Honest .. it was like ground-hog day.. 😀
First on the agenda today though was a bit of a scrub as Sparrow's bottom was looking a bit unkempt (boom, tshh...) .. now in previous years two or three circuits of the boat with a stiff broom resting on the dinghy thwart to apply upwards pressure, and then broom pulled back and forth has been enough to clear most of the detritus, but I noticed immediately that this year was a little different.. hate to see what I'm going to find on lift out, but I suspect it won't be as good as last year, as this year I have a huge crop of barnacles... hottest summer since '76 here, weeks of 30 degree Celsius, and the boat is basically sitting in an organic rich, warm, petri dish, so I suspect that's the cause.. in this case the solution was to turn the broom over and use the hard edge to scrape the barnacles off, before turning it the right way for the scrub.. antifoul?? 'Growmore' more like.. 😏 It is however most satisfying to see hundreds of barnacles floating off down tide...
That done time for a sail... that b*stard wind from Friday was still with us, with a bigger tide (more water sloshing about) but the weather was warmer, so same sail plan, same drill, just slower speeds... there is something intrinsically weird at watching your boat move sideways almost faster than you are going forwards, but we were getting 3 knts through the water most of the afternoon...
Motor sailed to Emsworth Beacon and then the engine racket was too much, so off it went and I started tacking... two hours later and made Verner, turned and had the run back to the mooring fishing rod deployed..
A major source of irritation throughout the afternoon was the genoa getting caught on the windward stays by the leech line cam cleat.. mine is one of these... made by Gransegal I believe..
The issue was that the stay catches behind the lip of the cleat (on the right in this picture) effectively anchoring the sail on that tack, the only way to release it is main force and either pull it in from the tack you are going to, or pull it and release it again from the tack you are going from - enough's enough, it's positively dangerous when you're short tacking in a confined space, so I have removed it - I had the same issue on Pap and did the same then .. I don't think I've ever used the leech line, and should I ever need to there is also an eyehole to secure the leech line in...
Despite that it was an utter joy to be out.. start of September and a week ago I thought summer had
gone, but today I sailed in shorts and tshirt and returned home, slightly burnt, and slightly salty, but
much refreshed in mind.. what a cracking sail..
Log:
Distance: 10.64 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 gusting F4; SE going S
Sail Plan: Full main and 80% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.3 / 2.6
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