Opportunity is a Winner

An opportunistic sail grabbed from the end of a mahoosive heatwave..  but I'm jumping ahead of myself..

First off a bit more make do and mend with two coats of paint applied to the tops of all three of the locker lids - fore, companion way hatch and rear.. I'd hoped for the opportunity of a sail but there was no wind so the paint brush was applied instead.. oh.. and coffees drunk, and the chair and sun shade deployed.. oh, and the fishing rod came out.. all bases covered!

Vote of approval for the 2in1 by the way..  coffee's always a hassle on a small boat as the coffee in tins hardens within weeks the moment you open them, and the only milk option is UHT..  this stuff comes in sachets... both powdered in one..  and it tastes OK..

..but painting having been done, we then went into the aforesaid massive heatwave..  Britain's been seeing 30'C plus on a regular basis over the last week, but with the forecasts saying the weather was about to break, and with the tide times swiftly going east as the week progresses, a window of opportunity presented itself..

HT at 17:24, I managed to get on the boat by just after 14:00 - interesting to see I wasn't the only one with the same idea, as two or three tenders were on their way to various boats on the pool. Quick strip down of various covers while the engine was on warming up and I dropped the mooring just shy of  25 past..  a full three hours before HT so something of a record..

Forecasts were for a F4 all afternoon, and it looked like they were overestimating, but as it turned out they were spot on as the wind continued to build as I came out of the shelter of the bund and ditch, and passing Northney..

Yet again it was a 'funny' direction - west of the purportedly 'prevalent SW' - anyway - head to wind off Northney, main up, bore away and rolled out 90% of the foresail (thinking I'd be tacking a lot).

The a broad reach to Sweare, bore up - tightened everything in and down... and apart from a couple of small tacks to get a little west'ing made it to Mid Winner on almost a single tack..  amazing...  yet again I was expecting it to go around at any time as I approached Marker but this time we did it in just two tacks (rather than the usual 30)

Mid Winner

Fancied a beer, so gybed and headed for home on the last hour of flow.. 5.5's as we flew home...  couple that with the best mooring buoy pickup we've had this year and it was a brilliant, and totally unexpected, day on the water.. 

Log:

Distance: 9.02 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)

Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 going F3; WSW going SW
Sail Plan: Full main/90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.0 / 3.0

Lunch on the verandah..

A reduced contingent of the Jolly Boys (Smithy was elsewhere occupied) convened at Rod's gaff at 0800 on Thursday for a much anticipated trip on the water..  the day before had been breezy to say the least (4's and 5's powered by the heatwave we're currently experiencing) but the day in question was light and almost non existent when we arrived at the pontoon (and true to form the day after was 4's and 5's as well..😏)..

Undaunted, and fortified with cups of coffee and pain au raisins, the Jolly Boys went for it and had a quite surprisingly good sail to Cowes..  wind was on the nose, F2'ish, but good enough for a long tack towards Cowes before turning on the motor for the last bit (we were hungry 😁)

Isle of Wight Festival this weekend so we anticipated problems getting a lunch time berth and had a back up plan to shoot up the Hamble and have something to eat there if it didn't all work out, and sure enough East Cowes advised they were full - even for a short stay..

As we went past the Island Sailing Club though, we noticed their pontoon (members only) was empty..  I wonder...  cheeky phone call later asking if we could moor there to have lunch and they advised we would be OK to do that! Fantastic..

One of the best views in the Solent I think from their verandah, and even better with one of their home cooked fish and chips in front of you! Lunch and two pints later, it was back to the boat for a snooze, before the return trip..

Which was largely a repeat of the morning since the wind had gone round 180'ish degrees and was back on the nose again! Top end F3 to start with though which saw Dave doing a cracking job on helm - four tacks saw us approaching Gilkicker, but with the wind dropping, it was time for the motor again..  

Fantastic days sailing on a super warm day..  

Log:

Distance: 27.06 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 occasional F3; E going W going SE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 6.3 / 2.5

Spicy..

A slightly quicker trip out than I expected for this one..

Third day on the boat in as many days! After two days maintenance though I was way overdue some R'nR and as the forecast was showing considerably less breeze than we have had over the previous few days (and the day before it was blowing so hard it was actually blowing paint off the end of the brush!) I thought I'd go for it..

HT 15:29, but I was on the boat by one. Once onboard I took the reefs out I had put in for the previous trip as the wind was still showing fairly light and as per forecast, warmed up the donk as I was prepping the boat, and then dropped the mooring to raise the main in the pool head to wind/bridge, as yes, it was another one of those westerly's...

Tacked and headed off down wind on main only, down the ditch and occasionally gybing as the wind was twitchy, nice run, high 2's and 3's against a biggish tide..

By the time I got to Sweare Deep I was bearing up to wind and the genoa was out of the shadow of the main so I rolled out 90% of the genoa and we were tracking nicely towards Marker, but with the wind consistently getting stronger, and twitchier, and bugger me if 50 yards before Marker it didn't go round a bit more southerly. Three tacks and I was through and carried on towards the bottom of the harbour..

Should have known really as I could see some of the big boys being laid over at times, and by the time I was just shy of Verner it was gusting a solid F5 and I was well over canvassed. Tacked, eased sheets, and lit the afterburners for home..  last of the tide and a F5 on the quarter and not surprisingly she lit up..  solid stream of 6.3's and 6.5's, but it was uncomfortable so rolled away a chunk more of genoa and then she was good.

Rocketed into the Deep, I had breaking water on the bow from the wind blown chop, engine down and on and sails away as I went up the ditch in a consistent low end F5.

Short and sweet..

Log:

Distance: 7.14 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 gusting F5; WSW occasionally SW
Sail Plan: Full main / 90% then 75% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 3.1 / 6