Not a long sail then but a remarkably pleasant one, and also good for getting some stuff sorted out that was niggling..
Springs again, so a good couple of knots to fight up the channel and down the harbour, so I opted to motor sail to Marker (a plan I formulated a couple of years ago and which works well - if you don't do it, you can spend the entire afternoon just taking in front of Marker!) so not surprisingly, despite tide, the tacking angles look good to just past Marker when I finally got fed up of the racket and turned it off.. 
The new (to me) Suzuki motor is surprisingly fast despite being the same size as the old Tohatsu, she shuffles you along at a far faster average speed (not scientific, but most of the time I use about a third throttle, same engine revs by ear, but the Suz is about a knot faster than the Tohatsu). Very noticeable that even in idle with this engine there is good forward way, but hardly any noticeable noise.. would be a good trolling engine..
Dropped the mooring at 15:00 then (just over 3 hours before high tide), engaged auto pilot* to get the main sail up as I headed towards the bridge, an then bore off down the Northney trench.. very very shallow, I could see bottom almost all the way to the entrance of the marina
Wound out the jib, which despite tightening back stay/forestay is still stupidly stiff, and then reached and finally beat to the far side of the harbour to start a few tacks to get me past Marker where the harbour widens out and the tacks can get longer, and the engine went off...
Not busy out there despite the weather, which I put down to being the end of the day, but it was a much nicer breeze than I was expecting and the sail was fantastic.. turned just shy of Verner (when the wind was beginning to die) and ran downwind on auto* while I sorted out the jib...
Clearly forestay tension was not the issue, but while the sail was out I wanted to tension the jib halyard. It is a lovely place to be on your own boat sailing solo, right there on the nose... you can hear the water chuckling away under your feet, and amazing views... anyway, undid the downhaul (I use a bit of dyneema line) and hauled on the jib halyard and up she shot another 6 inches - much better view under the sail but dyneema line now too short, so dropped her two inches, tied her off, and cranked on some down haul.. success.. the sail is very very much easier to roll in.
Motor on about Northney, and with the apparent wind on the nose I dropped the main under auto* as I came down the Northney ditch - finished off with a picture perfect mooring pick up. Brilliant!
*Are you allowed to say you love your autopilot???
Log:
Distance: 8.05 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 gusting F3; S occasionally SSW
Sail Plan: Full main and jib
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.6 (motor back to the mooring) / 2.7
You can say you love your autopilot but don't marry it - that would be bigamy and even in these liberal times it is still against the law.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had an idyllic sail.
Alden - idyllic doesn't begin to describe it.. first decent sail on Sparrow in over 18 months! :o)
DeleteGood to see you out there Steve. Also great to spend time sitting in the sun outside the Oak afterwards with a pint and a few mates.
ReplyDeleteI *thought* I recognised that hat and beard combo! What a glorious afternoon, eh, Chris?
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