plans

Nipped down to Maggie this weekend to check that she was OK.... all fine.... Have the advantage of a very nice couple living aboard just 3 boats up, who keep an eye on everything for us.... Now.... we've been umming and arring for a while about what to do with a new boat, and have come to a decision.... we are going to stick with Maggie for 2 more seasons, and use it as a chance to save a bigger deposit..... we decided that we would probably be stretching ourselves a bit too much financially.... so thats the plan (unless circumstances change!) Given that... I went out on Saturday, and collected a radar that I have bought on ebay... so we are now even more battery dependent! a Raytheon 20XX with a 4Kw raydome and MARPA.... looks really good... only concern is that the Raydome is HUGE.... looking at Maggie, i'll need to mount it above the babystay, as its too big to go below it, unless I mount it very low.... also means it'll have to go up a further 2 feet to clear the pole uphaul... that dictates that it'll be about 5 foot above the spreaders.... not sure about mounting it that high....need to have a think about it.... I guess the ideal solution would be a pole off the stern, but I can't believe how expensive they are! We've also been thinking about going back to our original plans to relocate winches, and its agreed... also need to recover the cushions over the winter, make the cushions for the newly fitted forepeak berths, add single line reefing, clutches for all the control lines and jammers for the traveller, fiddle the bookshelves, and a long long list of other things....

autumn pottering

Went down to Maggie on Friday evening not really sure what to expect..... there was slight rain falling, with occasional heavier bursts, it was pretty cold, and the wind was blowing about 35kts.... ah... unlikely to be any sailing if it stays like this.... still, the forecast was for the wind to moderate significantly overnight, and for it to stop raining, although remaining cloudy... We had taken down a small heater with us, and were grateful for it... retired to bed at about 21h30, knackered after a long week at work! Could I sleep?... could I 'eckers like!.... SWMBO was just as wide awake....wind was making enough noise to wake the dead.... everything was banging, twanging and knocking.... eventually at about 01h30, I drifted off..... kids however, managed to get to sleep no problem..... the following morning, the wind had not only moderated, it had vanished....so we bit the bullet, and decided to poke our nose out of the lock, and see what was happening in the river, thinking that the worst case was a short motor down to grab a buoy at Pin Mill, and maybe lunch at the Butt and Oyster.. So, it was a pleasant suprise to find 10kts of wind in the river, and even better when the sun popped out to say hello! Now, I'm not complaining you understand, but just what is going on with this weather?.... we found ourselves sailing down the river in late October in T-Shirts, saoking up a lovely warm morning, with full sails up, sailing pretty deep, and having a very relaxing time. As is often the case for this late in the season, there were very few boats about, and so we had a marvellous sail, very much enjoying ourselves. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we sailed past Pin Mill, and carried on out past Harwich, and out to sea. By about 13h30, we decided to turn around and head back. As we started back into the wind, the temperature felt somewhat lower, and this also coincided with clouds appearing to cover the sun, so on came the oilies, and we sailed close hauled back towards Harwich. C took the helm, and then proceeded to sail Maggie the whole way back, including sailing right on the wind having to pinch slightly to avoid tacking in some parts of the river. For me, one of the highlights of the season has been how C has taken to helming. I don't have to keep anywhere near as close an eye on her as I did at the start of the season, and she is definitely starting to 'feel' the boat. She is going to make a good helmswomen I am sure. I have promised her that if she keeps trying, then we'll let her have a go a taking the boat alongside the holding pontoon outside the marina next summer.... she's not far off ready to have a go... So, back in the lock by 16h00, and in our marina berth by 16h15... C then helped her mum prepare a massive Spaghetti Bolognaise... yum yum! Another heater assisted nights sleep, much better this time as the noise had vanished, and on Sunday morning, we decided to just kick back, and waste time. We wandered over to Haven marina, and browsed for 20mins in the chandlery, and then tidied up Maggie comprehensively.... took the tender and engine below for the first time this season, and locked her up and departed by 12h30.... On the way out in the car, we dropped again into Haven, to see if Beancounter was about.... and indeed he was... so had a quick coffee with him, and then off home.... So... a great autumn weekend... a lovely sail, that everyone admitted to really enjoying... great to be still getting such a nice weekend this late in the season...

miles this trip:16nm
miles this season: 757nm

planning tweaks

Been thinking about a few tweaks to make Maggie a bit easier to sail shorthanded, and with an inexperenced crew.... Firstly, going to modify the current traditional slab reefing by making it two line reefing, eg a line to the tack and a line to the clew, and then run both lines together through a clutch to enable the equivalent of single line reefing without having to resort to additional pulleys etc.... a second pair of lines will complete the 2nd reef, and then manual swap over for reef 3 Secondly, I am going to add a couple of seats into the cockpit, nothing flash, just a shaped piece of timber with supports fitted to the existing cockpit sides, and removable.... given her background as a racer, there aren't cockpit seats in the traditional sense, rather very wide decks that extend all the way back.... so a couple of seats are easily added.... there is room..... Thirdly, I am going to bolt a shaped piece of timber onto the end of the coachroof to deflect waves that run back along the side decks and make the cockpit a bit drier. Last but not least, I am going to re-locate two of the winches, so that there is more seating room generally..... I still haven't quite finished the forepeak, having trim to fit still in order to hide a couple of rough edges, and cushions to make for them. At the same time, I will re-cover all the cushions... Good list of winter tasks me thinks! Some will happen while Maggie is still in the water, as we are only planning 4 weeks ashore to get a few jobs like renewing anodes, antifouling and having a good poke around the shaft seal....

Moody maneouvres!

Helped Beancounter (John) move his new boat, a Moody 31 called Stargazer this weekend, from Tollesbury to Ipswich. Tollesbury, I hadn't been to before, Ipswich, well... enough.... I met John, and his wife Ruth, down at the Marina at about 10h30 Saturday morning, and after lugging my tender and outboard over to his car (for emergency propulsion, plus shore leave in Brightlingsea), we set off down to Tollesbury. We arrived at Tollesbury, and had loaded the boat up by midday, and proceeded to chill out for a while. Tollesbury has a cill, and so we couldn't slip out until a couple of hours either side of high water, which meant about 15h00 departure... By 14h30, John and I had wondered over to the tide guage over the cill, and had decided that there was enough, so we fired her up, and set off.... Tollesbury is quite tight on water, so we motored gently out of the marina.... This is John's first boat, and so he seemed understandably nervous (weren't we all the first time!)... not helped by a geezeer in a small rigid tender motoring right across his bows in the tightly spaced marina.... a rapid burst of astern solved the problem, but was a bit naughty of the tender driver. We crossed gingerly over the cill, and set off up the river into the Blackwater... channel markers soon showed up, and before we knew it, we were out into the Nass Quarters, with deeper water, and much more room to maneouvre. We set a course for the Bench Head buoy, showing the entrance to the Colne, and with about 18kts of wind over the beam, made rapid progress.... eventually Ruth won out, and decided that we should reef..... not unreasonable given that she was trying to work at the galley making hot drinks.... John had a grin from ear to ear.... another satisfied boat owner! Upon reaching Bench Head, we hardened up, and headed up the Colne, rapidly reaching the transits into Brightlingsea..... I called up on the VHF, and no reply.... after several attempts, I began to wonder if the VHF was transmitting OK.... it was certainly receiving well... we were picking up transmissions from fairly long distances away.... I grabbed my handheld from my bag, and immediately got a response..... harbour master was just departing for the evening.... and told us to take a berth... which we duly set off to do.... The tide was ripping out of Brighlingsea, so John sensibly opted to go alongside into the tide, although we did round once first as we had overshot the suggested berth by the time we had spotted it..... John however then executed a good maneouvre, and we settled comfortably alongside. A great evening meal was prepared and delivered by Ruth, and a decision was made to stay on board, and not bother blowing up the tender for a shore trip. I have to say, I do really like Brighlingsea. Its nice and easy to get into, and very pretty once you are there. We had a lovely evening, except it started raining at about 20h30. So we battened down the hatches and retired to bed by 21h30! Arising at 06h00, we were greeted to a bitterly cold morning, which was somehow completely tempered by the glorious blue sky, and the pretty red sunrise, which as ever, is straight over the anchorages, and so always looks fantastic.... We had a hearty breakfast, and cast off by 07h30, and made our way out past the bouys that we had followed in the previous evening.... By 08h30, we had rounded Knoll, and set a course towards Medusa buoy, just off Walton headland.... the wind had pretty much gone, so we motor sailed... there was enough wind to hold both sails, but only just...... the slightly earlier than originally planned start had allowed us to benefit from more fair tide, and so we made great progress, passing first Clacton, and then Frinton. By 11h00, we had rounded Walton, and set off into Harwich. A fairly uneventful trip back up the river with no more traffic than usual saw us at the lock by 14h00, and again John executed a good maneouvre, and put us nicely alongside on the Pontoon in the lock.... We locked through, and were soon on the berth.... it was OK to get into, and John did a good enough job... a bit of practice with his own boat, and the ensuing raised confidence, and he'll be fine.... Unloaded, and various bits of sailing kit back on Maggie, I was away by 15h30. John and Ruth very kindly gave me some vouchers for the chandlery for helping out. They needn't have, as I really enjoyed myself, and they were great company, especially Ruth ready supply of great food! So, again, tired and happy, and yet another superb autumn sail...... thanks Ruth and John, a marvellous weekend.

Miles logged this trip 34nm
Miles logged this season 741nm

next weekend... another delivery trip...

Should have added.... full weekend sailing next weekend, but minus the family again.... (good job they are easy going!) John (Beancounter) has finally bought himself a new boat, and needs to deliver it back from Tollesbury to Ipswich.... and I volunteered to help... its a Moody 31, and we'll break the trip at Brightlingsea.... should be fun... but very dependent upon the weather forecast....

autumn is here!

Didn't sail on Saturday... We were intending to... but a Friday night drink when a few friends came over caused a somewhat thicker head than planned on Saturday morning.... so we chilled, and planned a day sail on Sunday.... We set off nice and early Sunday morning, recruiting my father-in-law along the way as additional crew, and chief child entertainment officer...... We got down to the boat by 09h15 Sunday, and after the usual routine, were off the pontoon by 10h00.... It was a beautiful autumn day.... blue skies, and a good stiff breeze blowing, with the temperature struggling to nudge past 10 degrees... We set off down the river, and unfurled about 2/3 of the genny, and proceeded on a dead run... the wind was at about 15kts, and as we ran down the river, and got closer to Harwich, it built to 20kts, with gusts up to 25kts..... great autumn sailing conditions, but as we were dead downwind, we stayed under genny alone. We stuck our nose out past Languard point for about 2nm, and then turned round, and headed back up wind.... it was pretty gysty, and going into the wind, it was pretty cold, so we furled the genny, and motored back towards Ipswich.... strainght into the wind, and the ebb out of the river, so we were only making 3 to 4 knots over the ground.... a long slow slog back up the river, saw us tied up by 15h00. I don't know about anyone else, but those Autumn sails in cold weather are for me some of the best sails of the year.... very few boats about... and the ones that are seem to know what they are doing much more generally, and the rules of the road seem to be understood more readily, so less confusion! We all got a bit chilly, but nothing that hot coffee and soup couldn't deal with, and the first sail of the year in gloves and hats....

Miles logged this trip 21nm
Miles logged this season 707nm