Year End Totals

Thought it was time to write up our personal logs, which means totaling up Robinetta's log. This year she has traveled 610 nm in 35 days; that's 17 nm per day on board...

The engine was run for 84.5 hours. With the new propeller it takes 1 ltr of fuel/hour on average, which is useful to know, but I MUST get around to measuring the capacity of our fuel tanks!

Last Outing

Robinetta is due out of the water on Monday, and with the main sail out of commission there was no chance to sail this weekend. We did want to top up the fuel tanks for the winter though, so motored over to Tollesbury. It was sunny on the way there, although chilly with the east wind, and there was more swell than we expected out by the Mersea Quarters buoy.

By the time we were heading back the wind had risen, and the sun disappeared behind thick cloud making it really feel like a bleak November day. I helmed in both directions, while Julian loosened up and greased the shroud shackles so they would be easy for the yard tomorrow, then I ran the water pump while the engine was running to drain the fresh water system down.

Once back on the mooring Julian got the boom off the mast, then we tied up all the halyards to the mast. Laying up has begun!

New sails

We've wanted new sails for a while, and Mark Butler from James Lawrence came today to have a look at Robinetta. The tides were right to bring her to the hammerhead at West Mersea, and very few people want to use the pontoon in November so we tied up alongside at 0955. Luckily the wind was as forecast, and we were able to raise sail there which made Mark's job much easier.

He came up with a number of suggestions, including lengthening the gaff, and raising the peak angle which will give us a much larger main sail area. We've been thinking along those lines, so decided to go with it. Julian will make a new gaff this winter, having had practice with making Worm's spars.

We need larger fore-sail area to balance the new main, so we've ordered two new jibs, a number one, and a working jib which will be cut very differently to our current one. He also thinks we should abandon our club footed stay-sail, and go with one that overlaps the main to produce a better wind slot; we're not quite ready for that so we've not ordered one although he took the measurements so we can have one cut next season if we decide on it.


While standing back on the pontoon to think about things Mark noticed that the hound which holds one of the peak blocks to the mast was coming loose. This is critical to safely using the main sail, so we've decided not to sail again this season. We need the mast out to work on where it passes through the deck, so it was going to come out anyway.

We had a good long discussion, but all the time keeping an eye on the depth gage. I did not want to be stuck on the wrong side of the Gut! Business was concluded just before half tide, then we nipped back through the Gut sharpish. I helmed while Julian kept an eye on the depth. We got through without noticeably touching, but Julian reported 1 foot on the gauge at one point, so we must have been stirring the mud!

We've paid a deposit, to secure a place in the queue to have the sails made, but they won't be cut for a while. This is not a problem since we really want to check how much work needs doing on Robinetta's hull. We've hired Paul Drake to re-caulk her this winter, and don't know what other essential work this might reveal. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Unplanned delights

We had no plans for this weekend. Alison checked the weather on Friday and it looked good. On Saturday morning we got up decided not only to go to the boat, but to stay the night.

We didn't want to do anything ambitious, and settled on a gentle sail over to Brightlingsea. The weather looked a bit grim when we got to West Mersea, but it soon became obvious that it was clearing rapidly and before long we had a nice breeze under brilliant blue sky.

When we got to Robinetta the bilge pump fuse had blown again. I replaced it and tested it and it blew immediately. I cleaned the pump as best I could and blew another fuse. We thought it might be best to go back to West Mersea and pick one up from Wyatts but we felt more like getting off so we hoped to get to the Chandlers at Brightlingsea.

We had a fine sail over. Close to Cocum Hills a fisherman was harvesting some very clean and new plastic pots. The flags at each end of the reach were uncharacterically large and clear. He looked like he had a decent catch. The boat was marked CK3 (or 2, I forget). I wonder how many boats have carried that number?

An east cardinal beacon on Cocum Hills marks the wreck of the Molliette. We've never seen the wreck itself, but its good to keep clear.

The big ketch Pioneer was also out. She headed off up the Blackwater.

As we entered the Colne we spotted what looked like a Rayner designed Westerly. She had a sail number 302 but no mark letter. It looped back to take a look at us. I tried to look the sail number up in the WOA yearbook but its not there.

We radioed the harbour master and moored up on the visitor's pontoon and Alison rowed us ashore. Keith was on duty at French Marine and sorted us out a new bilge pump. We chatted about sailing up to the AGM weekend after next. Maryll is still in the water and would enjoy a last trip too.

We still had some light to fit the new pump. It wasn't easy. Keith hadn't had a Rule pump small enough and had sold us the same kind he has on Maryll. Its totally different - long and low. It fitted nicely across the bilge but the hose was tricky to fit. I got it all sorted but crimping the wires in without a proper pair of cutters was not easy and I couldn't screw the new pump down. I want to re-do it once she's out of the water and I have mains electric.

We went to the Colne Yacht Club for a good wash and a drink. It turned out to be their Halloween party. They had Spooky Ale on tap and some good (and not so good) records. We ate there but left before the party really got going. We had a nice welcome chat from the on duty committee member, who happens to live in Bishops Stortford too.

Back at Robinetta we read for a bit and had an early night.

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and decided to leave as soon as the mud spit separating us from the town hard was half covered. Luckily, the harbour master came around before it was time to leave, so we got to pay. £9.50 for the night, not bad at all.

I decided to have a go at leaving the pontoon under stay-sail. It worked quite well, but with the tide rushing in, I couldn't get her head around in the space between us and the spit, even with the jib, so I used a little engine. Once headed down river we were just making against the tide so I killed the engine and Alison got the main up. We didn't make it all the way to the Colne under sail alone - once round the corner we were completely headed and after a few goes I put the engine on and we motor sailed out past the cardinals.

We had a pretty uneventful sail back to West Mersea. I sailed up the Thorn Fleet and Ray Channel under stay-sail alone and managed to get onto our mooring without needing the engine. I cooked a tinned pie and some sprouts and potatoes for lunch. It was high water by the time we were ready to leave. The whole spit from the bottom of Ray Island was submerged, making the Ray and Strood channels one.

Alison rowed us all the way to West Mersea Marine, something we can only do at high water. We got Worm on the roof of the car and were home by 5pm.

Its nice to have a completely straight forward sail.

Research

We were looking at the old Yachting Monthly's trying to find out if Robinetta originally had tan or white sails. I assumed she had originally had white, as she was designed as a cruising yacht, but no, there in the November 1937 issue is a clear picture of her with dark No 1 Jib, furled staysail and mainsail. The article was Rayner's repost to Maurice Griffiths gybe "it remains to be seen how she will sail". Rayner is clearly chuffed to bits with her.

Also in the same article is a name I didn't think we had documented. When Rayner and his wife left her in the Clyde in June 1937 she was used as the honeymoon boat of two of Rayner's sailing companions on his previous boat Pearl. The name was Lieutenant (E) J. S. Carlisle, RN and Rayner quotes him as getting 7.01 knots out of her. We know from Rayner's other description of the summer that his new wife was "the lady who's name she bears"! So the crew were J S Carlisle and Robinetta Carlisle. Some googling came up with a decent amount of information about John Scott Carlisle. A search of ancestry.co,uk found one marriage record for someone called Robinetta marrying someone called Carlisle in 1937 and it was in Devonshire. Now Carlisle was stationed at HMS Drake in Devonport in February 1937 so I think we have a match. Its great to know that Robinetta is named after Robinetta F Cooper, even though we still don't know anything more about her.

4th Aniversary

I was checking my records today and realised that it is exactly 4 years since we took ownership of Robinetta. She has given us a lot of pleasure in that time, and now it is time for some more major spending on her! She will be 75 next year, and after complaining about needing new sails for the last couple of years we've bitten the bullet and decided to order them. Her 75th birthday present will come from James Lawrence, so I really look forward to Mark Butler's redesign!

She has also been letting in water when sailing hard, so we're going to get her re-caulked by Paul Drake, who put in her new plank last year. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed about the state of the rest of her planking that will be revealed!

Glorious

I can't believe how wonderful the weather was today. Alison's dad Robin has been wanting to go out with us and he's down for Alison's birthday next week. I was very skeptical last night. XCweather was predicting 5-10 knots of wind and I thought we'd probably be motoring everywhere. We got to Mersea around 11am and had a lovely row to Robinetta. Dawn, the Thames barge that lives on the piles up the Thorn Fleet, was on her winter berth on the mud near the Oyster Bar and they had raised sail and it was drawing. All the flags were showing a nice southerly breeze. At least my pessimism meant I was happily surprised!

We raised the main on the mooring and left Worm there for a nice day sail. As we left I'm pretty sure I saw Maid of Tesa coming down the Strood. We turned up river onto a really nice reach, hitting 6 knots SOG occasionally on the flood. There were a good few boats out but nothing to match the height of the summer. We got up past Osea Island, and had our pasties and turned around and came home again. We put the motor on to get back around the west end of Osea as the tide hadn't turned and the beat was a bit slow going. All day we kept getting buzzed by a P51 Mustang. I wish I could have got a picture of it and some part of Robinetta.

Mersea is a fascinating place for boats. I'm sure it has a much more diverse set of rigs than almost anywhere else. We saw two junk rigged boats as well as other gaffers and of course the sprit sailed Dawn. Even some things with funny pointy sails. OK, actually quite a lot of them.

Never let it be said that the OGA is not inclusive. I've yet to see a junk with an OGA pennant but today we saw/met:

• Rob Williamson and Maid of Tesa, a bermudan Vertue
• Mike McCarthy and Emma Hamilton, a classic motor cruiser
• Bernard Patrick and Molly Cobler, a clinker-built gaffer launched in 2000
• Phil and Wendy Wetherill on Spare Rib, a ... RIB
• Pioneer, a 68ft fishing ketch, built in 1864 and rebuilt 1998-2004

Wendy called over as we were lowering sail by the Mersea Quarters cardinal, saying that she must have seen half of the East Coast OGA on the water today!