First things first though, a running repair to the tender saw the (loose) seat support strut bolted in place via a square block of wood between seat and strut and a couple of bolts.. the repair is sound, but I'll tidy it up this winter. I'll also have a go at replacing one of the struts on the launching trolley which has succumbed to age and rust - need to find someone in the club with some welding kit, or I'll just bolt in a wooden block... (both items added to the job list for this winter, which is now added above - Lord, how time flies....😏)
Having done that lot it was time for some sailing.. conditions were good, but I could already see a fair amount of breeze, and quick check of current conditions at the Camber weather beacon at the bottom of the harbour showed a solid force 4 - the forecast was for the wind to increase, so I slapped in a couple of slides worth of reef - I'd put more in if I needed it..
Cast off without issues this time, and motored away - plan was for the same as Friday, motor to Marker and then see what happened... breeze was picking up all the time, but just before Marker the GPS went on, and just after it, once there was a gap in the almost solid line of boats heading down harbour, I hoisted main and rolled out genoa. With a ESE'ish wind I made it almost all the way down the harbour on a single tack, and even against the (clear) heavy tide we were seeing 2.5/3 knots.... rolled a little more genoa away as the breeze built, but apart from being put on her beam ends every now and again we were going well...
So - where should we go...?? I was thinking a trip out of the harbour would be good, first time this year and all that, but not to be.. the tide was absolutely ripping, and the wind was not quite allowing a clear tack out of the harbour - tried to line it up a few times but it wasn't happening, and a few other boats were having the same issue... we were also bouncing about a bit - wind over tide - and I really didn't fancy starting the engine (nasty, brutish, things) so decision made and I tacked and headed towards Chichester - I had a mind to go and visit Camber seeing as I'd just checked it online...
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Three and you're out.... except on this occasion it was three and your still in...  |
Good decision - sea state calmed a little once we were abeam of East Head, and then we had some fast beating up past the entrance to Prinstead (picture following). A motor boat'ist went past and caught me unawares by shouting over as he went past... I looked a bit confused so he shouted again "Your bottom's lovely and clean"..oooerr, missus.. ok so I was heeled over a bit.... "Thanks" I shouted back, "I'll buy that again then"...
Lots and lots of traffic about, but just past Camber I tacked and bore away for the entrance to the harbour - 6.4's and 6.5's seen, got back to Hayling Island Sailing Club (for the better angle on the wind) and turned up harbour for another absolutely delightful run up harbour... took out all the rolls on the genoa, first or second time this season????
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| Beating towards Camber - Sussex Downs in the distance... |
Put the main away at the start of the Northney channel and continued on genoa alone - I had a plan to see if I could sail on to the mooring - always good to practice - approached the moorings, put the engine on in idle, rolled half the genoa away (it was still blowing), approached the mooring on a reach, genoa sheets in hand, five yards from the mooring headed into wind and at the same time rolled the genoa away, grabbed the pick up buoy........ and promptly ran over it....
Ended up with it stuck between keels and skeg... freed it up easily enough but not quite as good an arrival as I might have wanted...!! 5/10 then... would have been 10/10 if I hadn't had an engine though as there's no good or bad way of picking up a mooring when the engines failed - you either score 1 or 10....
Two cracking days sailing... perfick!!!
Log:
Distance: 12.15 miles (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top of the page)
Wind: F4 gusting F5 (top end of both), between ESE and SE
Sail Plan: Reefed main (two rolls) and full and reefed genoa (between 2 and 4 rolls) - engine to get to Marker (not included in track)...
Speed: GPS track says the max speed was 6.1 knots (which would have been under sail, and I saw a few 6.4's/6.5's as well) - average speed 3.1 knots
One can never do enough sailing.
ReplyDelete"One can never do enough sailing." I'm not evangelical about it, but I do miss it in the winter (though I have other interests), and certainly the ast few weeks have been exceptional.. :o)
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