Lest you think I have shuffled off this mortal coil I can confirm that not a
lot has been done since lift out - she's scraped and cleaned, and to all
intents and purposes is ready to go back in the water except for a coat of
anti-foul, but I do have some jobs to do (see list top of page) and I'd like
to get some of them done before next season, but the weather has turned wet,
windy and cold, and I have a shed load of other stuff to do!
So, I do at least have time for the traditional review of the year past; I've
said it before and I'll say it again I really enjoy putting this together as
it's a good excuse to read all the old posts, and look at the video and
pictures from this years logs....
I would say that it's been a "Good" year, definitely a step up on last year,
almost a classic and only missed on that because of time constraints that kept
me off the water as much as I'd have liked.... the summer was even better than
last year and seemed to go on for months, but despite that it seems to me
there weren't enough sailing days mostly because of family commitments.. I
simply can't justify pushing off for 2 or 3 days as that puts the work on
other people, and given they 'accept' the boat at best, I don't want to cheese
them off...
This was my second year as owner of Sparrow and the learning curve continues
(I'll be amazed if it ever stops...) The sailing lark is a complicated one. I
did manage to combat my harbour'itis though with a couple of decent days in
the Solent, and the boat performed beautifully (except for a few small
niggles) all season...
After last winters jobs
(and the big job then was
the cockpit drains [clicky], which leaked not a drop all summer by the way
) the summers big project
was a new Genoa (also known as 'big bastard' [clicky])
a real driver of a sail compared with the old one - as is the nature of these
things however, that in turn revealed the niggle I referred to, as the sheets
kept slipping which was driving me up the wall. This has become
job #19 [clicky]
on the winter job list - and is to replace the old (original I suspect??) cam
cleats with new ones (piccy top left - I've started on this by the way..)
Interestingly, I've noticed a marked decrease in weather helm in a breeze
since I got this sail - I look forward to doing some more practice next season
as the new cleats will hold more sail.....
This summer I also replaced the outboard which had done sterling service, but
was when push comes to shove fairly old, and probably a little on the small
side - no mechanical issues with it this year, and no intention to swap it
until a mate from the sailing club mentioned he was selling his four stroke
6HP Tohatsu - a real no brainer and the engine was a joy to use...
after swapping the sparkplug...! To be honest, as a mechanical numpty,
I was chuffed to have done it myself - I wouldn't have even considered it a
few years ago (and I wouldn't have had a spare plug anyway), so I'm coming
on... slowly....
So all in all that rates as an good year.... 8 out of 10..
Like a spider dipped in blue ink and left to wander all over Google Earth -
here's where Sparrow went this year:
...and the following in "Ocean Waves" this summer on the
Jolly Boys Outing [clicky]
II
No cross Channel trip (again!) as we'd hoped (
another weather casualty) but a brilliant three days - the highlights being my first visit to
Yarmouth and Lymington, and Smithy's missus's carrot cake... 😀
Despite the weather turning when we tried to get to France - we had some
superb sailing - down to Yarmouth the first day, but especially the leg from
Cowes to Lymington - warm sun, big breeze, blue sea - champagne sailing.... it
really could have been the Caribbean
~~~~~~~~~
Number of visits down to the boat: 19 (about the same as last year
funnily enough) but once again if you count all the times I visited in the
mornings/evenings while she was on shore (usually two to three times a week),
and the days I worked on her pre-season - easily triple that...
Total distance sailed: 137.98 miles, which compares with 113.73 miles
last year, and 173.29 miles in 2012... a better year - harbour'itis kicked
into touch, but granddad baby sitting duties chomped a bit of time.. rather
delightfully I'll admit..
Nights on board: None - it will change as I free up a bit more
time....
Crew on occasion: None... nada... no-one... not even a dead
parrot.. "Hello I'm Steve, and I am solo sailor, it has been two years since I
had a crew.."
Cruising range: Bembridge to the west, Emsworth to the north, Bosham in
the East and the Nab Tower to the south..
Biggest Cruise:
Bembridge [clicky]
on a lovely day off mid-week.... it was just shy of 30 miles in a day not bad
considering the wind dropped to nothing at the end... a sunny day that had
some good sailing in it.....
Best Cruise: Choices choices...Bembridge, the Nab possibly (for distance), but I'm going to go with the
trip to Bosham [clicky]
- first time I've been back to Sparrow's home port since that Arctic delivery
trip.. I had sunshine and breeze, and an overwhelming remembrance of everyone
smiling - a good day.....!
Worst cruise: None - I can't remember a bad one.....
Oddest cruise: None really - they all went fairly to plan...
that first "sail" of the year on Ami-Ly was odd though [clicky]
- I have never, ever, seen the Solent so flat... it looked like it had
been ironed.. Then on the Bembridge trip the wind dropped to almost
nothing on the way back and I was assailed by fruit fly things while at least
a mile off shore... super fly guy....
Best anchorages: None... didn't anchor this year again...
really need to do something about that, I've never anchored in all the
years I've sailed! Part of the problem of course is that everywhere I sail
there are huge numbers of empty moorings so there's little need but I can't
help thinking a bit of practice might help... and given I have the anchor
hawse pipe to fit there's less and less excuse!
Best mooring: ...my club mooring
It continues to be a delight; water 3.5+ hours either side of high tide...
|
|
Happy days.....
|
Worst mooring: None... blimey... I only ever used my own
mooring all summer!
Plans for next year: More Solent.... pure and simple......
Cowes... then there was talk of another jolly boys outing but this time just
in the Solent as we enjoyed it so much.. I also have a yen to do a
weekend in Langstone... as a younger, thinner, fitter bloke I raced
windsurfers round the islands in the harbour - I have a yen to anchor up in
one of the channels for a night on the hook..
Mileage:
Click on the date to go to the log entry post....
| Date |
Distance: |
Wind: |
Direction |
Sail Plan: |
Max Speed (knots): |
Average Speed (knots): |
Comments: |
|
12th March
|
21.42* |
F1 |
N to NW |
Mostly engine |
6.6 |
5.5 |
An early season motor to Cowes on AmiLy for lunch
|
|
4th May
|
8.21 |
F3 gusting F4 |
S |
Full main and 3 rolls in genoa |
4.5 |
2.6 |
Shakedown cruise in a very cold breeze.. new jib used first
time!
|
|
10th May
|
12* |
F6 gusting F8 |
WSW |
3 reefs/main only |
5.5 |
8+ |
Test sail (on the 40 footer we're taking to Cherbourg) on one of the
windiest days we've had in some time!
|
|
18th May
|
14.91 |
F3 |
S going SE |
Full main and genoa |
5.1 |
2.7 |
Down to Prinstead/Thorney Channel and just beyond Camber - motored
past Marker.
|
|
23rd to 26th May
|
24.4* |
F4 gusting F5, F3 gusting F4 end of day
|
S |
Reefed main/jib to full main/jib |
6.3 |
4.5 |
The jolly boys outing for 2014 - Day 1: Port Solent to Yarmouth
|
|
23rd to 26th May
|
43.04* |
F0 to F7 |
S |
Reefed main/jib to full main/jib |
7.5 |
3.1 |
The jolly boys outing for 2014 - Day 2: Yarmouth to Cherbourg (err...
Cowes)
|
|
23rd to 26th May
|
26.87* |
F4 gusting 5 |
SSW |
Full main/jib to reefed main/jib |
10 |
5.8 |
The jolly boys outing for 2014 - Day 3: Cowes to Lymington
|
|
23rd to 26th May
|
26.05* |
Top end F3 |
N |
Full main/jib |
7.8 |
4.5 |
The jolly boys outing for 2014 - Day 4: Lymington to home (Portsmouth)
|
|
13th June
|
16.97 |
F1 ending up F3 |
S going SW |
Full main/genoa |
5.4 |
3.2 |
Bosham trip |
|
21st July
|
28.41 |
Nothing to top end F3 |
NE going NW |
Full main/genoa from full to small reef
|
5.2 |
3.2 |
Bembridge trip |
|
27th July
|
6.57 |
F1 and less |
NNW |
Full main/genoa |
4 |
1.7 |
Sunny Sunday afternoon drift |
|
3rd August
|
9.47 |
F4/F5 gusting F6 |
WSW |
Reefed main and genoa |
6.3 |
3.4 |
HISC drag race - what a contrast to last time!
|
|
20th August
|
24.98 |
F3 gusting F4 |
NW/WNW |
Reefed/full main and reefed/full genoa
|
4.8 |
3.3 |
Nab Tower run - new engine not running..
|
|
3rd September
|
5.5 |
F1 to F2 |
S/SSW |
Full main and reefed/full genoa |
3.9 |
2.2 |
Post work pottering - sea trails for the fixed engine
|
|
14th September
|
10.71 |
F4 (occasional gust F5) |
NE->SE |
Reefed/full main and reefed/full genoa
|
5.3 |
2.9 |
HISC to Fishermans, and a seal eating a fish on a breezy day...
|
|
28th September
|
12.25 |
F3 dropping to F2 |
SSE/SE |
Full main and reefed/full genoa |
5 |
2.5 |
Beat to Bar Beacon - last sail of the season in big tides and fitful
wind..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Not counted in year total...
Year total (to date): 137.98 miles
NB:
2013 total (in Sparrow): 113.73 miles
2012 total (in Pap): 173.29
2011 total (in Pap): 193.41
2010 total (in Pap): 154.23
2009 total (in Pap): 125
