delayed again

The boat won't be done for this weekend.....So that'll be another weeks mooring fees.....I have a comittment to the following Friday....tickets rearranged....What's the betting that the weather is shocking?

clutches

It has been suggested to me, that while the gearbox is off, it would make sense to renew the clutch plate. The old one looks perfectly OK, but it is a good opportunity to replace it at the time.Well, you'd think so wouldn't you?Only, for what is pretty much a standard clutch plate, actually even quite a small one, the price is a breathtaking £210.The old clutch is staying in.Still not sure if we'll be bringing her back this weekend or not yet.The new gearbox is due to arrive tomorrow morning at the marina.The old gearbox is removed. (and the engineer can't turn it by hand, so kind of supports his diagnosis that the gearbox is completely knackered)He is planning to work on it tomorrow, but it is a reasonably large job to install and re-align.My train tickets are still there for 17:30, but I need to cancel them by mid afternoon if I want either a refund or to rearrange them....Careful decision making over timing and plenty of hassling will be the order of the day tomorrow!

new gearbox

About to order a new gearbox....Still around the £500 mark delivered...Not looking good for getting it installed by the weekend though.... engineer declares that he is 'busy'.... ain't we all!So thats another £100 for the following weeks mooring...... sigh

now here's a dilemma

A new gearbox is £500Might be installed for the weekend, so could be offest against an extra £150 mooring fees.....Humhhhhh......

gearbox

So I was wrong...... its the gearbox... which is being removed tomorrow....it'll need sending to a specialist for repair, so won't be ready for this weekend....So i'll need to rearrange my bargain basement train tickets, and stump up for another weeks mooring at Dover....At least it sounds repairable!The engineer reckons on the best part of a day to remove and another day to refit...so that'll probably be £600 in just hourly charges, plus the cost of the gearbox repair, plus two weeks in harbour at £130 a week, plus tow charges... so probably looking at the best part of a grand....

engine tension

I'm sitting here biting my nails, waiting for the engineer to call and give me the good/bad news......I'm terrible at waiting!

Stuck and broke

Saturday was a chance to try and get the engine fixed....No chance...I tried all the things I could think of, and it was beyond the limited facilities and tools I had available...So, I resorted to trying to track down an engineer..... no chance on a bank holiday weekend....Eventually, I got a commitment to an engineer coming on Tuesday..... and later in the day, I got another engineer to come and have a look at the engine...His diagnosis being that (without taking the head off to confirm), it had either blown the head gasket between cylinders, or dropped a valve.... neither of which are terminal, but both require the head off, and work doing....So reluctantly, I arrange a weeks berthing with Dover marina, confirm the engineer for Tuesday, and make arrangements to get home by road...So two thanks due here.....firstly, my father, for coming and fetching us, and helping us avoid £250 of train fees, and secondly, to Tim of Highway Marine, who came out, all the way from Sandwhich to assess our likely problem, and all at no charge.... brilliant and unexpected.Home now writing this... hopefully it will prove to be no more serious than Tim has suggested and we'll be fixed in time for next weekend, when we can complete the trip back to Shotley.

Drama at sea

The tide times offered us a pleasant 10h00 start to head of on our next leg towards Dover, and so we slipped into a busy lock at the agree time, and set off out to sea.
The wind had continued to moderate, and so we weren't surprised to see just 5 or 6kts of wind once we cleared the entrance channel.
So, with the main up, we motorsailed for a couple of hours.
As we got within 3nm of Dungeness, one of the major south coast headlands, I was enjoying the ride when there was a loud clunk clunk, and the engine stopped dead!
Oh crap.
We quickly unfurled the genny, and with the wind still quite light, was greatful for the tide with us..... still making 2kts over the ground.
I ran below and immediately started the normal set of engine checks.... first I pulled the impellor out.... ah yes..... first problem.... several missing vanes..... so we'd over heated...... but why hadn't the overheat alarm gone off? with that changed, I tried the starter.... clunk... no movement at all.... damn....
The engine had stopped very suddenly, as if it had seized.... I then checked the oil... a bit low, but not seriously so.... I checked the fuel filters, draining a little diesel off, and bleeding the system.... all clear.... oh dear....
So with little else I could do at this stage, I decided that the answer was to sail, and leave the engine to cool for a couple of hours to see if it would free off again...
I knew that any problem was likely to be the engine rather than the gearbox, and that we didn't have a fouled prop, as when I lifted the engine cover the shaft was merrily turning as we sailed, and when SWMBO put her into gear, the shaft stopped turning....
So back on deck..... sorry kids... we're going to have a slow passage to Dover....
And then the wind changed direction 180 degrees...... I silently cursed the gods, and we set the sails for a beat, in 5kts of wind....... in which Morgana isn't the fastest of vessels...
It seemed to take forever to just get passed Dungeness, and as we cleared it, and reached my next waypoint on the plotter, I was taunted by the darned thing, as it popped up with 22nm to go to next waypoint.... a very quick mental calculation showed that at 2kts, we were 10hrs away, with just 4hrs of supporting tide remaining..... whoops.
And then the wind vanished.... or not quite.... we had occasionally 1kt.
And so we drifted...
After an hour, we saw a black cloud over the land.... followed by obvious signs of rain in the distance. Heavy Rain.
I began to think..... "just what have I done to deserve this?"
And so, the rain started to appear.... the sea went glassy... and then.... out of nowhere, we had 20kts of wind again...... fabulous... a reef in, and we are making 10kts over the ground...... At last, things were looking up.....
But just 20mins later, the cloud passed on, and the wind again vanished.....
During the brief cloud burst, I had been wondering if we had enough wind and time to get round North Foreland, a further 18nm past Dover, and then we could sail through the night to make our home port,. where we could look at our options more easily.... and you never know... the engine might restart anyway
After 2 hrs, I decided to have a go at the engine again.... clunk... clunk... nothing.... damn it sounds like its seized.... both difficult, and expensive...
I pulled the cover again, and got SWMBO to kick over the starter.... and noticed that slowly, degree by degree, the front pulley was turning..... so I jumped up in to the cockpit, and fired the starter and kept it fired..... cluuuuunk whir..... clunk whiiiiiir, cherchunk. cherchunk.... bump bump bump, and off she ran..... phew..... but it was short lived.... the engine sounded terrible.... I was on the verge of stopping it before I did any further damage when she stopped herself anyway.....
So, we were engineless.
I called Dover CoastGuard and informed them of our situation.... just advising them that we were OK., but at the mercy of the tides.... They were marvellous. It was rarther salutory though to go through the list of questions that you hear on a mayday.... yes we have lifejackets, yes we have a liferaft, yes we know our position, yes we have nav lights.... etc etc
I kept in contact with Dover CG, and they gave some peace of mind in that they had us on radar, and also offered confirmation of our tidal calcs from their SAR systems.
By 20h00, we had closed to within 12nm of Dover, with just 1hr of tide left, so in rather a sticky situation when Dover CG called us, and asked whether we were OK, with young children on board, and whether we would like to request the lifeboat. I was delighted that they had showed concern, but also was thinking of the poor sods who had just settled into their Friday evening meal, and wouldn't appreciate the callout.. so declined... I am off the school of thought that suggests you should try your hardest to get out of your own mess...
And just 30mins later, the wind filled in a bit.... the nav lights were now on, and we were finally making 4 to 5kts over the ground again.....
I contacted Dover Port Control, and advised them of the situation.... theye were happy to send out their launch to assist, but only once we were within 1nm of the harbour entrance...
So we plugged on....
as the tide turned, our speed plummeted, and the last 2 or 3nm were painfully slow....
so, it was with some relief that, at 1.5nm off the western entrance, Dover Port Control called us, and asked us "if that was us 1.5nm off the Western entrance?" and "would we like a tow now?"
Just a few minutes later, we had a boat alongside, the sails down, and were under tow into the harbour.... our progress just slightly delayed by having to make a circle to wait for the fast cat to enter Dover port.....
As we entered the sheltered harbour water on a long tow, the boat dropped the tow and came longside for an easier tow, and then executed a bit of brilliant seamanship by taking us all the way into the marina alongside and finding a double empty berth up a narrow aisle and parking us perfectely on the pontoon.
So what had started as a straightforward 45nm from Eastbourne to Dover had turned into a 14hr marathon.
I was however,rather proud of us all for two reasons.... firstly there was no panic, and secondly, and most importantly, we solved our on problem. We could have easily have said "yes" to the offer of lifeboat help, but we stuck it out, and in my opinion, did the right thing by getting ourselves out of our own trouble.
It was, with hindsight, quite an experience... its seemed rather fraught at the time, but actually, at no time were we in any real trouble.
Another lesson taught us by the sea.

Miles logged 55nm
Miles this season 689nm
Miles this trip 296nm
Miles since this blog started 3,636nm

Fast crossing

Fecamp proved to be an excellent destination with some real pros and a couple of cons.Fecamp itself is an unremarkable destination, in that it is largely modern, after being substantially flattened during the 2nd world war. It does however, have the rather spectacular Benedictine Palace, where the famous Benedictine drink is made. This is an amazing building, filled with artifacts that are really quite beautiful, from ivory carvings from the 12th century through to 19th century paintings. Quite worth a visit. It is however, at its best when you tour the Benedictine production facility, and sample the output!Other than that, it is a pleasant enough town, with plenty to keepu occupied for a couple of days. Which brings us onto the cons.....Rather like Ramsgate, the marina suffers a bit from swell entering. Although not as bad as Ramsgate, we did have a couple of rolly nights. The reason we had a couple was that the weather again turned for the worse. We did initially think, sod it, we'll go anayway, and then we went and had a look at the entrance channel and changed our minds.
There were large near breaking waves between the two pier heads, and it looked extremely unpleasant. The second day we got closer to deciding to leave, and then we watched a boat exit. It changed our minds.



We could see their keel as they left!So, Friday, things had calmed down considerably, and we decided to leave. The forecast was for a grey, but dry day, with a SW F3.... perfect.So 5:00am we rose, with a 6:00 departure planned..... actual conditions seemed in line with forecast... so we slipped and left.... a nice easy exit (phew!) and we were out to sea.....We were perhaps a little light on diesel to motor the whole way, so we were glad to see some wind.... as we exited the pier heads, we pulled the sails out, and turned off the engine....Within 20mins, the skies turned blacker than hades, and we were in torrential rain, and 28kts of wind.... sigh.....But it wasn't to last.... the rain departed past us, and the wind moderated to 20kts, across the rear quarter... the swell followed us, and we had the most magnificent sail back across the channel... a little avoiding action in both lanes, neither serious, the clouds parting to bring the sun out, and with the log reaching on one occasion 9.41kts through the water, I was having a ball!Things are definitely coming together, as SWMBO even took the helm for a while, something she would have never done in those conditions even as recently as last year...Just 10hrs later, we rounded the safe water mark for the entrance to Eastbourne, dropped the sails, and restarted the engine.... wonderful.A quick and easy entrance into Eastbourne, tied up for the night, a great Italian meal ashore and the world was good.

Miles logged 66nm
Miles this season 634nm
Miles this trip 241nm
Miles since this blog started 3,581nm

Fecamp

After a great 24hrs in St Valery en Caux, that we really enjoyed it was time to move on.... St Valery is very pretty and quiet... and besides, it was worth a stop just to see M's face when he walked into the toilets to see a traditional French hole in the ground... he had simply no idea at all what to do, and had me in stitches asking which bit he should sit upon......One of the advantages (or potential disadvantages) of St Valery en Caux, is that it is behind a closed gate, so you don't have an early start when the tide is right!.... fortunaterly this worked well for us today, as with an early afternoon lock out, we were able to leave at midday, and face just 45mins of foul tide before it tuned to sweep us down the coast towards the next destination, Fecamp.The downside is that the summer South Westerlies remain in charge (although the don't seem to be matched with the hot sunny weather!), so it was, yet again, pretty much dead upwind the whole way, so motoring was the order of the day.This should be the last time we have to deal with this though, as the next leg will be across back to the UK, across the wind, and then back east, so hopefully with the wind behind us.... whats the betting that the wind changes direction!!!!Anyway... we set off into what looked like a bit of a rainstorm ahead of us, but it didn't materialise, and so we had a dry, if rather grey trip... The sea state was fine, with our further westing producing a sea with more rollers rather than short wind blown chop.... as the tide turned (to assist us) with wind over tide it was slightly more choppy, but still not as bad as the shallow east coast waters to which we are used.With a fair tide, we made excellent progress, and in just two and three quarter hrs had made it to the entrance to Fecamp, which was extremely easy, and very obvious. Berthing proved trouble free, excepting the French preference for finger pontoons half the necessary length and with loops rather than cleats, but even with this, we got on safely and relatively gracefully.Now to explore Fecamp!

Miles logged 15nm
Miles this season 568nm
Miles this trip 175nm
Miles since this blog started 3,515nm

St Valery en Caux

We reached a decision last night to head off towards St Valery en Caux in the morning, which we did, leaving at 08h00.... to be faced by broad reaching conditions of 13kts.... fabulous.... for the first time this holiday, the engine was off and we sailed... making a perfect 6kts.True to form it couldn't last, as we'd had to set off into the tide in order to make the tidal constrained St Valery en Caux entrance at the appropriate time, and we rounded the first headland, headed up onto the wind a bit more, lost the speed advantage of a broad reach, with 2kts of tide against us, and had to restart the engine... our ground speed was down to under 2kts, so we'd have missed the entrance otherwise.... nevertheless, we still kept the main up, and plugged on...We watched a French customs vessel in the distance slowly gaining on us, and prayed that we weren't his 'victim' for the day.... and sighed with relief when just 5nm off St Valery, he decided to pick on another vessel, and launched his rib towards them.For an hour it chucked down with rain, and we endured rather than enjoyed, but as we entered St Valery, we were delighted to see, yet again, a pretty French town awaiting exploration.... lovely.The entrance was straightforward enough with a holding buoy while we wiated for the bridge to lift, which it duly did on the half hour, and we were through... very good shelter and right outside the ancient house of Henry IV, which makes a lovely backdrop for pictures!

Miles logged 22nm
Miles this season 553nm
Miles this trip 160nm
Miles since this blog started 3,490nm

summer returns

What a great day!We'd decided to head for Dieppe after a few days of enforced waiting in Bolougne, where we'd made the most of our stay, including trip to aquarium that I can only speak of in the highest regard....a truly world class facility.We'd also waited an extra day after the wind had vanished to let the sea settle slightly.... vindicated by a quick bike trip down to the sea front on Thursday which despite the light winds, still showed waves breaking over the sea wall.So when we arose Friday to very few knots of wind, bright clear skies and warm sun, I was really quite looking forward to the sail.... and it didn't dissapoint.We exited the harbour to a mere 5kts, across the beam, so the main was hoisted and we motor sailed, wearing shorts and tee shirts.... the wind then steadily built throughout the day, reaching 15kts as we completed the final few miles into Dieppe, but sadly coming round onto the nose, so we remained motor sailing the whole way. It wasn't as bad as it sounds though, as for much of the journey I was able to keep the engine barely ticking over, just enough to stop the main stalling, and thus we made the 56nm in 9.5hrs.Entering Dieppe was hard work, simply because the entrance wasn't at all clear until we were within 0.5nm, and the IPTS system was invisible in daylight, even when right underneath it!But enter we did, to find a classically pretty little French town, which I am enormously looking forward to exploring tomorrow!

Miles logged 56nm
Miles this season 531nm
Miles this trip 138nm
Miles since this blog started 3,468nm

Bolougne bound

After a bumpy night Sunday, monday was the clear chance for a getaway. While it wasn't exactly perfect as forecasts go, with 27kts SouthWesterly, ie bang on the nose for most of the way, and rain, it was a weather window in an otherwise increasingly gloomy forecast. So we went for it.The other factor distinctly in monday's favour was the departure time, with 09h30 looking good. We'd been in touch with Full Circle the previous evening, and so were unsurprised to arise in the morning and see them tied up across in the western marina. We had hoped to go over and say hello, but with the bridge to the inner marina lifted, it was a 1.5mile walk round, so we decided to cast of at 08h45 and go to the fuel pontoon and then tie up quickly alongside to say our hello's before setting off.... timing was dreadful. They had much the same idea, and as we slipped and motored towards the fuel pontoon, we passed them doing the exact reverse..... ah well.... so hello's were restricted to a few shouted messages and then we set off out to sea.We were pleased to see pretty calm waters, albeit slightly busy with a number of race boats heading off towards their start line, so we cut the corner slightly, and motored directly into the wind, keen to get a bit of distance between us and the racers so that we didn't get in the way of their first beat.... we didn't have much choice but to head off up their race track as the course was set right up the Gull channel inside Goodwin sands, which we also needed to follow. A period of motoring saw the wind remain stubbornly on the nose, and also build slightly, but only to 20kts, so nothing too serious, but as we passed SW Goodwin buoy (which was once a magnificent light vessel), we exited the shelter of Goodwin sands, and the sea started to build..... we held course to get some west into our position before we crossed the TSS (in order to clear Cap Gris Nez easily - as I suspected that with wind over tide it might be lumpy), so the engine stayed on.....True to form for our summer cruises, the engine dominates, so it didn't surprise me to find the TSS extraordinarily busy.... so busy that we carried on motoring.... with a short steep sea now affecting us, it wasn't fun, and the thought of tacking, or trying to avoid gybes in a sloppy rolly sea when ducking traffic didn't seem to encourage me to set sails.... so as we exited the TSS, just suitably west of Cap Gris Nez, it was back directly into the wind, with fortunately just 15nm or so to go.... the wind eased slightly, and the sea calmed slightly, so not so bad.... and even better, the rain eased, and the sun even poked out once or twice....Along the way, we'd heard a Mayday.... a motor vessel sinking with water ingress from the engine at a rate faster than the bilge pumps could handle....no liferaft, very poor radio procedure, and generally confused.... two vessels stood by, and Dover lifeboat was launched, which we saw motoring to the scene.... the motorboater was less than easy for the CG to deal with, even arguing about where to head/be towed..... but I guess its easy to be critical from the cockpit of a boat that is doing what is asked of her....It was with some relief that we finally entered Bolougne outer harbour at about 16h00, and we were soon tied up in the marina in perfect shelter.... in fact, in a great location, right behind a huge quay wall, so thoroughly protected from the winds forecast for the next few days.... looks like we'll be here until Thursday at the earliest, more likely Friday.... least there is plenty to do in Bolougne!

Miles logged 39nm
Miles this season 475nm
Miles this trip 82nm
Miles since this blog started 3,412nm

Rock and Roll!

It was an early start, leaving the marina at 02h00, but this was the only chance we had of getting the tides right, and still arriving at a sensible time in Boulogne.So we set out into a windless night motoring out of Harwich. As we exited Harwich, the wind increased (or more correctly - started) up to about 7 or 8 kts, but bang on the nose. Not only insufficient to sail realistically, but the wrong direction.... it was a southerly/south westerly, so not auspicious for the rest of the trip.By the time we'd rounded Sunk Head cardinal, and entered Black Deep, the long channel across the Thames Estuary that marks the real start of the Thames, and hence can occasionally see some heavier traffic, it had started to get light, so things were getting easier. It was still motoring given the direction, although the wind had picked up to 12kts, enough to sail comfortably at an appropriate speed, but would have been a beat, which wouldn't have allowed us to make enough progress towards France.Foulgers Gat, which is a very narrow channel across one of the larger sandbanks was the next challenge, made more difficult by two things. Firstly, the channel is marked by a safe water mark either end. These are 2.8nm part, and the half light didn't allow the far end to be seen, so it was a bit of a careful plod to start with... the plotter makes this a lot easier, but unlike many sailing areas, these sands are very mobile, and it isn't safe to trust the charts, so watching the sounder is the order of the day... secondly, the swell was rather on the quarter, so it was a bit rolly.. or rather bouncy, as there wasn't a ground swell, rather a wind blown chop.As we exited Foulgers Gat and pointed the bows towards North Foreland, I was looking forward to getting the sails up.... but alas, the wind had a laugh at us by swinging Southerly (probably assisted by North Foreland), soi we continued motoring.... the wind had started to build, now reaching 20kts, and it looked like the forecasted gales were well on there way.... so we decided to shorten, and drop into Ramsgate... with a further 40nm to go, it was a bit risky to continue on especially given that we were going to be crossing one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, the Dover Straits.So we radioed into Ramsgate and pottered in. A quick check with port control saw us cleared to enter, but the marina proved more troublesome. It is Ramsgate week, one of the East Coast's big race events of the year, and the marina was heaving... so we were allocated a berth in the eastern marina, the home of the fishing fleet.This wasn't ideal. It has no shore power (which we could live with) and no water (less appealing), and is also somewhat morfe exposed to any swell coming in.The wind had increased by now to 30kts, and as a south westerly, the swell was most definitely coming in. We managed to find a long lateral pontoon and a downwind side of it, so at least we were being held off, but the boat was bouncing around like a wild thing!Within an hour, the pontoon was full, and the raft was 2 deep. Masts started clashing, boats on the windward side started popping fenders, and the final straw for some was when a boat had its fairlead ripped off with a bang, and it shot across the pontoon and pinged off another boat. The cill to the inner marina opened up, and boats fought to be off and get into its shelter. With less boats about, and the addition of mooring compensators onto our lines we were sitting ok, so decided to stay put. Not one of my better decisions.A less than satisfactory nights sleep followed, with the boat banging around all night... no risk or worries about damage, but quite an unpleasant motion. Ah well.So here we are Sunday morning.... the wind has eased only very slightly, but the wind has swung a bit towards the west, and the swell isn't coming in half as much, so a lot more settled. The forecast suggest it'll stay windy throughout the day today, and then moderate overnight with much lighter conditions tomorrow, so we'll head towards Bolougne, or perhaps even Dieppe then. We need to choose which carefully, as it looks like wherever we choose, we'll be there for a few days... the forecast for Wed/Thurs is dire.... 35kts plus!August in the UK... what a delight.

Miles logged 43nm
Miles this season 436nm
Miles this trip 43nm
Miles since this blog started 3,373nm

forecasts....

OK... so've decided to head down channel.... forecast has been looking great all week... Nw'lies, so a reach the whole way..... perfect..... until today's revised forecast.... now SW'ly, on the nose the whole way, and increasing to 22kts......Where the heck has August gone?Ah well.... i'm sure we'll enjoy it anyway.....

decisions decisions

We are starting to plan out our annual 2 week summer cruise coming up shortly.....The main factor influencing destination will be wind direction, but failing that being a deciding factor, we are in mixed minds....Option 1 is as previosuly planned... to head off down channel, and see where we end up.... with Fecmap, St Valery en Caux, and possibly St Vaast and Cherbourg on the list with a return via the Solent. Option 2 is to head towards north Holland, in via Ijmuiden and into the Ijsselmeer via Amsterdam...Both sound good, and I can't make my mind up!