Bish Bosh

Made it at last... my first trip back to "home port" since the delivery trip in Sparrow at the beginning of  last season...not the first time I've tried to get there [clicky] either..

So...  another one of those crafty days off that do seem to generate such good sailing days, a full tank of petrol and a half a can in reserve, and I decided to repeat the experiment of last time and motor down past Marker to give me a run at the bottom of the harbour - doubly so as winds were very light at this time of tide, they didn't really start to kick up until high tide...

Motored down to Verner, switched off the engine (oh, blessed relief) and I then had a lovely reach over the Pilsey Sands from just north of the entrance to Mill Rythe towards East Head, where I then turned down the Chichester Channel towards Itchenor and Bosham

Piccie courtesy of VisitMyHarbour.com - Pilsey Sands is the are of mud to the rght of the main channel bordering the edge of Thorney

Always a little worrying going across the Sands as I have no depth gauge on "Sparrow" but with a rising tide, a Spring, and 4.7m of water, and only a 0.8m draft I should be OK over practically all of it but I still usually only cut the corner...

At the Fairway Buoy I had to make a decision, as the run down to Bosham had been with tide, and very little wind (the tide was cancelling out the wind if anything) and the run into Bosham would be down wind - bugger it I thought, and went for it anyway...

Turned left, past Cobnor Activities Centre which was errrr... "active" (loads of kids in Wayfarers, on rafts and in Lasers and the like and having a cracking time), and the Church appeared before me at just about high tide... as I drifted down I put the engine on idle - it's be a long slow beat back if it didn't start I thought....

Turned just after the picture, and headed back to the Chichester Channel...

Engine off again as I got into the Chichester channel and then an exhilarating beat back to the harbour entrance in a strengthening SW'ly I saw 5.5 and 6 knots on the GPS, simply superb.... but the cam cleats were slipping again - I need a solution to that* ; the turn north saw a lovely 3.5 knot run up the harbour before finally switching the engine on again for the last time as I went past Northney...

A Brilliant day out - simply superb and enjoyed every minute...

* I had some 8mm line on the boat so swapped over the 10mm heavy genoa sheets for this lighter stuff - it's quite soft and squidgy so I may buy something newer (I'm thinking matt braid on braid) but for now it's an experiment..  time will tell...


Log:

Distance: 16.97 miles (cumulative total in the 2014 mileage tab at the top of the page)
Wind: Force 1 ending up a top end 3.. and between dead South and south West; going more SW by end of the afternoon.
Sail Plan: Full main/genoa - engine for manoeuvring and to get down beyond Marker at the beginning of the day...
Speed: GPS track says max speed was 5.4 knots (but I saw a  6 under sail off the Prinsted Channel on the way back) - average speed 3.2

Little make do and mend session..

With neaps at the moment, and a 9 o'clock high tide on Sunday, coupled with baby sitting the grandson and it meant no opportunity to go sailing...   needs must though and I managed to get put to the boat in the afternoon for a couple of hours of faffing round, err, essential maintenance...  

First off - I had recently got lucky on eBay with a pair of decent blocks that I intended to use for the genoa sheets - the old ones were OK, but largely plastic, and the friction level was fairly high - the new ones (Barton, 45mm, swivel type) are more robust, and the sheaves turn more lightly....  I swapped the old ones over for these new ones..  what I'm hoping for is that this will give a faster recovery of sheets through the tack - one of the problems I am seeing is that the sheets are now so long so as to accommodate the bigger genoa that the sheets are dragging as I go through the tack - so I have to manually free them half way through the tack ... I'm also thinking that when I upgrade the sheets - which I will do as they are on the short side - I may also go for a slightly smaller diameter as the current ones are fairly big, 10mm or 12mm, when 8mm might do just as well...

Second, I'd ordered some new line to replace the furling line for the genoa - the new sail (being bigger) uses a lot more line on the drum when fully out - either way, 15 mtrs of 6mm braid on braid will be more than plenty...  this was fitted and I also took the opportunity to use one of the blocks I freed up by the genoa sheet upgrade to replace a furling line pulley (which looked like one of those blocks you used to use for washing lines in the old days!)...  should also be a net improvement....

Lastly I took the opportunity to do a job I've been wanting to do for ages - I've finally drilled the stem fitting for a pin to hold the mooring chain in the fitting - just need to get a pin to fit....

Last I had a good look at the cabin top as I still want to lead the lines aft for main halyard and topping lift - my problem is the mushroom vents - this is an old picture but shows the issue...

• the handrails go right forward, thus blocking off the area outside of the them to feed lines (unless I feed the lines under the rails)
• the area between the hatch sliders is blocked off
• which leaves the gap between hatch sliders and rails - which the vents sit right in the middle of...!

I reckon I have about 2" or so between vent and hatch slider, and even less than that when the hatch is full open.... the issue is that the lines might catch under the vent cover, or hatch....  more thought is needed...

I have Friday off for some sailing - midday tide, not looking to exactly be gale force, but it does look sunny...