Mast down..

...it's always  bit of a lottery finding the time and people to get the mast down, but this time we also had to throw weather and tide into the equation... 

I thought I'd done it last week when we agreed on Wednesday (today as I write); four people and a tide that although a little early wasn't too early. Over the weekend the Autumn weather gods laughed in my face at my puny arrangements and scheduled in a bucket load of rain..  the weather I was hoping for had shifted to a day earlier.

With an hours earlier tide, and peoples availability still to decide, I threw the dice again, and this time we came up with three - which is just enough, if not optimal, for a mast drop on a 20 footer...😏

So it was that we made arrangements to meet at the tender pen at 0800, in order to make the most of an 08:54, 3.88m, tide...  I figured that would give us 3 hours, as this time we were going to do mast drops two boats. Mate Simon, of 'Marcy' (which is on the mooring next to mine), usually takes his boat into one of the local marinas to take the mast down with a derrick/crane, but I'd suggested we do it and save him the hundred spondoolicks - foolishly he agreed.. 😁

As is usual the night before a mast drop I didn't sleep well and I was there early as I wanted to get the boat ready before the others arrived - glorious morning, not a breath of wind - perfect!

Once the rest arrived, we had a quick conflab and Simon agreed we should do 'Sparrow' first as he'd not seen a mast drop using an A frame before (other than on YouTube), and it would give him an idea of what we were doing, how we did it, and what it looked like.. 

...just attached the A frame and mast crutch (at the back)..

Anyway - it was an absolutely quintessentially good mast drop (no point repeating it but here's what I do [clicky]), and pausing only for Dave and I to do a quick tidy, Simon went over to his boat to start getting ready. 

..all down safe and sound, and wonder of wonders the windex is still there! 😁

We then went over to 'Marcy' to have a play - guessing it was about HT at this point and fog was rolling in quicky (at one point we lost sight of Northney)

..Dave "blanket stitching" all the shrouds lines and furler to the mast...

The mast drop on Simon's boat was also good - some differences to 'Sparrow', as 'Marcy' has a hinged mast foot rather than a tabernacle but other than that, the mast sizes/connections are about the same. Simon made a very natty mast crutch that sits on a board that sits in the cockpit (liked that idea), and the A frame ('Mk1' he calls it)  was made from some poles left over from his daughters trampoline 😁.

It worked really well, but we agreed it needed a couple of feet extra length as it didn't reach beyond the furler, which meant supporting the furler as it came down was a little more awkward (as it's 'outside' of the frame)... but as a first go it was about as good as it gets!

With water now beginning to disappear it was back to the clubhouse for pork pies, pastries and tea..  cracking morning!

Notes: 

• one of the rowlock mounting blocks decided to disintegrate on the way back to shore (the other one had split last year so I was kind of expecting it)..  happily just a few feet from shore..😏 Need to make another ready for the weekend...
• new battery has arrived

....and just like that...

..it's all over for another season..  wasn't for the want of looking but I just couldn't get another sail in, sunny days and no wind, sunny days with wind but no tide, and increasing numbers of "blechhh" days where the wind and tide was good but the weather was the aforesaid... Sparrow's out on the 12th, and a number of things have to happen before then... but yet again I've gotten ahead of myself, because of course there's always more than one boat involved in the life of a Jolly Boy™

We'd also been trying to get a trip out on the Jolly Boy flagship, AmiLy, and were hoping that a two day'er was on the cards when, firstly the weather gods intervened and one of the two days was cancelled, and then on the surviving day, with tides not optimal (so meaning not enough time to get to Cowes or anywhere else for lunch 😁) we were met by a F5 gusting 6! With the best will in the world, just 2 or 3 hours sailing and all the faff that entails, in boisterous conditions (as we had to be back by a certain time because of tide) were not 'floating the boat' so in the end it was sausage baps, tea, talking 'bolleaux', and then we took the opportunity to get all the sails off her ready for her lift next week.. oh, and there may have been omelettes involved too..

Going to miss that view over the next 6 months..

Which was pretty much what I had to do as well (albeit absent the sausage baps and omelettes regrettably), and so it was that with another big Spring tide (is it me or are they always big Spring tides!) I found myself on Sparrow for the annual end of season tear down..

Beautiful day but again it was blowing old boots - not optimal for taking sails off, but I'm running out of time so needs must...

First order of the day was the main which on Sparrow comes home still attached to the boom - mainsheet, topping lift and kicker detached, remove the clip from the mast track to allow the slides to come out at the gate, then it's simply a matter of undoing the nut that holds the boom to the gooseneck and wrapping the sail cover round the front before dropping the whole lot into the dinghy ready for the pull home.

All looked in pretty good condition but I noticed the topping lift was looking a bit frayed - I'd guess it had been rubbing against the triangle on the back stay.. 

..did that whipping/rope replacement back in May '23 [clicky] so it's not done too badly,
but either way, a new job for the list... 😏

Next was the genoa.. the furler has never failed to absolutely delight this season, a complete game changer and one of those things (like the tiller pilot) that make you wonder why you hadn't done it years earlier, and so it was with the removal of the genoa - detached the sheets while it was still rolled and then it was just a simple matter of rolling it out from the foredeck by hand while controlling how quickly it unrolled with the furler line... it slid out of the track much more easily than it went in! 😏

Bundled it up (there's no way you can fold it on a 20 foot boat, in a F5, and on your own 😁) and that joined the boom/main in the tender ready for proper folding at home..

Much quicker than I expected so I decided I might do that topping lift there and then - it was sunny, warm, and good to be on the water, so checked the battery charge as ususal - all good with the battery showing just over 15v (which is pretty typical given it hadn't been switched on for a while, and was getting charge from the solar panel) but when I turned the VHF on (just for something to listen to while I was repairing the topping lift), about 10 minutes later I was getting a low battery alarm on the VHF display, and the battery monitor was showing it down to < 10v..  buggeration..  switched everything off and the voltage climbed, only for it to drop like a stone when something was turned on..  battery's knackered...   not holding a charge. 

So I swapped the battery last time in May '22, which means that little lump of lead and acid has been doing it's job for four and a half years, bless it..  👍 Not bad at all, very happy with that and better still, when I checked, they still sell them, and it's still the same price! Bargain - will order one next week and add the job to the winter maintenance list..

Oh, and the topping lift? Done..  chopped off to just after worn, with a new thimble as well - sewed and wrapped..  proper job..

Pausing only to leave my phone in the cockpit I wended my way home... 😬

...and yes, an hour later, and on the last legs of the tide I was back to collect the phone.. 😏

Poking the nose into Emsworth

I'm now in weather sniping mode - the weather and the seasons are rolling on and you have to grab an opportunity when it presents itself.. so just a short trip on an otherwise late'ish tide..

HT was 15:44 and a spring'ish 4.39 mtrs, also the westerly's remain with us and just for once the forecast was almost entirely correct. F4 gusting F4 (so both ends) but the forecast was saying westerly, and what we actually got had some north in it.. a slightly awkward direction - it makes the Emsworth channel a beat on the return, and it makes getting to the Emsworth channel a dead down wind run...  

So... on the boat by half 12 quarter to 1'ish, got everything set, had the "should I, shouldn't I" internal discussion about reefing, as the gusts were a little spicy, but I took the call not to* - dropped the mooring, circled and put the main up while head to wind and then headed down the ditch...

* What a mistake'a to make'a - they do say that if you have to think about reefing, just do it, the brain has already made the right call, and so it was here..  we were careering down the ditch doing 3.5 knots under just main, downwind, and against a 1.5 knot tide before I knew it..  so at the end of the ditch, I turned and rolled in a slide's worth of reef .. like I should have done in the first place, and everything calmed down.

Loooooong glorious goosewing run down to the Beacon, and then I could bear away to make the angle of dangle to bring the wind back over the quarter and get the genoa pulling on the same tack - nice run down to Marker but I had a yen to try something different and with this wind direction it might just work. 

Tacked at Marker and headed for Fisherman's - been a while - it was time to go up to the top of the channel to Emsworth itself - first though a couple of fun facts... 

One, the county border line runs up the center of the channel, so I think I went up via West Sussex, and came back via Hampshire.. 😁

Second fun fact is to do with the island you see in the main plot below - that's Fowley Island, and back in the early 70's the location of my capsize drill as part of the RYA Dinghy Part 1 course I was on... all I remember was it was chuffing freezing, and that a Wayfarer is a big old boat to get upright...😏

This is it..

..it was used for temporary oyster storage back in the day - the ponds are man made and date from the mid 19th Century, but in latter days were the site of my RYA dinghy capsize drill.. 😏

In fact there were a couple of dinghies in there today as I came back...  that brought back memories.. 

...couple of small dinghy's taking advantage of the high tide to sail into the centre of Fowley ..

Brilliant to see... anyway, tacked just past Fisherman's, as the wind was proving elusive and I didn't fancy having to start tacking as there was a fair amount of boat movement, and then ran back to the bottom of the upper channel before tacking twice from the Beacon back towards the moorings and then putting the engine on for the return to the mooring..

Nice to see Jolly Boy Dave out!

More reading on Fowley (if you're interested), here:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20170824220839/https://www.emsworthonline.co.uk/Emsworth%20Oyster%20Trail%20Leaflet.pdf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowley_Island

Log:

Distance: 7.51 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): Both ends of a F4 ; WNW
Sail Plan: Full/reefed main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.4 / 2.9

Hard work

MASSIVE tide for this one at 4.96mtrs, which, if my tide tables don't lie, is one of the two biggest tides of the year (the other one is in April) - the forecast though was showing sun and a solid F3 and who was I to pass up the opportunity of a mid week sail at this stage of the season - winter is a long time going.. 😏

We'd also had notice that this was going to be a busy old weekend in my part of the harbour - a regatta at Emsworth, and also the round Hayling race, so best get my sail in before the crowd turn up for what many will be seeing as the last weekend of the summer..

With a 13:45 HT, I was on the boat for 10:00, very little water about (the low water level on a Spring that big is something to behold) but we managed. At least when the tide turns, it comes in quick - but I still much prefer a neap..  

Having seen the weed at the waterline the last time I went out, I'd brought the broom with me this time for my usual scrub round the waterline, the rudder in particular was looking a bit 'Brian Blessed', and as usual I notice the port side was worse than the starboard (I reckon that side is more shaded as when she's floating the tide flow in the pool will generally have her nose pointing east?), but with no concrete evidence to prove it yet (we'll see in four weeks when she's lifted) I think the barnacles are less this year?

All sail covers off, sails made ready, engine warming up, and I dropped the mooring at just after 10:30 ; heading for the bridge I put the main up, and then gybed for the ditch. Wind was dead westerly, so dead downwind, not much of it (low end F3) and no help from the genoa (covered by the main). I estimate there was an adverse 2 knot tide so the engine stayed on even after I got enough angle of dangle to deploy the full genoa at Sweare. 

Motor sailed to about the midway point between the Beacon and Marker, hugging the west side of the channel to stay out of the deep water flow, before eventually switching it off mainly for some relief from the noise...  progress was then being made, but not much more than a knot SOG.

The wind throughout all of this had been no more than a low F3, but as we passed through the Marker bottleneck, heading for Verner, the wind began to perk up a bit, and the sun came out...  happy days..

Reaching Verner after almost two hours (!) of sailing I was clearly on no 'speed run', so with the wind continuing to build I turned and headed back. It was a close reach so I rolled away 10% of the genoa as she goes up wind better with that.

Lovely sail to Beacon and I toyed with the idea of going back down, but some ominous grey clouds were building to the west, and I had somewhere I needed to be, so engine went on at Beacon, and I tidied up as I headed for home..

Turned out to be a good one...

Log:

Distance: 7.05 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): Both ends of a F3, gusting F4 later ; W
Sail Plan: Full main and full/90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.0 / 2.3

Autumn's here..

Almost like someone flicked a switch..  after months (well, weeks.. 😏) of sun and warmth and high pressure systems, someone found sixpence for the meter and turned the Autumn on..  but as usual I get ahead of myself..

So HT at 11:22, and a fairly chunky 4.5mtrs - definitely Spring'ish. On the boat by 9'ish, I got everything set and dropped the mooring about quarter past. 

I still had the reefs in from the last sail and had already decided to leave them in based on the forecast (F4 gusting F5, going F4) - as I was getting the boat ready I didn't feel any need to change my mind on that as there were a few sharpish gusts coming through. With the wind direction being what it was I had the choice to put the main up in the pool by the bridge, but in the end decided to wait and puttered off down the ditch, before eventually turning 180' and putting the main up just off Northney..

Pointless rolling the genoa out with the direction it was I was just off dead down wind, but I did roll it out and ran goosewing to just past the Beacon, before turning and then having a (very) broad reach to the bottom of the harbour.. I also took out the reefs, I got the impression the wind was calming..

I don't have a chart plotter so finding that
channel was sheer luck.. 😁

As I say, autumnal definitely - it was cool - ended up with extra layers on...

At NW Pilsey (why is it called NW Pilsey, by the way, when it's actually south and east of the NE Pilsey buoy?😏), and roughly 20 minutes before HT I tacked and headed for the top of the harbour. Was hoping to ride the last legs of the tide, but to be honest it was already slack where I was - I tend to work from tide times at Northney at the top of the harbour which is about 15-30 minutes later than at the harbour mouth where I now found myself..

From the peace of a broad reach to the utter mayhem of a beat in a rich F4 with a full rig - finally got her going though, and because there was still lots of water I had the benefit if being able to make long tacks outside the main channel, including one cracking one where by sheer luck I found the channel that I'd last used on the seal watching trip a year ago..  just as well I had a close eye on the depth, the 2 and 3mtrs I was seeing didn't bear any resemblance to what they should have been in relation to the main channel markers - tacked to cut the corner and saw less than a meter underneath before I re-joined the main channel! 

Seventeen tacks brought me to the Beacon , where the engine was engaged for the trip back to the mooring directly in to a headwind..

Since the last trip and that abortion of a mooring pick up, I'd been thinking about putting together a mooring aid/line of the kind Dave used - one spare line from the cockpit locker and a snap shackle later I'd put one together so thought I might give it a try. Happy to say it worked perfectly - another tool added to the armoury..

...that trip takes me over the 100 mile mark for the year..  about time to.. 😁 

Notes/work items:

• trolly wheels for the tender need a look at - one of them is sticking
• patched some scratches/nicks in the cockpit locker lids 
• the hatch covers are looking scruffy and need doing
• will bring the broom out next time - she's looking very weedy round the water line
• got my lift out date - October 12th

Log:

Distance: 10.27 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  Both ends of a F4 ; NWxW
Sail Plan: Double reefed / full main and 75% & 90% genoa.
Speed (Max/average in knots): 3.9 / 2.4

Clippers...

Taeping, a tea clipper built in 1863 by
Robert Steele & Company.

No not that kind.. 😁

I may have mentioned that my bro in law works for the Clipper Race [clicky] and for the last few months he's been more than a bit excited, as with the completion of the last race (2025-2026), the next race (2027-2028) will have new boats..

The current fleet have now done four navigations, and although the boats are all in pretty good shape, the new generation boats, of which the first has just been delivered, offer a whole raft of improvements based on the previous boats..

I've been watching the updates on the races Farcebook feed, and it is an absolute beast, so when he offered me and the Jolly Boys a look round it, we almost bit his arm off..

So it was that a contingent of the Jolly Boys convened at the Clipper Race headquarters in Gosport this week..

Just to help put it all in context he showed us around three generations of boats as they still have some of the boats from the generation before last, so this (following) was the first one we went on - the Grandaddy if you will the second generation of boat.. all of them however, even the new boat, share some common characteristics

• foresails are hank on, 
• there's no tiller pilots/autohelm, 
• no powered/hydraulic winches - they are all human powered
• crew accommodation is spartan (pipe cots and hot bunking)..

It's still in service, 68 foot of racing machine - I think they use these now for crew training [clicky] as part of preparation for each race..  with the arrival of the new boats I guess that role will be shifted a generation..

Note - single wheel - little or no protection for the helm - no cuddy. They have a second cockpit, or rather well, a couple of feet deep, forward at the mast, all the lines seem to lead to that. 

This boat will have raced across the Southern Ocean and I have no doubts whatsoever it would have been a very wet ride...

Every sail change forward (and they carry the full suite of foresails so Code 0's, spinnaker, and three or four upwind sails - it's an amateur race, but the skippers are professionals, and they give the crews all the tools to race hard if they wish to) would involve dropping the old (possibly wet) one down the forehatch to the sail room which is shared with living accommodation... 😏

Then to the next generation - so third generation - these are the boats that have just finished the last race - the one we were visiting came in 3rd I think he said..

The boats gained a couple of feet with this generation to 70', note also the change in stern shape, twin wheels and designed for fast down wind legs, helms are still exposed but now they have protection fore and aft - in effect you stand between the two immensely strong mesh covered metal hoops ..

Still very little protection for the crew though - long open cockpit - pedestal winches (which I don't remember seeing on the previous boat) - the sail room is separate to the crew accommodation though, so it should at least be drier down below, though my bro in law says they tend to suffer from condensation as airflow is limited..  more on them here [clicky]

Note the black line on the side deck - no crew in front of that line without permission..

...and then on to the beast, the Clipper RX [clicky] - this is the fourth generation of boat - and as seems usual, has gained another two feet at 72'.

Built in China she's the forerunner of ten new boats (possibly more) and for the first time they have some crew protection - twin wheels with a cuddy in front that also houses the nav station down below. 

Fascinated to see that the running gear for the steering is dyneema b.t.w

Centre crew cockpit with a serious cuddy for protection, note also the pedestal winches - the actual winches are astonishing - huge!

Most noticeable is the dreadnought bow, and the chines - bro in law sent us a video the other day of her doing 12 knots on a training session (we thought it was a motor boat he was on!) but he tells us the chines work like a dream, deflecting water sideways rather than up, but also a huge stabilising influence when she's planing...

Ignore the green stuff on the bowsprit - they were prettifying before she came out of the water later that afternoon for vinyl wrapping prior to a visit to Southampton Boat Show

As I say she was coming out of the water that afternoon for vinyl wrapping - I think she'll end up looking like the picture on the Race website..

Piccie courtesy Clipper

Final amazement was the standing rigging - 14mm! So strong that the rig tension is completed by hydraulically lifting the whole mast to get the tension into it - the eye bolts are so huge you cannot manually tighten them enough. Once the tension is on they have shims they can then slide under the mast foot. He told us that they replace the standing rigging on each and every boat in the race after the race has finished...

Stunning boat - fantastic day - and a pint and a pickled egg after, what's not to like! 😁

Last trip to Cowes?

The day was kind of bookended by this beast..  

This is Virgin Cruises "Valiant Lady" which is in Portsmouth for the last time, as the 5 year contract between the cruise line and the City of Portsmouth Docks has come to an end. 

She was berthed in the cruise port just the other side of the water from AmiLy's resting place - the damn thing was so big it blotted out the sun, and the wind shadow reached to us.. 😏

Anyway - I jump ahead.. as usual.. 

Time to go out with the Jolly Boys - always good to have a trip out with them. We'd originally planned for this to be a two day'er, but as we head in to the cusp of Autumn, the weather is showing signs of letting up, and when we were planning at the beginning of the week, the Friday/second day was looking distinctly dismal (wind and rain) and we decided to cancel the overnight and stick with just the Thursday.

HT was 12:08 and Spring'ish at 4.49mtrs , but as we now know all too well, what we have to plan around when we're out on AmiLy is the low tide, as that is what enables the arrival or departure from the pontoon - she floats all the time, the issue is the exit on the corner at the end of the pontoon where it gets decidedly thin! We need about an hour and a half either side of  LT, but at 05:02 the first LT was never going to be an issue. 

Met at Rod's gaff then at 0900, and we dropped the mooring and were on our way by 09:50 - must be a record, surely?! With more south in the wind direction than usual, we also had the better angle of dangle for Cowes than we get with a 'more usual' SW'ly (nothing is usual/prevailing these days it sems to me - it can come from anywhere) and with Dave on the helm, we even managed to weather Gilkicker Point on one tack, which we then carried almost all the way to Cowes before the wind, which had been backing all morning, finally forced us to drop the sails just off Norris and motor in.. we could have tacked a couple of times to get us to the small boat channel, but we were only half a mile off the channel anyway..  err, and we were hungry* 😁

*and not only hungry, but thirsty to, we shoved the kettle on first thing to get the tea going only to find the gas run out, no worries said we, there's a spare... and that was empty too! 😨 We almost turned back there and then.. 😂

Mooring for the day was Shepherds Marina as that was where we had booked and paid for the overnight stay we we were now not using..  might as well get some value for the money paid. As Sheperds is in west Cowes, we now had a whole load more eating choices but chose the Island Sailing Club, as you can sit on the balcony there, with a glorious view of the mouth of the river and the entrance to Cowes.. 

Damn nice lunch it was as well..

At 05:02 the first LT was never an issue, but at 17:23 the second LT was going to be. There was no way we'd make it back an hour and a half before - we'd had a fast passage that morning but it had still taken two hours plus, and it was well after 14:30 by the time we'd finished lunch, gotten a takeaway coffee (😏) and sat around on the boat eating dessert (pastel de nata's courtesy of Dave, since you ask) so clearly a late arrival was on the books..

In the end we dropped the mooring about 15:45'ish, in what was clearly a building breeze, motored down the small boat channel, hoisted sail and set a course for Ryde so as to keep both sails occupied in what would have been a dead run if we'd headed straight to Portsmouth. After a gust hit us just off Ryde that had us grabbing at the coamings, and having seen a succession of high 5's and 6's (knots SOG) we finally turned and put some reefs in before entering the main boat channel for Portsmouth between the forts, gybing, and heading into the harbour on what was now a fast beam reach..

Only to be met by this as we came through the entrance..

The bookend to the day - Virgin's "Valiant Lady" leaving port - destination Amsterdam.. 

Wending our way up harbour we had a look at the moorings but it was still on the very thin side, so we turned and did a few loops, before finally chancing our arm and getting around the corner with about 20 or 30 cm's spare..

Cracking days sailing - maybe our last together for the year as well...  Rod's got a lift out end of next month (September) but Smithy's going on holiday before then..  we'll see. We do have an adventure next week, though - we're going to see the new Clipper Races boat.. 👌

Log:

Distance: 30.01 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  SSE going SWxS (AM) then SWxW PM) ; F4 gusting F5 (occ. F6)

Sail Plan: Full/double reefed main & full genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  7.2 / 2.7

Feisty soldier..

Needs must when the end of the season is approaching ..

The lift out dates are already up on the club calendar - looks like it's an interesting approach this year with  two separate lifts starting on either 12th, or 24th October - no idea yet if you can choose the date or not, time will tell.. 😏

..but so it was, that with the rest of this week busy, and after a week of no tides last week, even WITH the forecast I was keen to get out..

Ah.. the forecast - well no rain, and it remains warm, but we had a F4 gusting F5 on the books - time would tell whether it turned up (though the day before had been the same) but better than all that, potentially, it was an easterly! Long reaches to either end of the harbour - a belter of a direction..

HT was 11:08 and at 3.88m considerably more manageable than the man mountain of water we had last time I went out. On the boat by half 8, I started tidying up and getting stuff ready, with an easterly like this it would be a motor to Sweare deep so I had plenty of time to get the sail cover off and sail ready while I was motoring. I eventually dropped the mooring at 0845, and headed up the ditch in a spiky breeze - wasn't so much the wind as the gusts that were coming through..

By the time I'd got to Northney I already knew that it was not only going to be a reef but probably a double one so I hoisted the main while we were motoring almost head to wind and rolled in two sail slides of reefing (I don't have fixed reefing points, and with roller boom furling I can roll in as much as I like within reason, so I tend to do it based on the number of sail slides rolled down to the boom.. two slides means about a foot and a half rolled away off the bottom of the main)

 

Isle of Wight in the distance

Cranked everything down as I got to Sweare Deep as I came off the wind on to a beat, but only for a short time - even with a couple of knots of adverse tide we were seeing mid to high 3's (knots) through the water.. 

Eastoke ahead

..and it was soon enough over as we came further round at the Beacon onto a broad reach, and hurtled towards the bottom of the harbour..  

Two reefs had definitely been the correct decision, even with that she was a handful at times - tiny bit unbalanced I wonder?? Maybe needed either a little more (or less) genoa to balance her, but she was going like a rocket.. high 3's against a solid 2 knot tide, even with a weedy bottom..

Thanks Simon!

.. down to HISC, past HISC, past Fisherman's, 'Bar Beacon?' I wondered, but as the tide turned I was just past Eastoke, and decided to head back as with the wind as it was it would be a beat. It was, but only as far as HISC as I could then start bearing away again for a close reach back to Marker with maybe the last legs of the tide under me..  seeing 5.5's here..

Enjoyed it so much, I tacked at Marker and went back to HISC before finally turning for home - dragging the main down just after Beacon, and with genoa still out I motored back to the moorings where it then went went decidedly interesting.. 😁

With a gusty F5 NE'ly blowing through the moorings, along with a whole load of current*, and it proceeded to be a right bastard to get the pickup buoy on board, too much engine and you overran it, not enough and there was no steerage. In the end (and after three attempts just ended up with me overrunning the mooring), Jolly Boy Dave (who was heading back to shore after some pottering on his boat) suggested a long line from the forward cleat back to the cockpit, run outside the genoa sheets and standing rigging. Line through the top of the pick up while sat in the cockpit near engine controls, tied off, then with engine off the boat just drifted back to sit on the end of the line, which then allows you the time to go forward and just pull yourself in - worked a treat, I'll remember that, and thanks Dave! 👍

...fantastic days sailing - out again on Thursday with the Jolly Boys for what would have been an overnighter, but which has been foreshortened to just the one day due to weather.. 🤞

*(the moorings are fairly ambivalent to tides, as the water flows Chichester to Langstone pretty much all of the time - something to do with our location a the top of the harbour, and the fact that Chichester is way bigger than Langstone, so water is looking to drain from Chichester via Langstone - bit like an osmosis effect)

Log:

Distance: 13.79 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 gusting F5; ENE
Sail Plan: Double reefed main and 75% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.3 / 3.4

Intermittent puffs and some rafts..

Short meander on yet another very hot and sweaty day..  32'C and almost windless - which would have been good news for the raft racers in the front of the pub opposite, but not so good for a sail..

I'd put off going the day before because the conditions were if anything the same, but wanted to get out as I had a couple of jobs to do and I was missing Sparrow

So...  on the boat for 12'ish, as todays HT was 14:24 and at 4.94m an absolute beast of a spring tide..  the water was fairly ripping through the moorings.

First order of the day was to fit new genoa sheets - the old ones were worn, and beginning to fray so this was long overdue. The old sheets also had a matt finish so by way of an experiment the new ones were of a lighter and slipperier feel to see if it helped with the sheet transition when tacking... 

That done, I topped up the tank with 5 ltrs of fuel, and started up the metal donkey to warm up while I got the boat ready to go. Lots of noise and fun from the pub opposite, might be a bit more peaceful down the harbour (wishful thinking on a hot Saturday!)

Dropped the mooring at 12:30..  motored down the ditch and then went head to wind off  Northney to raise the main before bearing away for Sweare Deep and rolling out the genoa - wind was fitful at best, and northerly, and the tide was problematic. When I turned the engine off to sail, at times we were doing half a knot backwards.. 😏

Then when I got to Sweare I found that one of the Emsworth Sailing Clubs was running an RS Tera Open event that weekend, and there were 50 of the buggers racing at the top of the Emsworth Channel... 😁

Ah well - couple of enjoyable transits between Sweare and the Beacon, but with no wish to do a very slow run down the harbour only to have to then fight upwind all the way back, it was back to the mooring to tidy up, watch some of the antics across the way, and go home for a beer..

Piccie courtesy Farcebook - you can just see Sparrow in the background..  just... 😁

Piccie copyright Scenic Eye

Log:

Distance: 3.73 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F1 gusting F3 ; NxE
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.2 / 2.2

Greek dog..

Another cracking sail with the Jolly Boys - it was possibly the hottest day to date though, so it was good to be one the water in what was a decent breeze for most of the day..

Passage plan was 'to meet at Rod's gaff at 0830' (yeah that's about as much detail as we go into 😁), HT was 12:01 and at 4.6mtrs a big'gy. As it turned out we were all clearly keen to get going, and the boat was on the move barely an hour later..

Scenes of interest as we left - AmiLy's pontoon is right opposite the ferry port, and Brittany had clearly reached a tick the box day as they were testing the lifeboats - never seen them doing that before..  with people in them to provide scale you then realise how big the big one's are...

...and how small the small one's are! 😂

Glorious day in the harbour..

..but yee gods that water was churning in the entrance to the harbour - bow and stern were being kicked all over the place..

Long broad reach to the island was perfect, but the wind direction was a little fickle by the time we go to the island side as it was coming over land and twitching about a bit, but even so it was a good run - good speeds (4.5kt's SOG) thanks to tide. Lunch spot was East Cowes and the Lifeboat again - soz, we like it - good food, decent price, well kept beer (but a slightly conservative selection)

After a snooze in the heat - and Smiffy and I had to deploy the beach umbrella's as the sun was merciless - we then upped sticks for the "event". Yeah - a solar eclipse was due that evening and the plan was to watch it from the boat, as with a 17:18LT we'd need a couple of hours before we could get back on the pontoon. 

Wind was dead on the nose ('natch!) so we motored to just off Fishbourne (on the island) here the 'angle of dangle' was then such that with the sails up we had one of the best close hauled tacks I can remember in some time - the wind angle was just right, we had 20+kts of breeze, and AmiLy just went for it - tide was in our favour so even as we were beating for the other side we were also being swept sideways in the direction we wanted to go...

Once in the harbour we refuelled, and having done that pulled her back along the pontoon, and awaited the event.. 

Two old men and a pin hole card - please admire the socks.. it's important to him.. 😁 

...while they were doing that I went to have a look at the Clipper Race fleet - the first of their new generation boats has just arrived and is an absolute beast...  hoping to have a closer look at her in the near future, as my bro-in-law works for them... 🤞

We're not easily pleased and most of us thought the eclipse was a bit "meh" (as the young people say), so after a few beers we were back on the home pontoon and heading for home..  

Next one will be an overnighter..

Log:

Distance: 27.6 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 going F2 ; ESE going SE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7.2 / 2.3

Tack-fest

Lord above..  3rd sail in a week - what are things coming to? 😏

Clearly the weather is helping - it's warm, hot, and occasionally breezy, and the tides were also good the last seven days - times were optimal. Reckon this will be the last one until the tides come right again though, as they're beginning to get late (and early) now..

Either way, 15:37 HT and a big 4.47m height of water - definitely Springs. On the boat by 13:00, and as it looks like we had a bit of SE'ly action I got her ready on the mooring..  by half past we'd dropped the mooring and were motoring down the ditch. 

At which point there was a strange thing happening... I'd started my GPS up as usual - normally she's as good as gold, and satellites are acquired straight away - but this time it was really playing up and telling me it couldn't acquire them..  had to use auto locate in the end and it then started working as normal - what was really strange was that my phone was also reporting a weak GPS signal ...  got to Northney and both started working like normal..  weird.. 🤔

Speaking of Northney, as I went past I was passed by this... a pontoon boat...  now I understand they're quite common in the US, but that's only the second or third one I've seen here...  and it had a 120HP engine on the back! 😮

...but that's OK, as 10 minutes later this one went past...

...from the ridiculous to the sublime?? 😁

Anyway - the SE'ly turned out to be almost dead southerly - but with just enough angle of dangle in it to help with the tacks, so I just left the motor on and motor-sailed to Marker. You can see the difference the engine makes on the track - big looping tacks covering the distance. The tide was running hard though,  and when I did turn it off just before Marker the tacks immediately flattened as I tried to squeeze through the pinch point  - a lot of water pours through that comparatively small space. South of Marker the harbour opens up, more water and longer tacks make it easier to get up wind..

With signs that the wind was dying I turned and headed for home - just enjoying the weather, the boat, the water and the wind..  lovely day, more please!

Notes:

• I'll need more fuel
• The genoa sheets are beginning to wear and fray - time to replace them - 14 mtrs required.

Log:

Distance: 9.38* (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 going F3 ; SxE
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.4 / 2.8

*including an addition for when the GPS was playing up 😏

Light airs drifting..

Well that was a bit different to two days ago!

First the tides are building (in magnitude) fast - at 4.43m that's a quarter of a metre more water than when I went out just 2 days ago (the 'Buck' moon is in full chat at the moment), and second, the wind had shifted 180' - we had a NW'ly (ish)!

Anyway - 14:27 HT and I was on the boat getting ready by 11:00 (feet got a bit muddy, but it was 3.5 hours before high😏). The forecast was to build later to a solid F4, but when I got on the boat it was pretty light except that every now and again a strong gust would come through...  they do say you should do it the moment you think of it, so I decided to put a light reef in the main while on the mooring, saves faffing later..

Just shy of half past 11, with the main still up, I dropped the mooring and headed for the ditch..

Lots and lot of water sloshing about, and the wind proved fitful and all over the place - rolled out some genoa but it wasn't doing much as I needed the engine on to make pace against tide, which then cancelled out any benefit from the breeze..  basically the wind wasn't pushing me hard enough to counter tide! 😁

By the time we got to Sweare Deep the wind was beginning to settle in F2 territory, yet every now and again one of those F4 gusts would come through, and the wind was also shifting though about 10 degrees either side of NW so getting on a run as we came round the corner into the main channel by Beacon was a pain..  genoa almost constantly flapping but I managed to get on a goosewing for 15 minutes or so ...

..before giving up when the wind shifted again, so rounded up, put the engine on and motored back to Sweare Deep while I took the reef out of the main, turned, and had another go..

Better but not brilliant, but having managed to get past Marker I decided enough was enough, and as lovely as it was, a beer beckoned.. 😁

Log:

Distance: 6.09 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 gusting F4 ; NW
Sail Plan: Full/reefed main and full genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.7 / 2.1