with its depths, so Julian soon changed course to the one we’d decided on last night!
I helmed for some of the time, but the head-ache would not go away, and once we were well into the Whitaker channel inside Foulness sand Julian suggested I should have a lie down, and try to sleep it off. That felt like a plan to me, so I went down and shut my eyes while Julian helmed in the increasingly light winds.
A while later I heard Julian laugh, so I went on deck to see why. We were getting near a buoy we needed to honour, so he had tacked, and discovered that even with all sails up the only reason we were moving was the tide. After tacking we were supposedly heading in a different direction, but the GPS reported that nothing had changed in our vector; we had cleared the buoy but we were drifting sideways down the channel at a knot and a half! That ended our sailing for the day, and we furled away the jib and put the engine on to give us steering way. I took the helm while Julian made himself a sandwich, but I did not feel like eating, and after Julian finished I lay down in the cockpit to soak up the sun while Julian helmed again.
Once we got to Cliff Reach, where the river runs NW, we did try sailing again, but there was not enough wind to steer us, so we motored the rest of the way to Fambridge in bright sunshine, eventually tying up alongside Toby's and Hugo's new boat Janner on the yacht club pontoon at about 15:00. It had been a totally pleasant day up to that point, but rain was forecast, and by 1600 it began to drizzle. I should have thought about putting on the cockpit cover, but getting on and off Robinetta with her cover up is a pain, even though Janner is a good boat to more alongside height wise for us.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Maintenance
Julian was supposed to be working abroad for a few days, so I decided I would stay on Robinetta for three days and do some painting and varnishing while he was away. Then a volcano in Iceland began erupting, and his flight out was cancelled, so I changed my live aboard plans to day trips.
Since I was going alone I took the small dingy that we got with Robinetta rather than our new larger one. It is a lot quicker to pump up, and the outboard engine fits on it more simply. It is just about big enough for me and the painting equipment and I've grown quite fond of it now we've got the outboard. Starting the motor is still an adventure though, and I broke my left thumb nail on my second pull of the starter cord. Luckily a couple in an inflatable dingy with an identical engine came past as I was cursing my stupidity, and the very nice gentleman started it for me and I headed for Robinetta.
Once on the boat I had a look round and decided on my tasks. Some of the varnish on the foredeck cap rails had been rubbed, so I touched that up before starting on my main redecorating task for this season which is to strip the Saddolin off the cockpit and replace it with Varnol. I got one of the cockpit cap rails done before calling it a day and getting into the dingy to head back to the pontoon.
I got the motor started, but forgot to warm it up properly (we are still running it in) and it died when I put it in gear. It would not start again, so I sat there for a while, waiting to recover my strength for pulling the cord. At that moment the West Mersea Marine launch came by to put a motor yacht on the buoy next to Robinetta. They very nicely gave me a lift back to the pontoon. I must get my outboard engine skills up!
Since I was going alone I took the small dingy that we got with Robinetta rather than our new larger one. It is a lot quicker to pump up, and the outboard engine fits on it more simply. It is just about big enough for me and the painting equipment and I've grown quite fond of it now we've got the outboard. Starting the motor is still an adventure though, and I broke my left thumb nail on my second pull of the starter cord. Luckily a couple in an inflatable dingy with an identical engine came past as I was cursing my stupidity, and the very nice gentleman started it for me and I headed for Robinetta.
Once on the boat I had a look round and decided on my tasks. Some of the varnish on the foredeck cap rails had been rubbed, so I touched that up before starting on my main redecorating task for this season which is to strip the Saddolin off the cockpit and replace it with Varnol. I got one of the cockpit cap rails done before calling it a day and getting into the dingy to head back to the pontoon.
I got the motor started, but forgot to warm it up properly (we are still running it in) and it died when I put it in gear. It would not start again, so I sat there for a while, waiting to recover my strength for pulling the cord. At that moment the West Mersea Marine launch came by to put a motor yacht on the buoy next to Robinetta. They very nicely gave me a lift back to the pontoon. I must get my outboard engine skills up!
Sunday, 4 April 2010
The Big Move - part 2
The morning started hazy but with the wind as forecast. By 8 am it was clearing nicely and we fuelled and locked out as planned, leaving Alison at the lock.
I hadn't given much thought to a safety briefing for Alex - the forecast was good and I decided Alex needed to know what to do if I were to be injured or taken ill. I got him to fit a life jacket and to make sure he knew our course and destination and how to use the VHF to call for help.
Alex helmed as I raised sail. Robinetta's sails are really easy for one person to raise. It doesn't work quite so well if you forget, as I did, to tie the foot of the stay sail down! Before long we had turned off the engine and were running out past Harwich breakwater pushed by both wind and ebb and under a perfectly blue sky.
We headed straight for the Pye End buoy. It was now slack water but the wind was picking up. Alex was having trouble steering and I realised that there would be even more wind once we reached the Wallet so we put her head to wind and reefed the main. Things now became much easier as we headed for Walton pier.
As we neared the Naze a little bump made me aware that I should have been paying more attention to the depth! I quickly put the engine on and turned out to sea and we bumped gently two or three more times and then made it into deep water and got back on course and turned the engine off. In the bright sunshine I couldn't really
see the echo sounder and I had the chart plotter zoomed out too far.
The wind freshened even more as we passed Walton pier and we were doing well over 6 knots over the ground - the flood had now started - we had got the tides just right.
As we had the tide in our favour I decided to play safe with the wind and stopped to reef some more. This time I didn't even ask Alex to helm and just kept the tiller centred by standing in front of it as I furled the jib, dropped the peak and the gaff together and then hauled in on the reefing line. The 70 year old reefing gear works as well now as it did for Rayner in '37 and '38. I tightened up the throat and then the peak and got straight back on course. The whole process took perhaps one minute.
I was glad I had as the gusts kept getting stronger and we were still doing 5-6 knots over the ground (we don't have a log so I don't know what the water speed was).
With the north westerly wind coming straight off the land there was no fetch for the waves to build up and the sea state was very comfortable. The sun was still shining and it was very pleasant.
Before long we were being slowly overhauled by another gaffer. I think it was Avola. They passed us around Clacton pier and then another gaffer also passed us. This was good as it gave me a line to steer to clear the Colne bar.
It did cloud over, but stayed dry and there were still pockets of blue.
I got a bit confused at this point as the paper charts made me think I should already be able to see the North Eagle (and I thought I could) but it was nowhere to be seen on the chart plotter. I followed the other boats and eventually the buoys came up on the plotter. This is one of the bad things about small-screen chart plotters - it just isn't possible to set them up for the right level of detail at different zoom levels. In some waters they will be too cluttered and in others you need to zoom in to see any detail.
As soon as we got to the vicinity of the North Eagle the sea state got much worse. The fetch was now all the way across the Virley Channel and kept knocking us back.
It was quite uncomfortable, but quite safe. It didn't help that now we were turning towards the Blackwater the wind was coming ahead of us.
In the end I got irritated by the lack of progress and the effort of steering and put the engine on. This helped to move the apparent wind aft again and made it feel like we were motor sailing. Ideally we should now have started beating up the Blackwater but I was tiring and it was clear that the sea state would not make cooking lunch pleasurable so we punched through it with the motor. I left the sails up as going head to wind would have been uncomfortable and we were in the shallow channel between the Colne Bar and the Gunfleet Sands and I didn't feel we had much sea-room.
The first gaffer had disappeared by now and the second one headed up the Brightlingsea Reach towards the Colne. We headed up the Virley Channel with Bradwell Power Station as our main navigation mark.
We picked up the Nass Beacon and checked the route in on the paper chart. The plotter was useless - there are bugs in the overlap between captured charts on the Garmin here. We dropped sails by the Nass and continued into Mersea Quarters. Eventually, zooming well in on the plotter have us a good indication of the channel and we threaded our way through the moorings past Packing Shed Island and into the Thorn Fleet.
Alex made a really good job of picking up the temporary mooring we had been allocated and we tied up and pumped the dinghy up. Alison then turned up in the water taxi which took Alex ashore and Alison and I got the outboard set-up and headed off for a well deserved late lunch.
I hadn't given much thought to a safety briefing for Alex - the forecast was good and I decided Alex needed to know what to do if I were to be injured or taken ill. I got him to fit a life jacket and to make sure he knew our course and destination and how to use the VHF to call for help.
Alex helmed as I raised sail. Robinetta's sails are really easy for one person to raise. It doesn't work quite so well if you forget, as I did, to tie the foot of the stay sail down! Before long we had turned off the engine and were running out past Harwich breakwater pushed by both wind and ebb and under a perfectly blue sky.
We headed straight for the Pye End buoy. It was now slack water but the wind was picking up. Alex was having trouble steering and I realised that there would be even more wind once we reached the Wallet so we put her head to wind and reefed the main. Things now became much easier as we headed for Walton pier.
As we neared the Naze a little bump made me aware that I should have been paying more attention to the depth! I quickly put the engine on and turned out to sea and we bumped gently two or three more times and then made it into deep water and got back on course and turned the engine off. In the bright sunshine I couldn't really
see the echo sounder and I had the chart plotter zoomed out too far.
The wind freshened even more as we passed Walton pier and we were doing well over 6 knots over the ground - the flood had now started - we had got the tides just right.
As we had the tide in our favour I decided to play safe with the wind and stopped to reef some more. This time I didn't even ask Alex to helm and just kept the tiller centred by standing in front of it as I furled the jib, dropped the peak and the gaff together and then hauled in on the reefing line. The 70 year old reefing gear works as well now as it did for Rayner in '37 and '38. I tightened up the throat and then the peak and got straight back on course. The whole process took perhaps one minute.
I was glad I had as the gusts kept getting stronger and we were still doing 5-6 knots over the ground (we don't have a log so I don't know what the water speed was).
With the north westerly wind coming straight off the land there was no fetch for the waves to build up and the sea state was very comfortable. The sun was still shining and it was very pleasant.
Before long we were being slowly overhauled by another gaffer. I think it was Avola. They passed us around Clacton pier and then another gaffer also passed us. This was good as it gave me a line to steer to clear the Colne bar.
It did cloud over, but stayed dry and there were still pockets of blue.
I got a bit confused at this point as the paper charts made me think I should already be able to see the North Eagle (and I thought I could) but it was nowhere to be seen on the chart plotter. I followed the other boats and eventually the buoys came up on the plotter. This is one of the bad things about small-screen chart plotters - it just isn't possible to set them up for the right level of detail at different zoom levels. In some waters they will be too cluttered and in others you need to zoom in to see any detail.
As soon as we got to the vicinity of the North Eagle the sea state got much worse. The fetch was now all the way across the Virley Channel and kept knocking us back.
It was quite uncomfortable, but quite safe. It didn't help that now we were turning towards the Blackwater the wind was coming ahead of us.
In the end I got irritated by the lack of progress and the effort of steering and put the engine on. This helped to move the apparent wind aft again and made it feel like we were motor sailing. Ideally we should now have started beating up the Blackwater but I was tiring and it was clear that the sea state would not make cooking lunch pleasurable so we punched through it with the motor. I left the sails up as going head to wind would have been uncomfortable and we were in the shallow channel between the Colne Bar and the Gunfleet Sands and I didn't feel we had much sea-room.
The first gaffer had disappeared by now and the second one headed up the Brightlingsea Reach towards the Colne. We headed up the Virley Channel with Bradwell Power Station as our main navigation mark.
We picked up the Nass Beacon and checked the route in on the paper chart. The plotter was useless - there are bugs in the overlap between captured charts on the Garmin here. We dropped sails by the Nass and continued into Mersea Quarters. Eventually, zooming well in on the plotter have us a good indication of the channel and we threaded our way through the moorings past Packing Shed Island and into the Thorn Fleet.
Alex made a really good job of picking up the temporary mooring we had been allocated and we tied up and pumped the dinghy up. Alison then turned up in the water taxi which took Alex ashore and Alison and I got the outboard set-up and headed off for a well deserved late lunch.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
The Big Move - part 1
We decided last year that a change of scene would be a good plan. Shotley is a great base, but expensive and we tend to repeat ourselves a lot on day sails. Also, the Old Gaffers have lots of events in the Stour and the Orwell and we miss out on the passages to them. We'd also like to venture across and up the Thames, so a more westerly base seemed to have a lot going for it. We'd looked around and decided on West Mersea. It's nearer home than Shotley but takes about the same amount of time as the roads are not so good.
So the plan was hatched to move on Easter Monday after the OGA Easter Rally at Shotley. By Good Friday it was clear that the weather window was on Sunday and the Saturday weather made us want to stay at home so we went up for the meal on Saturday afternoon.
Our new mooring is quite a way from the jetty at West Mersea so we have invested in an outboard motor. A hard dinghy is under construction but more on that another time. We spent Saturday afternoon at Shotley working out how to fit it to our unusual flubber and running it in.
It we had a fine dinner and a nice chat and a good send off from the local Shotley gaffers and not too bad a night on the boat - just a little chilly.
The forecast was holding for Sunday, WNW 3-5 most of the day. Good for a reach down past Clacton.
The plan for the day was for me to take the boat to West Mersea while Alison took the car. I had our younger son Alex with me as crew and Alison would fetch our other son Ben and his fiancé so we could all have afternoon tea at West Mersea.
We had worked out the tides and low water was 09:30 at Harwich so we planned to lock out around 8 to catch the ebb out to Pye End and then pick up the flood all the way to West Mersea.
Less predictable was the wind.
So the plan was hatched to move on Easter Monday after the OGA Easter Rally at Shotley. By Good Friday it was clear that the weather window was on Sunday and the Saturday weather made us want to stay at home so we went up for the meal on Saturday afternoon.
Our new mooring is quite a way from the jetty at West Mersea so we have invested in an outboard motor. A hard dinghy is under construction but more on that another time. We spent Saturday afternoon at Shotley working out how to fit it to our unusual flubber and running it in.
It we had a fine dinner and a nice chat and a good send off from the local Shotley gaffers and not too bad a night on the boat - just a little chilly.
The forecast was holding for Sunday, WNW 3-5 most of the day. Good for a reach down past Clacton.
The plan for the day was for me to take the boat to West Mersea while Alison took the car. I had our younger son Alex with me as crew and Alison would fetch our other son Ben and his fiancé so we could all have afternoon tea at West Mersea.
We had worked out the tides and low water was 09:30 at Harwich so we planned to lock out around 8 to catch the ebb out to Pye End and then pick up the flood all the way to West Mersea.
Less predictable was the wind.
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