shut for winter

Today changed from a last opportunity to sail into a trip to start emptying the boat... the forecast was poor, and so we decided to cut our losses, and start the sad process of winterising her...Firstly the sails came off.... easy with the furling genny, but i'd never removed a furling main before... access comes via two small removable panels on the mast, and I was surprised to find that it was actually quite easy... the only fiddly bit was undoing the two shackles that hold the sail to the top swivel and the base swivel (exactly the same as a furling genny) through the small holes, but once that was done, then the sail just fell down.... the act of folding was interesting.... less difficult for the small main, but the genny was rather large to fold on the foredeck... but we got it done...Then the sprayhood came off... I hate this job... its the one that suddenly makes the boat look bare....We loaded all the main berth cushions into a trolley and marched them up to the car.... they clearly weren't going to fit in, so we marched them back, and instead filled the car with duvets, pillows, etc...Next the water system was drained... took 20mins of running the taps, and then the calorifier was drained fairly quickly with the manual lever on the front of the tank.... As part of the process, I spent 20mins locating the previously absent switch for the calorifier. I knew there must be one otherwiuse you couldn't have shore power on without frying the heating element, but had never managed to find it.The fridge was the next target, being emptied, cleaned and left open after switching off...Finally, after various piles of other bits and bobs were carted off to the car, we dismounted the liferaft, outboard, lifebuoy, danbuoy and various other attached implements and stashed them below.I've got to go down again next weekend to bring the cushions back, and all the books and charts, as well as winterise the engine before she is lifted on the following monday.Its very depressing walking away from a 'naked' boat knowing that its several months until you'll be sailing on her again.So.... this winter....A long list of tasks (who said that older boats need more work doing?)... including:

mounting the Davits
fit some cockpit speakers for the stereo
fit u-bolts for harness clip on points in the cockpit
make a permanent mount for the plotter
re-engineer drain arrangements for the fridge so that it drains!
fit a windex (will have to wait for boat to go back in the water!)
repair and re-waterproof cockpit tent
make some dodgers
fit extra clutches for kicker and spare genny halyard
insulate Eberspacher pipes
replace gas pipes
replace mainsheet and kicker ropes
re-varnish washboards
fit cockpit LED lighting
fit hydrostatic release to liferaft
remount clock and barometer (removed to fit cup holder and so neeed relocating)
fix transom shower (currently disconnected and blanked off)
paint top of gearbox (slight corrosion)

And all this besides the normal list of cleaning, polishing, antifouling. anodes etc etc
Plenty to do to while away the cold winter weekends!

cold but clear

Another stunning day....Yesterday (monday) was a bit of a wash out.... cold, wet and no wind.... C celebrated (and proved her age categorically) by staying in bed until 15h00, while SWMBO and I sat on the boat, read, drank beer, ate an excellent curry, and generally wasted the day away with great satisfaction.... M was less than impressed, but somewhat placated by promises of being allowed to fish tommorrow...So upon awaking this morning, I was delighted to see a clear blue sky, gentle 9 to 13kts of breeze, and very little traffic about.... so we slipped out, sailed up the Orwell, stopped at Pin Mill for lunch and generally just idled... perfect...Only mistake of the day was in the lock on the way back in, where I suggested that M could slip the stern line upon leaving.... we had the wind blowing us on, and I didn't make it clear that he needed to pull the stern in when the bow had slipped free to allow us to spring off... my mistake, which only resulted in us bumping along the fenders until we were able to slip clear.... nothing serious!Autumn seems to have arrived with vengance though.... bitterly cold.... the season is nearly over.

Miles logged 10nm
Miles this season 1,140nm
Miles since this blog started 2,937nm

warm weather

We arrived at the boat Thursday morning after deciding to enjoy a lay in and not head down Wednesday night, to find overcast weather. This was the cue for a 'marina day', which is code for doing absolutely nothing, and just chilling out. This went completely to plan, as we achieved sod all!Friday, we finally felt that a sail was in order, especially as the clouds had disappeared, and there was a wonderful autumnal blue sky. It was a bit chilly, but with the sun out, it felt much warmer than it was. After a family discussion, a plan was hatched to head up the Stour, another location not yet suitably explored. So we popped out of the marina, and set the sails in just 6kts of breeze and gently wafted up to Wrabness, and upon reaching it, turned round and headed back, into the tide with little wind, and thoroughly enjoyed making just 0.4kts over the ground.... perfect!We sailed past Shotley and into the Orwell, grabbed a buoy at STH for a quick cuppa and then back into the marina.... very pleasant.However, the main purpose of the weekend was the Laying down supper from the YBW forum east coast section, and by 19:00 Dave and Louise had arrived, two of our crew for the weekend. As has become tradition, Dave and I sat and drank red wine until the wee small hours, and generally put the world to rights. By 10:30 the following morning, Bernie, our 3rd crew member had arrived and we got her on board and set off.The forecast was for very very light winds, so I expected that we'd motor up to Bradwell, so was somewhat surprised to lock out and find a stiff breeze blowing. In fact by the time we'd rounded Guard buoy we had 21kts over the deck. In what can only be described as 'business as usual', it was dead on the nose, but I accepted it, knowing that as we rounded Walton headland it would be a glorious beam reach. Typically, it died right down as we reached Walton, and shifted so we had a beat the whole way up the Wallet in just 10 to 13kts.... still fun though. It was cold by the time we reached the Knoll buoy marking the entrance to the Blackwater, with grey overcast skies, so we were glad to get tied up in Bradwell.The evening consisted of a great meal in the Green Man... loads of food, loads of drink, plenty of merriment and excellent company.I awokde Sunday with a slightly fuzzy head to see a misty start to the day but with obvious potential. By the time the crew were roused and rounded up at 10:00 it was time to leave. Much later and we would have struggled for water out of Bradwell creek. So out we slipped, and into the Blackwater. What a wonderful day. The skies were brilliant blue. It wasn't hot as such, but with virtually no wind and stronf sun, it felt like a spring morning. We motored the whole way, with the wind never going above 3kts.As we came round Walton, it had become very warm indeed, and with completely flat seas and great weather, we decided to take the opportunity to relax for a tiny bit longer, so half a mile off Pye End we dropped the anchor and ate lunch out at sea. It was perfect!Soone enough we were on our way again, and locked in by 15:00.Excellent weekend! We've still got two days of annual leave to go, so not sure what we're going to do Mon/Tues... perhaps Hamford water?... weather looks settled for more of the same.

Miles logged 65nm
Miles this season 1,130nm
Miles since this blog started 2,927nm

closing out the season

Its getting really close to the end of the season.... no sailing this weekend as its C's birthday, and we have a house full of kids.....But next weekend we have a laying up supper at Bradwell, and also have the Thu/Fri and Mon/Tue off work, so hopefully, weather permitting, we'll get a few a chance to go hide away somewhere for a few days.... we are hoping to find a quiet anchorage and just sit and chill a bit...Boat comes out on 5th Nov, so we may have another weekeend before she's lifted, but suspect that'll be used to start the depressing process of emptying the boat for her winter layup...

East goes north

This weekend, Full Circle and I headed north...... way way north, to assist Silkie of these parts with his kite flying technique...Its was a loooooooong drive... 420 miles to be precise, leaving the East Midlands at 15H00.... we left Oban to port at 22h40ish, and FC looking visibly distressed at the close proximity of closing time, got his foot down.... it was a small, narrow windy road, with unpredictable corners and bumps, but once i'd convinced him to slow down to 70mph, it felt a little safer. He even was sensible enough to reduce his speed to 60mph on the single track road approaching Balvicar. We saw the lights of the 'bridge over the Atlantic' ahead, and after a handbrake turn around the unexpected right angle corner and cottage hit the bridge at sufficient speed that we just about landed in the car park for the Tigh an Truish. It was 22h59. The car was abandoned outside the pub front door with the lights on, doors open, and engine running, and two strange english blokes crashed through the front door with outstretched arms holding sufficient coinage for a pint to find a scene of utter tranquility.... Silkie sitting at the bar, where he'd been waiting for us since 20h00, looking a little glazed, and a landlord who was somewhat amused at the idea of a closing time....Ah.......A couple of pints later (see, there was no rush after all), and we moved the cars the 2miles to the boatyard, where we nervously lifted Silkie's half inflated tender down to water, laughed at him as he was the only one with wellies on (guess who had to push the boat off), and set off with Silkie rowing for all his heart, while we sat buried under a small bags of clothes each, and an enormous bag of food and drink (well, a little food was in there). Silkie immediately demonstrated his Scottish guile, and inbuilt Scottish ability for subtle revenge by taking a good hard pull on the oars and soaking the posterior of one Mr Full Circle. We gathered aboard the good ship Silkie, and did the decent thing. We opened a bottle of whisky. It was a bit later by the time we poured ourselves into bed.Arising the following morning, we discovered a rather classic west coast of Scotland day. It was raining.Being hardy souls, and seeing the look of dissapointment at the potential for not getting his kite flying on Dave's face, we decided to set off anyway. His dissapointment was well disguised, as he spent a good few minutes staring at the whisky bottle and muttering things like "Dinna ye want ti wait for ra rain te stop?". When we cheerfully replied "no thanks", he even managed to look sad.So we cast free of his bouy, and set off. Dave immediately decided that crew was a good thing. He sat down, handed us the tiller and started relaxing. He even only managed 'slightly nervous' as we cleared Clete Rock and Cuan, and pirouetted our way down into more open water.We'd been out for as long as 45mins, and were thoroughly soaked. Undeterred by this minor set back, FC started to rig bits of rope, pulleys and god knows what else in strange and exotic positions. Extensive use of jubillee clips and screwdrivers added a certain degree of 'the unusal' to the experience of flying a spinnaker. But he seemed happy, so we let him get on with it.Before long, there we were, with a kite rigged, ready to go. Everyone was having a ball.

And just a few minutes later, there was a rustling noise, I looked round to see Dave with his eyes closed, fiddling with the main sheets in a way remarkably reminicent of rosary beads, and gosh. The kite was up.

We had a splendid sail down to Dunstaffnage, where the volume of water now inside rather than outside of our oilies suggested it was time to stop. That and the appeal of a shore power cable and warm dry pub.So we tied up, with FC and I laughing hysterically at the aisle widths.... room to maneouvre?.... you could anchor between the blummin aisles....A fine performance by the Northern hemsiphere teams in the rugby suggested a drink or two, and we tried our best to meet the challenge.... but being sensible people, we even maintained a degree of moderation by moving on to halfs after the first two or three pints. I believe Dave managed about 8 halves.A wander/stagger back to the boat was made even more entertaining by the lack of basics. Like bolts joining the finger pontton to the main aisle pontton, but a headfirst dive over the guard wires saw us OK. Naturally, more whisky was appropriate. In fact FC provided a rather interesting bottle. The colour of licquorice. Both in and out.By 01h30, there was only one thing left to do. Eat Lorne sausage. So taking care to not burn his fingers too badly lighting the stove, Dave soon completed a sterling effort, aided by regular visits to his glass, and we sat happily eating Lorne sausage rolls while the world slept outside.Of course, we knew that we wouldn't be believed. So we documented it.

There was a distinct lack of grissle. I feel undersold.So you can imagine our surprise to arise the next morning to see a misty start, but with the real threat of a bit of sun. Even Dave looked surprised. No. In fact, he looked shocked. And maybe a bit hungover.So, after a hearty breakfast, with a bit more Lorne sausage thrown in, we cast off, and headed back towards Balvicar.Something wierd happened. The sun came out. In fact, it shone its little heart out.

it got so warm that we ended up in T-shirts.Dave claimed that this last happened in 1983.After motoring for a while in the complete lack of wind, sighting an entire pod of Porpoise swimming along, and unusually even getting quite ambitious with their jumps, we decided to pop the kite again.It was flown for 2 hours. We even got Dave to Gybe it. Grin. He was like a Cheshire cat.Apart from one or two minor events, like nearly hitting an enormous island, we had a non eventful run back. Dave said it wasn't that unusual for the depth to reduce to 2.2m. What would we know. We sail on the east coast. Its unusual for the depth to go above 2.2m where I come from.Being a bit (like 2 hours) ahead of the tidal gate back through Cuan, we decided to grab a buoy at Easdale. Dave said it was well marked. He was of course talking relative. The marks are a slightly wonky green pole, and a stub of a pole that is 12 inches above the water line. Oh, and another pole with a green beer barrel on top of it. Class.As an anchorage, it didn't have a lot going for it. All it could offer was stunning scenery, complete shelter. And a microbrewery. Harumph.

So as the tide conditions resumed there normal status, we cast off, and headed back through the Cuan area again, demonstrating our ability to steer completely randomly while the tide actually decided where we would go, and slipped back to the mooring, which yet again, wasn't really worth going to. Miserable views.

Thanks Dave. It was a ball. Your sailing area is absolutely stunning. The welcome was warm, and both Jim and I had a really really marvellous weekend. Was it worth a round trip of 900 miles for?.... darned right it was!

Tigh na Truish

After a passing offer made much earlier in the year, Jim and I have finally got ourselves sorted enough to be heading up to Scotland to help Silkie with his spinnaker handling..The Scots contingent have spent enough time extolling the virtues of the 'bridge over the Atlantic' and the 'House of Trousers' public Inn, so we'll now be able to verify their claims...Really looking forward to sampling the delights of the Tigh na Truish, Seil island, Balvicar and Puilladobhran in Silkie's Hurley 22....