I finally gave in to temptation and had a short run in the snow at lunchtime.... well I say snow... its now more like hard packed ice... and in places shiny...
I'd been putting it off with the excuse that it wasn't safe to run, and then an article at Runners World made me get off my butt... in so many words it said, if you want to run, then go running!
So I did... and it wasn't that slippery...
I kept it short partially because of the weather, and partially as I hadn't run bar the one attempt in a fortnight, so didn't want to push anything too hard...
I feel good afterwards... no aches, no pains...
I reserve judgment as I felt like this after the last run, and woke up the next day feeling extremely sore.... but my gut feel is that it is different this time... we'll see!
Anyway... not sure what training i'll be doing over the festive break... i'll certainly get some in... my cousin and partner are threatening to take me running....that could be interesting... as three times Ironman finishers, and with a couple of ultras under their belts, I suspect i'll be holding them up a bit!.... they also want to me to cycle the Vitruvian course with them... just one lap... i'm keen.
I did work out earlier that in order to make a 3hr time for the cycling, which is realistically what I need in order to make the overall 6hr slot, then I need to average just over 17mph.... thus far, i've done three rides on the road at about 14mph, and the rest on the turbo starting at 12mph, and gradually increasing up to 13.6mph.... i'm certain that at the moment, a sustained 17mph is impossible... and not at all confident that it will be easy in 2010 either... better keep on training!!!!
Have a great xmas and new year
Wednesday 23 December 2009
Tuesday 22 December 2009
snow way...
Its a good job I did buy the turbo trainer.... after snow fall 5 days ago, its remained stubbornly cold, and snow hasn't melted.... add to this, the occasional flurry to keep it topped up, and both cycling and running are impractical...
I have however, banged out nearly 100 miles on the turbo, including a rather pleasing 19 miles last night.... i'm really looking forward to getting out on the road again, and have been planning a few nice rides...
Still hoping that the weather will improve sufficiently that I can ride the Vitruvian course over the Xmas break...
I can't however see me meeting the '30miles in a week' personal challenge.... I don't want to resume running too hard and immediately aggravate the ankle that is so much better.... so I may well fall short on that one... ah well... I need to think about my Jan challenges.... i'm thinking:
Run 100miles in the month
Swim 48 lengths front crawl
Ride 50km non stop
Lets see!
I have however, banged out nearly 100 miles on the turbo, including a rather pleasing 19 miles last night.... i'm really looking forward to getting out on the road again, and have been planning a few nice rides...
Still hoping that the weather will improve sufficiently that I can ride the Vitruvian course over the Xmas break...
I can't however see me meeting the '30miles in a week' personal challenge.... I don't want to resume running too hard and immediately aggravate the ankle that is so much better.... so I may well fall short on that one... ah well... I need to think about my Jan challenges.... i'm thinking:
Run 100miles in the month
Swim 48 lengths front crawl
Ride 50km non stop
Lets see!
Sunday 20 December 2009
getting better
Ankle feels fine again now.... in fact better than when I previously tried a run....
A bit more sense this time on my behalf... so I rode on the turbo instead.... hard work, and a good Aerobic workout.... it'll all help...
I also managed another swim.... an easy mile again, but I am still struggling with any decent amount of front crawl... its not the stroke that is my problem... that I find quite easy... its the lack of breath.... I struggle to get enough air in... and after 6 or so lengths, find that I am getting a bit short and need to pause for a breather....
I'm sure things will improve... I have a little bit of a cold which I am sure isn't helping.
I'm very conscious that this blog is starting to sound a bit like a series of moans about health realted issues, and i'm determined not to let it go that way.... I am afetr all making cracking good progress.... after just 2 months, i'm running for 50 mins, swimming a mile and riding for an hour on the bike.... and all at paces appropriate to getting round a triathlon before the cut off times.... I just need to keep developing the distance... which I am sure will come.... 1 hr on the bike today felt OK.... a month ago that was a huge challenge....
A bit more sense this time on my behalf... so I rode on the turbo instead.... hard work, and a good Aerobic workout.... it'll all help...
I also managed another swim.... an easy mile again, but I am still struggling with any decent amount of front crawl... its not the stroke that is my problem... that I find quite easy... its the lack of breath.... I struggle to get enough air in... and after 6 or so lengths, find that I am getting a bit short and need to pause for a breather....
I'm sure things will improve... I have a little bit of a cold which I am sure isn't helping.
I'm very conscious that this blog is starting to sound a bit like a series of moans about health realted issues, and i'm determined not to let it go that way.... I am afetr all making cracking good progress.... after just 2 months, i'm running for 50 mins, swimming a mile and riding for an hour on the bike.... and all at paces appropriate to getting round a triathlon before the cut off times.... I just need to keep developing the distance... which I am sure will come.... 1 hr on the bike today felt OK.... a month ago that was a huge challenge....
Friday 18 December 2009
spoke too soon...
Got up this morning, and my ankle was stiff as heck, and hurt quite a bit....
Crikey.... listen to me.... I sound like an old hypochondriac!
I can't quite place exactly where the discomfort is.... I initially thought it was my achilles... but some good stretching of my calf seems to have resolved that.... and now its generally tender around the ankle bone on the outside of my foot, which would suggest ligaments.... but its all round... so unless i've stretched both peroneal tendons, i'm stumped!... especially as I didn't go over on it at all, and it came on gradually... would suggest tendons.... ah well... lets see how it goes
I'm guessing that I need to concentrate on cycling for a few days at least, and let the ankle sort itself out properly.. I need to nip to the shop and get some more Ibuprofen gel as well!... if its still sore after xmas, i'll have to visit the doc!
Crikey.... listen to me.... I sound like an old hypochondriac!
I can't quite place exactly where the discomfort is.... I initially thought it was my achilles... but some good stretching of my calf seems to have resolved that.... and now its generally tender around the ankle bone on the outside of my foot, which would suggest ligaments.... but its all round... so unless i've stretched both peroneal tendons, i'm stumped!... especially as I didn't go over on it at all, and it came on gradually... would suggest tendons.... ah well... lets see how it goes
I'm guessing that I need to concentrate on cycling for a few days at least, and let the ankle sort itself out properly.. I need to nip to the shop and get some more Ibuprofen gel as well!... if its still sore after xmas, i'll have to visit the doc!
Thursday 17 December 2009
good day
A quick blast on the turbo at lunch time, and the ankle felt great....
So good that this evening, I ran again for the first time in a week....
and that felt great too... I ache a little, but nothing too serious...
And as for running in hat and gloves while it snows.... there's dedication for you.... actually it felt absolutely brilliant.... I only ran for 45 mins.... but would have liked to have kept going... that can wait...
Its been quite eye opening how hard this has been on my legs, ankles and feet.... I forget that I am the wrong side of 40, and that what I did at 20 can still be done, but needs a little more care and caution... I've been surprised how easily i've injured myself, albeit nothing too serious... well nothing that a few days of rest hasn't dealt with.... but its good to keep reminding myself that I must take care to build up to my targets gradually, and not JFDI !!!!
So good that this evening, I ran again for the first time in a week....
and that felt great too... I ache a little, but nothing too serious...
And as for running in hat and gloves while it snows.... there's dedication for you.... actually it felt absolutely brilliant.... I only ran for 45 mins.... but would have liked to have kept going... that can wait...
Its been quite eye opening how hard this has been on my legs, ankles and feet.... I forget that I am the wrong side of 40, and that what I did at 20 can still be done, but needs a little more care and caution... I've been surprised how easily i've injured myself, albeit nothing too serious... well nothing that a few days of rest hasn't dealt with.... but its good to keep reminding myself that I must take care to build up to my targets gradually, and not JFDI !!!!
Wednesday 16 December 2009
back on the turbo
Another turbo session....
ankle felt better today.... not 'right'.... but better.....
and not better enough to risk a run... so I turbo'd again instead....
Only this time, I used one of the 'Spinervals' DVD's...
Boy... that Coach Troy is a mean bugger!...
I only did the 30min timesaver session.... and it nearly killed me.... and that was on the easiest resistance setting on the turbo.....
I've suddenly realised what a very very very long way I have to go....
ankle felt better today.... not 'right'.... but better.....
and not better enough to risk a run... so I turbo'd again instead....
Only this time, I used one of the 'Spinervals' DVD's...
Boy... that Coach Troy is a mean bugger!...
I only did the 30min timesaver session.... and it nearly killed me.... and that was on the easiest resistance setting on the turbo.....
I've suddenly realised what a very very very long way I have to go....
Monday 14 December 2009
turbo 2
Another turbo session this evening.... 45 mins this time.... dripping with sweat again... only this time I remembered the towel....
These turbo miles are all on the easiest setting.... it'll be murder on the 'hard' setting!
My ankle... specifically my achilles.... ached like hell at work today.... in fact, i'd go as far as to say, hurt rather than ached... for the first time, I was limping slightly again.... but by this evening, it was fine.... so still resting from the running.... the bike doesn't seem to affect it at all... so I can keep on building up a good sweat without going running.... although I do miss going out in the dark for a run.... and am not building up the mileage as much as i'd like.... I haven't run now for 4 days.... another day off tomorrow potentially, and then we'll see.... If it doesn't hurt at all tomorrow and isn't stiff when I get up in the morning, I may try a short run....
These turbo miles are all on the easiest setting.... it'll be murder on the 'hard' setting!
My ankle... specifically my achilles.... ached like hell at work today.... in fact, i'd go as far as to say, hurt rather than ached... for the first time, I was limping slightly again.... but by this evening, it was fine.... so still resting from the running.... the bike doesn't seem to affect it at all... so I can keep on building up a good sweat without going running.... although I do miss going out in the dark for a run.... and am not building up the mileage as much as i'd like.... I haven't run now for 4 days.... another day off tomorrow potentially, and then we'll see.... If it doesn't hurt at all tomorrow and isn't stiff when I get up in the morning, I may try a short run....
Sunday 13 December 2009
Turbo training
Well, I did say I was getting one....
I ended up buying a Minouri M70 with a remote brake adjustor....
And after setting it up in the garage, along with an old telly and an old DVD player, I peddled away, watching the first 30 mins of iRobot....
I intended to watch the whole film, but I can know confirm that time on the TT is harder than out on the road..... after 30 mins I was literally drioping with sweat....
I will have to take a towel out with me next time... both to stop the sweat going in my eyes, and to keep it off the bike....
My legs still seem to be appreciating the mini break from running... I'll see how they feel tomorrow and perhaps a run... or maybe leave it until Wed.... (Tuesday is scheduled to be a rest day)
I haven't got one of the DVD's that you ride to yet.... couldn't afford one on top of the turbo and bike computer....
I ended up buying a Minouri M70 with a remote brake adjustor....
And after setting it up in the garage, along with an old telly and an old DVD player, I peddled away, watching the first 30 mins of iRobot....
I intended to watch the whole film, but I can know confirm that time on the TT is harder than out on the road..... after 30 mins I was literally drioping with sweat....
I will have to take a towel out with me next time... both to stop the sweat going in my eyes, and to keep it off the bike....
My legs still seem to be appreciating the mini break from running... I'll see how they feel tomorrow and perhaps a run... or maybe leave it until Wed.... (Tuesday is scheduled to be a rest day)
I haven't got one of the DVD's that you ride to yet.... couldn't afford one on top of the turbo and bike computer....
Saturday 12 December 2009
ride out
Determined not to run and turn a niggle into an injury, I decided to get on my bike today.... and what a pleasure!
The sun was out, and it was a real treat to get out and ride out into the countryside...
What felt like a comfortable pace turned out to be 15mph, so well pleased with that...
I reckon I need to get some tri-bars though, as when I got my head down low and used the drop bars, I could feel myself moving into a more powerful position and was able to pile some additional speed on...
They'll have to wait... my next acquistion is a turbo trainer... and when I get that, i'll need a small bike computer as well, otherwise i'll not know how far i've ridden... as i've been using a GPS based system so far....
I've abandoned the idea of a VR turbo trainer... they look good, but i've read a lot of feedback that the software is unstable and akward... and so i've found a set of video from Tacx that follow a cycle route, and just advise you when to up the resistance... a poor man's equivalent, but not a lot to go wrong....
The sun was out, and it was a real treat to get out and ride out into the countryside...
What felt like a comfortable pace turned out to be 15mph, so well pleased with that...
I reckon I need to get some tri-bars though, as when I got my head down low and used the drop bars, I could feel myself moving into a more powerful position and was able to pile some additional speed on...
They'll have to wait... my next acquistion is a turbo trainer... and when I get that, i'll need a small bike computer as well, otherwise i'll not know how far i've ridden... as i've been using a GPS based system so far....
I've abandoned the idea of a VR turbo trainer... they look good, but i've read a lot of feedback that the software is unstable and akward... and so i've found a set of video from Tacx that follow a cycle route, and just advise you when to up the resistance... a poor man's equivalent, but not a lot to go wrong....
Thursday 10 December 2009
OK... so I couldn't resist
...going for a run, despire saying I wasn't going to....
and I'm glad I did.... It felt OK... a little stiff maybe in my ankle, but no hip pain...
and as I sit here an hour after running, I ache a bit, and maybe I am stiffening up a bit... but no worse than yesterday... ie i'm not making it worse....
For me that implies that I just need to adjust a bit still... keep building the mileage slowly, and take the rest days as they come... no doubt Xmas and New Year will enforce a bit more rest than normal, so that should help me recover completely...
One other question that is rattling around.....
As I build the mileage, should I do so evenly through the week?.... ie, do I keep gently increasing the mileage on all 5 days that I run, or should I start plateauing out on some days, and then using the 'capacity' to develop the long run day a bit quicker (to keep within my 10% increase a week rule)... otherwise sometime in the new year i'm going to be running 9 or 10 miles 5 times a week, which seems a bit excessive...
My instinct is that I should stop increasing the daily runs at about 7 miles, and add the extra onto the Saturday or Sunday run... until that hits 2.5hrs, and then start working on pace rather than distance.... giving me more room to start working on the other disciplines, especially getting on the bike... and perhaps doing a bike-run brick or two...
Any of you old hands care to comment?
and I'm glad I did.... It felt OK... a little stiff maybe in my ankle, but no hip pain...
and as I sit here an hour after running, I ache a bit, and maybe I am stiffening up a bit... but no worse than yesterday... ie i'm not making it worse....
For me that implies that I just need to adjust a bit still... keep building the mileage slowly, and take the rest days as they come... no doubt Xmas and New Year will enforce a bit more rest than normal, so that should help me recover completely...
One other question that is rattling around.....
As I build the mileage, should I do so evenly through the week?.... ie, do I keep gently increasing the mileage on all 5 days that I run, or should I start plateauing out on some days, and then using the 'capacity' to develop the long run day a bit quicker (to keep within my 10% increase a week rule)... otherwise sometime in the new year i'm going to be running 9 or 10 miles 5 times a week, which seems a bit excessive...
My instinct is that I should stop increasing the daily runs at about 7 miles, and add the extra onto the Saturday or Sunday run... until that hits 2.5hrs, and then start working on pace rather than distance.... giving me more room to start working on the other disciplines, especially getting on the bike... and perhaps doing a bike-run brick or two...
Any of you old hands care to comment?
swimming progress
Went for a swim last night, and was pleased with the progress....
I swam 76 lengths again, as that is the 1,900m of the Vitruvian triathlon swim... I didn't swim them non-stop, but think that I could have done....
I did however, do a set of 6 lengths of front crawl, several sets of 4 lengths, and then the last 30 laps non stop with with alternating one length breastroke and one length front crawl....
I'm more confident now that i'll meet my goal of 10 lengths front crawl by new years day.... and if I make it, i'm going to set myself the ambitious target of swimming 76 lengths front crawl non stop by 1st Feb
On a seperate note... my legs are still aching... or more precisely, my right ankle, which ironically isn't the one I twisted at the start on November... and this seems to have also caused my left hip to be a bit sore... obviously compensating somewhere in my running style...
I'm supposed to be runing today, but will give it a rest, and then i've got my planned rest day tomorrow anyway... so a couple of days will help a lot...
I wish I had a turbo trainer now, as I could get on that instead.... but xmas expenses mean that'll have to wait until after the festive period
I swam 76 lengths again, as that is the 1,900m of the Vitruvian triathlon swim... I didn't swim them non-stop, but think that I could have done....
I did however, do a set of 6 lengths of front crawl, several sets of 4 lengths, and then the last 30 laps non stop with with alternating one length breastroke and one length front crawl....
I'm more confident now that i'll meet my goal of 10 lengths front crawl by new years day.... and if I make it, i'm going to set myself the ambitious target of swimming 76 lengths front crawl non stop by 1st Feb
On a seperate note... my legs are still aching... or more precisely, my right ankle, which ironically isn't the one I twisted at the start on November... and this seems to have also caused my left hip to be a bit sore... obviously compensating somewhere in my running style...
I'm supposed to be runing today, but will give it a rest, and then i've got my planned rest day tomorrow anyway... so a couple of days will help a lot...
I wish I had a turbo trainer now, as I could get on that instead.... but xmas expenses mean that'll have to wait until after the festive period
Tuesday 8 December 2009
reasons to be positive
I've found on previous attempts at giving up smoking that its pretty easy to find reasons to be negative.....
"i'm not feeling like....."
"i'm not able to..."
"it was much nicer when......"
And I nearly caught myself out yesterday....
This stop smoking attempt (the final successful one!) has been so much smoother than previous efforts, simply because i've found the perfect substitute for nicotine..... exercise.... that and the idea of facing up to something as tough as a triathlon....
so, I was with hindsight, rather cross with myself when I yesterday started to think negatively..
I had previously mentioned that my legs were feeling pretty tired, and so I set out on my evening 40 min run feeling a bit stiff..... after a few mins, things seemed to have loosened up OK though.... and so I plodded on.... the pace was gentle... i'm back to 10min pace....
But after 20mins, my legs just seemed to be made of lead.... they didn't want to do the work at all....
and my mind started to agree....
so... it took a huge stiff talking to myself...... "how on earth did I think I was going to complete a bloody half ironman if I stopped running after 20 bloody minutes just because my legs ached?"
And I plodded on....
... and ran the full 40 mins....
I was really really chuffed with myself.... my real reason to be positive....
I was walking like an athritic 90 year old... but...... i'd not given up... i'd kept my head up, and kept on going!
To add to the self satisfaction, my legs ached like hell, but the tendon that had been troubling/worrying me just didn't figure.... i'd been right to gently run through the discomfort... i'd found the right balance between discomfort and pain, and made a good call....
now.... my legs... that's a different matter.... they feel like they've just run an ultra marathon... but thats only aches... and they'll recover quickly.... a rest day on Tuesday... and maybe another on Wednesday if they still feel tired...
But overall... a huge victory for me in the battle against smoking..... and my reasons to be positive
"i'm not feeling like....."
"i'm not able to..."
"it was much nicer when......"
And I nearly caught myself out yesterday....
This stop smoking attempt (the final successful one!) has been so much smoother than previous efforts, simply because i've found the perfect substitute for nicotine..... exercise.... that and the idea of facing up to something as tough as a triathlon....
so, I was with hindsight, rather cross with myself when I yesterday started to think negatively..
I had previously mentioned that my legs were feeling pretty tired, and so I set out on my evening 40 min run feeling a bit stiff..... after a few mins, things seemed to have loosened up OK though.... and so I plodded on.... the pace was gentle... i'm back to 10min pace....
But after 20mins, my legs just seemed to be made of lead.... they didn't want to do the work at all....
and my mind started to agree....
so... it took a huge stiff talking to myself...... "how on earth did I think I was going to complete a bloody half ironman if I stopped running after 20 bloody minutes just because my legs ached?"
And I plodded on....
... and ran the full 40 mins....
I was really really chuffed with myself.... my real reason to be positive....
I was walking like an athritic 90 year old... but...... i'd not given up... i'd kept my head up, and kept on going!
To add to the self satisfaction, my legs ached like hell, but the tendon that had been troubling/worrying me just didn't figure.... i'd been right to gently run through the discomfort... i'd found the right balance between discomfort and pain, and made a good call....
now.... my legs... that's a different matter.... they feel like they've just run an ultra marathon... but thats only aches... and they'll recover quickly.... a rest day on Tuesday... and maybe another on Wednesday if they still feel tired...
But overall... a huge victory for me in the battle against smoking..... and my reasons to be positive
Monday 7 December 2009
balancing the training
I read in various places that one of the hardest challenges for any newcomer to Triathlon (I can't bring myself to call myself a triathlete until i've done an event) is balancing the training between the three disciplines.... this kind of seemed logical as a problem but didn't ring true properly until this week.... when I suddenly realised that I am doing a lot of running, but not much swimming or biking... now this may be partially down to the lack of a turbo trainer combined with the dark mornings and evenings, and the cost of going swimming..... but its also down to the fact that running is 'hard work' and as a consequence, I feel like i've done some worthwhile exercise...
So i've been wrestling with how to get this balance sorted out when I read a great article on Runners World about base fitness
Now it's not so much that I found the comprehensive suggestions for programmes to develop base fitness useful, but more a reminder that I should stop worrying about mixing up my training.... I am so far from having anything resembling a decent level of base fitness that in essence anything I do that ends up as Aerobic exercise is a good thing, and I should balance out the activity more for variety and maintenance of enthusiasm rather than specific training goals at this stage...
Besides... I immediately related to those pirates rather than any great triathlon club... and I can hear them crying right now...... "JFDI.... and for gods sake don't take it too seriously"..... so I wont!
So i've been wrestling with how to get this balance sorted out when I read a great article on Runners World about base fitness
Now it's not so much that I found the comprehensive suggestions for programmes to develop base fitness useful, but more a reminder that I should stop worrying about mixing up my training.... I am so far from having anything resembling a decent level of base fitness that in essence anything I do that ends up as Aerobic exercise is a good thing, and I should balance out the activity more for variety and maintenance of enthusiasm rather than specific training goals at this stage...
Besides... I immediately related to those pirates rather than any great triathlon club... and I can hear them crying right now...... "JFDI.... and for gods sake don't take it too seriously"..... so I wont!
Sunday 6 December 2009
bike
During the week I bought myself a small saddle bag, a pump and a spare inner tube.... which gave me the confidence to go off cycling a bit further...
And how great was it!
I ended up riding nearly 16 miles (26 km) and it felt really good... I could have kept going to ages... but decided that discretion made sense... I managed to average over 14mph, which is my target speed, so was happy with that....
And have discovered just how much difference riding into the wind makes!
And how great was it!
I ended up riding nearly 16 miles (26 km) and it felt really good... I could have kept going to ages... but decided that discretion made sense... I managed to average over 14mph, which is my target speed, so was happy with that....
And have discovered just how much difference riding into the wind makes!
Friday 4 December 2009
some progress
I swam on Wednesday night, with mixed results...
The positive side is that I managed to swim 50 lengths non-stop, which is a good distance, but they were mostly swum using breaststroke... when I move to front crawl, it feels great, but after just a couple of lengths I am feeling short of breath.... I guess I need to work on both my general CV fitness, and also my breathing... I am trying to breath properly, ie 3 strokes and then breath, and then repeat with breath the otherside... but I may have to admit defeat and breath more regularly, and to one side in the short term.... I hate to admit it, but this is definitely the impact of too many years of smoking... Maybe it will improve with time... I hope so.
Secondly, I went for a run... felt OK (ish), but my legs are noticeably tired... I have a rest day on Friday, so perhaps after another short run tomorrow, things will feel better...
Addendum: Thursday run left my legs feeling just as knackered... lets see how the rest day goes... I don't really have a huge problem with the sore tendon... its there, but not painfully so... this is more a general set of aches and stiffness in my legs... I may need to slip in a second rest day on Saturday... its hard to listen to your body when you feel that you are making so much progress...
The positive side is that I managed to swim 50 lengths non-stop, which is a good distance, but they were mostly swum using breaststroke... when I move to front crawl, it feels great, but after just a couple of lengths I am feeling short of breath.... I guess I need to work on both my general CV fitness, and also my breathing... I am trying to breath properly, ie 3 strokes and then breath, and then repeat with breath the otherside... but I may have to admit defeat and breath more regularly, and to one side in the short term.... I hate to admit it, but this is definitely the impact of too many years of smoking... Maybe it will improve with time... I hope so.
Secondly, I went for a run... felt OK (ish), but my legs are noticeably tired... I have a rest day on Friday, so perhaps after another short run tomorrow, things will feel better...
Addendum: Thursday run left my legs feeling just as knackered... lets see how the rest day goes... I don't really have a huge problem with the sore tendon... its there, but not painfully so... this is more a general set of aches and stiffness in my legs... I may need to slip in a second rest day on Saturday... its hard to listen to your body when you feel that you are making so much progress...
Tuesday 1 December 2009
I managed to go out for a long slow run last night.... it was remarkably difficult to run slowly again after a good few runs at 9min/mile pace.... I really had to force myself to run at 10min 30sec per mile.... I felt very self conscious at running so very slowly...
On the positive side, my foot didn't really hurt too much, and after the run certainly wasn't any more uncomfortable than prior to the run...
I am increasingly convinced that this is a tendon issue, and i'll just have to let it work its way through.... if it was a sprain to a ligament, then the run would have made it much worse... as it is, I can walk on it without any real discomfort at all...
Another rest day today... I suspect not a bad idea....
I'm itching to get out on my bike, but sadly its dark before I got to work, and when I get home, so unless I can get a turbo trainer, then i'll be restricted to weekends for the foreseeable future... i'm following a couple of the Tacx i-magic trainers on eBay.... not really neccessary, but the inner geek in me is intrigued by the VR element!
On the positive side, my foot didn't really hurt too much, and after the run certainly wasn't any more uncomfortable than prior to the run...
I am increasingly convinced that this is a tendon issue, and i'll just have to let it work its way through.... if it was a sprain to a ligament, then the run would have made it much worse... as it is, I can walk on it without any real discomfort at all...
Another rest day today... I suspect not a bad idea....
I'm itching to get out on my bike, but sadly its dark before I got to work, and when I get home, so unless I can get a turbo trainer, then i'll be restricted to weekends for the foreseeable future... i'm following a couple of the Tacx i-magic trainers on eBay.... not really neccessary, but the inner geek in me is intrigued by the VR element!
Sunday 29 November 2009
knowing when to stop
well, apparently I don't....
After getting a bike ride in this morning, I decided that a run this evening was a good idea... despite the sore ankle....
The good news is that after the run, the ankle isn't any worse.... i'm more and more convinced that the soreness is tendon related rather than ligament....
On the downside, it was aboslutely pissing it down, and I came back in from a 3.5 mile run looking rather like a drowned rat...
I was wet through to the skin.... nothing that a shower couldn't fix, but the house is now festooned with drying running kit..... I did have the sense to run in my Nike running tights, which helped as otherwise I suspect i'd have been very very cold.... as it was, with the temperature at 5° I was cool...
Tomorrow i'm going to force myself to slip back to a 10 min/mile pace in order to protect my ankle a bit, and to allow me to extend the distance a little more comfortably.... i'm sure that this pace will feel painfully slow!
After getting a bike ride in this morning, I decided that a run this evening was a good idea... despite the sore ankle....
The good news is that after the run, the ankle isn't any worse.... i'm more and more convinced that the soreness is tendon related rather than ligament....
On the downside, it was aboslutely pissing it down, and I came back in from a 3.5 mile run looking rather like a drowned rat...
I was wet through to the skin.... nothing that a shower couldn't fix, but the house is now festooned with drying running kit..... I did have the sense to run in my Nike running tights, which helped as otherwise I suspect i'd have been very very cold.... as it was, with the temperature at 5° I was cool...
Tomorrow i'm going to force myself to slip back to a 10 min/mile pace in order to protect my ankle a bit, and to allow me to extend the distance a little more comfortably.... i'm sure that this pace will feel painfully slow!
5 lessons from today
Fog doesn't put me off... fortunately She Who Must Be Obeyed has more sense, and refused to let me take the bike out until it had lifted.... which was only 08:30...
And I learnt a few key lessons....
1] Riding a light stiff road bike is SO much more fun than any bike i've ever previously owned!
2] When it is 4°, then gloves would be a good idea
3] It is important that you know both how to upshift and downshift.. otherwise traffic lights become hard work
4] When it is raining, glasses would help, and it is not nice
5] When it hails, then glasses would still help, but body armour would be better.
6] Hail makes a lot of noise on a bike helmet
So... while it was great fun to get out on the bike, I cut the ride very short, as I was frozen, wet and stuck in a gear I could hardly use.... still... i'm off and running (if you can pardon the expression)
And I learnt a few key lessons....
1] Riding a light stiff road bike is SO much more fun than any bike i've ever previously owned!
2] When it is 4°, then gloves would be a good idea
3] It is important that you know both how to upshift and downshift.. otherwise traffic lights become hard work
4] When it is raining, glasses would help, and it is not nice
5] When it hails, then glasses would still help, but body armour would be better.
6] Hail makes a lot of noise on a bike helmet
So... while it was great fun to get out on the bike, I cut the ride very short, as I was frozen, wet and stuck in a gear I could hardly use.... still... i'm off and running (if you can pardon the expression)
Saturday 28 November 2009
sore foot
My foot aches again a little.... in the same place...
Not painful like last time, but definitely there...
Glad I got the bike now, as I suspect it would be sensible to not run tomorrow, so now, weather permitting, I can get out for a ride instead....
also, SPD pedals fitted, and the bits and bobs that the shop have to fit all removed.... like a bell!!!... FFS... which muppet produced the legislation that requires a racing bike to have a bell fitted?
I need a few bits extra for the bike now, but need to recover financially before I get them... the larger bits being some proper tri cycling shoes and decent SPD SL pedals, but the smaller bits including a spare inner tube, a pump, a small bike bag to carry them all, etc.... whats the betting that I get a puncture tomorrow as i'm not carrying any spares?
Not painful like last time, but definitely there...
Glad I got the bike now, as I suspect it would be sensible to not run tomorrow, so now, weather permitting, I can get out for a ride instead....
also, SPD pedals fitted, and the bits and bobs that the shop have to fit all removed.... like a bell!!!... FFS... which muppet produced the legislation that requires a racing bike to have a bell fitted?
I need a few bits extra for the bike now, but need to recover financially before I get them... the larger bits being some proper tri cycling shoes and decent SPD SL pedals, but the smaller bits including a spare inner tube, a pump, a small bike bag to carry them all, etc.... whats the betting that I get a puncture tomorrow as i'm not carrying any spares?
oh crap!
Today was an interesting experience...... I decided that i'd try an early morning run... everyone seems to rave about the joy of running in the new still day, so it was something that needed checking out...
early(ish) I arose quietly, and slipped out of the house, leaving everyone else still asleep....
and off I set....
Yes.... running at the start of the day is very nice indeed... only I forgot three fairly fundamental things...
1] If you've been asleep all night, you'll probably need a drink before you run
2] If you've been asleep all night, you'll probably need a bit of food for energy before you run
3] If you've been asleep all night, you'll probably need the toilet before you go off for a run
Now, the first two I could cope with... a sligth headache, and perhaps a slight lack of energy... but number 3.... well sadly number 3 was actually a number 2 if you take my drift?
Fortunately i'd decided to run out into the countryside... so after 3 miles I spotted a small copse, into which I plunged, desperate by now, dropped my shorts and got on with 'it'... only it wasn't quite as secluded as i'd like, and at least 3 cars went by while I grimaced with embarassment....
Ah well... lessons learned... and anyway... if Paula Radcliffe can have a pee in the streets of London, why can't I have a dump in the woods of Lincolnshire?
So... feeling somewhat sorry for myself, and having bought a new HD telly yesterday, and sent the kids off this morning with their birthday money to buy new laptops/X-boxes etc etc.... I decided that it was an appropriate time to say sod it.... so I went out to my LBS and bought myself a bike....
Yes.... I have a bike!!!!!
I've bought a Specialized Allez.. very pleased with my decision.... will be going back to collect later today..
Sadly I can't go to collect until it is dark as I have a bunch of 11 year olds to take swimming this afternoon for my sons birthday party..... so it'll be dark by the time I collect it... and therefore any ride will have to wait until tomorrow....
On the positive side, it does mean that today's Triathlon training efforts are looking good.... a good long run... a decent swim, and a ride on a bike (all 10 metres of it)
early(ish) I arose quietly, and slipped out of the house, leaving everyone else still asleep....
and off I set....
Yes.... running at the start of the day is very nice indeed... only I forgot three fairly fundamental things...
1] If you've been asleep all night, you'll probably need a drink before you run
2] If you've been asleep all night, you'll probably need a bit of food for energy before you run
3] If you've been asleep all night, you'll probably need the toilet before you go off for a run
Now, the first two I could cope with... a sligth headache, and perhaps a slight lack of energy... but number 3.... well sadly number 3 was actually a number 2 if you take my drift?
Fortunately i'd decided to run out into the countryside... so after 3 miles I spotted a small copse, into which I plunged, desperate by now, dropped my shorts and got on with 'it'... only it wasn't quite as secluded as i'd like, and at least 3 cars went by while I grimaced with embarassment....
Ah well... lessons learned... and anyway... if Paula Radcliffe can have a pee in the streets of London, why can't I have a dump in the woods of Lincolnshire?
So... feeling somewhat sorry for myself, and having bought a new HD telly yesterday, and sent the kids off this morning with their birthday money to buy new laptops/X-boxes etc etc.... I decided that it was an appropriate time to say sod it.... so I went out to my LBS and bought myself a bike....
Yes.... I have a bike!!!!!
I've bought a Specialized Allez.. very pleased with my decision.... will be going back to collect later today..
Sadly I can't go to collect until it is dark as I have a bunch of 11 year olds to take swimming this afternoon for my sons birthday party..... so it'll be dark by the time I collect it... and therefore any ride will have to wait until tomorrow....
On the positive side, it does mean that today's Triathlon training efforts are looking good.... a good long run... a decent swim, and a ride on a bike (all 10 metres of it)
Friday 27 November 2009
dates
I'm sitting here waiting for the Vitruvian site to open for registration.... its promised 23rd Nov.... and still I wait.... ho hum...
On a seperate note, the bike purchase may need to wait until after Xmas now... simply because of the volume of other demands on my wallet.... the kids xmas presents, one of 'em's birthday present.... a new HD telly (which in fairness has been promisde for a long while), a new bathroom suite (serves me right for taking the tiles off the wall and starting the exercise!), and then the killer... boat berthing fees... those that know anything about me will be aware that my main passion in life is sailing, and in December, the boats annual marina fees are due..... the grand sum of £3,400, and due by 15th Dec... neat timing huh?
So, the bike is a bit too far down the list at the moment...
On a seperate note, the bike purchase may need to wait until after Xmas now... simply because of the volume of other demands on my wallet.... the kids xmas presents, one of 'em's birthday present.... a new HD telly (which in fairness has been promisde for a long while), a new bathroom suite (serves me right for taking the tiles off the wall and starting the exercise!), and then the killer... boat berthing fees... those that know anything about me will be aware that my main passion in life is sailing, and in December, the boats annual marina fees are due..... the grand sum of £3,400, and due by 15th Dec... neat timing huh?
So, the bike is a bit too far down the list at the moment...
Garages eh?
A titanic effort to clear the garage has resulted in the discover of a pair of pedals... yeah!..
It did take literally 4 hours to get to the stage where I could walk into the garage though...
The missus wanted to know why the sudden urge to clean the garage... the excuse... to be able to find the tools I can never find.... the reality... to make room for a turbo trainer for a bike when I get one... :)
Running is still going well... settled nicely at 09mins to 09 mins 30sec per mile pace, and this is what I am going to try and maintain... it feels comfortable and sets me at a sensible heart rate..
Rest day today again, and then another 30 mins run tomorrow, as well as a short swim... on Sunday another 5 mins added to the distance... slowly, gently the mileage is creeping up....
My swim on Saturday will be focused on technique rather than distance... I have a few pointers on how to swim a bit more efficiently, as so want to try them out rather than just bang out another mile in the water
It did take literally 4 hours to get to the stage where I could walk into the garage though...
The missus wanted to know why the sudden urge to clean the garage... the excuse... to be able to find the tools I can never find.... the reality... to make room for a turbo trainer for a bike when I get one... :)
Running is still going well... settled nicely at 09mins to 09 mins 30sec per mile pace, and this is what I am going to try and maintain... it feels comfortable and sets me at a sensible heart rate..
Rest day today again, and then another 30 mins run tomorrow, as well as a short swim... on Sunday another 5 mins added to the distance... slowly, gently the mileage is creeping up....
My swim on Saturday will be focused on technique rather than distance... I have a few pointers on how to swim a bit more efficiently, as so want to try them out rather than just bang out another mile in the water
Tuesday 24 November 2009
addiction
Its interesting how this training grabs hold of you.... or maybe its just my personality swapping one addiction for another...
I've got a rest day in my training this evening, and i'm itching to get out for a run.... only I won't. I learnt the hard way about over doing it, and my body needs the rest days to repair the damage that the runs do.... only, miraculously, it repairs it better than before!
One other frustration this evening...
I have an old mountain bike in the back of the shed... one I bought in about 1997.... it has/had a set of Shimano SPD pedals on it... admittedly the offroad ones, not the road versions.... and there was me thinking that whatever bike I get, they would be a good way of keeping the cost down.... for the first few weeks my old MTB shoes would do.... only, the bike doesn't have the pedals on it now.... I vaguely remember taking them off when a friend wanted to borrow the bike (as the shoes wouldn't fit him), so the pedals are in the housr/garage/shed somewhere... only I don't know where.... arghhhhhh
I've got a rest day in my training this evening, and i'm itching to get out for a run.... only I won't. I learnt the hard way about over doing it, and my body needs the rest days to repair the damage that the runs do.... only, miraculously, it repairs it better than before!
One other frustration this evening...
I have an old mountain bike in the back of the shed... one I bought in about 1997.... it has/had a set of Shimano SPD pedals on it... admittedly the offroad ones, not the road versions.... and there was me thinking that whatever bike I get, they would be a good way of keeping the cost down.... for the first few weeks my old MTB shoes would do.... only, the bike doesn't have the pedals on it now.... I vaguely remember taking them off when a friend wanted to borrow the bike (as the shoes wouldn't fit him), so the pedals are in the housr/garage/shed somewhere... only I don't know where.... arghhhhhh
being pushed
My cousin's husband is a keen triathlete... having done IM Lanzarote earlier this year....
And my cousin herself is doing 1/2IM this year in June... so neither are newbies....
Anyway... they are keen to get me moving.... i'm going to get pushed a bit here... :)
current suggestions include...
1] cycling the Vit course over xmas - will I die?
2] Going on a swimming weekend course to correct my technique - do they need the bottom of the pool cleaning while I am there?
3] Some training runs over xmas to get me in the 'zone' - I wasn't aware of this hospital department...
Seriously... thanks Vic... it'll be great fun to have someone to train with, and be nice to be pushed a bit harder than I might do if I were training alone
And my cousin herself is doing 1/2IM this year in June... so neither are newbies....
Anyway... they are keen to get me moving.... i'm going to get pushed a bit here... :)
current suggestions include...
1] cycling the Vit course over xmas - will I die?
2] Going on a swimming weekend course to correct my technique - do they need the bottom of the pool cleaning while I am there?
3] Some training runs over xmas to get me in the 'zone' - I wasn't aware of this hospital department...
Seriously... thanks Vic... it'll be great fun to have someone to train with, and be nice to be pushed a bit harder than I might do if I were training alone
goals
I reckon I need to set myself some short term goals to keep me both motivated, and also pushing forwards....
Been thinking about them... and here they are:
By start of new year...
Run 30miles in one week
Swim 48 lengths non stop
Swim 10 lengths front crawl non stop
Ride 20Km on a bike non stop at 90 cadence
Lets see how we get on!
Been thinking about them... and here they are:
By start of new year...
Run 30miles in one week
Swim 48 lengths non stop
Swim 10 lengths front crawl non stop
Ride 20Km on a bike non stop at 90 cadence
Lets see how we get on!
Monday 23 November 2009
how do I do this?
I now realise that I know so little about developing a training programme....
Back from another good run this evening. Just 3 weeks ago, a week after starting to run a little, my ankle started hurting.... I had simply run too far too fast, and my body couldn't cope.... so after a fortnight of rest, i've been easing back in. I'm determined this time to not go too mad, so have been restricting myself to specific durations in my runs... and am slowly incrementing them (using the well reported 10% increase a week rule)... that means that Saturday was a 25min run, Sunday 30 mins, and today 30 mins...
Not that far for some of you honed athletes, but plenty for me... what I have noticed is that my calfs are sore this evening... not as in muscular damage, but more as in muscular tiredness... my programme calls for a day off tomorrow, which I suspect is a good thing.. it would be easy to overdo it again, and end up with another fortnight of enforced rest...
The other element that demonstrates to me just how little I really know about training routines is one of speed... my first few runs those 4 weeks back, while very short were at a blistering pace... and as I increased the distance beyond 1 mile it became very obvious very quickly that the pace was unsustainable for me... and I had one of those eureka moments, where the good advice freely available on line all suddenly made sense.... this needing doing at a slow pace!
I ran the next few runs at a slower rate, perhaps average around 10min 30s per mile
However, what I am finding is that my pace has naturally crept up over the intervening weeks.... tonights run was comfortable, at 3.25miles and at 9mins 05s per mile pace....
But will this be too fast for a longer run, and should I therefore slow down, or does it make sense to maintain what feels like a comfortable pace?....
To add to it, i've bought a heart rate monitor (HRM), and this shows that after just a few weeks, my faster pace is at a heart rate just slightly lower than my slow paced runs of a fortnight ago.... a sign of better fitness?...
I'll just have to suck it and see I guess.... this may seem trivial to an experienced runner or triathlete, but these are the little things that twist training runs between great and ugly...
I guess the bottom line though is that it is still fun!
Back from another good run this evening. Just 3 weeks ago, a week after starting to run a little, my ankle started hurting.... I had simply run too far too fast, and my body couldn't cope.... so after a fortnight of rest, i've been easing back in. I'm determined this time to not go too mad, so have been restricting myself to specific durations in my runs... and am slowly incrementing them (using the well reported 10% increase a week rule)... that means that Saturday was a 25min run, Sunday 30 mins, and today 30 mins...
Not that far for some of you honed athletes, but plenty for me... what I have noticed is that my calfs are sore this evening... not as in muscular damage, but more as in muscular tiredness... my programme calls for a day off tomorrow, which I suspect is a good thing.. it would be easy to overdo it again, and end up with another fortnight of enforced rest...
The other element that demonstrates to me just how little I really know about training routines is one of speed... my first few runs those 4 weeks back, while very short were at a blistering pace... and as I increased the distance beyond 1 mile it became very obvious very quickly that the pace was unsustainable for me... and I had one of those eureka moments, where the good advice freely available on line all suddenly made sense.... this needing doing at a slow pace!
I ran the next few runs at a slower rate, perhaps average around 10min 30s per mile
However, what I am finding is that my pace has naturally crept up over the intervening weeks.... tonights run was comfortable, at 3.25miles and at 9mins 05s per mile pace....
But will this be too fast for a longer run, and should I therefore slow down, or does it make sense to maintain what feels like a comfortable pace?....
To add to it, i've bought a heart rate monitor (HRM), and this shows that after just a few weeks, my faster pace is at a heart rate just slightly lower than my slow paced runs of a fortnight ago.... a sign of better fitness?...
I'll just have to suck it and see I guess.... this may seem trivial to an experienced runner or triathlete, but these are the little things that twist training runs between great and ugly...
I guess the bottom line though is that it is still fun!
another victim?
I'm well on the way to convincing my mate Alan to do Vitruvian too...
Alan has the right attitude... this is the bloke that sailed a little 26 foot boat to the middle of the atlantic (the Azores) and back single handed earlier this year, just for the craic of it...
He's just bought as bike, he is running a bit, and was planning on doing the Great Northern Run
His words: "i'm thinking about it....."
I think he's hooked!
Alan has the right attitude... this is the bloke that sailed a little 26 foot boat to the middle of the atlantic (the Azores) and back single handed earlier this year, just for the craic of it...
He's just bought as bike, he is running a bit, and was planning on doing the Great Northern Run
His words: "i'm thinking about it....."
I think he's hooked!
Sunday 22 November 2009
balancing it all
I ran 3.31 miles today, which felt OK.... but after running 2.25miles yesterday, and then swimming 1 mile later in the day, my legs ached....
I've got another 30min run scheduled for tomorrow.... bet my legs ache like hell after that one!
Fortunately, tuesday is a rest day in my plan.... for now.... don't know yet quite how i'm going to organise the balance between swimming, running and cycling... maybe the rest days will have to go!
Also, been avidly researching bikes... its a whole new world!
I have one or two possible options on this front.... will keep you all posted.... and then i've got to get cycling like mad.... I bet that is going to hurt like hell.....
I've got another 30min run scheduled for tomorrow.... bet my legs ache like hell after that one!
Fortunately, tuesday is a rest day in my plan.... for now.... don't know yet quite how i'm going to organise the balance between swimming, running and cycling... maybe the rest days will have to go!
Also, been avidly researching bikes... its a whole new world!
I have one or two possible options on this front.... will keep you all posted.... and then i've got to get cycling like mad.... I bet that is going to hurt like hell.....
The challenges
Far too many to mention them all, but here are a few of the more obvious ones...
1] I can't run more than 3.5 miles without feeling dangerously knackered.... heart rates through the roof...
2] I swim well, but a length at a time..... my upper body strength is optimised for lifting pens, not weights...... more than one length and I risk drowning...
3] I don't even own a bike.... my last bike was a Raleigh Grifter...
4] The event of choice is just one week after a month long trip away, with very limited access to any training options, and no access to any cycling options
1] I can't run more than 3.5 miles without feeling dangerously knackered.... heart rates through the roof...
2] I swim well, but a length at a time..... my upper body strength is optimised for lifting pens, not weights...... more than one length and I risk drowning...
3] I don't even own a bike.... my last bike was a Raleigh Grifter...
4] The event of choice is just one week after a month long trip away, with very limited access to any training options, and no access to any cycling options
the Event of choice...
is the Vitruvian...
Its at Rutland Water in Leicestershire...
It's 1,900m of open water swim,
85Km on the bike
21Km running (pretty much a half marathon)
So, as far as these things go, a pretty easy option.... only this one has a reputation for being tough.... :)
Its at Rutland Water in Leicestershire...
It's 1,900m of open water swim,
85Km on the bike
21Km running (pretty much a half marathon)
So, as far as these things go, a pretty easy option.... only this one has a reputation for being tough.... :)
In the beginning...
Smoking....
Its a vicious, nasty habit... that suckers you in, and won't let go.... and slowly but surely (doesn't that sound like a line from War of the Worlds?) it kills you....
Along the way, it offers you passing pleasures including years on oxygen, loss of limbs through poor circulation and no sense of smell or taste.....
Only... there is hope..... here I am, a living breathing example of an addictive personality whom smoking had firmly in its grasp.... only it doesn't anymore..... you evil little sticks of death.... I have beaten you... hah... yes.. me... weak little me.... I have won.... you can't control me any more.... one month ago, I decided that I was in charge..... and stopped... no patches, or gum, or injections or pills.... just will power....
And my motivation?
I am going to run a triathlon..... an exercise in utter crass stupidity.....
...yet at the same time... an opportunity to do something very very special... something that so few achieve...
I was only planning to do a bit of running..... and then I read about this crazy bunch of people, the Pirate Ship of Fools... go look 'em up.... they specialise in encouraging people to run triathlons from a starting point of no experience and in creating a sense of fun and pleasure from the camaraderie of doing so.... they sound like a truly great bunch of people.... and then, I also read an account from a runner who had taken on the challenge previously.... she talked about someone crying at the start line as they realised the enormity of what they had taken on....
How could you fail to not be inspired by a challenge of that magnitude?
So.... here it is.... my story which will develop in the next few months.... within the year I will go from sad, unhealthy, heavy smoker, worrying about dying young, to triumphant triathlete.... come along for the ride why don't you?
Its a vicious, nasty habit... that suckers you in, and won't let go.... and slowly but surely (doesn't that sound like a line from War of the Worlds?) it kills you....
Along the way, it offers you passing pleasures including years on oxygen, loss of limbs through poor circulation and no sense of smell or taste.....
Only... there is hope..... here I am, a living breathing example of an addictive personality whom smoking had firmly in its grasp.... only it doesn't anymore..... you evil little sticks of death.... I have beaten you... hah... yes.. me... weak little me.... I have won.... you can't control me any more.... one month ago, I decided that I was in charge..... and stopped... no patches, or gum, or injections or pills.... just will power....
And my motivation?
I am going to run a triathlon..... an exercise in utter crass stupidity.....
...yet at the same time... an opportunity to do something very very special... something that so few achieve...
I was only planning to do a bit of running..... and then I read about this crazy bunch of people, the Pirate Ship of Fools... go look 'em up.... they specialise in encouraging people to run triathlons from a starting point of no experience and in creating a sense of fun and pleasure from the camaraderie of doing so.... they sound like a truly great bunch of people.... and then, I also read an account from a runner who had taken on the challenge previously.... she talked about someone crying at the start line as they realised the enormity of what they had taken on....
How could you fail to not be inspired by a challenge of that magnitude?
So.... here it is.... my story which will develop in the next few months.... within the year I will go from sad, unhealthy, heavy smoker, worrying about dying young, to triumphant triathlete.... come along for the ride why don't you?
Thursday 15 October 2009
Buying sails
I've really had my eye on buying sails from a UK sailmaker, but am alo less certain this week after a good friend of mine was quite badly let down by a well known UK loft.... Delivered horribly late, lost order, wrong spec (not triple stitched, missing one reef, wrong headboard).... And finally to finish it all off, when delivered, too small!
So, someone remind me why I shouldn't save £1000 and buy them from Hong Kong?
After all, the material is the same quality and lots of well known manufacturers use them...
I've also managed to buy a pair of sea sure cockpit eye bolts (the nice ones that clip down out of the way when not in use) for a very reasonable price.... Another winter job!
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday 14 October 2009
iPhone
Just bought myself an iPhone mainly for then navionics app.... Which is utterly briliant!
but just starting to appreciate just how much it opens the door to richer blogging and enhancements to the web site. I can now post pictures directly to photobucket and also place routes and geographically tagged pictures on the google map...
Expect all sorts of funky things from here on!
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday 8 October 2009
end of the season?
Its got to that time of the year where we are wondering about what to do about bringing Morgana out over the winter.
Last year we were in for all but a long weekend, so this year we plan on taking her out for a bit longer, so that we can do a full clean and scrub, as well as get a few 'out of the water' jobs done like servicing the seacocks, and fitting the water intake for the watermaker....
However, I don't want her out for too long as it costs £75 a month for cradle rental... so I think the plan will be to lift her after new year, and keep her out until the end of Jan... even that will cost a fortune... not just the storage cradle, but loads of money for the lift in and out... about £600 in total....
We would look for some nice winter sailing, but last year it was just a long wet winter without hardly any nice weekends where we really fancied a sail....
I've decided not to drop the mast, but to get the standing rigging replaced with the mast up (if they'll do it), as that saves another £500... but it does mean that sometime over the winter, or in the spring, i'll have to go up the mast to fit the windex, and to remove the ST50 wind speed masthead unit, and then back up to refit it once i've (hopefully) managed to fit some new bearings.... I hope they work out OK, as a new masthead unit is outrageously expensive... almost as much as a new ST60 instrument complete, but with different plug styles, it would be a real pain to fit an ST60 unit.
Last year we were in for all but a long weekend, so this year we plan on taking her out for a bit longer, so that we can do a full clean and scrub, as well as get a few 'out of the water' jobs done like servicing the seacocks, and fitting the water intake for the watermaker....
However, I don't want her out for too long as it costs £75 a month for cradle rental... so I think the plan will be to lift her after new year, and keep her out until the end of Jan... even that will cost a fortune... not just the storage cradle, but loads of money for the lift in and out... about £600 in total....
We would look for some nice winter sailing, but last year it was just a long wet winter without hardly any nice weekends where we really fancied a sail....
I've decided not to drop the mast, but to get the standing rigging replaced with the mast up (if they'll do it), as that saves another £500... but it does mean that sometime over the winter, or in the spring, i'll have to go up the mast to fit the windex, and to remove the ST50 wind speed masthead unit, and then back up to refit it once i've (hopefully) managed to fit some new bearings.... I hope they work out OK, as a new masthead unit is outrageously expensive... almost as much as a new ST60 instrument complete, but with different plug styles, it would be a real pain to fit an ST60 unit.
Wednesday 30 September 2009
windy
Supposed to be sailing down to Burnham this weekend for a YBW east coast gathering... the laying down supper....
But forecast is rubbish....
Wet, cold and windy.... any one of those three would be tolerable... but all three together?... nah....
Looks like we'll be driving....
But forecast is rubbish....
Wet, cold and windy.... any one of those three would be tolerable... but all three together?... nah....
Looks like we'll be driving....
Monday 28 September 2009
bier
Besides producing Django Reinhardt, you might think that all modern day Belgium has going for it is the chocolate and beer production for which is rightly famous. It however has one other hidden attribute, one that is often missed by the public at large. It is a very good sailing destination.
We tested this supposition to its fullest this weekend, with a long planned 'boys trip' across the foot of the north sea. It delivered on its promise.
Poor diary management saw me in Yorkshire on Thursday afternoon, meaning a long a tedious drive down from 'oop narth' down to Shotley, and by the time I arrived, there was a full house. Mostly in the pub.
It was a sensible evening however, involving a good meal in the Shipwreck and we were back onboard by 22h00, planning on an 06h00 departure the following morning.
It was still dark when the alarm announced its presence, but the first signs of dawn where there for the observant.
What wasn't present, even for the observant, was any wind. In fact, it was distinctly possible to comb your hair in your reflection in the water. This was a boys trip. Naturally, I didn't comb my hair. I didn't see anyone else combing theirs either. Most of us are well the wrong side of 40. Therefore most of us have little hair to comb anyway.
It didn't take long for the boat to be prepped for sea, and we locked out easily onto a glassy sea. Completely and utterly windless.
This set the scene for the rest of the day. We motored and motored and motored and.....
Past West Hinder, the Belgian coast appeared on the horizon, a thankful sight after 10 hours of motoring, and 2 hours later we approached the entrance to Oostende.
Oostende has a traffic light system (OK... an IPTS for the purists), and it was on red. This was clearly because of the large ferry exiting and the large ferry arriving. They tooted merrily at one another, while we tried to decide whether their sound signals meant that they were turning to port in reverse while unclear of their intentions. Or something like that.
Eventually, after they had been gone a while, the lights remained stubbornly on red, so I called up the port control..... a rapid fire response in heavily accented English (OK, OK... I know.... but we did once have an empire you know) left me a little confused... I did pick out the key words though.... after boat... proceed.... and out plodded a small fishing boat... pah!.... so small it wasn't worth the wait after all.... as he cleared the pier heads, we motored into the channel. OK. Here was the ship coming out, that the port control had really meant.....
So I gunned the engine, and dived right over to the side of the channel, hugging a pier. Much to the disgust of the fisherman. The last I heard as I saw his line stretched out across the bow was a long list of Belgian expletives, following by a sort of 'whizzing' noise.... apparently his line coming off the reel at an astronomical pace. This was shortly followed by a loud crack, as it eventually ran out of reel, and reached breaking strain. I'm told by those brave enough to look back that the sight of a Belgian fisherman with a rod bent at 180° is quite something. I will forever more wonder if he did a back flip when the line parted.
There was however one other consequence.... as the line must have grabbed the prop, the engine suddenly stopped..... ah crap... here we are in a narrow channel, 5 feet from a barnacle infested wooden pier, with 2 foot under the keel, and a ship coming the other way, and the bloody engine has stopped. It must however have been the rope cutter doing its stuff with a few hundred turns of 60lb fishing line... as the first desperate stab at the starter button resulted in my breath being released, and the engine firing up immediately.... the ship ghosted by. Very close by.
Somewhat chastened, we turned sharp right into the Montgomery dock and where delighted to be offered a berth right in the corner.
Montogomery dock has a 'med style' mooring arrangement, with a buoy that you grab with one end of the boat, and the other end is tied to the pontoon. We always go in backwards, as getting on and off is then easy with the swim platform. However, the corner mooring is tight, is surrounded by buoys, some stretched out, some pulled in. In short its a pig of a berth to get into. But we did it... and even without too much trouble. Compensation for catching a Belgian fisherman.
One hour later, Alan arrives on Mr Tinkles. So thats a good start. Nobody has sunk on the way over.
So now we have a full complement, Myself and Alan, plus BigNick, jhr and TwisterKen. What an ecclectic bunch.
It was rapidly decided that food was the first priority. So, given the fact that there were five blokes involved, we went to the pub. This proved to be a great choice. The pub in question benefitted from a small family restaurant above, and the food was very very good indeed. Can't pronounce or even spell the name, but it did sound remarkably like "Thomas's Sponge" after a few Belgian beers.
Retiring back to the boat we all settled in for a reasonably early night.... yeah right.
Saturday was lay-in day. Only it wasn't. At 06h00 UK, which rather annoyingly is 07h00 in Belgium, the harbour master Robert (who is larger than life) came knocking. He was off to Niuewpoort racing in no wind, so was collecting mooring fees early. Damn.
So... a breakfast of kings later, we all decided that what we really needed to do was to get on the train and go to Brugge. Which turned out to be a thoroughly good plan. 15 mins either way. We spent 3 or so hours wondering around Brugge looking for a place to get a coffee (yes, really), and eventually after giving in and commiting a crime against all male humanity (buying a map), we managed to talk a bar into letting us sit down for a coffee. They all seemed reluctant to use any seats for anything other people wanting to eat. Which I suppose wasn't to be unexpected, given that it was the end of September, and it was really hot, in fact shorts and tee shirts weather.
This needed to be worked off, so we attached ourselves to the thronging tourists masses, and took the canal boat trip around Brugge. An utterly remarkable tour, including some real highlights like the smallest window in Begium, a statue of a lady who had just exited the shower and was looking for a contact lense on the floor, and finally the most photographed dog in Belgium. I think the dog was dead.
Not long later, we agreed to head back to Oostende mainly as we had 'done' Brugge, managing to pass all the shops without entering a single one. A great performance from a well organised crew.
So, we headed back towards the station. On the way, we managed to get sidetracked. We passed a nice looking bar, sat alongside the water. With space.
So in we went. It was with dissapointment that we saw the barman hand us menus. It however was quickly turned to delight when we discovered that the 6 page menu contained nothing but Belgian beers. Result. It was marvellous to sit in the sun, looking at the water, drinking excellent beer.
A short train hop back to Oostende, and we found another bar, along the sea front to sit and enjoy the view. Only, their was a large concrete mixer in the way. The view was somewhat compensated for by the comely barmaid climbed up on the bar, cleaning the wall sized mirror at the rear.
All this time, Ken had dissapeared, muttering something about curry.
So, back to the boats, and as we finally relaxed, Ken reappeared with a bag full of curry enhancing ingredients.... and what a curry it was.... absolutely top notch... in fact, two curries.. even better.
The evening was rounded off by the creation of a new game, involving a pile of ten cent pieces, a few 'flicking' coins, and excessive quantities of port, starring CPD as the game developer. A real laugh.
Sunday seemed to arrive far too quickly. In fact, too little of Sunday had arrived by the time we departed, so by 06h15 we were motoring out past the pier heads again.
Another completely windless crossing beckoned, but this time with a little added fog thrown in for good measure.... the fog fortunately vanished as the light appeared.
The TSS proved somewhat more challenging than normal, with extensive avoidance looking like it would be required. In the end we had to duck one in the first lane, and slow down for a couple in the other lane. We did however, make full use of the radar, even plotting CPA's and time to CPA.... not 100%, but not too bad.
10hrs later, as we passed Rough Towers, suddenly the wind filled in, and a few mins later we are doing 6kts under sail.... we sailed the whole of the rest of the way back into Harwich, reaching 7.4kts through the water at one point... what a perfect end to a perfect weekend... even topped off by getting to the lock and finding it on free flow.....
Wish all weekends were like this.
Miles logged 158nm
Miles this season 684nm
Miles since this blog started 4,581nm
We tested this supposition to its fullest this weekend, with a long planned 'boys trip' across the foot of the north sea. It delivered on its promise.
Poor diary management saw me in Yorkshire on Thursday afternoon, meaning a long a tedious drive down from 'oop narth' down to Shotley, and by the time I arrived, there was a full house. Mostly in the pub.
It was a sensible evening however, involving a good meal in the Shipwreck and we were back onboard by 22h00, planning on an 06h00 departure the following morning.
It was still dark when the alarm announced its presence, but the first signs of dawn where there for the observant.
What wasn't present, even for the observant, was any wind. In fact, it was distinctly possible to comb your hair in your reflection in the water. This was a boys trip. Naturally, I didn't comb my hair. I didn't see anyone else combing theirs either. Most of us are well the wrong side of 40. Therefore most of us have little hair to comb anyway.
It didn't take long for the boat to be prepped for sea, and we locked out easily onto a glassy sea. Completely and utterly windless.
This set the scene for the rest of the day. We motored and motored and motored and.....
Past West Hinder, the Belgian coast appeared on the horizon, a thankful sight after 10 hours of motoring, and 2 hours later we approached the entrance to Oostende.
Oostende has a traffic light system (OK... an IPTS for the purists), and it was on red. This was clearly because of the large ferry exiting and the large ferry arriving. They tooted merrily at one another, while we tried to decide whether their sound signals meant that they were turning to port in reverse while unclear of their intentions. Or something like that.
Eventually, after they had been gone a while, the lights remained stubbornly on red, so I called up the port control..... a rapid fire response in heavily accented English (OK, OK... I know.... but we did once have an empire you know) left me a little confused... I did pick out the key words though.... after boat... proceed.... and out plodded a small fishing boat... pah!.... so small it wasn't worth the wait after all.... as he cleared the pier heads, we motored into the channel. OK. Here was the ship coming out, that the port control had really meant.....
So I gunned the engine, and dived right over to the side of the channel, hugging a pier. Much to the disgust of the fisherman. The last I heard as I saw his line stretched out across the bow was a long list of Belgian expletives, following by a sort of 'whizzing' noise.... apparently his line coming off the reel at an astronomical pace. This was shortly followed by a loud crack, as it eventually ran out of reel, and reached breaking strain. I'm told by those brave enough to look back that the sight of a Belgian fisherman with a rod bent at 180° is quite something. I will forever more wonder if he did a back flip when the line parted.
There was however one other consequence.... as the line must have grabbed the prop, the engine suddenly stopped..... ah crap... here we are in a narrow channel, 5 feet from a barnacle infested wooden pier, with 2 foot under the keel, and a ship coming the other way, and the bloody engine has stopped. It must however have been the rope cutter doing its stuff with a few hundred turns of 60lb fishing line... as the first desperate stab at the starter button resulted in my breath being released, and the engine firing up immediately.... the ship ghosted by. Very close by.
Somewhat chastened, we turned sharp right into the Montgomery dock and where delighted to be offered a berth right in the corner.
Montogomery dock has a 'med style' mooring arrangement, with a buoy that you grab with one end of the boat, and the other end is tied to the pontoon. We always go in backwards, as getting on and off is then easy with the swim platform. However, the corner mooring is tight, is surrounded by buoys, some stretched out, some pulled in. In short its a pig of a berth to get into. But we did it... and even without too much trouble. Compensation for catching a Belgian fisherman.
One hour later, Alan arrives on Mr Tinkles. So thats a good start. Nobody has sunk on the way over.
So now we have a full complement, Myself and Alan, plus BigNick, jhr and TwisterKen. What an ecclectic bunch.
It was rapidly decided that food was the first priority. So, given the fact that there were five blokes involved, we went to the pub. This proved to be a great choice. The pub in question benefitted from a small family restaurant above, and the food was very very good indeed. Can't pronounce or even spell the name, but it did sound remarkably like "Thomas's Sponge" after a few Belgian beers.
Retiring back to the boat we all settled in for a reasonably early night.... yeah right.
Saturday was lay-in day. Only it wasn't. At 06h00 UK, which rather annoyingly is 07h00 in Belgium, the harbour master Robert (who is larger than life) came knocking. He was off to Niuewpoort racing in no wind, so was collecting mooring fees early. Damn.
So... a breakfast of kings later, we all decided that what we really needed to do was to get on the train and go to Brugge. Which turned out to be a thoroughly good plan. 15 mins either way. We spent 3 or so hours wondering around Brugge looking for a place to get a coffee (yes, really), and eventually after giving in and commiting a crime against all male humanity (buying a map), we managed to talk a bar into letting us sit down for a coffee. They all seemed reluctant to use any seats for anything other people wanting to eat. Which I suppose wasn't to be unexpected, given that it was the end of September, and it was really hot, in fact shorts and tee shirts weather.
This needed to be worked off, so we attached ourselves to the thronging tourists masses, and took the canal boat trip around Brugge. An utterly remarkable tour, including some real highlights like the smallest window in Begium, a statue of a lady who had just exited the shower and was looking for a contact lense on the floor, and finally the most photographed dog in Belgium. I think the dog was dead.
Not long later, we agreed to head back to Oostende mainly as we had 'done' Brugge, managing to pass all the shops without entering a single one. A great performance from a well organised crew.
So, we headed back towards the station. On the way, we managed to get sidetracked. We passed a nice looking bar, sat alongside the water. With space.
So in we went. It was with dissapointment that we saw the barman hand us menus. It however was quickly turned to delight when we discovered that the 6 page menu contained nothing but Belgian beers. Result. It was marvellous to sit in the sun, looking at the water, drinking excellent beer.
A short train hop back to Oostende, and we found another bar, along the sea front to sit and enjoy the view. Only, their was a large concrete mixer in the way. The view was somewhat compensated for by the comely barmaid climbed up on the bar, cleaning the wall sized mirror at the rear.
All this time, Ken had dissapeared, muttering something about curry.
So, back to the boats, and as we finally relaxed, Ken reappeared with a bag full of curry enhancing ingredients.... and what a curry it was.... absolutely top notch... in fact, two curries.. even better.
The evening was rounded off by the creation of a new game, involving a pile of ten cent pieces, a few 'flicking' coins, and excessive quantities of port, starring CPD as the game developer. A real laugh.
Sunday seemed to arrive far too quickly. In fact, too little of Sunday had arrived by the time we departed, so by 06h15 we were motoring out past the pier heads again.
Another completely windless crossing beckoned, but this time with a little added fog thrown in for good measure.... the fog fortunately vanished as the light appeared.
The TSS proved somewhat more challenging than normal, with extensive avoidance looking like it would be required. In the end we had to duck one in the first lane, and slow down for a couple in the other lane. We did however, make full use of the radar, even plotting CPA's and time to CPA.... not 100%, but not too bad.
10hrs later, as we passed Rough Towers, suddenly the wind filled in, and a few mins later we are doing 6kts under sail.... we sailed the whole of the rest of the way back into Harwich, reaching 7.4kts through the water at one point... what a perfect end to a perfect weekend... even topped off by getting to the lock and finding it on free flow.....
Wish all weekends were like this.
Miles logged 158nm
Miles this season 684nm
Miles since this blog started 4,581nm
Wednesday 23 September 2009
this weekend
Forecast is for very light winds.... which is kind of a good thing, but not that good!
I'm off to Belgium again, this time with a group of friends.... leaving early Friday, back late Sunday.... looks like i'd better make sure the fuel tank is full...
Hopefully we'll get a bit of a sea breeze, and have enough wind to sail at least some of the weekend....
I'm off to Belgium again, this time with a group of friends.... leaving early Friday, back late Sunday.... looks like i'd better make sure the fuel tank is full...
Hopefully we'll get a bit of a sea breeze, and have enough wind to sail at least some of the weekend....
Sunday 20 September 2009
Accidental gathering
We'd set off down to the boat, with my niece in tow, planning on heading down to the Blackwater, and not sure what our plans were from there.... when Alan on Mr Tinkles (yes - that really is the name of his boat!) contacted us to say fancy meeting up to anchor at Osea Island... so that became a plan....
A completely and utterly windless trip along the wallet followed.... only made acceptable by the lovely warm weather.... it was an unexpected bonus to be in shorts and t-shirts in late September....
We entered the Blackwater, and motored towards Bradwell, where Alan keeps his boat, to be radioed as we passed the entrance saying "we're just coming out... are you far away?".... remarkable!
4nm further down the river, and we dropped the hook at Osea.... it set almost instantly.... in fact, the anchorage was so nice that we were thinking about spending the night there..... until....
We all tendered ashore replete with BBQ's and picnic equipment, to find the beach completely overrun with wasps.... so many in fact that 20 mins later we bailed out, and headed back to Bardwell....
And there, we found Full Circle and Beyond Reason..... before we knew it, Jim and I were pulling together a Chili con Carne for everyone, and we had a cockpit party under way.....
What a grand (and unexpected) evening!
Sunday dawned slowly.... we didn't need to leave until lunchtime, both to ensure enough water for the entrance, and also to get a fair tide back up the Wallet...
But sure enough, the law of sod was working well, and the wind had built to a perfect 12kts, but bang on the nose....
So, we motored.... it was greyer than Saturday, and motoring directly into the wind, with a big spring tide, we had 19kts apparent wind... and it felt cooler... much cooler....
We went back most of the way with coats on... a massive contrast to the previous day... but even so... we were out on the water...
Can't complain at what turned out to be a pretty good weekend all in all.
Miles logged 55nm
Miles this season 526nm
Miles since this blog started 4,423nm
A completely and utterly windless trip along the wallet followed.... only made acceptable by the lovely warm weather.... it was an unexpected bonus to be in shorts and t-shirts in late September....
We entered the Blackwater, and motored towards Bradwell, where Alan keeps his boat, to be radioed as we passed the entrance saying "we're just coming out... are you far away?".... remarkable!
4nm further down the river, and we dropped the hook at Osea.... it set almost instantly.... in fact, the anchorage was so nice that we were thinking about spending the night there..... until....
We all tendered ashore replete with BBQ's and picnic equipment, to find the beach completely overrun with wasps.... so many in fact that 20 mins later we bailed out, and headed back to Bardwell....
And there, we found Full Circle and Beyond Reason..... before we knew it, Jim and I were pulling together a Chili con Carne for everyone, and we had a cockpit party under way.....
What a grand (and unexpected) evening!
Sunday dawned slowly.... we didn't need to leave until lunchtime, both to ensure enough water for the entrance, and also to get a fair tide back up the Wallet...
But sure enough, the law of sod was working well, and the wind had built to a perfect 12kts, but bang on the nose....
So, we motored.... it was greyer than Saturday, and motoring directly into the wind, with a big spring tide, we had 19kts apparent wind... and it felt cooler... much cooler....
We went back most of the way with coats on... a massive contrast to the previous day... but even so... we were out on the water...
Can't complain at what turned out to be a pretty good weekend all in all.
Miles logged 55nm
Miles this season 526nm
Miles since this blog started 4,423nm
Sunday 13 September 2009
more fixing
Yep, the weather was shite on Sunday, so we continued with the jobs list...
Well... sort of...
I'd plumbed in the satellite systems, so Grand Prix coverage took a fair chunk of the day up...
The main task I achieved was installing the Active Carbon water filter... this removes all sorts of nasties from the tank water, including Chlorine, which makes the water safe to use to flush the watermaker..... I had intended on fitting it just by the watermaker itself, and then realised that I could fit it at the main junction between the two tanks and the water pump, thus ensuring that every last drop of water being used on the boat has been through it...
However... nothing on a boat is straightforward.... the obvious physical location for the filter was where the current crude 'mesh' filter sat... this is nothing more than a fine mesh that removes particulates.... it was however, mounted with two screws from behind a panel that was mounted with more screws, and needed another panel removing to get at the screws..... phew.... it took nearly an hour to remove the old filter....
With this out of the way, it should have been straightforward to mount the new one... both had 1/2" BSP fittings, so a direct drop in replacement.... oh no.... nothing is ever that straightforward.... the new filter, a Jabsco Aqua Filta, has plastic fittings.... handy in that they can be swivelled through 180° to allow flexibility in location.... but robust... erm... no..... the mounts have a male thread, and then a short 'extra' piece so that a 1/2" pipe can be mounted instead.... the instructions tell you to cut this extension off if just 1/2" BSP mounts are required..... only once they are cut off, then getting a watertight seal is difficult.... and as they are plastic, you can only tighten so far.... which I did, and still had a drip.... one more gentle turn to stop it, and POP... the threads stripped..... arghhh....
So I ended up having to buy another complete unit from the on-site chandlery (not too drastic, as it gives me a spare cartridge for a not a lot more than a replacement cartridge anyway).... and also a metal 1/2" BSP to 1/2" hose tail, plus a length of 1/2" pipe.... and did what I should have done to start with, and used a length of pipe.... perfect.... complete watertight... and only took me 3hrs from start to finish!!!!!!!!
Other than that, just cleaning up this weekend.....
Well... sort of...
I'd plumbed in the satellite systems, so Grand Prix coverage took a fair chunk of the day up...
The main task I achieved was installing the Active Carbon water filter... this removes all sorts of nasties from the tank water, including Chlorine, which makes the water safe to use to flush the watermaker..... I had intended on fitting it just by the watermaker itself, and then realised that I could fit it at the main junction between the two tanks and the water pump, thus ensuring that every last drop of water being used on the boat has been through it...
However... nothing on a boat is straightforward.... the obvious physical location for the filter was where the current crude 'mesh' filter sat... this is nothing more than a fine mesh that removes particulates.... it was however, mounted with two screws from behind a panel that was mounted with more screws, and needed another panel removing to get at the screws..... phew.... it took nearly an hour to remove the old filter....
With this out of the way, it should have been straightforward to mount the new one... both had 1/2" BSP fittings, so a direct drop in replacement.... oh no.... nothing is ever that straightforward.... the new filter, a Jabsco Aqua Filta, has plastic fittings.... handy in that they can be swivelled through 180° to allow flexibility in location.... but robust... erm... no..... the mounts have a male thread, and then a short 'extra' piece so that a 1/2" pipe can be mounted instead.... the instructions tell you to cut this extension off if just 1/2" BSP mounts are required..... only once they are cut off, then getting a watertight seal is difficult.... and as they are plastic, you can only tighten so far.... which I did, and still had a drip.... one more gentle turn to stop it, and POP... the threads stripped..... arghhh....
So I ended up having to buy another complete unit from the on-site chandlery (not too drastic, as it gives me a spare cartridge for a not a lot more than a replacement cartridge anyway).... and also a metal 1/2" BSP to 1/2" hose tail, plus a length of 1/2" pipe.... and did what I should have done to start with, and used a length of pipe.... perfect.... complete watertight... and only took me 3hrs from start to finish!!!!!!!!
Other than that, just cleaning up this weekend.....
Saturday 12 September 2009
forecast and fixing
Well, We listened to the inshore waters forecast this morning, and after hearing F5 to 6 increasing 7, we decided that it needed to be a day in the marina, doing a bit of fixing instead...
So, here we are set on the boat at 20h00, and there is no wind at all... none.. zip... nowt....
So much for forecasts...
On the positive side, we've got a fair few jobs done.
During the week I bought some of those little wheels that fit on the guardwires to ensure that the sail doesn't snag up on the guardwires... they are fitted..
Next I had noticed a small worn bit on the furling line for the main... closer inspection showed it to be a bit worse than I thought... so it was cut out... this proved somewhat more challenging than I expected... the knot tying the line to furling drum was inside the furling drum... and the correct way of getting at it was less obvious than you might think... but eventually, I worled it out... the furling line is now 12" shorter, but without a worn bit..
Next I took a long look at the lines coming down the mast, through blocks, and back to the cockpit... they weren't sensibly laid out... several were slightly crossed, and they could have been better routed through the oragnisers, so that was addressed... now I need new labels for the clutches as the lines are in different places.... I did find one wheel on the starboard organiser was jammed solid... it took some time to free it... but now everything should run much more easily..
After this, I worked on how to finish the watermaker install.. its not done, but I've got it sussed at last...
Finally, I added a small bit of string between the dorade vent and the mast to stop the sheets dropping behind it, and then retied the sheets... hopefully that will reduce the number of snags of the genoa sheets on various things on the foredeck.
Now i'm going to sit and relax!
So, here we are set on the boat at 20h00, and there is no wind at all... none.. zip... nowt....
So much for forecasts...
On the positive side, we've got a fair few jobs done.
During the week I bought some of those little wheels that fit on the guardwires to ensure that the sail doesn't snag up on the guardwires... they are fitted..
Next I had noticed a small worn bit on the furling line for the main... closer inspection showed it to be a bit worse than I thought... so it was cut out... this proved somewhat more challenging than I expected... the knot tying the line to furling drum was inside the furling drum... and the correct way of getting at it was less obvious than you might think... but eventually, I worled it out... the furling line is now 12" shorter, but without a worn bit..
Next I took a long look at the lines coming down the mast, through blocks, and back to the cockpit... they weren't sensibly laid out... several were slightly crossed, and they could have been better routed through the oragnisers, so that was addressed... now I need new labels for the clutches as the lines are in different places.... I did find one wheel on the starboard organiser was jammed solid... it took some time to free it... but now everything should run much more easily..
After this, I worked on how to finish the watermaker install.. its not done, but I've got it sussed at last...
Finally, I added a small bit of string between the dorade vent and the mast to stop the sheets dropping behind it, and then retied the sheets... hopefully that will reduce the number of snags of the genoa sheets on various things on the foredeck.
Now i'm going to sit and relax!
Wednesday 9 September 2009
waterproof cockpit tent
We've noticed that the cockpit tent isn't as waterproof as it used to be.... so i've ordered 5ltrs of Fabsil, which comes highly recommended... its unlikely to arrive for this weekend, which is a shame, as it looks like the weather will be OK, so would have been the perfect opportunity...
The following weekend we have guests (family), and the weekend after is a boys trip (to Belgium, weather permitting)... and then its getting quite autumnal, and it needs a guaranteed dry day to apply.
Basically, you paint this stuff on. Its a silicon that permeates the material, and apparently does a good job of restoring the waterprrof characteristics.
The following weekend we have guests (family), and the weekend after is a boys trip (to Belgium, weather permitting)... and then its getting quite autumnal, and it needs a guaranteed dry day to apply.
Basically, you paint this stuff on. Its a silicon that permeates the material, and apparently does a good job of restoring the waterprrof characteristics.
radar arches and windvanes
I've decided that there is no practical way of using the arch as davits with a windvane fitted... so it'll mean a mechanism to remove the windvane easily, and its use consigned to longer passages, where the 15mins needed to fit the windvane makes sense (and where frankly we'd probably remove the dinghy from the davits anyway)
I am still quite keen on a Hydrovane, but will explore how we could put quick releases on the supporting legs...
Its all academic anyway.... its quite a few grand away from being a reality at present... and likely to be a few years yet!
I am still quite keen on a Hydrovane, but will explore how we could put quick releases on the supporting legs...
Its all academic anyway.... its quite a few grand away from being a reality at present... and likely to be a few years yet!
Tuesday 8 September 2009
smokey engine
I might have mentioned previously that the engine was a bit smokey....
I'm not overly concerned about it, as the smoke isn't billowing out in clouds and it isn't using oil by the gallon. The engine starts first turn every time, so I doubt it is worn bores and poor compression either.
My suspicion is turning towards the oil seals on the valves. This would fit with the symptoms experienced...
So... one of this winter's jobs will be to replace 'em....
Only, its a bit of a task....
Firstly, its an overhead cam engine, so removing the head means removing all the timing belt at the same time.... it means real care with the bearing for the cam, etc...
It also means that i'll need to hunt through the depths of my garage for a collet removal tool/spring compressor....
It'll probably also mean removing all the heat exchanger system to remove the heads, plus chunks of the fuel system...
sounds fun eh?
Only job that makes me nervous is the timing belt.... it really could do with replacing anyway as part of the standard service routine, so no bad thing.... but all my time mucking around with engines has been with overhead valve engines, so i'm not that comfortable with OHCs...
The engine is the Perkins engine that was used in the Montego and Sherpa van.... so i'll be treating myself to a Haynes manual to get the details on getting the belt back in the right place, plus all the torque settings for head bolts etc....
Hope its not too cold over the layup period!
I'm not overly concerned about it, as the smoke isn't billowing out in clouds and it isn't using oil by the gallon. The engine starts first turn every time, so I doubt it is worn bores and poor compression either.
My suspicion is turning towards the oil seals on the valves. This would fit with the symptoms experienced...
So... one of this winter's jobs will be to replace 'em....
Only, its a bit of a task....
Firstly, its an overhead cam engine, so removing the head means removing all the timing belt at the same time.... it means real care with the bearing for the cam, etc...
It also means that i'll need to hunt through the depths of my garage for a collet removal tool/spring compressor....
It'll probably also mean removing all the heat exchanger system to remove the heads, plus chunks of the fuel system...
sounds fun eh?
Only job that makes me nervous is the timing belt.... it really could do with replacing anyway as part of the standard service routine, so no bad thing.... but all my time mucking around with engines has been with overhead valve engines, so i'm not that comfortable with OHCs...
The engine is the Perkins engine that was used in the Montego and Sherpa van.... so i'll be treating myself to a Haynes manual to get the details on getting the belt back in the right place, plus all the torque settings for head bolts etc....
Hope its not too cold over the layup period!
Wednesday 2 September 2009
fitting it all in
While anchored for a couple of nights over the weekend, I spent a bit of time contemplating how everything could be organised on the transom as we slowly prep Morgana for long distance cruising....
I don't think its realistic to have a radar arch that extends far enough back to allow a tender (rib or otherwise) to hang from it, and still fit a windvanve on the transom... the tender would need to be so far back that the radar arch would need to be massive in order to handle the leverage....
So... I need to consider two things....
1] Could a windvane be easily made to be removable?... and would this make sense, eg using it for only the longer passages where it is worth fitting it...
2] How easily could we carry a tender on the decks.... or would we need to carry on with an inflatable and drop the plans for a rib?
I did even contemplate how we might put a hole through the bathing platform for a windvane to go through (and hence bring it forward), but this would put the windvane rudder a bit too close to the main rudder for comfort.... as well as make fitting and removing the windvane rudder a real PITA.....
Not sure really how to proceed on this one.... I have plenty of time to think it through, but need to have worked it out in my head before I start spending any money on things like the radar arch....
I don't think its realistic to have a radar arch that extends far enough back to allow a tender (rib or otherwise) to hang from it, and still fit a windvanve on the transom... the tender would need to be so far back that the radar arch would need to be massive in order to handle the leverage....
So... I need to consider two things....
1] Could a windvane be easily made to be removable?... and would this make sense, eg using it for only the longer passages where it is worth fitting it...
2] How easily could we carry a tender on the decks.... or would we need to carry on with an inflatable and drop the plans for a rib?
I did even contemplate how we might put a hole through the bathing platform for a windvane to go through (and hence bring it forward), but this would put the windvane rudder a bit too close to the main rudder for comfort.... as well as make fitting and removing the windvane rudder a real PITA.....
Not sure really how to proceed on this one.... I have plenty of time to think it through, but need to have worked it out in my head before I start spending any money on things like the radar arch....
Tuesday 1 September 2009
anchor lights
I was utterly amazed at the weekend to see boats in anchorages without any form of anchor light....
Particularly on Sunday evening.... it was a dark night, with complete cloud cover.... in fact pitch black..... I watched several boats fade into the darkness as the light levels fell...
As boats entered the anchorage (HW was after dark), I winced as they sailed through areas where I knew boats to be anchored....
There weren't any collisions that I am aware of.... but it must have been pretty tough for the new arrivals...
Not good enough folks.
Particularly on Sunday evening.... it was a dark night, with complete cloud cover.... in fact pitch black..... I watched several boats fade into the darkness as the light levels fell...
As boats entered the anchorage (HW was after dark), I winced as they sailed through areas where I knew boats to be anchored....
There weren't any collisions that I am aware of.... but it must have been pretty tough for the new arrivals...
Not good enough folks.
Monday 31 August 2009
typical bank holiday
As usual, a British bank holiday weekend provided the standard package of grotty weather, and as usual, this was completely contrary to the rather nice forecast provided beforehand. Its not a problem though. We expect it.
We managed to get down to Morgana at a very reasonable 18h00, due to a half day of annual leave on my part, so it wasn't the usual rush....
And when I checked the tide times it became even less so.... if we wanted to head towards the Deben, then we either ste of at 'oh no' o'clock, or left it until early afternoon. The lay-in won.
So, around 15h00, we locked out into a steady 18kts of wind.... and made our way at a decent pace down towards the Deben entrance... we were a tad early for the perfect entry, but given that it was a very neapy weekend, we risked it.... and never saw less than 1.5m below the keel.... (along with the usual 12kts SOG on the GPS that is always a feature of the Deben tides)
It seemed like a bit of a friends reunion in the Deben, with boat after boat calling over to say hello.... we saw at least half a dozen familiar craft waving...
The anchorage at the Rocks was busier than normal, but not busy to the point of space becoming tight, so we anchored easily.... with 23kts not blowing, in the same direction as the tide, there was little concern that the anchor was dug in.... I was more concerned about how easy it would be to retrieve!
We met up with Clive on Sirenia, and Peter on Karouise, and soon a plan was hatched for a BBQ ashore... which we duly completed.... yum!
A really good nights sleep in the excellent holding followed....
Again, we couldn't leave early unless we left really early, so instead we opted for a lazy day and to take the afternoon tide... during the day we all jumped in the tender and motored the 1.5nm to Waldringfield, enjoyed a visit to the pub (I had coffee!!!!), and then heading back got within 0.5nm on Morgana when we ran out of fuel.... thank god that the tide was supporting us... it was a long row in an inflatable....
We upped anchor at around 17h30, and slowly meandered down to the bar.... we were a bit more sensible timewise this time around, being just 2.5hr before HW, which proved a good job... the westerly wind was more easterly than westerly, and a decent swell was running into the entrance.... much more wind and it would have been downright dangerous... as it was, with 1.5m under the keel, dropping into the troughs of the waves had my heart in my mouth... I was certainly glad to see the safe water mark when we reached it and to watch the depth grow rapidly...
It was miserable really heading upto Hamford water.... a grey overcast evening, with 27kts in the gusts, probably averaging 21kts, and straight into the wind, we motored.... bang, crash off each wave.... fortunately, its not that far, and within 5nm we hade made it to Pye End which marks the entrance to the Backwaters channel, and the lee of the land had reduced the seastate considerably...
However, Hamford Water also benefits from a huge anchorage, and so we had no trouble finding a good spot, and again, the anchor set well with a decent length of chain out...
It wasn't a good night.... for the first time in a long while I didn't sleep well at anchor... probably due to the wind whisting through the rigging....
The following morning, I took the kids up Bramble creek in the tender to spot the seals... loads of 'em as ever... including the one inevitable curious one that can resist coming over for a look at the boat!
By midday, we'd had enough of the grey skies and wind, and upped anchor and set off for Shotley.... we had a brilliant downwind sail under just genny, and as we neared Shotley, the sun came out!!!!! (talk about poor timing)
A perfect lock in, and a perfect arrival at our berth (in fact I think probably the neatest we've ever done), and we were back....
A rotten weekend weatherwise, but actually, two nights at anchor made up for it... we have great quality family time when we anchor... you are all stuck in a small space, and we end up enjoying each others company a lot more than normal. We play cards, and a multitude of other games and the kids love it....
All in all... not bad!
Miles logged 32nm
Miles this season 471nm
Miles since this blog started 4,368nm
We managed to get down to Morgana at a very reasonable 18h00, due to a half day of annual leave on my part, so it wasn't the usual rush....
And when I checked the tide times it became even less so.... if we wanted to head towards the Deben, then we either ste of at 'oh no' o'clock, or left it until early afternoon. The lay-in won.
So, around 15h00, we locked out into a steady 18kts of wind.... and made our way at a decent pace down towards the Deben entrance... we were a tad early for the perfect entry, but given that it was a very neapy weekend, we risked it.... and never saw less than 1.5m below the keel.... (along with the usual 12kts SOG on the GPS that is always a feature of the Deben tides)
It seemed like a bit of a friends reunion in the Deben, with boat after boat calling over to say hello.... we saw at least half a dozen familiar craft waving...
The anchorage at the Rocks was busier than normal, but not busy to the point of space becoming tight, so we anchored easily.... with 23kts not blowing, in the same direction as the tide, there was little concern that the anchor was dug in.... I was more concerned about how easy it would be to retrieve!
We met up with Clive on Sirenia, and Peter on Karouise, and soon a plan was hatched for a BBQ ashore... which we duly completed.... yum!
A really good nights sleep in the excellent holding followed....
Again, we couldn't leave early unless we left really early, so instead we opted for a lazy day and to take the afternoon tide... during the day we all jumped in the tender and motored the 1.5nm to Waldringfield, enjoyed a visit to the pub (I had coffee!!!!), and then heading back got within 0.5nm on Morgana when we ran out of fuel.... thank god that the tide was supporting us... it was a long row in an inflatable....
We upped anchor at around 17h30, and slowly meandered down to the bar.... we were a bit more sensible timewise this time around, being just 2.5hr before HW, which proved a good job... the westerly wind was more easterly than westerly, and a decent swell was running into the entrance.... much more wind and it would have been downright dangerous... as it was, with 1.5m under the keel, dropping into the troughs of the waves had my heart in my mouth... I was certainly glad to see the safe water mark when we reached it and to watch the depth grow rapidly...
It was miserable really heading upto Hamford water.... a grey overcast evening, with 27kts in the gusts, probably averaging 21kts, and straight into the wind, we motored.... bang, crash off each wave.... fortunately, its not that far, and within 5nm we hade made it to Pye End which marks the entrance to the Backwaters channel, and the lee of the land had reduced the seastate considerably...
However, Hamford Water also benefits from a huge anchorage, and so we had no trouble finding a good spot, and again, the anchor set well with a decent length of chain out...
It wasn't a good night.... for the first time in a long while I didn't sleep well at anchor... probably due to the wind whisting through the rigging....
The following morning, I took the kids up Bramble creek in the tender to spot the seals... loads of 'em as ever... including the one inevitable curious one that can resist coming over for a look at the boat!
By midday, we'd had enough of the grey skies and wind, and upped anchor and set off for Shotley.... we had a brilliant downwind sail under just genny, and as we neared Shotley, the sun came out!!!!! (talk about poor timing)
A perfect lock in, and a perfect arrival at our berth (in fact I think probably the neatest we've ever done), and we were back....
A rotten weekend weatherwise, but actually, two nights at anchor made up for it... we have great quality family time when we anchor... you are all stuck in a small space, and we end up enjoying each others company a lot more than normal. We play cards, and a multitude of other games and the kids love it....
All in all... not bad!
Miles logged 32nm
Miles this season 471nm
Miles since this blog started 4,368nm
Tuesday 25 August 2009
bank holiday weekend
.... and the forecast is looking good!
The remnants of hurricane 'bill' look like they'll pass well north, and the Azores high will re-establish itself.
So perhaps slightly breezy on Sat, but getting better and better throughout the weekend....
My withdrawal symptoms will be dealt with adequately!
The remnants of hurricane 'bill' look like they'll pass well north, and the Azores high will re-establish itself.
So perhaps slightly breezy on Sat, but getting better and better throughout the weekend....
My withdrawal symptoms will be dealt with adequately!
Saturday 22 August 2009
I can see the anchor!
Its hard to believe how different it is sailing in clear blue water under a deep blue sky!
The boat we had chartered for the day was a 27'er, of early 80's vintage.... not a rocket ship, and had led a clearly hard life...but was solid, and obviously well maintained...
The aisles in the marina at Palamos were narrow, so it was interesting getting out of the berth, not having any idea of how she handle in reverse.... but all was well, and we set off out safely...
Just outside the marina, we pulled the sails up, and shut the engine down... A long tack out to sea, and off we went... fabulous.... clear blue water that you could see through..... and 10kts of wind.... we stood off out to sea for about 4nm, tacked back and headed down towards Castell.... a small bay... it was quite full, and so we set back, and ran down the coast to Calella, where we anchored in a free space.... there wasn't much space.... and I thought that i'd seen busy anchorages....
But somehow anchoring seems so much safer and easier when you can see the bottom!
A swim, and lunch, and we set off back.... with one crew member dropped off, we set off out again...
The wind had built with a stiff sea breeze, and a reef was put in.... we reached out, and eventually had to give up when around 16h00 the wind died... a slow motor back in and we tied up somewhat reluctantly...
All I can say is that sailing in such conditions has reinforced two points...
1] A bimini isn't a luxury... its an essential
2] I will love long term cruising!
Miles logged 24nm
Miles this season 439nm
Miles since this blog started 4,336nm
The boat we had chartered for the day was a 27'er, of early 80's vintage.... not a rocket ship, and had led a clearly hard life...but was solid, and obviously well maintained...
The aisles in the marina at Palamos were narrow, so it was interesting getting out of the berth, not having any idea of how she handle in reverse.... but all was well, and we set off out safely...
Just outside the marina, we pulled the sails up, and shut the engine down... A long tack out to sea, and off we went... fabulous.... clear blue water that you could see through..... and 10kts of wind.... we stood off out to sea for about 4nm, tacked back and headed down towards Castell.... a small bay... it was quite full, and so we set back, and ran down the coast to Calella, where we anchored in a free space.... there wasn't much space.... and I thought that i'd seen busy anchorages....
But somehow anchoring seems so much safer and easier when you can see the bottom!
A swim, and lunch, and we set off back.... with one crew member dropped off, we set off out again...
The wind had built with a stiff sea breeze, and a reef was put in.... we reached out, and eventually had to give up when around 16h00 the wind died... a slow motor back in and we tied up somewhat reluctantly...
All I can say is that sailing in such conditions has reinforced two points...
1] A bimini isn't a luxury... its an essential
2] I will love long term cruising!
Miles logged 24nm
Miles this season 439nm
Miles since this blog started 4,336nm
Thursday 30 July 2009
Blue Water sailing!
Off out to see my folks just outside of Barcelona shortly.... while we're out there, we've got a 28' sailing boat for a day, from the port of Palamos....
Only a day, so we won't be doing any great distance, but it'll still be nice to sail in some clear blue water for a while!
Only a day, so we won't be doing any great distance, but it'll still be nice to sail in some clear blue water for a while!
Sunday 26 July 2009
Crouch cruising
This weekend had been in the planning for some weeks, so the weather was a totally lottery...
A group of us had agreed to meet up at Fambridge marina, well up the river Crouch, and have a BBQ on the shore.
And the weather turned out not too bad at all!
We had to time our departure and return around tide times given the fact that we were travelling along the coast, either directly into, or directly with the tide... so this saw us leaving Shotley at 08h00 Saturday morning, into a gentle F2, coming from the west...
By the time we'd left Harwich, it had increased to a F3 touching F4, and was across the beam all the way out to Walton headland, meaning that for the first time in a while, the engine could be off without us either drifting, freezing, or reefing down to tiny sails!... Even better, the sun was shining... and it was pleasantly warm... we shot down to Walton at a very decent speed
As we rounded Walton Headland, it became apparent that the wind angle was such that we could sail a single leg, without tacking all the way to the Spitway buoy, which marks the channel through to East Swin, or more accurately the top of the Whittaker channel which is the route into the Crouch.
What's more.... the wind even shifted just a few degrees, so that we could just free off the sheets a little, and suddenly Morgana was flying along.... with what had become a consistent F4, touching F5, we made extremely fast progress, and before we knew it, we were through the spitway, and entering the Crouch...
The trip up the Crouch was bang into the wind, so we dropped the sails and motored the last few miles up the river....
Even so, after exiting the lock at Shotley at 08h30, we were tied up in Fambridge at 13h00.... which for those that know the area, will be recognised as a very fast passage... the huge spring tide had helped enormously.... at times we hit 9.5kts over the ground travelling up the Wallet.... and rarely dropped below 8kts...
Tying up at Fambridge was 'interesting'.... with 2.5kts of tide ripping past the pontoon, and a slot just 3 feel longer than the boat, I tried to feery glide in.... but the wind direction made it very tough.... so in the end, I stuck the stern into the wind and tide, and reversed in.... well kind of... more swept in by the tide, but used reverse to slow her down as we went in.... not elegant, but it worked.... and we didn't hit anything!
The evening was a grand affair... a georgeous summer evening, and a real treat to just sit on the grass and relax with good company
Sunday was an early start.... up at 05h00.... I was somewhat dissapointed to see the tide already ripping past the boat.... we had a raft 2 deep astern, and one in front... again with no more than 2 foot of space at either end....
The tide was coming from the stern.... so after getting rid of the springs, we moved the bow line back to the centre on the pontoon, to stop her moving forward, gently engaged reverse to take the load off the stern line, slipped it, and let the stern sweep out into the river under the force of the tide.... as it swung out, we engaged hard astern, slipped the bow line, and exited under complete control.... perfect!
Just a few hundred yards up the Crouch, the main was out, and we were again flying along with a spring tide assisted sldeg ride...
in less than an hour, we had passed 'inner crouch' mark, which is where the land 'stops' (at least the land that never gets water over it anyway), and the genoa was unfurled, and the engine off.... for the two or three minutes that we had the geno out and the engine still running, we hit 10.4kts over the ground...
It was however, nice to have some silence, and we enjoyed a very pleasant sail out to Whittaker No. 6.
By now, the wind had built a fair bit, and we rounded up and stuck a reef in the main, and furled a few turns on the genoa.... as we headed for the Spitway, it continued to build, and before long we had a decent F5, but potentially for the wallet, it'd be right up the chuff.... at this point in time it was a beam reach... and we were flying again!
It wasn't however bad in the Wallet, as it was still a pretty flat sea... but it was very deep, so a certain amount of concentration required to avoid a gybe.... but again, not slow....
Before we knew it, we had rounded Walton headland.... and the gybe towards Harwich left us with the main doing all the work, and the genoa flapping and filling aimlessly, threatening to do damage to the sail... so we pinned the main in, furled the genoa, and motored the last 3nm into Harwich....
In and tied up by 12h30..... marvellous..... what a great weekend.... brill weather Saturday.... OK weather Sunday, but fabulous wind... not bad at all!
Miles logged 64nm
Miles this season 415nm
Miles since this blog started 4,312nm
A group of us had agreed to meet up at Fambridge marina, well up the river Crouch, and have a BBQ on the shore.
And the weather turned out not too bad at all!
We had to time our departure and return around tide times given the fact that we were travelling along the coast, either directly into, or directly with the tide... so this saw us leaving Shotley at 08h00 Saturday morning, into a gentle F2, coming from the west...
By the time we'd left Harwich, it had increased to a F3 touching F4, and was across the beam all the way out to Walton headland, meaning that for the first time in a while, the engine could be off without us either drifting, freezing, or reefing down to tiny sails!... Even better, the sun was shining... and it was pleasantly warm... we shot down to Walton at a very decent speed
As we rounded Walton Headland, it became apparent that the wind angle was such that we could sail a single leg, without tacking all the way to the Spitway buoy, which marks the channel through to East Swin, or more accurately the top of the Whittaker channel which is the route into the Crouch.
What's more.... the wind even shifted just a few degrees, so that we could just free off the sheets a little, and suddenly Morgana was flying along.... with what had become a consistent F4, touching F5, we made extremely fast progress, and before we knew it, we were through the spitway, and entering the Crouch...
The trip up the Crouch was bang into the wind, so we dropped the sails and motored the last few miles up the river....
Even so, after exiting the lock at Shotley at 08h30, we were tied up in Fambridge at 13h00.... which for those that know the area, will be recognised as a very fast passage... the huge spring tide had helped enormously.... at times we hit 9.5kts over the ground travelling up the Wallet.... and rarely dropped below 8kts...
Tying up at Fambridge was 'interesting'.... with 2.5kts of tide ripping past the pontoon, and a slot just 3 feel longer than the boat, I tried to feery glide in.... but the wind direction made it very tough.... so in the end, I stuck the stern into the wind and tide, and reversed in.... well kind of... more swept in by the tide, but used reverse to slow her down as we went in.... not elegant, but it worked.... and we didn't hit anything!
The evening was a grand affair... a georgeous summer evening, and a real treat to just sit on the grass and relax with good company
Sunday was an early start.... up at 05h00.... I was somewhat dissapointed to see the tide already ripping past the boat.... we had a raft 2 deep astern, and one in front... again with no more than 2 foot of space at either end....
The tide was coming from the stern.... so after getting rid of the springs, we moved the bow line back to the centre on the pontoon, to stop her moving forward, gently engaged reverse to take the load off the stern line, slipped it, and let the stern sweep out into the river under the force of the tide.... as it swung out, we engaged hard astern, slipped the bow line, and exited under complete control.... perfect!
Just a few hundred yards up the Crouch, the main was out, and we were again flying along with a spring tide assisted sldeg ride...
in less than an hour, we had passed 'inner crouch' mark, which is where the land 'stops' (at least the land that never gets water over it anyway), and the genoa was unfurled, and the engine off.... for the two or three minutes that we had the geno out and the engine still running, we hit 10.4kts over the ground...
It was however, nice to have some silence, and we enjoyed a very pleasant sail out to Whittaker No. 6.
By now, the wind had built a fair bit, and we rounded up and stuck a reef in the main, and furled a few turns on the genoa.... as we headed for the Spitway, it continued to build, and before long we had a decent F5, but potentially for the wallet, it'd be right up the chuff.... at this point in time it was a beam reach... and we were flying again!
It wasn't however bad in the Wallet, as it was still a pretty flat sea... but it was very deep, so a certain amount of concentration required to avoid a gybe.... but again, not slow....
Before we knew it, we had rounded Walton headland.... and the gybe towards Harwich left us with the main doing all the work, and the genoa flapping and filling aimlessly, threatening to do damage to the sail... so we pinned the main in, furled the genoa, and motored the last 3nm into Harwich....
In and tied up by 12h30..... marvellous..... what a great weekend.... brill weather Saturday.... OK weather Sunday, but fabulous wind... not bad at all!
Miles logged 64nm
Miles this season 415nm
Miles since this blog started 4,312nm
Tuesday 21 July 2009
so... about this water maker...
its all spaghetti!
There is so much plumbing involved its ridiculous....
Of course, it could be much simplet, but me being me decided that it needed to be complex...
There are three main pipes on the water maker....
Sea water in
Brine out
Fresh water (product) out
However, there are a few things that also need doing...
It needs to be flushed with fresh water if its not to be used for approx 7 days.... it needs to be 'pickled' with a special solution if its not to be used within a month or so... the product needs to diverted to go overboard for a while when running after pickling, or after a long stand... and finally, the fresh water flush needs to take water through a charcoal filter, as any chlorine destroys the membrane... got all that?
So what is the result.... well... its four three way valves, all fitted to a plethora of different sized pipes.... so a handfull of different sized hoze tails to fit to the 3 way valves..
Firstly, the brine out.... this goes to the first 3 way valve, which diverts the water either overboard (through a tee that I have put in an existing 'above the water line' through hull fitting, or the other way to a hose that is just loose for now, and will go into a bucket when pickling is underway...
Next the sea water in.... this goes firstly to a 3 way valve that selects on one side another loose pipe to go in the pickling bucket (in and out in the bucket see?)... and on the other side to another three way valve that selects either sea water (will be teed into the engine water intake with a one way valve to stop the engine trying to scavenge water from the watermaker), and on the other side to a fresh water supply.
This fresh water supply must go through the charcoal filter and also be on the pressurised side of the system.... but rather than just putting it in line, i'm fitting the water filter by the main tank feed into the water system, so that the whole boat benefits from filtered water.
Finally, the product out goes to another 3 way valve which on one side is teed into the tank breather, allowinf fresh water to enter the tank, and on the other side to a small tank vent which I need to fit to the transom, so that wtare can be pushed overboard to start with....
This weekend, with a concerted effort I've got this mostly plumbed in bar the fresh water filter, the skin fitting for fresh water dumping, and the tee into the engine water intake...
and take a deep breath.... and remind yourself to plan carefully when you buy your own watermaker... buying the right plumbing bits first time will qualify you for Mensa....
There is so much plumbing involved its ridiculous....
Of course, it could be much simplet, but me being me decided that it needed to be complex...
There are three main pipes on the water maker....
Sea water in
Brine out
Fresh water (product) out
However, there are a few things that also need doing...
It needs to be flushed with fresh water if its not to be used for approx 7 days.... it needs to be 'pickled' with a special solution if its not to be used within a month or so... the product needs to diverted to go overboard for a while when running after pickling, or after a long stand... and finally, the fresh water flush needs to take water through a charcoal filter, as any chlorine destroys the membrane... got all that?
So what is the result.... well... its four three way valves, all fitted to a plethora of different sized pipes.... so a handfull of different sized hoze tails to fit to the 3 way valves..
Firstly, the brine out.... this goes to the first 3 way valve, which diverts the water either overboard (through a tee that I have put in an existing 'above the water line' through hull fitting, or the other way to a hose that is just loose for now, and will go into a bucket when pickling is underway...
Next the sea water in.... this goes firstly to a 3 way valve that selects on one side another loose pipe to go in the pickling bucket (in and out in the bucket see?)... and on the other side to another three way valve that selects either sea water (will be teed into the engine water intake with a one way valve to stop the engine trying to scavenge water from the watermaker), and on the other side to a fresh water supply.
This fresh water supply must go through the charcoal filter and also be on the pressurised side of the system.... but rather than just putting it in line, i'm fitting the water filter by the main tank feed into the water system, so that the whole boat benefits from filtered water.
Finally, the product out goes to another 3 way valve which on one side is teed into the tank breather, allowinf fresh water to enter the tank, and on the other side to a small tank vent which I need to fit to the transom, so that wtare can be pushed overboard to start with....
This weekend, with a concerted effort I've got this mostly plumbed in bar the fresh water filter, the skin fitting for fresh water dumping, and the tee into the engine water intake...
and take a deep breath.... and remind yourself to plan carefully when you buy your own watermaker... buying the right plumbing bits first time will qualify you for Mensa....
Sunday 19 July 2009
Breezy weekend
The BBQ summer certainly hasn't kicked off yet!
With M off dinghy sailing with Sea Cadets, we have C and her friend L along.... it was noticeably quieter than normal!
After arriving Friday arounf 21h00, we soon settled in for the night, and awoke Saturday to a clear but breezy day.... after procrastinating for a few hours, we finally locked out around 11h30, into a stiff breeze.... as we got out into the Stour proper, its was blowing 25kts and gusting a bit more... a good solid F5, touching 6, so we decided to stay in the river.... which proved a good call... it was Pin Mill Thames Barge match, so we motored slowly up the river, carefully avoiding the barges tacking against the wind and tide, getting some great photos in the process.... and by the time we almost reached the Orwell bridge, we turned round, hoisted a bit of genny, turned the engine off, and had a brilliant sail back down the river to Shotley.... we were only out for 2.5hrs, but it was a good 2.5hrs....
We then enjoyed a good meal onboard, and had an evening of card games and chat, followed by watching 'Hancock' on DVD...
Sunday was worse...
Not only was it equally as windy, but it was raining too.... so SWMBO and the girls ventured off into Ipswich shopping while I got on with a few jobs...
The ball bearings were fitted to the boom car... a great tip from YBW... I used shaving foam to keep them in place as they were inserted one by one.... and then a quick wash out, and the foam was gone... worked beautifully..
And then I started plumbing in the Watermaker.... well on the way by the time the girls got back... more on that later...
We packed up and set off home... not great weather, but still an enjoyable weekend...
Miles logged 13nm
Miles this season 351nm
Miles since this blog started 4,248nm
With M off dinghy sailing with Sea Cadets, we have C and her friend L along.... it was noticeably quieter than normal!
After arriving Friday arounf 21h00, we soon settled in for the night, and awoke Saturday to a clear but breezy day.... after procrastinating for a few hours, we finally locked out around 11h30, into a stiff breeze.... as we got out into the Stour proper, its was blowing 25kts and gusting a bit more... a good solid F5, touching 6, so we decided to stay in the river.... which proved a good call... it was Pin Mill Thames Barge match, so we motored slowly up the river, carefully avoiding the barges tacking against the wind and tide, getting some great photos in the process.... and by the time we almost reached the Orwell bridge, we turned round, hoisted a bit of genny, turned the engine off, and had a brilliant sail back down the river to Shotley.... we were only out for 2.5hrs, but it was a good 2.5hrs....
We then enjoyed a good meal onboard, and had an evening of card games and chat, followed by watching 'Hancock' on DVD...
Sunday was worse...
Not only was it equally as windy, but it was raining too.... so SWMBO and the girls ventured off into Ipswich shopping while I got on with a few jobs...
The ball bearings were fitted to the boom car... a great tip from YBW... I used shaving foam to keep them in place as they were inserted one by one.... and then a quick wash out, and the foam was gone... worked beautifully..
And then I started plumbing in the Watermaker.... well on the way by the time the girls got back... more on that later...
We packed up and set off home... not great weather, but still an enjoyable weekend...
Miles logged 13nm
Miles this season 351nm
Miles since this blog started 4,248nm
Monday 13 July 2009
what to do, where to go....
A full weekends sailing coming up...
M is away with Sea Cadets, dinghy sailing, so we've got C and her friend L along....
We are hoping to go sail a bit, but the tide times aren't great...
If we go south, then it'll mean a punch against the tide heading back.....
If we go a decent way north to Southwold, it'll mean punching the tide all the way north, and leaving at 'Oh-my-god' O'clock on Sunday morning...
Only viable option is the Deben, which we can't get into much before 17h00, and will need to leave before 10h00 on Sunday....
I'm not really sure what to do at all!
M is away with Sea Cadets, dinghy sailing, so we've got C and her friend L along....
We are hoping to go sail a bit, but the tide times aren't great...
If we go south, then it'll mean a punch against the tide heading back.....
If we go a decent way north to Southwold, it'll mean punching the tide all the way north, and leaving at 'Oh-my-god' O'clock on Sunday morning...
Only viable option is the Deben, which we can't get into much before 17h00, and will need to leave before 10h00 on Sunday....
I'm not really sure what to do at all!
Friday 10 July 2009
spending money is easy
The new bearings for the boom car are ordered.... surprisingly low priced...
However, I also needed to pay for a few things marina related.... the winter lift out/cradle/lift in payment was well overdue, winter and spring electric bills, fuel from early in the season, and a fill up last week, and a couple of gas bottles... all added up to £890 plus a few pence.... ouch...
Still got to keep saving otherwise the standing rigging will need to do another season, and the sails will have to do the same.... fair chance that the sails will have to do another season anyway unless I win the lottery in the mean time!
However, I also needed to pay for a few things marina related.... the winter lift out/cradle/lift in payment was well overdue, winter and spring electric bills, fuel from early in the season, and a fill up last week, and a couple of gas bottles... all added up to £890 plus a few pence.... ouch...
Still got to keep saving otherwise the standing rigging will need to do another season, and the sails will have to do the same.... fair chance that the sails will have to do another season anyway unless I win the lottery in the mean time!
Wednesday 8 July 2009
proven wrong...
The bearings are 15p each, and I need about 100 of 'em....
Not as bad as i'd expected!
Not as bad as i'd expected!
Tuesday 7 July 2009
track bearings
One thing from this weekend.... I've decided that the bearings on the car that the outhaul pulls out on really do need replacing.... despite removing the broken ones, the lack of bearings means that the car doesn't travel well, and makes the main hard to pull out....
So... I start the hunt for the correct bearings.... only needs about 50 plastic balls.... any guesses how much they'll be?
I reckon on £40..... marine industry rip off.... I hope to be proven wrong!
So... I start the hunt for the correct bearings.... only needs about 50 plastic balls.... any guesses how much they'll be?
I reckon on £40..... marine industry rip off.... I hope to be proven wrong!
Monday 6 July 2009
Pirates spotted!
As usual, the pirate weekend was a roaring success, with everyone seeming to have a great time....
Only this year, the sun came along to play too!
We dashed out of Harwich Friday evening, partially to get a spot in the anchorage, partially because we wanted to prep a little for the weekend, and partially because we had been looking forward to it so much that we just wanted it to start...
Arriving in the anchorage at around 21h00, we were delighted to see half a dozen boats already in-situ, with Jolly Rogers flying.... CliveG beckoned us over, and suggested that he weigh anchor, we take his spot, and he would hang off us... ideal!
So by 22h00, we are in, settled, flags raised, and chilled.
Neville and Janey pop over for a drink.... we chat and before we know it, its midnight.... time for bed...
And so we awoke Saturday morning (nice and early) to find a boiling hot day, clear blue skies and strong sun...
By midday we are on the beach, and slowly being joined by more and more boats and pirate crews....
By 20h00, the fire is lit, the pirates fed, and we are being entertained by guitarists, saxophonists, and general good company.... 75 pirates was the final count... just fantastic...
Somehow we make it back to the boat (under the watchful and considerate eye of Full Circle), and after falling into our beds, Sunday morning is upon us...
A slow and steady sail back into Harwich, a little burned (but not too serious!), and thoroughly relaxed...
So... next year... how do we trump it?
(and a personal commitment to a little less alcohol next year too)
Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 338nm
Miles since this blog started 4,235nm
Only this year, the sun came along to play too!
We dashed out of Harwich Friday evening, partially to get a spot in the anchorage, partially because we wanted to prep a little for the weekend, and partially because we had been looking forward to it so much that we just wanted it to start...
Arriving in the anchorage at around 21h00, we were delighted to see half a dozen boats already in-situ, with Jolly Rogers flying.... CliveG beckoned us over, and suggested that he weigh anchor, we take his spot, and he would hang off us... ideal!
So by 22h00, we are in, settled, flags raised, and chilled.
Neville and Janey pop over for a drink.... we chat and before we know it, its midnight.... time for bed...
And so we awoke Saturday morning (nice and early) to find a boiling hot day, clear blue skies and strong sun...
By midday we are on the beach, and slowly being joined by more and more boats and pirate crews....
By 20h00, the fire is lit, the pirates fed, and we are being entertained by guitarists, saxophonists, and general good company.... 75 pirates was the final count... just fantastic...
Somehow we make it back to the boat (under the watchful and considerate eye of Full Circle), and after falling into our beds, Sunday morning is upon us...
A slow and steady sail back into Harwich, a little burned (but not too serious!), and thoroughly relaxed...
So... next year... how do we trump it?
(and a personal commitment to a little less alcohol next year too)
Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 338nm
Miles since this blog started 4,235nm
Thursday 2 July 2009
500 not out
Well, its had to happen eventually.... the 500th entry on this blog.... thats an awful lot of drivel for one person....... along the way i've had hundreds of e-mails and messages about it, ranging from "can you tell me more about XYZ", through "great blog, one of my favourites", to "the worlds most boring blog"... thank god we're all different!
Anyway... a fitting time to post about this coming weekend, which is the 3rd annual Pirate weekend at Stone Point in the Walton Backwaters.... the forecast is looking utterly fantastic, with sun and heat aplenty, and we have somewhere in the region of 60 or 70 people coming along.... funny how an event built around dressing up like a pirate, lighting a fire and generally making a bit of an idiot of yourself has had such a positive reception...
If it carries on like this, we'll need to find a different venue for 2010, as we're rapidly running out of space.... as it is, with the warm weather forecast, then I suspect it'll be tight this weekend, as loads of other boats will be there.... we may end up ferrying people from Hamford Water....
Anyway... a fitting time to post about this coming weekend, which is the 3rd annual Pirate weekend at Stone Point in the Walton Backwaters.... the forecast is looking utterly fantastic, with sun and heat aplenty, and we have somewhere in the region of 60 or 70 people coming along.... funny how an event built around dressing up like a pirate, lighting a fire and generally making a bit of an idiot of yourself has had such a positive reception...
If it carries on like this, we'll need to find a different venue for 2010, as we're rapidly running out of space.... as it is, with the warm weather forecast, then I suspect it'll be tight this weekend, as loads of other boats will be there.... we may end up ferrying people from Hamford Water....
Sunday 28 June 2009
installations
Batteries duly installed....
The three batteries fit into the space previously occupied by two batteries perfectly.... and with the exceptionn of the missing battery terminals are all installed..... most satisfactory to see the battery voltages drop so very little when a load was applied.... and to start the engine off the engine starter battery!
While we were at it we got a few other jobs done.... there wasn't any point in going sailing.... the water was like a mirror, and you could barely see Felixstowe through the haze....
We scrubbed the decks of their weekly deposit of Seagull Guano.... (our next door neighbour berth holder is always dissapointed when we depart for the weekend, as its the only time the seagulls target his vessel.... on all other occasions, our own deck seems a preferablt seagull latrine)
We removed the cockpit tent for a hasty departure next weekend...
We also played around with the in mast/boom position to ease furling/unfurling.... I took a large right angle to the boom, and was surprised to find that my 'normal' furling settings for the boom height were way off from a right angle... so the topping lift is now marked.... the outhaul track car freshly treated with graphite spray, and in and out she went as easy as an easy thing!
Last but not least, I filled the water tanks.... at which point SWMBO asked why there was a leak below.... a small compression fitting had started leaking.... so quick dissassembly revealed a small fibre washer that wasn't in perfect nick... but a bit of PTFE tape, and careful reassembly set it all right....
Perfect... all ready for Pirate weekend... hope the weather holds out.... currently v. hot, and forecast to get hotter!
The three batteries fit into the space previously occupied by two batteries perfectly.... and with the exceptionn of the missing battery terminals are all installed..... most satisfactory to see the battery voltages drop so very little when a load was applied.... and to start the engine off the engine starter battery!
While we were at it we got a few other jobs done.... there wasn't any point in going sailing.... the water was like a mirror, and you could barely see Felixstowe through the haze....
We scrubbed the decks of their weekly deposit of Seagull Guano.... (our next door neighbour berth holder is always dissapointed when we depart for the weekend, as its the only time the seagulls target his vessel.... on all other occasions, our own deck seems a preferablt seagull latrine)
We removed the cockpit tent for a hasty departure next weekend...
We also played around with the in mast/boom position to ease furling/unfurling.... I took a large right angle to the boom, and was surprised to find that my 'normal' furling settings for the boom height were way off from a right angle... so the topping lift is now marked.... the outhaul track car freshly treated with graphite spray, and in and out she went as easy as an easy thing!
Last but not least, I filled the water tanks.... at which point SWMBO asked why there was a leak below.... a small compression fitting had started leaking.... so quick dissassembly revealed a small fibre washer that wasn't in perfect nick... but a bit of PTFE tape, and careful reassembly set it all right....
Perfect... all ready for Pirate weekend... hope the weather holds out.... currently v. hot, and forecast to get hotter!
Friday 26 June 2009
change of plan
New batteries have arrived....
110Kg!!!!!!
However, they didn't remember the battery terminals..... they'll be here Sat in the post....
So... plan now is to just head down Sunday, and fit the batteries then... and maybe get a few other jobs done while i'm at it... such as starting to plumb in the watermaker...
That way I can take SWMBO sat night to her hen party, and earn a few serious brownie points!
110Kg!!!!!!
However, they didn't remember the battery terminals..... they'll be here Sat in the post....
So... plan now is to just head down Sunday, and fit the batteries then... and maybe get a few other jobs done while i'm at it... such as starting to plumb in the watermaker...
That way I can take SWMBO sat night to her hen party, and earn a few serious brownie points!
Thursday 25 June 2009
Boys trip this weekend..
Girls away at a Hen night.... and so it'll be me and M, and possibly my father too... don't know what we'll do, but the forecast is for light winds, and quite warm, so no doubt we'll end up at anchor somewhere...
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Batteries
New ones ordered today....
Previous domestics were 2 x 110Ah, both very large at 530mm by 190mm.....
Into the same space I can squeeze 3 x 110Ah at 330mm x 175mm....
and an 85Ah for the engine...
So... more capacity, new batteries.... and no money!
Previous domestics were 2 x 110Ah, both very large at 530mm by 190mm.....
Into the same space I can squeeze 3 x 110Ah at 330mm x 175mm....
and an 85Ah for the engine...
So... more capacity, new batteries.... and no money!
Sunday 21 June 2009
all quiet...
With the weather forecast to be OK on Saturday, with perhaps the odd light rain shower, and nice on Sunday, we decided that we'd head out to Walton Backwaters, get the hook down and chill a bit... planning to enjoy the beach for a walk Saturday evening, and perhaps a bit of a sit in the sun on Sunday.
As it worked out, the weather let us down a bit really.... while Saturday was very much as forecast, Sunday turned out to be dull as well.
We got into the Backwaters around 11h00 Sat, and soon got the hook down.... I wasn't quite happy with where we ended up, with the wind and the tide doing battle over where the boat should lay, so we had a second go, with which I was much more comfortable...
And we then just chilled... a pleasant lunch aboard and then a quick trip ashore for a walk (dashing back as the skies darkened for yet another shower)....
The outboard engine is playing up again.... It really needs a darned good service... it needs full choke to even run, and then isn't running at all well... I suspect the carb needs a good clean again... and maybe some fresh fuel wouldn't go amiss... it'll come home shortly for the treatment!
It was nearly 22h00 before I needed to stick the anchor light on... as you'd expect at Summer Solstice.... and this was a good thing... the batteries are clearly tired, and are running down far to quickly... they had reached 12.5V in no time at all...
Still... I had the engine battery isolated, so no worries... (more on this later)
We sat below, and enjoyed a quiet evening, using the paraffin lamp for both battery conservation, and for more atmospheric lighting.
Sunday, as previously mentioned was dull, even threatening more rain, so after a good breakfast, we decided to head back... I got the boat ready, set the switches to use both battery banks, stuck the keys in the ignition, and "click.... click"..... nothing... so I ran below, suspecting that the low domestics were dragging the engine battery down, and tried off just the engine.... not even a click... completely and utterly dead.... so I tried of just the domestics.... "click..... click"... it wasn't going to start....
We had about 6kts of wind bang on the nose, and the tide still coming in... so i'd decided that we wait for it to go slack, and then we could sail off the anchor.... darn... that meant pulling in 25m of 10mm chain and a 25Kg Delta anchor... that was going to be fun!!!
Anchored in font of us was someone we met once or twice before while out and about.... and he was close enough to talk to... I explained my predicament, and he immediately offered us one of his batteries to get her started.... brill.... so I dropped the tender back in (viva la davits!), and motored over to fetch it... it was a few mins work to stick it on the engine, and she started first turn.... a few mins to let some charge into the domestics, and taking great care to ensure that the domestics were still connected to the alternator to avoid blowing the thing, I removed the battery, stuck our own engine battery back in, and took the battery back...
So what had been the problem?
Well... my conclusion is that I am lazy, and never bother to start the engine off just the engine battery, instead using both engine and domestics.... I reckon that the engine battery must have died some time ago, but my laziness had hidden the fact... combined with tired domestics that had been run down overnight, it left me stuck.... ah well.... lesson learned....
Anyway.... after 20mins of running the engine, we were still chucking 35Amps into the batteries, and I decided that we'd been running long enough to try the windlass.... no problem.... up came the anchor and we were off... at least we thought we were...
As we motored past the boat that had leant us the battery, he called over.... "any idea why everything on board is completely dead?"...
"oh heck I thought.... i've killed his battery"
So I tied up alongside him, and helped him try to get his head around it.... with a meter, I soon established that the batteries were fine... the fuses were fine... but nothing at the battery selector switch...
This made little sense... the only thing between the two was a thick battery cable... unlikely to fail without some evidence eg smell/smoke... and no power had been applied anyway...
So that left the earth.... a little hunting... and voila!... another earth cable on the batteries that hadn't been reconnected when they were plumbed back in... 30 secs later, all was well!
And so we left, and headed back to Shotley... got the cockpit tent up, watched the Grand Prix on telly, and headed back for a sensible arrival time home...
I'd measured the battery compartments before leaving, and will be ordering new batteries this week... more money!
Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 326nm
Miles since this blog started 4,223nm
As it worked out, the weather let us down a bit really.... while Saturday was very much as forecast, Sunday turned out to be dull as well.
We got into the Backwaters around 11h00 Sat, and soon got the hook down.... I wasn't quite happy with where we ended up, with the wind and the tide doing battle over where the boat should lay, so we had a second go, with which I was much more comfortable...
And we then just chilled... a pleasant lunch aboard and then a quick trip ashore for a walk (dashing back as the skies darkened for yet another shower)....
The outboard engine is playing up again.... It really needs a darned good service... it needs full choke to even run, and then isn't running at all well... I suspect the carb needs a good clean again... and maybe some fresh fuel wouldn't go amiss... it'll come home shortly for the treatment!
It was nearly 22h00 before I needed to stick the anchor light on... as you'd expect at Summer Solstice.... and this was a good thing... the batteries are clearly tired, and are running down far to quickly... they had reached 12.5V in no time at all...
Still... I had the engine battery isolated, so no worries... (more on this later)
We sat below, and enjoyed a quiet evening, using the paraffin lamp for both battery conservation, and for more atmospheric lighting.
Sunday, as previously mentioned was dull, even threatening more rain, so after a good breakfast, we decided to head back... I got the boat ready, set the switches to use both battery banks, stuck the keys in the ignition, and "click.... click"..... nothing... so I ran below, suspecting that the low domestics were dragging the engine battery down, and tried off just the engine.... not even a click... completely and utterly dead.... so I tried of just the domestics.... "click..... click"... it wasn't going to start....
We had about 6kts of wind bang on the nose, and the tide still coming in... so i'd decided that we wait for it to go slack, and then we could sail off the anchor.... darn... that meant pulling in 25m of 10mm chain and a 25Kg Delta anchor... that was going to be fun!!!
Anchored in font of us was someone we met once or twice before while out and about.... and he was close enough to talk to... I explained my predicament, and he immediately offered us one of his batteries to get her started.... brill.... so I dropped the tender back in (viva la davits!), and motored over to fetch it... it was a few mins work to stick it on the engine, and she started first turn.... a few mins to let some charge into the domestics, and taking great care to ensure that the domestics were still connected to the alternator to avoid blowing the thing, I removed the battery, stuck our own engine battery back in, and took the battery back...
So what had been the problem?
Well... my conclusion is that I am lazy, and never bother to start the engine off just the engine battery, instead using both engine and domestics.... I reckon that the engine battery must have died some time ago, but my laziness had hidden the fact... combined with tired domestics that had been run down overnight, it left me stuck.... ah well.... lesson learned....
Anyway.... after 20mins of running the engine, we were still chucking 35Amps into the batteries, and I decided that we'd been running long enough to try the windlass.... no problem.... up came the anchor and we were off... at least we thought we were...
As we motored past the boat that had leant us the battery, he called over.... "any idea why everything on board is completely dead?"...
"oh heck I thought.... i've killed his battery"
So I tied up alongside him, and helped him try to get his head around it.... with a meter, I soon established that the batteries were fine... the fuses were fine... but nothing at the battery selector switch...
This made little sense... the only thing between the two was a thick battery cable... unlikely to fail without some evidence eg smell/smoke... and no power had been applied anyway...
So that left the earth.... a little hunting... and voila!... another earth cable on the batteries that hadn't been reconnected when they were plumbed back in... 30 secs later, all was well!
And so we left, and headed back to Shotley... got the cockpit tent up, watched the Grand Prix on telly, and headed back for a sensible arrival time home...
I'd measured the battery compartments before leaving, and will be ordering new batteries this week... more money!
Miles logged 12nm
Miles this season 326nm
Miles since this blog started 4,223nm
Monday 15 June 2009
Wood heaven!
Classic boats have always been food for the eyes of any true sailing addict, so when you are given the opportunity to go sail on one, amongst a fleet of 60 odd of the best the east coast can offer, you don't turn it down!
Karen and Patrick had asked me to come along and do foredeck on Vreny, who is a really pretty Stella class, at 26', and 50years of age. The event was the Suffolk Classics regatta, out of Suffolk Yacht Harbour, and event now in its 8th year, and seemingly getting bigger every time.
Vreny was one of 16 Stellas entered, which meant that we had our own start, so even better than just racing her, we had class racing.
The weather couldn't have been kinder, with 12kts and warm sunny skies...
The first race set us up nicely for the weekend... we'd watched the forecast, and seen that it was suggesting the wind would veer through the day, so as we all set off on Starboard off the line, we tacked early onto Port.... everyone else held the starboard tack, expecting the shallower water to get them out of the foul tide, and 10 minutes later realised that they were being steadily headed, and we, having tacked alone were being lifted up towards the first mark.... an hour later, we remained close hauled, laying the mark without having tacked again, while the rest of the fleet, now some way behind had freed off to the point of reaching... yes they had better boat speed, but we were a long way ahead.... and so we rounded the windward mark first!
Eventually, a quicker boat (funded with a large budget, including new sails, a near professional race crew, and the very best of everything equipment wise) overhauled us on one of the downwind legs, but we beat them fair and square on the tactical front.... a 2nd place in the end, and 3rd over the line as the faster classes overhauled us... we ended up 4th on handicap across all the fleets.
The second race saw us tick off a 3rd place...
The evening was great, with a live Blues Band, and a few pints with friends... and Sunday dawned to be another glorious day...
A 4th place was put in the bag... it seemed a bit of a lottery as the wind died completely mid course, but again, we'd guessed which side it would reappear from, and set ourselves up nicely to consolidate our results...
By 17:30, after prize giving, where Vreny took her 2nd in class, to roudy applause (they're a great bunch, the Stella fleet!), I set off home, alittle sunburnt, and thoroughly satisfied with what proved to be a wonderful weekend.
Thanks Karen and Patrick... hope for an invite again next year!
Miles logged 30nm
Miles this season 314nm
Miles since this blog started 4,211nm
Karen and Patrick had asked me to come along and do foredeck on Vreny, who is a really pretty Stella class, at 26', and 50years of age. The event was the Suffolk Classics regatta, out of Suffolk Yacht Harbour, and event now in its 8th year, and seemingly getting bigger every time.
Vreny was one of 16 Stellas entered, which meant that we had our own start, so even better than just racing her, we had class racing.
The weather couldn't have been kinder, with 12kts and warm sunny skies...
The first race set us up nicely for the weekend... we'd watched the forecast, and seen that it was suggesting the wind would veer through the day, so as we all set off on Starboard off the line, we tacked early onto Port.... everyone else held the starboard tack, expecting the shallower water to get them out of the foul tide, and 10 minutes later realised that they were being steadily headed, and we, having tacked alone were being lifted up towards the first mark.... an hour later, we remained close hauled, laying the mark without having tacked again, while the rest of the fleet, now some way behind had freed off to the point of reaching... yes they had better boat speed, but we were a long way ahead.... and so we rounded the windward mark first!
Eventually, a quicker boat (funded with a large budget, including new sails, a near professional race crew, and the very best of everything equipment wise) overhauled us on one of the downwind legs, but we beat them fair and square on the tactical front.... a 2nd place in the end, and 3rd over the line as the faster classes overhauled us... we ended up 4th on handicap across all the fleets.
The second race saw us tick off a 3rd place...
The evening was great, with a live Blues Band, and a few pints with friends... and Sunday dawned to be another glorious day...
A 4th place was put in the bag... it seemed a bit of a lottery as the wind died completely mid course, but again, we'd guessed which side it would reappear from, and set ourselves up nicely to consolidate our results...
By 17:30, after prize giving, where Vreny took her 2nd in class, to roudy applause (they're a great bunch, the Stella fleet!), I set off home, alittle sunburnt, and thoroughly satisfied with what proved to be a wonderful weekend.
Thanks Karen and Patrick... hope for an invite again next year!
Miles logged 30nm
Miles this season 314nm
Miles since this blog started 4,211nm
Saturday 6 June 2009
Winter work
Looks like this winter's major task will be to replace the standing rigging....
Its been bothering me for a while now, as its 15yrs old, and while showing absolutely no signs of any problems, really is due for retirement....
I may well have the mast down this winter, in which case, it'll be a case of taking the old rigging off, sending it to a rigger, and they'll send replacement rigging back, all via the post....
I'll probably ask them to also convert one of the stays into an inner forestay while i'm at it, leaving the length to be cut by myself, and putting a swageless fitting on....
Cost looks like it'll be about £1500 to £2k if I take the above approach, plus about £100 to get the mast dropped and stepped.... it needs doing anyway, as I want to fit the windex, service the anenometer, and check out all the sheaves etc etc anyway...
Seems a little premature to be planning all this, but the money needs planning for!
Its been bothering me for a while now, as its 15yrs old, and while showing absolutely no signs of any problems, really is due for retirement....
I may well have the mast down this winter, in which case, it'll be a case of taking the old rigging off, sending it to a rigger, and they'll send replacement rigging back, all via the post....
I'll probably ask them to also convert one of the stays into an inner forestay while i'm at it, leaving the length to be cut by myself, and putting a swageless fitting on....
Cost looks like it'll be about £1500 to £2k if I take the above approach, plus about £100 to get the mast dropped and stepped.... it needs doing anyway, as I want to fit the windex, service the anenometer, and check out all the sheaves etc etc anyway...
Seems a little premature to be planning all this, but the money needs planning for!
sailing classics
Not sailing this weekend.... too much to do at home....
But I am looking forward to next weekend, where i'll be crew on Vreny, a rather lovely Stella, competing in the Suffolk Classics event.... better get my camera card emptied... all those lovely wooden things to look at!
But I am looking forward to next weekend, where i'll be crew on Vreny, a rather lovely Stella, competing in the Suffolk Classics event.... better get my camera card emptied... all those lovely wooden things to look at!
Monday 1 June 2009
not really saily
We had to be back Friday, as we had been invited to the 50th birthday party of one of our close sailing friends on Saturday evening....
And what a night it was!
We camped at a local camping site.... a real reminder of how much you forget to appreciate a loo on board!
Sunday was a steady start..... including a walk down to Essex marina.... on a truly glorious day, It was rather frustrating to see boats setting off down river on a broad reach in 15kts of wind, and with 25° temperature..... offset by the chance to see Sirenia, whom we helped to clean out the previous autumn after she sank, back on the water, and looking better than ever, in fact, better than before she sank!
Besides this pleasure, we've managed to convince a group of Solent sailors that they should be heading over to the East Coast in the autumn, in return for the numerous trips we've taken with them over the years.... really looking forward to that... plan is to head to Nieuwpoort.....
And what a night it was!
We camped at a local camping site.... a real reminder of how much you forget to appreciate a loo on board!
Sunday was a steady start..... including a walk down to Essex marina.... on a truly glorious day, It was rather frustrating to see boats setting off down river on a broad reach in 15kts of wind, and with 25° temperature..... offset by the chance to see Sirenia, whom we helped to clean out the previous autumn after she sank, back on the water, and looking better than ever, in fact, better than before she sank!
Besides this pleasure, we've managed to convince a group of Solent sailors that they should be heading over to the East Coast in the autumn, in return for the numerous trips we've taken with them over the years.... really looking forward to that... plan is to head to Nieuwpoort.....
Thursday 28 May 2009
Homeward bound
Breskens proves to have no fuel berth.
Now we aren't short of fuel to the point of panic.... but would very much like to be able to sail a while on the way back to be comfortable...
So, we are rather pleased at 06:30 to lock out into 20kts of wind.... albeit bang on the nose for the first 3 hours as we work our way back down the coast.... the promise of being able to sail once we reach the end of the channel is lifting.... which is good, as its still pretty lumpy from the previous days wind....
True to form however, as we turn NE, the wind starts to ease.... just enough to sail for a while though, so in 12kts, we plug away north, enjoying the quiet with the engine off.... Our friends, who are equally as concerned about fuel, carry one motoring at full chat.... a mistake it was later to be proved....
We take what seems to be an age in reaching the TSS... as the wind continues to drop, and out speed over the ground reduces to 2.3kts, we put the engine back on.... we've managed to sail for nearly 4 hours though... a good fuel saving....
The TSS is straightforward again... one little jink for a container ship, but only a minor jink.... and then the next waypooint is the cardinal marking the edge of Gallopers.... we might have gone straight across this notorious bank, but when we left, the sea was still running, and given that it shallows to less than 3m, it wouldn't have been nice... but with the engine on, its soon on us.... and then its Long Sand Head.... its just starting to get dusky, so on go the nav lights.... and fortunately, we just clear the new 'roundabout TSS' here before it gets truly dark, which makes Nav a lot easier....
Still motoring, and with the tide now in full flow, we are shot down towards Rough Towers....
Our friends call up.... they are sufficiently low on fuel, that they are now motoring at nearly idle... the price paid for shooting off too quickly earlier... They request that we inform Shotley that they'll be in for fuel in the middle of the night!
Soon Cork Sands Yacht Beacon is upon us... for once we pick it up at 0.5nm range... its usually a pig to spot until the last minute... and within 45mins, we are calling Shotley for a lock in....
As we lock in... we hear the other boat call the coastguard.... they've run out of fuel, and the wind has vanished... whoops!
I have a momentary pang of guilt... should we have waited for them?... but then we were also v low on fuel, so then the coastguard would have had two boats to deal with....
All tied up in our berth, and ready for bed by 12:30... not bad.. 18hrs for the crossing.... and we didn't break anything this time!
Miles logged 96nm
Miles this trip 213nm
Miles this season 284nm
Miles since this blog started 4,181nm
Now we aren't short of fuel to the point of panic.... but would very much like to be able to sail a while on the way back to be comfortable...
So, we are rather pleased at 06:30 to lock out into 20kts of wind.... albeit bang on the nose for the first 3 hours as we work our way back down the coast.... the promise of being able to sail once we reach the end of the channel is lifting.... which is good, as its still pretty lumpy from the previous days wind....
True to form however, as we turn NE, the wind starts to ease.... just enough to sail for a while though, so in 12kts, we plug away north, enjoying the quiet with the engine off.... Our friends, who are equally as concerned about fuel, carry one motoring at full chat.... a mistake it was later to be proved....
We take what seems to be an age in reaching the TSS... as the wind continues to drop, and out speed over the ground reduces to 2.3kts, we put the engine back on.... we've managed to sail for nearly 4 hours though... a good fuel saving....
The TSS is straightforward again... one little jink for a container ship, but only a minor jink.... and then the next waypooint is the cardinal marking the edge of Gallopers.... we might have gone straight across this notorious bank, but when we left, the sea was still running, and given that it shallows to less than 3m, it wouldn't have been nice... but with the engine on, its soon on us.... and then its Long Sand Head.... its just starting to get dusky, so on go the nav lights.... and fortunately, we just clear the new 'roundabout TSS' here before it gets truly dark, which makes Nav a lot easier....
Still motoring, and with the tide now in full flow, we are shot down towards Rough Towers....
Our friends call up.... they are sufficiently low on fuel, that they are now motoring at nearly idle... the price paid for shooting off too quickly earlier... They request that we inform Shotley that they'll be in for fuel in the middle of the night!
Soon Cork Sands Yacht Beacon is upon us... for once we pick it up at 0.5nm range... its usually a pig to spot until the last minute... and within 45mins, we are calling Shotley for a lock in....
As we lock in... we hear the other boat call the coastguard.... they've run out of fuel, and the wind has vanished... whoops!
I have a momentary pang of guilt... should we have waited for them?... but then we were also v low on fuel, so then the coastguard would have had two boats to deal with....
All tied up in our berth, and ready for bed by 12:30... not bad.. 18hrs for the crossing.... and we didn't break anything this time!
Miles logged 96nm
Miles this trip 213nm
Miles this season 284nm
Miles since this blog started 4,181nm
Wednesday 27 May 2009
decisions time
We'd promised the kids a run the the Veersemeer, but knowing that we needed to be back in the UK Friday night.. so we watch the weather forecasts closely....
FRiday is looking bad, with no wind forecast, and what little their is, to be on the nose for a crossing back.... so we opt to go Thursday instead.... this clearly mucks up plans for the Veersemeer, but the kids are magnanimous in defeat.
It also leaves one other conundrum... getting out of Holland...
Its a few miles up the coast before you can turn North East, and this isn't a bit of water in which you would chose to plug the tide.... so timing is everything.... however, the bridges don't start opening until 09:00 at this time of year, so we need to get out of the canal system....
So a decision is made to leave Wednesday, through the bridges, out of Vlissingen, and take the short hop across to Breskens... Its only just across the estuary
So, with at least 6 other boats, we muddle our way up the Walcheren canal, and into the lock at Vlissingen... this proves interesting, as its now pretty windy, and the lock keeper asks us all to use the 'big' lock.... its VERY big.... again, its bollards... and we tie up without too much drama, but one or two boats have a little more fun.... at least the lock is big enough to motor around in.... so no harm done...
We lock out to see (again) 35kts of wind.... its a lumpy bumpy run across to Breskens..... and we are grateful to be tied up...
Sadly, the main saloon hatch decided to leak, so we have a bit of water below.. nothing serious... but annoying...
On the way over, we are followed by a customs vessel.... M announces.... "look... he's taking photos of us!"
And sure enough.... once we are in a tied up, then along they come, and ask to see the paperwork.... nothing onerous... just Part 1 certificate, and passports.... and all over in 10 mins... very friendly. He asks if we have any contraband... at which point both SWMBO and I point at M, and say... "take him away".... smiles from everyone... except M!!!!!
Breskens proves to be completely unremarkable in every way.... a nice enough marina, but a complete absence of anything else... still its just an overnight staging post
Miles logged 7nm
Miles this trip 116nm
Miles this season 188nm
Miles since this blog started 4,085nm
FRiday is looking bad, with no wind forecast, and what little their is, to be on the nose for a crossing back.... so we opt to go Thursday instead.... this clearly mucks up plans for the Veersemeer, but the kids are magnanimous in defeat.
It also leaves one other conundrum... getting out of Holland...
Its a few miles up the coast before you can turn North East, and this isn't a bit of water in which you would chose to plug the tide.... so timing is everything.... however, the bridges don't start opening until 09:00 at this time of year, so we need to get out of the canal system....
So a decision is made to leave Wednesday, through the bridges, out of Vlissingen, and take the short hop across to Breskens... Its only just across the estuary
So, with at least 6 other boats, we muddle our way up the Walcheren canal, and into the lock at Vlissingen... this proves interesting, as its now pretty windy, and the lock keeper asks us all to use the 'big' lock.... its VERY big.... again, its bollards... and we tie up without too much drama, but one or two boats have a little more fun.... at least the lock is big enough to motor around in.... so no harm done...
We lock out to see (again) 35kts of wind.... its a lumpy bumpy run across to Breskens..... and we are grateful to be tied up...
Sadly, the main saloon hatch decided to leak, so we have a bit of water below.. nothing serious... but annoying...
On the way over, we are followed by a customs vessel.... M announces.... "look... he's taking photos of us!"
And sure enough.... once we are in a tied up, then along they come, and ask to see the paperwork.... nothing onerous... just Part 1 certificate, and passports.... and all over in 10 mins... very friendly. He asks if we have any contraband... at which point both SWMBO and I point at M, and say... "take him away".... smiles from everyone... except M!!!!!
Breskens proves to be completely unremarkable in every way.... a nice enough marina, but a complete absence of anything else... still its just an overnight staging post
Miles logged 7nm
Miles this trip 116nm
Miles this season 188nm
Miles since this blog started 4,085nm
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