Emsworth meander...

First off - a well done to Jelly Bean Phil [clicky] who crewed on Peggoty - another Hurley 20 - in the Round the Island Race yesterday..  they picked up the Tenacity Trophy (for finishing last but within the time limit) and I for one think they wholeheartedly deserve it - goes to show just how fast and seaworthy these little boats are for their diminutive waterline, and that despite being without spinnaker/crusing chute they still managed to get round in time.... well done to the skipper (Liam) and the other crew (John) as well...  fantastic stuff...

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Poorly timed tides again this weekend but the weather was too good to let a sailing session go missing.. hopped out of my pit at 0630 on Sunday and was on the water an hour later and casting off 15 minutes after that... 

A fair few tenders on the moorings so it looks like some of my compatriots had taken the opportunity to get away yesterday (and I did toy with the idea of sleeping on the boat last night but got distracted by Transformers on the TV) as there was no one else out other than a few boats exiting Northney Marina...

With a NNW'ly wind blowing and not much time (it was an 0700 high tide) I decided to to have a mooch up towards Emsworth as I love looking at the boats in  the main channel, and I also like the technicality of the close tacking to get up there...

... beautiful morning, flask of fresh coffee, radio on, and the enjoyable puzzle of tack threading your way through the boats...  brilliant.... doesn't get much better though I'm increasingly irritated by the plastic luff fittings on the jib catching on the shrouds when going from port to starboard...  bloody irritating and when I get a moment I'll hacksaw the edges down to the minimum.

For the first time ever I took the opportunity to poke my nose into Fowley Rythe - wind was perfect for it - not quite enough water to get into Nore Rythe though...

So just past this one (below) I turned south and had a slow meandering run down to the Northney channel and back for home...

...interesting trip home as the gusts were building but Sparrow took it in her stride... by just after 10 we were tied up - just as well really as I had got the tide times wrong in my head - I was convinced the HT was an hour later than it actually was!

Terror - one of the last surviving Emsworth oyster boats..

 

So a very enjoyable meander - one of my favourite trips because there's so much to see... quite surprising how many empty moorings there are though...

Log:

Distance: 5.98 miles (cumulative total in the 2013 mileage tab at the top of the page)
Wind: Force 4, but both ends of the scale.. NNW
Sail Plan: Full jib and main - engine for manoeuvring..
Speed: GPS track says max speed was 4.1 knots (under sail) - average speed: 3.1 knots.

Separately - have just started the process of getting quotes to get the standing rigging done - itching to get further afield....  first quote is in, another one to go, and then I have to decide who and when...