Boys weekend

Got a couple of guys from work along this weekend..... planning a run down to Burnham.... perfect weather forecast 12kts and 29deg! Need to work out tide times, to get departure right, plus need some fuel, so get down to boat before office closes at 18h00 on Friday!

Heating

We've been using a little electric heater when on shore power, and have a little portable gas heater for when we are away from shore power.... I've never been very comfortable with either of these, and have had my eye open for a diesel Eberspacher heater.... Well just got a D2 Airtronic for a sensible price, so thats one more thing to fit! I have been merrily working my way around eBay collecting the ancilliary bits that I need such as skin fitting, mounting plate, air ducting and face plates... some of which I can't buy yet until I have decided where to locate the heater, and where to run the ducting.... Still, at least we now have the promise of warmer evenings at anchor.... I've also bought one of the 7 day timers, so that we can set it to switch on early in the morning, so that we wake up to a nice warm boat!

Spinnaker Halyard

Having recently fitted a pole downhaul, I almost have the kite set up ready to fly.... One thing that still needs sorting is the halyard.... prior to me fitting clutches, It was on a winch on the coachroof, and then to a cleat, which I was never comfortable with anyway because of the ability (or inability!) to release it quickly under load.... I have subsequently, just put it into a clamcleat, which while it holds it securely out of the way is also totally inappropriate as its difficult to lead it to the winch, and therefore really unusable.... I was hoping to fit it to one of the clutches on the coach roof, but the halyard is 14mm, and doesn't fit the clutch.... Its on the starboard bank, and I really need to have a look to work out the best way forward.... at the moment, the 3 clutches on that side cover the main halyard, the 2nd reef, and (I think), the pole uphaul.... Options therefore include, fitting another clutch thats is bigger, replacing the halyard with a 12mm one, and then fitting another clutch of the same size, or perhaps, slightly more cheaply, and my preferred option, to fit a jammer (or even use the existing clamcleat) for the pole uphaul, which doesn't have the heavy loads of the pole downhaul, and then replace the halyard with 12mm.... If the lines are long enough, I may even be able to swap the halyard and downhaul lines over, and be able to avoid an expensive new bit of rope..... Given that the mast is 13m,the halyard must be 40m long, so wouldn't be cheap! Best bet is for me to have a proper look...... No sailing again this coming weekend, school summer fayre duties call.... (guess who's doing the BBQ!)... but then a good run after that.... every weeekend, and then a possibility of a week on board, followed by a week back at work, and then a fortnight onboard.... result!

Liferaft

Finally ordered a new liferaft yesterday. The one that came with Maggie is of indeterminate age, but looks about 20 years old.... its in a Valise, and the cylinder looks old and rusty.... I certainly wouldn't expect it to inflate, and its been on the list for replacement for some time.... After much contemplation, we've ordered the Arimar 4 person one in a cannister from Compass.... at £469 its a good buy. We considered buying a better one, but decided that as we really only do coastal and the odd hop across to the continent, then its not worth it.... we'll leave that purchase until we dissapear off over the horizon in a few years time..... I've also ordered a deck mounting kit.... we'll put it below the kicker on the deck. Ideally I would have liked to put it on the pushpit rail for easy deployment, but we simply don't have the space to do that.... It has also prompted us to sort out a proper grab bag.... Thought now needs applying to what to put in the grab bag.... need handheld VHF and GPS in there, plus CD for reflections, more water, seasickness pills, and no doubt loads of other stuff.... Other gain, is that the current liferaft is on a shelf below the chart table, so we win all that space back..... not yet 100% sure what we are going to do with the space, but may well box it in, and use it for storage.... perhaps half and half, with half as drawers for more galley stowage, and the other half for infrequently used neccessities such as spare ropes, winch handles etc....

Sunset in the Backwaters

This weekend in Arthur Ransome country.... Stone Point in the Backwaters If you squint, you can imagine Titty, Roger and Susan just disappearing round the corner.......

Hot again

What a grand weekend.... After missing last weekend through family commitments, we were all looking forward to this weekend on the boat..... especially given the forecast... C had a friend along, so we were 5 up.... We rushed away from work Friday evening, to attempt to get away Friday, but traffic, and the 'to-do-list' conspired against us, so we had a relaxing evening on the boat in the marina... The girls, despite going to bed after 21h00, mucked about until after 23h00, when the threat of packing up and going home quietened them down, and they finally went to sleep. They then arose before 07h00, and by 08h00 were in full flight.... We slipped at 09h00, and made our way down to Walton Backwaters.... there was about 7 or 8kts, but very close on the nose, so while we sailed for a while, there was a bit of motoring involved as well.... by 13h00, we were firmly anchored, and getting ready to go ashore.... Blowing the tender up on the boat isn't easy, so that took a while, but we were soon ashore to let the kids blow off some steam... By 17h00, we were back aboard, and spent a pleasant evening, with a decent meal, and a sensibly early night for the littluns who were all showing signs of wilting at this stage! The following morning dawned equally hot, and so we slipped ashore for an early morning walk..... we had decided to take a walk through the dunes, and my weekend was made when M had his toe gently nipped by a rather large land crab... It was only a warning nip, so no damage, but he lept a mile, and ran for hs life..... we couldn't help ourselves, but he was mortally offended by the fact that we were all rolling around on the floor laughing..... male ego huh! By 11h00, we lifted the hook, and set off back towards Ipswich.... a truly beautiful day.... 10kts of wind, and temperature in the high 20's.... this time, the wind was across the beam, so we had a lovely reach across to Harwich, and then gybed our way rigth back down the river, and dropped the sails just before the Lock gates... perfect...... A couple of times the wind filled in to 15kts as a sea breeze kicked in, and much more on the nose, so I had a fun passage, constantly setting and resetting the sails.... kept me occupied, and with the tide assisting us, we made in back to Ipswich really quickly... It took a bit longer than normal to clear up.... how do 2 girls make such a chaotic mess? By 16h00, we were in the car and off home.... , coolbox full of food to munch on the way home, suntans starting to show real progress, and kids fast asleep in the back... Great weekend.... reminds me why I have a boat!

Miles logged 20nm
Miles this season 263nm
Miles since this blog started 1,044nm

Oostende

Maggie at rest in Mercator Harbour, Oostende

relaxing

The skipper (me!) relaxing mid North Sea....

channel sunrise

A mid channel sunrise....

Just to prove that the channel needn't be a scary place for those who haven't crossed it yet!

Home at last!

We set alarms for our rashly agreed 04h45 departure, and retired to bed in Ramsgate.... I had set two alarms, one on my mobile, and one on my watch.... teh mobile went off, and I staggered out of bed, got dressed, and started getting the boat ready.... I was somewhat perturbed that my watch hadn't gone off, and as I glanced was horrified to see that it was an hour earlier than I thought!... bloody phone time had moved forward an hour when I had used it in France, and so it was actually 03h45 UK time..... so cursing, I went back to bed, and in what seemed seconds, was awakened by the alarms again..... We cast off as planned, and set off into the early morning gloom.... all my family had sensibly opted to stay in bed, so I was single handing... which I really enjoyed.... It was pretty much windless and already warm..... so we motored out to North Foreland.... I had with some optimism raised the main, but i had until now flapped uselessly... As we rounded North Foreland, we had a beautiful sunrise, and then the wind filled in to NW at 14kts... I rolled out the genny, and we romped down past Outer Tounge, and reached Long Sand Outer by 07h00... I had to motor sail through Foulgers Gat, as it was just slightly too high to get enough boat speed to avoid being swept out of the narrow channel, but as soon as we had covered the 3nm of the gat, I freed off again, stopped the engine, and we again reached down Black Deep. We reached half way down Black Deep by 08h40, and sadly, the wind dropped to less than 3kts... the sails hung, so we had to put the motor back on, and then motor sailed the whole way back to Ipswich.... it was pretty uneventful, other than the warm weather had clearly brough everyone out.... I have never seen the Orwell so busy... and we were motoring directly into it! As we had reached Harwich, a stiff sea breeze had kicked in, reaching 20 knots, but bang on our nose, so we had to continue motoring.... after 3 days of decent distances, we didn't fancy short tacking up the river in heavy heavy traffic! So thoroughly sunburned, after 2 and 1/2 days of hot weather we finally tied up.... The trip, although nothing like planned proved in the end to be a success, with everyone enjoying it.... and the last 3 days of passage making, all proving to be OK, and not as fatiguing as expected.... a good weeks cruising despite everything! We've reworked our summer plans... the 17 day cruise planned to the Solent has been abandoned in favour of a trip to Holland to see what we missed this time!

Miles logged 35nm
Miles this trip 147nm
Miles this season 243nm
Miles since this blog started 1,024nm

Back to Blighty

The forecast had been looking pretty benign for Friday for the last few days, so we awoke expecting blue skies and light winds..... It was however overcast, and raining, and blowing about 15kts.... We slipped Dunkirk at 08h15, and motored slowly out to sea.... the entrance to Dunkirk is a lot wider and easier than Oostende, and with the slowly reducing wind, the swell had subsided a lot, so we had a pain free exit.... The wind remained North Westerly, so we hoisted sails in 15kts, and reached off at speed towards Calais to clear the Offshore sand banks..... before we knew it we had passed Calais, and were heading up towards the TSS and on to Ramsgate. As we turned towards the wind, the high pressure over the UK showed its hand, and the wind dropped to 3 to 4 kts, the skies turned blue and the sun shone.... so we motor sailed... With the tide not affecting us, we managed 6kts SOG, and soon entered the TSS.... it was still flowing south, so I rather naughtily freed off a few degrees from the normal right angle track so as to end up close to SW Goodwin light vessel.... and we shot off... As we entered the TSS we went through a dozen anchored ships, obviously waiting for the tide to turn.... As we found ourselves in the centre of this mass of steel, I had visions of them all clanking off, and leaving us scurrying from gap to gap, but as the tide remained southerly still, it was only fortunately day dreaming.... We crossed pretty easily... a little traffic going south, but nothing that we needed to change course for, and virtually no traffic against the tide heading north.... We popped out of the TSS and held pretty much the same course for the next 2nm into SW Goodwin, and as we rounded it and pointed north, the tide went slack, and within half an hour was pushing us up inside the Goodwin sands.... perfect passage planning! We soon covered the remaining few miles into Ramsgate, and despite having to wait for 20 minutes outside the entrance for a ferry coming out, were in and tied up by 16h50.... a decent passage of 31nm through the water, and 42nm over the ground.... We again set off for a restaurant, and ended up in a pseudo Greek place, which was OK.... not brilliant, especially after the particularly good Dunkirk experience, but still OK. We all glowed a bit after several hours of strong sunshine, and enjoyed a drink! By 11h00 we were back to the boats..... we had calculated that the optimum departure time for the tides the following morning was 03h45, and had decided that this wasn't a gentlmanly hour, so instead planned to leave at 05h45... we must have had more to drink that we planned, as we agreed on the way back to boats to go forward an hour, and plan for 04h45!

Miles logged 31nm
Miles this trip 112nm
Miles this season 208nm
Miles since this blog started 989nm

escaped!

We arose to find a grey, but relatively calm day, with the wind in the marina at no more than 20kts, so a decision was made to have a dash for Dunkirk.... its only 25nm, so no too much of a challenge... the tides were civilised, suggesting an 09h00 departure.... we made our fairwells to as few new friends made while storm bound in Oostende, and motored out of the entrance.... It was an interesting exit.... there are two piers into Oostende, and the beach either side of them.... because of the shallowing water eith side of the entrance, and the swell running hard from the previous day, we had to punch our way through a few decent waves to get out.... not overly dangerous (or at least not when bow on!), but uncomfortable.... We soon got out into deeper water, and the steep waves changed to rollers, a whole load more comfortable.... we freed right off towards Dunkirk, and found ourselves on a beam reach, with about 20kts of wind.... I had stuck a single reef in the main, and kept a few turns on the genny, and so, while we were occasionally a little pressed in the larger gusts, we were never overpowered to the point of discomfort.... a good job really as the inshore passage to Dunkirk isn't that far off the beach, which in this NW, was a dangerous lee shore.... The positive tide and the strongish winds saw us make exceptionally good speed over the ground of between 7 and 10kts, and we flew down the coast... By 13h00 we had entered the outer harbour at Dunkerque, and after dropping the sails, motored up the further of the two marina, the Yacht Club Mer du Nord after reading the write ups in the Channel pilot.... as it happens a good choice.... a bit more expensive than Oostende at 22 Euros for the night, but good facilities... and much closer to the town... As it was early we walked into town en masse, and headed for a restaurant for food.... no luck though.... they all shut at 15h00... we were too late. So we explored for an hour, in particular being somewhat humbled by the church tower in the twon centre, which was peppered with huge bullet holes from the evacuations of the second world war... hard to appreciate how frightening it must have been really. We returned to the boats to finish tidying up, and agreed to eat at the YC restaurant which advertised its opening at 19h00..... no such luck.... it remained firmly closed... I guess the unseasonal weather had reduced custom to uneconomic levels.... So we wandered back into town, and found a small restaurant that proved to be an absolute gem.... really good service, good prices, and most importantly of all, excellent food..... I ate moules creme, while SWMBO had a fantastic chicken dish in reduced sweet sauce... one of the other members of the group had an 'ocean salad' that would have defied anyone to finish it... it included half a lobster and a mountain of other delights.... and was very good indeed.... for a group of 10, it was 185 Euros including drinks ('several' bottles of wine!) We were back at the boat by 10h00, and soon after to bed.... we didn't have a desperately early start in the morning, but were all pretty tired after a few sleepless nights in Oostende watching warps and fairleads etc...

Miles logged 16nm
Miles this trip 81nm
Miles this season 177nm
Miles since this blog started 958nm