Two fish, a Macky D, and a sail..

..it must mean the grandson was on board..  😁

With a grandson sitting session lined up (while his mum was at work), it seemed mad not to get out with him for a quick sail as it was the first bout of decent weather, coinciding with a decent tide, we've had in an age..

Neaps at the moment - HT 10:27 and 3.7m so not a huge amount of water about, and if I'm honest, not a lot of wind about either, and what there was almost dead easterly. Not the point though really - as grandson was super keen to try some fishing and to go out on a boat.

Motor on then, and a gentle putter through the ditch, where bugger me if he doesn't catch his first fish only 5 minutes after dropping the lure in!

Schooly bass, admired, photo'd, and released.. 😏

Main went up as we went past Northney towards Sweare Deep - took the reefs out from last time. The sun shone, gentle breeze, grandson was enjoying himself, and when I had enough angle to turn and take the wind I bore off SW'ly, and then rolled out the genoa. 

Engine off, we chatted, we sailed, he fished, he tried a piece of apple as bait as he was convinced it would work (😂) we heeled and I advised we were unlikely to sink - all in all a cracking day. So a bit more mooching about at the bottom of the Emsworth Channel, and as lunchtime was coming, and he advised he was hungry we headed back...

Turned head to wind at Northney and dropped the ain, and then a gentle utter up the ditch and bugger me if he doesn't catch his second..

Even smaller than the last one, and another school bass - no wonder the seals are doing so well in the harbour! Photo'd, admired and released..

All in all an excellent trip out - he may even want to come again, and to be honest that was the the  main aim.. though maybe the MacDonald's I bought him on the way home may have been the clincher! 😏

Log:

No GPS track as Strava decided to throw a conniption so I'm guessing the following..

Distance: Approx. 4 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 gusting F3 occasionally ; ExN
Sail Plan: Full main and 95% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 3 / 5

Cowes again... thank goodness.. 😀

Really low key trip this one, but perhaps it only seemed that way after the fun and games of the last one...  😏

Either way, unusually for the Jolly Boys we found ourselves convening at Rod's gaff at 0830, but on a Saturday..  Dave couldn't make it, but this was the best we could do to get the majority, and we were desperate for a sail given the hideous state of the UK August so far (Storm 'Lilian' has just passed through, following the remnants of ex-hurricane 'Ernesto')

Despite the wind currently though, there was little or nothing on this sailing day - sub F1 at best when we left, and what there was northerly..  so a motor sail to Cowes, on a very quiet Saturday in the Solent. Got a lunch spot in East Cowes and then a cracking lunch in The Lifeboat. Followed by some zzzz's in the cockpit to sleep off the carbs and wait for the east going tide to cut in..

Not a bad spot for a zizz..

No sign of any breeze when we left, direction largely the same, so a repeat of the motor sail in the morning, though bugger me if it didn't honk up to a lovely F4 sailing breeze as we were coming in to moor up! 😏

Quick tidy up and wash down and that was another another brilliant day out done and dusted..

Log:

Distance: 27.39 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F1 going F4 as we were coming in to moor; N going SxW when the breeze kicked in
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7/2.9

Purple guano.. 😝

Late tides so snatched a couple of hours for a quick sail ..

16:15 HT and going neap'ish but I was on the boat by about 13:30'ish..  conditions were brisk so I took the opportunity there and then to roll some reefs in - two slides worth as it was feeling feisty. As the main was up already for the reefs I then motor-sailed off the mooring (I don't fanny about, there's a lot of club boats in close vicinity so I don't take unnecessary chances 😏) and bore off down the ditch - with minimal motor and adverse tide we were still seeing 3.5kts plus.

That was largely it - WxN so bearing up as we went, we shot past Marker on a single tack like a cannonball - HISC was in view (and my first target) but as it got closer and closer I began to think about the Bar Beacon.

Alas not to be - wind was gentling off as time went by, then I got blanketed by the headland HISC is on the end of, tide still running hard, and rather than have to start tacking I bailed just short of WestWinnr and enjoyed a fast travellator on the end of the tide back to the top of the harbour in 'company' with a small Hunter Horizon (you know how it is - there's always a race to be had somewhere.. 😏) and which was where I saw the 5.7 top speed (and a few 6's and 6.1's too)..

Brilliant day out, but the birds have started eating blackberries - deck was covered in purple guano.. 😝

Wash down of the boat, and a quick coat of paint on the cockpit hatches and the day was was done..

Log:

Distance: 9.52 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): Both ends of a F4; WxN
Sail Plan: Reefed main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.7 / 3.4

Barnacle madness...

So after the fun and games of 'rounding the cape' it was time to get back to the more usual business with Sparrow, and as July had largely been a washout (either literally because of rain, or tides, or whatever) I was determined August would not be the same. Tides were good, forecast was good, so Monday it was..

First order of business though, new fuel for the outboard to replace the old fuel I drained at the end of the last session - 4 litres of Esso Supreme (E5) added - good to go.

Next order of business, though, a scrub...  Sparrow's been in since the 10th April which is 16 weeks give or take..  roughly 2/3rd's of the season..  so bottom line I'd kind of expect her to have the usual weed growth, and expect to have to give her a scrub from the tender with a stiff brush, but what I hadn't expected was the sheer quantity of barnacles this year. She sits on a mud mooring, and it's fairly usual for her to have a crop on the bottom of the hull just between the keels at the end of the season, but this year they are covering the whole of the hull, and indeed the rudder. As a result the scrub this year was particularly satisfying 😀 

Over the years I have 'perfected' a technique that gives a reasonable scrub (without having to beach her and dry off) - a very stiff bristled brush, reasonable length of a beefy handle (wood not the cheap crap metal one's you get), and if you then rest the handle of the brush on the thwart of the tender for upwards pressure you can saw away to your hearts content, holding the tender in place with the other hand..  this time though I turned the brush over to use the hard edge of the head, and thousands of the little buggers were sent to their demise..  most satisfying..  clouds of disinterred barnacles disappearing off down tide.. 😏   Both sides, end to end, and the rudder and I'm pretty happy most of the problem is dealt with - then turned the brush over and gave the weed a go, not so much of that as I expected..  weird...

After that, time for some sailing - 13:15 spring HT (4.5 mtrs) - I'd managed to get to the boat for 10'ish just so I could get the scrub in, by the time I'd done that, got the boat ready, warmed the engine, and I dropped the mooring just after 11...  

Lots and lots of water sloshing around with a tide that big, but the weather was OK (not as sunny as forecast) but the wind was as expected - mid to upper F4, and the 'usual' SWly so I knew we weren't going to go far as the crow flies, and there'd be a lot of tacking 😏

Rooster tail..

Main up just off Northney, then 90% of the genoa rolled out (I prefer it when I know I have a lot of tacking to do) and bore away on a tightening reach for Sweare Deep, before cranking everything in and down for the first beat just to the south of Emsworth Beacon... 

30 tacks, and 2 hours, later we were just south of Verner, the breeze was generally good, but with the occasional gust causing her to head up, and it was time for me to head home on the very last legs of the flow... lovely very broad reach home in the company of Terror (the Emsworth Oyster boat) before engine on at Sweare Deep, and home..

Glorious..  next time though, she needs a scrub and some TLC - the birds have been crapping copious quantities of partially digested shellfish curry on her. and I want to get some paint on the cockpit hatch covers..

Log:

Distance: 10.32 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 ; SWxW
Sail Plan: Full main & 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4.6 / 2.8

Four go round the bend..

Despite having done the big trip last month, the Jolly Boys are nothing if not gluttons for punishment, and decided it was time for a curry...  just to make it interesting though, the decision was taken that the curry should be in Lymington (😏) and that we wanted to stay at Lymington Yacht Haven as we like their showers..

The trek west from Portsmouth to Lymington is a long one, and we'd definitely need the assistance of tide, a fly in the ointment though was that one of the aircraft carriers in the dockyard was due to leave the same morning as us, and Kings Harbour Master had sent out an advisory to say that the small boats channel in and out of the harbour was going to be closed for an hour and a bit from 10:00. 

We definitely needed to get away before the harbour was closed, and so it was that the decision was taken to revise the plan and meet at Rod's gaff half an hour earlier ..  07:30 we convened, and by half 8 we'd dropped the moorings and were heading down the harbour past the carriers..

As you can see from the picture - there wasn't a breath of wind, and it remained that way once we got out of the harbour - it was like a mirror. Sails remained down/rolled - engine throttle nudged up and AmiLy powered west under motor - with the tide under her we were seeing regular 10's and 11's SOG.

It was a baking hot day, and rather than get to Lymington prematurely and have to hang around while we waited for the pontoon mooring to be free, a decision was taken to pull into the Beaulieu river entrance and pick up a visitors mooring at Needs Ore Point (they're right on the first bend in the river) as we'd been there before..

Needs Ore Point moorings

Smiffy went swimming, the rest of us lazed, some beer was partaken, home made sausage rolls snaffled..  utterly glorious..  even better, we had it for free (as did a few other boats who popped in, ate lunch, and popped off) as the Harbour Master was noticeable by his absence.

In the meanwhile, lunch over and the wind was picking up, so as we were already head to wind the main went up, we dropped the mooring, and ran down to the river entrance, in what was becoming an  "interesting" but westerly, wind.. 

As we came out we could see the Solent was heaving with race fleets (it was the penultimate day of Cowes Week) which limited our options, but we did try (see following).. but after two hours of short tacking (to keep out of the way of the racers), against a full tide (it had turned), we were just about past the mooring buoy we had had lunch on inside the spit.. 😂

..."bugger this", quoth we, engine went on - sails down - and we motored in to Lymington and in an increasingly stronger wind - by the time we arrived it was a good F4, and absolutely bang on the nose..

Lymington as ever was lovely, we were in the Yacht Haven which is further out from town, but as mentioned we like the showers there, so job done.. 😏. 

Rod and I thought the curry at Rivaaz was worth the trip - though Dave reckoned his was disappointing ("he chose poorly", in the words of the old knight in Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail 😁) and Smiffy reckoned his was salty - picky, picky, picky..  we'll try the other one next time.

Following morning we woke to a crystal blue sky, with not a cloud in sight, and it was already blisteringly hot, and windless..  the plan was to leave at 10, as we wanted a west going tide so as to shoot us past the Needles, before then turning east and heading home down the south of the island..  we're nothing if not adventurous after two bottles of red wine in a a comfy warm curry house!

Leaving Lymington; Hurst Castle and the Needles ahead..

Plan started well - the wind was building all the time as we left the Haven and motored into the F4 westerly - with tide under us we were at the Needles in just less than a couple of hours..  

Rounding the Needles - well clear..

Once past, the main went up, the genoa out, and we had a good run down to St. Catherine's where it then went a little pear shaped, and we found overfalls big time.. 😏

Bit of pilotage for you..

..note the number of those symbols, and also the distance they extend...

..and these wise words of guidance from the Admiralty (my highlight)..

"A race occurs off St. Catherine’s point, and may be violent when the stream is strong and a strong wind is blowing in the opposite direction; the race is specially violent south-eastward of the point in westerly gales at springs, during the west-going stream.  Eddies occur near the land westward of the point during the west-going stream.

Adapted from Admiralty Sailing Directions English Channel 1947"

Then note that the tidal flow at the time was as follows, and it was a Spring('ish) tide, and that the wind was 5 occasionally gusting 6 and almost dead westerly/opposite..

So - not surprisingly, we had the recipe for the perfect overfall.. 😏  

Suffice to say it was uncomfortable for about an hour - boat was pitching 30' degrees, with breaking waves coming from all directions and up to 12 feet in height. Sailing downwind one wave kicked her stern round and we ended up gybing at which point "enough was enough" was decided - engine went on, quick head into wind, reefs went in, and we turned back on the original (post gybe) course..  and half an hour later all was calm... 

Lot of learning in a short time but I think as a crew we did OK..  there was no indication in the morning forecasts of the wind we were actually seeing so there was no planning for the waves it actually kicked up - if it had, we knew the overfalls were there, so we would have gone further out.

By the time we got to Ventnor, despite the occasional kick up the stern just to let us know the sea was unhappy, we were beginning to make speed though - the tide was turning!

We went past Shanklin, then Sandown, and then Bembridge with the after-burners on, and then rode that westerly breeze and tide like a rented donkey all the way into Portsmouth, with just a brief detour to avoid a containers ship coming out of Southampton that was at least as big as Hayling Island.. 

One last small detour to wait for the ferry and we were back on the home pontoon just after 19:00..  job done..

So near yet so far - channel to the pontoon as we wait for a ferry to come out..

Better part of 83 miles in two days, and we only did 50 odd miles in 4 days on the extended cruise! A beer in the cabin after to finish off food, unwind, and dissect the day and I think it safe to say we were all very pleased to get back - we were "wind tired" as it had blown all day..

Looking forward to the next one as the overnighter format worked well..  maybe Yarmouth next time?? Definitely before the end of the season was agreed..

Log:

Green day 1; blue day 2

Distance: (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)

Wind (Speed; Direction):

• 1st Aug: From sub F1 (AM) to F4 (PM); WxS
• 2nd Aug: From F4 (AM) to F5 gusting 6 (PM); WxS

Sail Plan: 

• 1st Aug: Full main and genoa
• 2nd Aug: Full main then 1st reef / full genoa

Speed (Max/average in knots): As above..  the 12.4 knts was as we came up to the Beaulieu River entrance under motor and with full tide under us..