Intermittent puffs and some rafts..

Short meander on yet another very hot and sweaty day..  32'C and almost windless - which would have been good news for the raft racers in the front of the pub opposite, but not so good for a sail..

I'd put off going the day before because the conditions were if anything the same, but wanted to get out as I had a couple of jobs to do and I was missing Sparrow

So...  on the boat for 12'ish, as todays HT was 14:24 and at 4.94m an absolute beast of a spring tide..  the water was fairly ripping through the moorings.

First order of the day was to fit new genoa sheets - the old ones were worn, and beginning to fray so this was long overdue. The old sheets also had a matt finish so by way of an experiment the new ones were of a lighter and slipperier feel to see if it helped with the sheet transition when tacking... 

That done, I topped up the tank with 5 ltrs of fuel, and started up the metal donkey to warm up while I got the boat ready to go. Lots of noise and fun from the pub opposite, might be a bit more peaceful down the harbour (wishful thinking on a hot Saturday!)

Dropped the mooring at 12:30..  motored down the ditch and then went head to wind off  Northney to raise the main before bearing away for Sweare Deep and rolling out the genoa - wind was fitful at best, and northerly, and the tide was problematic. When I turned the engine off to sail, at times we were doing half a knot backwards.. 😏

Then when I got to Sweare I found that one of the Emsworth Sailing Clubs was running an RS Tera Open event that weekend, and there were 50 of the buggers racing at the top of the Emsworth Channel... 😁

Ah well - couple of enjoyable transits between Sweare and the Beacon, but with no wish to do a very slow run down the harbour only to have to then fight upwind all the way back, it was back to the mooring to tidy up, watch some of the antics across the way, and go home for a beer..

Piccie courtesy Farcebook - you can just see Sparrow in the background..  just... 😁

Log:

Distance: 3.73 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F1 gusting F3 ; NxE
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.2 / 2.2

Greek dog..

Another cracking sail with the Jolly Boys - it was possibly the hottest day to date though, so it was good to be one the water in what was a decent breeze for most of the day..

Passage plan was 'to meet at Rod's gaff at 0830' (yeah that's about as much detail as we go into 😁), HT was 12:01 and at 4.6mtrs a big'gy. As it turned out we were all clearly keen to get going, and the boat was on the move barely an hour later..

Scenes of interest as we left - AmiLy's pontoon is right opposite the ferry port, and Brittany had clearly reached a tick the box day as they were testing the lifeboats - never seen them doing that before..  with people in them to provide scale you then realise how big the big one's are...

...and how small the small one's are! 😂

Glorious day in the harbour..

..but yee gods that water was churning in the entrance to the harbour - bow and stern were being kicked all over the place..

Long broad reach to the island was perfect, but the wind direction was a little fickle by the time we go to the island side as it was coming over land and twitching about a bit, but even so it was a good run - good speeds (4.5kt's SOG) thanks to tide. Lunch spot was East Cowes and the Lifeboat again - soz, we like it - good food, decent price, well kept beer (but a slightly conservative selection)

After a snooze in the heat - and Smiffy and I had to deploy the beach umbrella's as the sun was merciless - we then upped sticks for the "event". Yeah - a solar eclipse was due that evening and the plan was to watch it from the boat, as with a 17:18LT we'd need a couple of hours before we could get back on the pontoon. 

Wind was dead on the nose ('natch!) so we motored to just off Fishbourne (on the island) here the 'angle of dangle' was then such that with the sails up we had one of the best close hauled tacks I can remember in some time - the wind angle was just right, we had 20+kts of breeze, and AmiLy just went for it - tide was in our favour so even as we were beating for the other side we were also being swept sideways in the direction we wanted to go...

Once in the harbour we refuelled, and having done that pulled her back along the pontoon, and awaited the event.. 

Two old men and a pin hole card - please admire the socks.. it's important to him.. 😁 

...while they were doing that I went to have a look at the Clipper Race fleet - the first of their new generation boats has just arrived and is an absolute beast...  hoping to have a closer look at her in the near future, as my bro-in-law works for them... 🤞

We're not easily pleased and most of us thought the eclipse was a bit "meh" (as the young people say), so after a few beers we were back on the home pontoon and heading for home..  

Next one will be an overnighter..

Log:

Distance: 27.6 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 going F2 ; ESE going SE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7.2 / 2.3

Tack-fest

Lord above..  3rd sail in a week - what are things coming to? 😏

Clearly the weather is helping - it's warm, hot, and occasionally breezy, and the tides were also good the last seven days - times were optimal. Reckon this will be the last one until the tides come right again though, as they're beginning to get late (and early) now..

Either way, 15:37 HT and a big 4.47m height of water - definitely Springs. On the boat by 13:00, and as it looks like we had a bit of SE'ly action I got her ready on the mooring..  by half past we'd dropped the mooring and were motoring down the ditch. 

At which point there was a strange thing happening... I'd started my GPS up as usual - normally she's as good as gold, and satellites are acquired straight away - but this time it was really playing up and telling me it couldn't acquire them..  had to use auto locate in the end and it then started working as normal - what was really strange was that my phone was also reporting a weak GPS signal ...  got to Northney and both started working like normal..  weird.. 🤔

Speaking of Northney, as I went past I was passed by this... a pontoon boat...  now I understand they're quite common in the US, but that's only the second or third one I've seen here...  and it had a 120HP engine on the back! 😮

...but that's OK, as 10 minutes later this one went past...

...from the ridiculous to the sublime?? 😁

Anyway - the SE'ly turned out to be almost dead southerly - but with just enough angle of dangle in it to help with the tacks, so I just left the motor on and motor-sailed to Marker. You can see the difference the engine makes on the track - big looping tacks covering the distance. The tide was running hard though,  and when I did turn it off just before Marker the tacks immediately flattened as I tried to squeeze through the pinch point  - a lot of water pours through that comparatively small space. South of Marker the harbour opens up, more water and longer tacks make it easier to get up wind..

With signs that the wind was dying I turned and headed for home - just enjoying the weather, the boat, the water and the wind..  lovely day, more please!

Notes:

• I'll need more fuel
• The genoa sheets are beginning to wear and fray - time to replace them - 14 mtrs required.

Log:

Distance: 9.38* (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 going F3 ; SxE
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.4 / 2.8

*including an addition for when the GPS was playing up 😏