Camber clamber..

...and as we always knew they would, the tides finally returned.. 😏

After a glorious week weather'iwse last week but where the tides were late and early, this week broke fair with later morning early afternoon tides, perfect! Yesterday was a 12:47 HT and at 4.24m was early Springs, definitely not as big as some we've seen so far this year!

On the boat by 10 then, and the plan was not to hang around - the wind was dead southerly (uhhhh... 😐) so whatever happened today, with the bottom of the harbour a long way away, and dead downwind, the mechanical donkey was going to earn her keep today. Opted then to get the boat ready while underway..  

Dropped the mooring about quarter past...  autopilot on (Lord bless it - what did I do in the days before it?!) and motored down the ditch while getting sail covers off, ties off, ensign on, lockers unlocked, rolled out some tentative genoa as I went past Northney (as the wind was beam on) but I was soon headed so I rolled it back and settled down for a long motor.

Plan was to see if I could cross Pilsey sands from about Verner (see map for locations), heading vaguely east'ish, as that would allow a beam, if not close, reach down to East Head.. which worked quite well except for one thing - school summer holidays! 😁  

Yep.. every club at the bottom of the harbour (just like ours so I should have known!) was running a Juniour's* Week and the harbour was absolutely rammed with every type of dinghy under the sun - all of them seemingly racing on Pilsey Sands! Six tacks later (to avoid fleets of ankle biters and their parents) and I finally managed to get a gap and made my way across, and only then by going right through the middle of a fleet (on starboard and gloating 😏)

Once across though, I sought emptier waters, and rode the very last of the tide eastwards towards Itchenor - before finally gybing off the end of Thorney Channel around the Cambermet weather beacon..

Cambermet in addition to being a weather station is also a south cardinal (which I hadn't realised) - it marks the end of a spit that runs from the east side of the Thorney channel - I'm the wrong side of it, but there was plenty of water... 😁

...and heading back towards the main Emsworth Channel to the west.. it was a glorious day - the following (click to 'embigen') is a view up the Thorney Channel, the sun on the water, and the South Downs in the distance - what a venue to sail in..  I'm lucky.. 

...with more west in the wind with every passing moment, I had to tack off Pilsey Island as the water was geting thin, and I couldn't clear it on the tack I was on. Headed back across the channel towards Ella Nore on the southern side of the channel and then tacked again to head west...

Passed Snowhill - skirted the multitude of anchored yachts and motor boas off the beaches at East Head, and then cut the corner for the long ride home..  it was dead down wind, so the genoa was rolled away..

...hello "old friend".. 

Fishing rod was deployed, views were enjoyed, music was on, the perching post occupied, seals admired, and we progressed up the harbour at a most stately 3.5 knots (against tide) - very pleased - looks like the antifoul is holding up...

Then just as we approached Northney, and just as I had out the engine on for the last schlepp down the ditch - wallop! The road started bouncing, and bugger me if we hadn't caught a decent one.. 

Oh yes... 🐟

Usually I only catch tiddlers and infants, but that was a 100% adolescent, and just over a pound in weight.. he (or she) was admired, photo'd, and sent back to his siblings with a story to tell...   "and away"...  

Cracking sail and takes me comfortably over the 50 for the year so far..   more please!

*according to Google, Juniour (as opposed to Junior) is "an obsolete and incorrect" spelling - who knew? Also when did obsolete become incorrect? I've always used spelt it that way, and just to cheese Google off probably will continue to..  on those rare occasions you have to... 😁

Log:

Flat tacks..  tide was running..  😏

Distance: 12.74 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  F2 gusting F3 ; SSE going SxW
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.6 / 2.8

Overnight to Lymington

Just back from the first 'overnighter' of the year with the Jolly Boys.. this time a quick trip to Lymington.

Midday Spring HT's to take advantage of as the Solent "travelator" would be at full chat at certain times. For going westward we could have a fairly leisurely start as they wouldn't be full bore until near hight water. 

Convened at Rod's gaff at 0845 then, and headed for the boat. After a slight panic when Dave realised he didn't have his driving licence with him for photo id, but then remembered he had his passport with him (😧) we were on the boat and slipping the moorings at 10'ish.

Winds were (and had been all week) fairly spicy - it's hot here at the moment and I think the heatwave is contributing, all that hot air rising has to be replaced somehow (what is that? if I remember rightly from my old RYA skipper courses is it a catabatic? or an anabatic? Or neither at all and just a heat induced breeze.. 😁) Either way it was enough for us to put the second reef in and we had no reason to regret the decision most of the day..

Both days were easterly's, so the trip to Lymington was ostensibly a super long, tide assisted, run/very broad reach. A little over 5 hours door to door (and we've done trips to Cowes that have taken that long) comprising food, chat, banter, nonsense and a sunny warm glittering Solent...  glorious..

Moored up in Lymington..

Destination for the night was the Yacht Haven which we all love purely because of their FANTASTIC showers! 😁

Dinner was in the Fisherman's Rest, which was good (if not outstanding) before retiring to the boat for some of us to watch England play their semi final in the World Cup ..

This one was moored up opposite and caught my eye..  beautiful colour.. she's a Swallow Yachts boat..

Return trip started early so we could catch the 'travellator' in the opposite direction - with a F4 on the nose the entire way up the Solent, we knew we were going to need all the help it could provide.. so we were up for 0600, and dropped the mooring and were motoring for the Solent at 0700...

We'd kind of assumed we'd be motoring all the way, so for the western Solent we plugged away under said motor, doing 6.5/7 knots SOG (!), cooked breakfast (sausage baps) under way, and slurped tea, as we watched the sad sight of the sunken yacht ("Aliunde") slip past incredibly quickly.. 

"Aliunde".. more here [clicky]

..she's been there since last September.. no sign of her being moved any time soon.. 😏

Nice view to eat your sausage bap to...  that's the sun glinting on the Needles in the distance..

...we passed the Bramble bank (to the north) no more than an hour or hour and half after we left Lymington, and then put the sails up just after Calshot for a long and slightly tight'ish beat to Gilkicker point, before putting the motor on again for the last stretch up the inner swashway (where the wind was on the nose again) to the harbour and the mooring..  one end of the Solent to the other in just about 4 hours - got to love that 'travellator', and especially on Springs! 😏

Excellent trip - the next overnighter we've decide will be Cowes which gives us time to do a side trip on the way or way back...

Log:

Red 15th, yellow 16th..

Distance: 49.11 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)

Wind (Speed; Direction): 

• 15th : F4 gusting F5; ENE
• 16th : Top end F4; NExN

Sail Plan: Full and reefed main, full genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7.0 / 4.7 (average of the two days)

Pilsey shuffle..

After the last trip out I think it fair to say that there was a slight sense of unfinished business about the dock side.. 😁

Wednesday looked promising, but there was a clear requirement (from the forecast) to get going as soon as possible so as to make the most of the westerly wind before it started bending round from the south (guessing they were foreseeing a growing sea breeze)..  things didn't start well when I go to the club only to find I'd forgotten my phone..  not mission critical, but if I wanted any photos, or music to listen to, I was going to struggle.. 😏

Half an hour later I was back at the club, once on the boat I filled up the outboard fuel tank with 5 litres of fresh fuel (took half a litre of the old stuff home and put it in the car), covers off, engine on to warm up, mooring dropped at 11:24. With a HT at 13:45 I could have used the 30 minutes I lost to make some south'ing, but the wind was light anyway so I guess I didn't miss much..

As is usual with these westerly's the main went up in the pool by the bridge and then I bore away for a run down the ditch.. left the engine running until well past Emsworth Beacon before turning it off and trying without.. winds were light and fitful, but every now and again there would be a useable gust but all in all it was quite frustrating, and with a huge spring tide there was a lot of water to fight head on..  shades of the last trip!

With more fuel on board though I put the engine back on and motor sailed down past Marker, only to find the wind filling in, but only as it moved southerly..

..hitting the overdrive for the return trip on the last of the incoming tide..

N'er mind - a lovely single tack down to the Pilsey buoys (there are two of them) saw me almost at HISC before I tacked and bore away back to Verner - glorious speeds SOG saw me at Verner in a quarter of the time it had taken to go the other way, but when I gybed to head back to Pilsey it was clear the wind had filled in very quickly indeed and was now more than enough to start the sails flapping.. 

Tacked again and headed for home - I'd had a cracking sail, and it was time to head for home... sails down just shy of Sweare Deep and I was back on the mooring 3 hours after I'd left..  brilliant..

Sparrow's bigger brother - a Hurley 22 - met her on the way back..

Notes:

• 5 litres fuel added

Log:

Distance: 8.64* (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 going F4 ; W going SWxW
Sail Plan: Full main / full and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.3 / 2.7

*includes distance covered while the GPS needed a battery change.. 😁

In and out..

Not much of a trip - had hoped for more (clearly.. don't we all?! 😏), but lack of wind stopped play...

Two and a half hours before HT (12:23 and 4.10m) saw me on Sparrow after a chat with my mooring neighbours Jolly Boy Dave and Simon, covers off, engines started, and I dropped the mooring at about quarter past ten...

What wind there was was westerly so I put the main up by the bridge as is becoming the norm, and then headed off down the ditch after Simon. Motored all the way to just before Sweare Deep where (as usual) the noise of the engine finally got to me and I turned her off, and then I sailed for all of, oooh..  15 minutes (?) before the wind dropped completely, and I ended up going round and round in circles heading back towards Emsworth Channel..

Didn't have enough fuel for an extended motor to the bottom of the harbour so decided to call it quits..  the forecast is good this week - there'll be other opportunities..

Time to get some fuel..

Log:

Distance: 3.57 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F1 gusting F3 ; between W and S 
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.4 / 2.7

Make do and mend..

Little make do and mend session last week - we've been on the water couple of months now, and sun, rain, and UV never let up, and it was time I attended to a couple of things that I'd been noticing..

Locker lids:

Those of you who follow this nonsense will know that I have a hate hate relationship with these..  my fault assuredly as the ply they are made of is rubbish..  worse than rubbish..  anyway, those of you who follow will know that I'd already treated these over the winter [clicky] but some cracks on the edges of this one needed to be treated quickly lest the damage get much worse very quickly..

... regrettably though the damage on this one was done a long time ago, and it was shot.. look away now if you're of a nervous disposition...

..look at the quality of that ply - utter rubbish wood scrapings barely glued together..😐

..my plan had been to slip some epoxy into the crack using some thin plastic sheet to get it in but it failed completely when I then applied some pressure to press the sheets back together while the epoxy dried..

So....  what to do..

I can make a new one - but I need new supplies of ply, and I want time to find either a good source of marine ply, or ideally plastic/UPVC, to do this permanently - there's sailing to be done so I've bodged it to get me through to the end of the season...

I glued all the dust and scraps back together, and then glued two squares of 3mm plastic card, one either side to hold it together in a sandwich, and then clamped it for 24 hours to let the glue go off..

Tidied up the excess glue the next day, gave it a couple of coats of paint, and then reattached the locking hasp...  it's not pretty (ain't that the understatement of the year), but it's sound, and more importantly will last me to the end of the season.. 😏

Gel Coat:

This has been on my mind (and the job list) for a while - Sparrow is 60 next year and her gel coat is getting thin in places. Just to be clear, I will not paint her (that way lies the madness of endless patching and maintaining on a huge scale) but I do need to stop further UV damage to places where it is thin - see following... 

Previous experiments [clicky] have proved to be fairly good, and it was time to do a few more... 

The hardest thing is getting the paint colour to at least a reasonable approximation (which I haven't done 😏), but the most important thing is that the damage is now covered, and the maintenance of these patches is far simpler..

Now - let's go sailing..

Ferrys, trains and automobiles... redux..

..the end of the week and it was time for me to pop over to the island to help Rodders and his missus crew AmiLy back to the mainland..

Train, Fast Cat ferry from Portsmouth (of which I'm becoming a fan 😏)..

..sun deck is a glorious place to be on a hot day!

...and then soon enough in Ryde..

...how many bearings have been taken using Ryde church spire over the years I wonder..

...it was one one of the hottest weeks in the UK on record - and I'm not sure I'd have wanted to spend it on a boat given the heat we saw (high 30'sC) - but when I saw them, they said it had been a cracking week - visiting various places on the island and basically keeping cool and hydrated, much like the rest of us..

After a hot walk to the Lifeboat for some lunch, it was back to East Cowes in a growing breeze..

By the time we'd dropped the mooring and got into the Solent minds were already made up - no sailing today - F5 gusting F6 (I was seeing 39 knots on the wind instruments, despite apparent wind/tide!) and Easterly - bang on the nose - so we motored and let the engine take the strain.. what a glorious day though, sunny. warm in the breeze but cooler than without it..  fantastic

...back!

Log:

Distance: 12.86* (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)

Wind (Speed; Direction):  F5 gusting F6 ; ExS
Sail Plan: None - motored
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.6 / 4.1

Planes ..err.. Ferrys, trains and automobiles...

Hurrah - time to take the ladies to Cowes for lunch - which is basically just an excuse for Smithy and I to get out on AmiLy for the day to help deliver Rodders and his lady to their holiday spot of a week in Shepherds Wharf in west-Cowes..

We enjoy this one (we did it for the first time last year) as it involves almost every type of transport system known to man (other than helicopter) to get back afterwards (as the boat stays in Cowes)..

Either way - met at my gaff at 08:30 before all 6 of us piled into Rod's trusty Landrover Disco (I got the boot seat again!) for the transfer to the boat..

Glorious weather and a surprisingly 'vibrant' breeze blowing when we got there, and from the east..

Filled up with water, got the sail covers off, singled up the lines, and we dropped the moorings 09:20 before heading into the harbour - did a U turn off the dockyard to head into wind in order to get the main up, and then rode the outgoing tide to the inner swashway..

I think that's the ex-HMS Montrose (left) and Westminster (right) - they're in the dockyard waiting on news of their likely demise..

The ex-HMS Westminster - a Duke-class Type 23 Frigate (as was Montrose)

..and then had a long uneventful run to Cowes - ended up taking the genoa in as the main was covering it, popped the auto pilot on, had a chat, ate some biscuits, drank some tea, sweltered in the heat..  fantastic..

Lunch was at the Island Sailing Club where, sitting on their balcony under a large umbrella and drinking beer, was quite possibly the best solution to the day...

Lunch over, it was time to bid Rod and his missus farewell (though I'll be coming over on Thursday to help bring the boat back) before we caught the chain ferry (mode of transport #3 of the day), and then walked up to the shops in east Cowes to get the bus (#4) to Ryde, where we then walked to the end of the pier to get the fast cat (#5) back to Portsmouth to get the train (#6) home. Suffice to say that the bus/ferry/train took as long as the sail and I know which one I preferred!

More reading on Montrose/Westminster here [clicky] if interested

Log:

Distance:  40.27 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)

• Sail : 14.06
• Bus :  8.9
• Ferry : 5.2
• Train : 11,4

Wind (Speed; Direction):  F3 gusting F4 ; ExN going SE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7.3 / 3.5

Completed job list '25/'26 lay up..

By way of record keeping, and to remind me in the future - here's the completed job list from the winter layover...  all in all I would say it was a busy one with some major jobs done.. 

Next winter will be quieter and I think probably the major job will be the companionway hatches..  I'll do the cockpit hatches (again!😏) at the same time..  

I just need a better quality ply this time round though, as the last lot was utter sh*te!

Completed list...

1. Standing rigging - this was last done in July 2013,  so 12 years of light use (including one year when the mast never went up thanks to COVID), but for reference the following is the order, ...
   
   
   
   
   
   • 2 cap shrouds, and 2 pairs of lower shrouds, in 4mm 1/19 stainless steel wire with 5/16th rigging screws (Swage stud to Fork) and new swage eyes.
   • backstay in 4mm 1/19 stainless steel wire using a triangular plate with new bottle screw and new eyes and forks
   • forestay in 5mm 1/19 stainless steel wire with swaged eye at the top and the lower end.





2. At the same time I also replaced the roller furler which came with the boat when I bought it all those years ago, and originally came from (I think) a much bigger Beneteau or Jeanneau - it was old, a massive beast, and had been cut down to fit Sparrow so remained heavy to operate all the years I had it..
   
   The new one is a Furlex 50S, and is the very opposite of that and is utterly fantastic..  so light to roll in and out, almost does it itself..  an absolute joy.
   
   In order to get my genoa to fit however, I did have to get the luff bead replace with a smaller diameter bead
   
   
   
   
   

   

   New and old side by side...

   
   
   Huge thanks to Luke and Andrew at Holman Rigging [clicky] for a very classy set of wires, their service, and the suggestion for the  the furler - second, no third, time I've been to them for rigging on my boats and once again they didn't disappoint..  recommended..


3. Boom/sail cover replaced - last one I bought it in 2019, so it lasted 7 odd years albeit we had a year of Covid where it didn't get a lot of UV. Compared with the previous ones, from the same source/supplier, I would say this one is not of as good quality - the material seems flimsier - but time will tell..
   

4. New windex - fitted, and still there.. it's quite a chunky beast and my impression is it can be a little slow showing direction when the wind is light, but hey, it's still there.. 😏

   

   "Aramox Marine Weather Vane Wind Direction Indicator 304 Stainless Steel"

Regular/annual items:

1. Installed the temporary winter cockpit locker lids and brought the proper ones home to keep out of the winter weather; they're looking ok


2. Rub down and coat of paint (as needed) - 


• Locker lids - locker lids were filled and sanded, and had two coats (of paint) 


• Wash boards - lower was repaired and painted June '25 but needed more work this winter - both were sanded and filled and two coats applied, in addition the upper has had some UPVC reinforcement along the lower edge


• Tiller pilot support - two coats


• Tiller pilot clip rest  - two coats


• Cockpit hatch cover - done June '25


• Forward hatch cover - done June '25


• Rear hatch cover - done June '25


• Tender - an additional keel plate reinforcement was attached, and the bottom painted
  
  
  


3. Rub down and coat of wood preservative or varnish (as needed) - the purchase of a new orbital sander this spring helped enormously with this one..


• cockpit board - rubbed down and two coats of preservative


• outboard pad - rubbed down and two coats of preservative


• rubbing strakes - rubbed down and patch repairs June '25 - rubbed down again and two coats of preservative this winter


• hand rails - are largely OK, one spot-sanded and coated with varnish


• tiller - rubbed down and two coats of varnish


4. Antifoul - one coat Tiger Extra applied 
   
   
   


5. Serviced the outboard  - no major issues - thanks Bursledon Outboards [clicky]!


6. Serviced and inflation tested the Life Jackets - going to need some new ones at some time - they're perfectly good but looking tatty.. 😏


7. Pick up chain - nothing needed this year - brought the top tackle home for the winter as usual though


8. Pre-launch wash and Oxalic, I also went round the waterline with a detail sander and removed as much as I could of the ingrained green staining she's picked up over the years - she looks a ton better

There and back.. and back again..

Too good an opportunity to miss as the wind was still blowing westerly (in fact looking at my log for last year it was doing the same this time then too)

Bit more southerly in it this time though, but either way I was on the boat three hours before HT (which was 13:25 and a mahoosive spring at 4.6mtrs) and practice makes perfect, I had the engine on the covers off and the mooring dropped just shy of 11:00 with 0.1 meters under the keel..  plenty.. 😏

Long slow run down the ditch under main (which I had again put up in the pool just in front of the bridge), fishing rod deployed (with no success), past Northney, and as I approached Sweare Deep I was hardening up enough to clear, and so roll out the genoa..

Single tack to the bottom of the harbour, gusty conditions, using the heavier gusts to ride up wind to help the angles but even against that massive tides she was romping along at 4 knots..  lovely sailing, just needed a little more sun..

Turned for the top of the harbour just after NW Pilsey as the wind was picking up further and I'd ruled out another Eastoke visit, and lit the afterburners - 6.7 and 6.9 knots SOG (tidal assisted😏) seen as we tore up harbour - was going so fast I almost missed Jolly Boy Dave out for a similar day sail on his boat..

Jolly Boy Dave out on his boat 'Kings Ransom'..

..in fact I enjoyed it so much I turned and headed back down harbour at Verner before turning again at NW Pilsey and finally heading for home - cracking trip - more, please!

Thoughts now turn to a little make do and mend session, got some painting and gluing to do around the boat...

Log:

Distance: 10.42 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 gusting F4 ; WSW going SW
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 6 / 3

Soldiers wind..

So after two solid weeks of wind and rain, at last the summer seems to have returned to the UK after lulling us into that false sense of security last month.

First sail since I got to take the Grandson out all that time ago, and not a world of a lie it's been low pressure after low pressure ever since..  a constant succession of F5 and F6 days, usually with rain and or hail..  and after those record breaking temperatures last month, last week the central heating thermostat was kicking in! 😏 Suffice to say that the Jolly Boys, who were due to get away for the first overnight of the year in Lymington last week, were not happy when that trip went down the pan..

Fair to say then that the forecasts were being poured over on a daily basis looking for the break, and it was finally spotted this weekend - yesterday and today were looking good (and there are hopes for next week as well)..

Picked the Saturday in the end, as the forecasts were showing wall to wall sunshine and a little more breeze than the Sunday (and as I'm writing this on the Sunday I can confirm they were right 😁)

So on the boat by quarter to nine for a 10:37 HT, which was a Spring, interesting forecast for wind direction turned out to be bang on the money..  dead westerly...! A soldiers wind ..  a beam reach either way if I wanted to head to the bottom of the harbour, and who wouldn't.. 

Decisions to make when I got on the boat though - the forecast was saying 4 gusting 5 occasionally, but local conditions, and a check of the weather stations at the top and bottom of the harbour were showing less...  they do say that if you think of reefing, you should do it, but in this occasion I ignored it and went for a full main..

Mate of mine was out on the water and got a few shots of me and Sparrow doing our best..  thanks Martin..  😁👍

Dropped the mooring at 9'ish, motored gently up wind to the bridge in the pool and put my main up before turning for a long glorious run down the ditch, past Northney, and on to Sweare Deep where I hardened up for the (as forecasted) reach to the bottom of the harbour..  slightly feisty conditions, the occasional gusts were a bit spicy, but it was sunny (although cold - layers were going on) and the harbour was full of my fellow sailors all thanking their lucky stars that they could finally get out on their boats! I could probably have done with having a small reef in the main, but most of the time she chuntered along quite nicely, even if I couldn't always sheet in as much as I wanted..

Returning the compliment - looking good Martin!

No plans other than heading to the bottom of the harbour, and a solid 4 knots against tide almost all the way saw me there far quicker than I thought - it being a Saturday of course, and the first decent break in the weather, it was like Piccadilly Circus in the harbour mouth - every boat in the harbour was heading for the Solent. Who was I to disagree.. so when I got to HISC I just kept going... 😁

Now many years ago I was dismasted not far from here [clicky], and just after I had had standing rigging replaced, so my plan for today was to lay more ghosts to rest - as I'd just had the standing rigging replaced.. 😏

Happily, no repeat of the issue, and just after Eastoke (where it happened last time), and with a view if the Solent in all it's sunshine glory, and at stand of tide..

"Piccadilly".. 

...I tacked and headed back in..

...for a long beat up harbour as the wind had got some north in it at just the wrong moment, no worries though, single tack saw me at Sweare Deep, and with the wind freshening all the time I abandoned ideas of going back down the harbour, dropped the sails, and motored back to the mooring..  stupendous sail..  but a bit warmer next time, please!

Post script..  Martin got this as I was going past HISC on the way back, you can see what I meant about the main could have done with a reef..  more main sheet and it would have set nicely, but I'd just let it out for a gust.. 😁

Log:

Distance: 10.56* (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  Both ends of a F4 ; WSW going WNW
Sail Plan: Full main/90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4.6 / 3.4

*includes distance covered while the GPS needed a battery change.. 😁

Grandson cruise

A quick sail to keep the grandson occupied on half term holiday week - who was I to say no? 😁

I was aware I needed to keep it short - he's 12 and with the best will in the world is not super keen on sailing so originally I'd planned it to be more of a fishing trip under motor than a sail, but with the harbour currently chock full of weed the lure fishing soon paled, so I suggested we put the rags up and have a sail. 

Bless him .. he said "sure".. 😏

Easterly, and the sails went up just off Emsworth Beacon before we made the best course for Marker we could get in what was a fairly fluky south easterly (it was veering between SE and SSE, but trending more southerly by the half hour).

Eleven tacks to Marker and he'd made me aware he wasn't enjoying the tacking, so we bailed just after Marker (furthest south so far this year but that's not saying much!) turning for home with a long comfortable run in the sun back to the mooring..

What can I say - I enjoyed* it anyway.. 😁

* apart from the bit where I lost my glasses over the side 👓

Log:

Distance: 5.88 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): SExS ; F3 (occasionally gusting F4)
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.0/2.4

Shakedown..

At bleeding last..  the first sail on Sparrow for the new season - almost three weeks later than last year.. 😏

No major reasons or excuses for the delay, it was just a matter of weather and tides..  we had a stonking week of warm weather the week after I launched but there were no tides that week, and then a period of rain and cold settled in - hail, sun, wind, rain, repeat.. and then I needed to get the mast up....   and and ad..  If the weather gonks are to be believed next week we're getting a heatwave, I'll believe it when I see it..

Either way today looked to be the best bet to get the sails up and the first miles under my belt, and it turned out to be.... OK... 

Don't get me wrong it was bloody awesome to get the sails up and go sailing, the new roller furler is an ABSOLUTE joy, but it was grey, and it was chuffing cold in the wind..

Anyway, on the boat for half 10 which was two hours before HT (12:40), sail cover off, tender secured to pickup buoy, engine started and cast off...  with the wind being almost westerly (almost - there was a tadge of south in it), I took the opportunity to put the main up in the pool by the bridge, and then bore off for a gentle run down the ditch for the first time this year..  big tide - 4.7m - but even so we were seeing 3's...

Rolled the genoa out as we went - fantastically smooth - and just kept going, bearing up as we came round the corner by the beacon..  winds were a fairly solid F3, but every now and again something really fractious would come through, definitely higher F4. Tacked up and lit the afterburners to head back to Northney - despite what the GPS reports I was seeing 5.8/5.9 and 6 SOG (tide assisted 'natch 😏)

Tacked again - headed to Marker - almost got there, but it was so damn cold I bailed..  I had three layers on and it was still cold. Enjoyed that immensely, but now I'd like some warmer weather, please..

Sailing club duty tomorrow - I'm duty helm on the rescue boat for the second launch week..  should be fun but must remember a coat... 😁

Log:

Distance: 5.84 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 gusting F4; WSW
Sail Plan: Full main/90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.6 / 2.8