no sailing this weekend

Instead we'll be stripping off wallpaper, painting and clearing up 10 years worth of accumulated toys from beneath beds, in order to get the house ready to go on the market..... even got to face tidying up the garage.... gulp!

Girls weekend

This weekend has been long in the planning. We arranged for several of the ybw forumites to get together, and for the respective SWMBO's to depart upon Maggie, and the boys to leave on FullCircle.... On the girls boat, Mrs FullCircle, Vreny, SWMBO and two non forumites, on the boys boat, myself, FullCircle, Mr Vreny, and a non forumite.... We got down to Maggie Friday evening after a less than perfect journey with the main trunk road we use being closed due to an accident... we found Karen propping up the bar in the Lord Nelson..... Within an hour or so we had got ready to depart and radioed the lock only to be told that they didn't have anyone to operate the lock for 30mins due to a shift change, so by the time we actually locked out it was gone 22h00.... I was slightly nervous of the engine, as I hadn't run it since teeing in the furl line for the Eberspacher... it started beautifully as usual, but I had visions of it dying..... so I didn't settle until we were 45mins up the river by which time I reasoned that any fuel in the filter system and pump would be long gone, and if was going to starve of fuel, it would have happened by now! We grabbed a buoy at Levington, and it was midnight by the time we crashed out.... Alarms woke us at 06h00, and within 15mins of waking we had motored to the fuel pontoon at SYH, and picked up Helen..... we motored back to the mooring, at which point I radioed FullCircle to find out how far away they were. They were planning on leaving Burnham at midnight, so I thought they should be close. I was somewhat concerned to get no reply...! All worrying was to prove futile, as we saw them on a buoy as we motored back... so we tied up alongside... It turns out that they had decided to leave a couple of hours early, and have arrived at 05h00, with Jim helming all night! Regardless, we swapped onto the 'correct' boats, and we, the boys, cast off and grabbed another buoy.... one full fried breakfast later, and we dropped the lines and headed off towards the Deben.... The girls it appears had the same idea, and as we rounded the corner, we saw them slip, and head off up the Stour.... It was upwind towards the Deben, and we had a beat.... Jim is carrying a full complement of marine growth on his hull at the moment, so progress was slow, but we got there, and made our way through the sometimes formidable Deben bar.... that is one serious entrance! A gentle motor up what must be one of the loveliest sailing rivers in the UK river, and we reached Ramsholt.... George, the harbour master was ensconsed in his boat. directing activities in a highly organised manner, and we hovered alongside him, and asked for a mooring which was duly allocated with no hassle... and within 30 mins, we had grabbed it, inflated the tender and set off ashore for the Ramsholt Inn..... Two great pints of Adnams finest beer, and a stinking hot afternoon, along with reduced sleep volumes, and we were all fading... so we decided to head back to the boat.... Jim's tender is only a wee little thing, and four fully grown blokes, with a couple of pints in them on empty stomachs must have been a sight to see! We motored the tender back towards George to make our payment, and were treated to a little bit of 'sailing how it used to be'..... George would take no money from us... a free night....... unbeliveably unusual these days to come across a non money grabbing harbour... and a credit to them.... you Deben folk are lucky to have such a delightful sailing area, as well as 'proper' harbour masters.... We (read Jim) then knocked up a great meal of salmon fried into rice, and various accompaniments... superb.... and then drank a very pleasant bottle of red wine, and three or four of bottles of Duvel between us.... pleasantly glowing, but no longer drunk, we relaxed for an hour or two, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.... As it started to get dark, we had a great sunset... one of those long red ones that stretches down to the water, and across the fields when Jim noted, with a sense of enthusiasm in his voice, that the wind was blowing dead down the river at about 5 or 6 kts, and wouldn't it be a perfect evening for a run down the river under cruising chute..... so we duly hoisted the crusing chute sailed off the mooring with it, and had an amazing sail upstream in the dusk.... heaven..... We found ourselves up by 'the Rocks' anchorage, decided it looked idyllic, so dropped the kite and motored over, dropped the anchor and settled in for the night.... this is one of those few remaining gems of an anchorage... quiet, pretty and sheltered.... lovely. By 21h00, we were all shot, so this roughty toughty boys trip saw us all going to bed by 9pm....! We arose reasoanbly early, enjoyed another great fried breakfast, and set off gently down the river by 09h30. We were going to be a bit early for the bar, so we meandered at just over a knot back towards the river mouth. Which proved to be just the right thing to do. This river is best enjoyed at a leisurely pace... 11h00, and we made the bar.... the tide through here is ferocious.... it was 2 hours before HW, and as we closed on the first of the two main channel marks, we were doing 5.8kts SOW and 1.5kts SOG, and this was a neap tide!.... the water boils and bubbles.... and the posts marking the end of the breakwaters have a huge wave around them, and look to almost be bending under the pressure... not somewhere to make a mstake.... but within a few minutes we had cleared the bar, and headed back to wards Languard point and Harwich.... By 13h00 we were back at Levington, arranged a rendevous with the girls, Left Maggie on a buoy and all went on Full Circle into SYH for a spot of food... a grand meal, and we weren't away until 16h00... All bar myself, SWMBO and Helen set off on Full Circle back towards Burnham, and we set off back towards Ipswich.... tied up, tidied up and ready to depart by 18h30... a bloody good weekend had by all... SWMBO feels that she learned a great deal, having taken much more time on the helm, put Maggie onto a buoy, several MOB drills and most encouragingly from my perspective had to make decisions on strategies for getting into and out of a marina berth with 15kts of wind blowing, and being very pleased with herself for it all working perfectly..... we'll be doing this again I hope... Thanks all, we've had a brilliant weekend....

Miles logged 32nm
Miles this season 916nm
Miles since this blog started 1,699nm

Maggies details

FOR SALE
£18,000
Magna Carter
1976 Dick Carter 3/4 Tonner
Length 33' (10m)
Beam 12' 7" (3.7m)
Draft 5' 7" (1.65m)
Single deep fin in Lead

Maggie is a mast head rig with single spreaders, with a single backstay and babystay both with wheel adjusters to set rig up. She had the sails, mast and standing rigging replaced in 2003 with Hood sails and Selden mast, which is keel stepped. The main is fully battened and on bearing cars with a lazy jack system, and the genoa is furling 150% on a Hood furler, with a foam luff and UV strip. Both sails are in excellent condition. The main has 3 full reefing points, with 2 permanently setup back to the cockpit allowing the sail to be carried into very strong wind conditions, important for safety. There are also included a number 1 through 3 hank on Genoa's and a storm foresail on a seperate wire bolt rope, These are all in very good condition, especially the storm sail which is as good as new. Finally, there are 2 spinnakers, a tri-radial number 1 and a lightweight ghoster. The boat is fully rigged with the appropriate spinnaker handling gear including guys and sheets, pole, uphaul and downhaul. Below decks we have completely re-upholstered her in 2005, including fitting new back cushions, and rebuilding the forepeak to create additional berths and stowage space. She has 7 berths, configured as 2 saloon berths (excellent sea berths with lee clothes fitted), 2 pilot berths (also excellent sea berths), a double in the forepeak, and a quarter berth by the chart table. Overall she is large for her size and age, with full standing room in the main saloon, and is very spacious for her period, certainly more than many of her contemporaries, or within her price bracket. The chart table is capable of taking a half folded admiralty chart, along with large stowage space in chart table for charts, etc. Fitted by the chart table is a spare Magellan GPS, along with a switch panel, a Nasa Navtex unit new in 2006, a radar, Raymarine 20XX, which is a 4KW radar with 24nm range, plus MARPA ready if a fast heading compass is fitted, as well as a Raymarine ST50 log, depth, and analogue wind instrument. There is also a stereo FM cassette player with two speakers in the main saloon. The VHF is also fitted here, and is a Navico 6500S with a masthead aerial, and an additional speaker also out in the cockpit. The main GPS is Garmin also fitted at the chart table, but on a stainless steel bracket that allows it to swing out into the companion way so that it can easily be seen from the helm. The whole chart table has good lighting, plus red lights for night vision. The galley is to port and has a Neptune cooker new in 2004, with twin burners, grill and oven. Alongside this is a decent size coolbox, to which we fitted a compressor fridge unit in 2005, and is sufficiently effective to freeze things when turned right up. The boat has an allin one shore power unit that we fitted in 2005, which provides an onboard 240V circuit, as well as a 3 stage charger for all the batteries, step charging and then trickle charging to maintain their condition. All outlets, both 240V and 12V are through circuit breakers with RCD capability. The system is then wired back through a galvanic isolator to earth, protecting against galvanic corrosion. (again new 2005) The engine is an Albin AD2 diesel, which is original, yet has been well maintained, and starts first time, and runs very well. It has an 8Gallon fuel tank in stainless steel, and we also have a 5 gallon jerry can as a backup included. The engine runs through a gearbox to a shaft sealed with a Deep Sea Shaft seal, and is exhausted through a Vetus exhaust system. Spares are readily available for this engine, but we have several spare new filters, both oil and fuel, spare impellors, fan belts and a complete set of injectors included. The whole things drives a 1" shaft with a 2 blade propellor, fitted with a stripper rope cutter for added security, and that drives Maggie at a comfortable 5kts cruising speed. Fitted in the engine compartment is an Eberspacher Airtronic D2 blown air heating system (current model), with a single oulet into the saloon. This is capable of warming the whole boat in a short time, and can be used while at sea as an added bonus. The batteries are housed beneath the aft ends of the saloon berths. The engine start battery was new in 2005, and is a 102Ah starter battery, There are two domestic/service batteries, both of which were new in August 2006, and are carbon plate 105Ah deep cycle batteries designed especially for multiple charge-discharge routines. Also, there is a 75Ah emergency battery to support either the starter or domestic batteries as neede. All these are charged by the shore power charger unit, and are connected via isloation switches. There is a cleverly constructed wiring system for these, via a Diode isolator system that ensures that they can never be accidentally disconnected from the engine (and hence damaged) and yet and combinations can be brought together as required. This is shown in a wiring diagram that also details schematically the wiring for the whole boat, all of which is comprehensively labelled for easy trouble shooting. Further to the shore power, Maggie also has an Aerogen 4 wind generator on a pole on the transom, supplying charge through a regulator unit that also prevents overcharging the batteries. This is extremelly effective in providing enough power for basic needs, and is very quiet in operation. As a final source of power, there are two Siemens solar panels mounted on the pushpit that can be isolated as required. On the deck, Maggie is fitted throughout with Treadmaster ensuring a safe surface when at sea, and has enormously wide side decks which are both safe and easy when you need to go up top, or for sunbathing when at anchor!. She has genoa cars both sides that are on long enough tracks to allow any of the sails to be set properly, important for safety. On the coachroof is mounted a 4 person liferaft, which was new in August 2006, and has a 4 year service interval. behind this is the sprayhood which provides good protection from the weather. The cockpit is split into 2 sections, a helmsmans well where the tiller sits, and a passenger well. Neither have traditional style seats, but instead very wide decks upon which you sit and that provide enormous amounts of seating space. We like this arrangement as it keeps the tiller clear of the crew (great if you have kids). The cockpit is fitted with two 3 speed 44 winches for the genoa and 2 slightly smaller 2 speed winches on the coachroof by the clutches for control lines and halyards. The control lines and halyards are led through clutches that were fitted new in 2006, along with new deck tidies to keep line runs neat and tidy. There are also rope tidy bags, and winch handle pockets fitted in the cockpit. In the passenger cockpit is a large locker, with the gas locker inside (which drains overboard) and hols a 3.9KG propane bottle with space for all the fenders, buckets, warps and miscelleaneous bits that collect. In the helms cockpit is a larger locker that opens into the stern of the boat in which we keep the shore power lead, and various other bits and bobs. There is a large selection of warps and fenders included in the sale. On the foredeck is a Simpson Lawrence electric windlass, with a foot operated switch as well as manual capability with a 25lb original CQR, 20m of chain and 20m of warp stowing to a dedicated anchor locker in the bows. and the anchor on dedicated chocks or stowed on the bow roller. In the helmsmans cockpit is a Raymarine 1000 autopilot that allows easy handling short handed or more relaxed passage making. in front of this, in the bulkhead is a new Plastimo bulkhead steering compass, and the otherside a Raymarine tridata repeater, allowing all the instruments to be seen in the cockpit simultaneously, with a large display for those with slightly less than perfect eyesight! The boat has a traditional port and starboard light on either side of the pullpit, a new stern light, and a steaming light and deck light on the mast, as well as an anchor light that plugs into a power supply on the stern. There are 3 bilge pumps, two manual whale systems one in the saloon, and one in the cockpit, and an electric bilge pump on a float switch under the main saloon floor. The galley is well fitted with stowage space, as is the rest of the boat. In fact there is an enormous amount of stowage space for accumulating your nic nacs! There are two large stainless steel water tanks low down in the boat for stability, with large inspection hatches for easy cleaning. The heads are forward, and is a large Jabsco, which was new in 2003. There is also a seperate vanity basin, storage for toiletries and a large wet locker to keep wet clothes and oilies to avoid soaking the boat. She also has two horsehoe safety buoys. Throughout she has large cleats that are capable of carrying substantial loads for safe mooring, towing or general usage. She has a large number of other miscellaneous items that will be included such as jackstays, flag halyards, a new ensign staff and radar reflector. In fact everything you need to get sailing immediately. Finally, her handling. Maggie is a Carter 3/4 Tonner. They are reknowned for their safe sea manners. She handles a big sea with ease, is a delight in a steady breeze, and has a lovely feel when at the helm. She is more than capable of handling anything thrown at her, and will carry on long after the crew have given up! She is built extremely solidly, with thicknesses in excess of 1 1/2" in places, with a skeg protecting the rudder, and hence is a safe solid boat. Yes she's 30 yrs old, and isn't perfect, with the odd scrape and scratch, along with the usual round of filled holes, but she's in pretty good nick overall for her age, and very well maintained and cared for. You will find (as we did when we were looking) that it will be difficult to find a boat with more space, storage and dependability for the price. If you want a boat for family sailing, the extra space Maggie offers will be hugely appreciated. I'm sure i've missed things, and i'll add them as I think of them... but please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. If the above isn't enough (phew!) then read this blog. There are pages and pages of details and pictures regarding where we've been with her, what work we've done, and how we've found her to handle and sail. You'll not find a more open view of a boat than here!

Maggie for sale

Property prices look possible to facilitate a newer boat, so Maggie will be going on the market shortly..... price to be decided... but she'll be a bargain given what we done to her, and how well she sails! If you are interested, drop me a mail from here, and i'll get back to you with details.... Full spec to follow shortly...

Boat show

Interesting boat show as usual..... Met several people that we know while there... So what did we see? We looked at various different boats, not really particularly serious about buying, but still took a look... We were impressed by the layout and thought placed into the design of the Bavarias... but put off by poor quality in one or two places..... the Jenneaus looked like the design was showing its age.... particularly the teensy weensy cockpits..... and the interiors, which while nicely layed out, looked a little fragile... But.... the Beneteau..... we were very impressed with the Cyclades range... substantial, spacy and yet still useable at sea... We had a good poke around the 393, which we liked a great deal... and a brief, longing look at the bigger 43 foot version.... In fact we liked the 393 so much that we are looking at the viability of moving to a smaller house to get a budget sufficient..... SWMBO is coming home from work today armed with local paper property section.... and i've been trawling internet sites to get a feel for local property prices... More on this soon no doubt.... either realising that its not practical, or possibly a visit to the local dealer for a test sail!... we got enthusiastic about this time last year about a new boat purchase, but never followed it through.... this time seems a little more possible though.... I guess if it looks viable, then Maggie will soon be on the market.... contact me if you are interested.... if you read this blog, you'll know already how much care, time and attention she's had in the last couple of years, and how beautifully she sails in both light and rough stuff.... Other than that, not a lot going on at the show.... usual round of cheap bits and bobs, none of which we desperately needed, so we saved the money and went home by 15h00...

Cherbourg Jolly....

Well what can I say.... The usual round of frivolities on the now annual Scuttlebutt Cherbourg trip.... this year about 20 boats and 65 people made it.... I was sailing with StugeronSteve on his Beneteau Oceanis 331 again, and we made it down to his Marina at the lovely Beaulieu at about 23h00, much at the same time... after I had detoured to Ipswich on the way to pick up 2 kites with the forecast following winds both ways and light.... Jhr turned up promptly ay 07h00 the next morning, and after we had spent an hour in the pouring rain freeing a stuck spinnaker pole fitting, we slipped.... the plan was to head for St Vaast, just East of Cherbourg, and given that its locked and didn't open until 02h00, we went the long way round out of the Solent via Bembridge, which proved a nice sail, as the rain stopped, and the wind blew about 12kts... As we passed Bembridge, we set a course of 186 Mag, turned the autopilot on, and settled in..... Steve had invested in a new Raymarine combined plotter and radar, so a good chunk of the journey was used up in playing with this new 'toy', and by 23h00, we were off Barfleur.... Tome called up on the VHF and was only 5nm west of us, so we converged and headed into St Vaast together..... The night was black as it could possibly be.... full cloud cover, hiding the moon, so it was impossible to even pick out the horizon,. As we closed land, we could see massive storms on the radar, and ten minutes later, the heavens opened.... it was torrential.... so here we were, approaching a notoriously difficult entrance, none of us having been before, with absolutely no visibility, and with rain so hard that we could neither read the plotter screen, or look anywhere other than our feet without drowning..... fun really! none-the-less, we made it in, after a bit of dancing around with the local fishing fleet, and got ourselves tied up by 02h30... A couple of drinks to celebrate a successful crossing, and we retired to bed.... the next day was a bit grey, but thankfully not raining too much, so we had a quick look around St Vaast.... very nice.... not overly commer******ed... By the evening, we found a little restaurant, enjoyed Moule Frites, and went back to bed by midnight.... Tome's crew meanwhile lived up to their name as the Emsworth Bad Boys, and partied all day.... absolutely hammered is the term that springs to mind, with antics including walking into closed plate glass doors.... 06h00 the following morning, we slipped and headed over to Cherbourg.... 35nm by the battleship route, but with a moderating sea, we cut a few corners, and with a good tide, did it in 23nm.... the sea, while moderating, was still quite large, and the first 10nm to windward, across a quartering sea saw one of our crew off, and from reports after, several others on the other boats.... Regardless, 11h00, and in Cherbourg.... 20 boats there.... biggest accomplishment in my eyes being Duncan in his day fishing boat!!!!!!, along with about half a dozen 'channel virgins'... well done all of you... We had time for a quick scrub up, and caught up with a few old friends, and made a few new ones, and before we knew it, it was 19h00, and we were in the bar again... this time for an orgnaised meal in the yacht club..... cracking evening.... usual reparté, and another late night..... So..... Departure Sunday morning was delayed until 08h20, almost the last boat out, and we had a light wind motor sail all the way back... with the wind thankfully across the beam, but never more than about 10 to 12kts..... we entered the solent via the Needles Channel, and m,ade our way into Yarmouth, where we rafted up against Nick, and also found Pat and Tom there too.... so four boats, a visit to the Kings head... proper beer, and a very decent Steak and Ale pie.... back to the boat by 22h30 before the last water taxi, and then finished a decent chunk of a bottle of Laphroaig along with Nick's crew..... sigh... 02h00 again.... 07h00 Monday, and we slipped off, for the short hop back to Beaulieu..... tied up, sorted the boat... gave it the kind of clean needed after a boys weekend trip, and away by midday... What a great weekend.... i'm absolutely knackered.... but we've had a real good time, got some great sailing in, and we'll be there again next year.... I'm thinking about leaving Maggie in the solent after our summer cruise, and doing the Cherbourg trip on her, and then taking her straight back to Ipswich afterwards... long trip, but might if a couple of the east coast gang are up for it.... Tommorrow we're off the Southampton Boat Show.... report to follow....

Miles logged 180nm
Miles this season 884nm
Miles since this blog started 1,667nm

hot air... again..

So the Eberspacher is nearly fitted.... it was, as suspected, quite a big job... I mounted the main unit on an internal bulkhead behind the engine...crawling into a small space through the aft locker, into the guts of the baot.... I then 'teed' the fuel supply off the main engine supply.... by crawling through the aft locker into the guts of the boat... it wasn't as bad a job as I had anticipated... when I got inside the boat, I found another fuel shut off tap at the exit from the tank, that I didn't know existed, so when I cut the main pipe, there was only a dribble of fuel to catch.... the next bit was a little more nerve wracking, cutting a hole in the transom for the exhaust outlet..... it wasnb't quite the right shape and took 20mins of filing to get the nice shiny stainless exhausr plate to fit.... but it does look good now... Next, I fitted the exhaust pipe between the heater and the transom... by drawling into the guts of the boat Then finally, fed cables through from the main cut off switch to the heater unit.... and connected them... by crawling through into the guts of the boat... after getting back out to turn the power back on, I crawled back in, and turned it on.... Bingo! it fired first time despite the many horror stories I had been fed about 'pesky heaters'..... I fairly quickly switched it off though, as I haven't yet fitted ducting, and didn't want to cook the engine compartment.... I managed to burn my butt on the way back out of the rear locker on the now hot exhaust.... So, left to do before the job is finished.....

1] lag the exhaust and fix it in place
2] fit the 2m run of ducting
3] extend the wiring on the control so that it is the main boat! Just so you understand... the rear cockpit locker is a hole 16" by 30"..... hence the complaints... and the numerous cuts and bruises!!!!!

heating

No sailing this weekend... C has her 11+ exam for entry to Grammer school... but I am going down to the boat tommorrow to start fitting the Eberspacher... the exhaust turned up yesterday, so at least I can trial run it now when its fitted (if its fitted!).... And thenb all i'll have to do is fit the warm air ducting... Current thoughts are to run just a single vent near the chart table, angled down the length of the boat.... I would in the ideal world like to run a vent all the way to the forepeak as well, but its a long run, so will firstly be difficult to route, secondly very expensive (I estimate about £90 of fittings and pipe plus another £50 for lagging it), and thirdly the air may well not be that warm by the time it gets that far anyway.....