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 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

Hello old friend..

..been close, but it's the first time actually going round it this year.. but I jump ahead of myself..

Second trip on the boat in as many days - what's the world coming to..  either way the tides are beginning to get later now (13:58HT) but no smaller (a 4.73 Mtr tide!)

Winds forecast was F2's or 3's, with the wind was due to go SE'ly'ish, so I think it fair to say that the biggest pull for me was to get out on to the water where it was considerably cooler than ashore where we were having one of the hottest days of the year..

On the boat by just under 3.5 hours before HT, and got everything ready to go - engine warmed - we dropped the mooring just shy of 11:00.

Wind direction was poor, and I eventually pulled the main up just past Northney at around the same time I caught this little fellow - juvenile/adolescent bass

Wind was indeed on the light side and I was seeing 2 or 3 knots of adverse tide so the decision was taken to motor sail to the bottom of the harbour - the genoa wasn't working so I rolled that back again after a short experiment...

...and that was largely it for the whole of the trip down the harbour until I ducked away from a HUGE dinghy fleet at about Verner to cross the Pilsey Sands towards East Head..  where I then met another huge fleet...  I hadn't realised that its Fed Cup week in the harbour - they'll be racing every day in their hundreds...

..until I finally made the Itchenor channel and turned the engine off for a quick sail towards Camber and Bosham and then turning back to round Snowhill ("old friend") and a glorious goose wing run back up the harbour on the tail ends of the incoming tide...

...dinghy central... 

..brilliant day out, but at the same time hard work with all that engine duty.. 

Log:

Distance: 11.04 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 gusting F3 ; SSE
Sail Plan: Full main and 95% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.8 / 2.8

Shakedown sail and first fish

Look at that little beauty..  juvenile bass, just a teenager but a bit of a fighter..  it went back to see it's brothers and sisters (but if the population of the harbour is anything to go by, to feed the seals probably! 😀)..  first fish on my new rod (the Frankenstein is no more) so doubly welcome..

..but I jump ahead of myself..  it was also another first, as in first sail of the year yesterday, and as is fairly usual, just a short one to make sure everything that should be working is working, stays/rigging is tight enough, sails hoist ok, genoa furls ok, etc etc..

Astonishingly beautiful day, but not a huge amount of wind to counter the quite astonishing amounts of water sloshing around on what must be the biggest tide since we launched..  looked like a couple of knots of adverse water as I headed east, and as you can see the tacks were flat in the main channel - just enough wind not to get swept sideways. Abandoned any hope of getting to Marker without a lot of engine noise so settled for sailing in Sweare Deep before heading back to the mooring - job done, mission accomplished..

Log:

Distance: 4.83 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): Both ends F2 ; SExE going SW
Sail Plan: Full main and 90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.5 / 2.4

Emsworth channel is a target rich environment.. 😀

September has been a weird mix of heavy winds, light winds, rain and duff tides and it was almost two weeks since the last sail (on the 3rd) and I was beginning to get concerned that the season was actually over, never mind almost over..  a weather window on Monday though gave me the opportunity I wanted, albeit a short one..  

HT was at 11:10 and spring'ish at 4.1 mtr's, and wind was one of those supposedly* atypical easterly's that always make the trip a little more interesting if only for the fact you don't spend the entire trip beating up against the tide to Marker 😏  

On the boat by 9:15'ish, topped up the tank with 3 ltrs of Super, started up the donk (first pull!), got the sails ready, plugged in all the electronics, and eventually dropped the mooring about half past (but only after realising I had tied myself to the mooring via the tenders mooring line and having to sort that out.. 😀)..

Motored to end of the ditch, and as the wind was on the nose put the main up as I was half way between Northney and Sweare Deep, rolled out the genoa shortly after, and just after I turned the engine off got this little fellow..  my first of the season, and a school bass (juvenile of the adult tasty eater..  slightly bigger than the two that grandson got a few weeks ago, so I'll call him a teenager 😏) - admired, picture taken, and released..

Bore away just past Sweare Deep and on to a broad reach, a lovely thing to have but everyone knows that for every downhill there's an uphill, so once I got to Marker I turned and tightened up for the beat back..  I was checking to see what my bearing was on starboard tack as I was hoping it might take me up the Emsworth channel into Emsworth which would be a first this year. 

It wasn't too bad, but of course the wind was switching up to 10 degree's either side (I reckon offshore wind is always tetchy) which made the target rich environment of the Emsworth channel moorings  a fun challenge. Made it to the waiting pontoons though, and then turned for home..

Came round the corner by the Beacon and ran before the wind and against tide up until Sweare, before dropping and rolling the sails away and heading for the mooring. 

It was good to be out, but despite what the Cambermet beacon was reporting I think it was lighter up where I was...  either way, next day I was due to head to Yarmouth with the Jolly Boys, so it was good to get my hand in before I went, and this trip also took me through the 100 miles for the year. 👍

*(prevailing wind has always been SW'ly in this part of the world but when I look at the log, out of 15 trips I've only seen that 4 times this year)

Log:

Distance: 7.38 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 gusting F4; switching between ENE and ExN
Sail Plan: Full main/full and 75% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4 / 2.4

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

Fishing and drifting..

Oh how I laughed...
not... 😏

Gloriously sunny day (the dog days continue) and with a full diary, and weather fronts coming in over the next few days this was a "grab it while it's here" day on the water..

Lovely row out to the boat to be met with this sight (left) as I got on board... tail off my wind vane sat in the cockpit.. bast*rd birds have clearly tried to roost on it (as they also crapped all over the deck!), and broken the wind vane off - so first job added to the winter list..  thought I'd managed to break the run of bad luck with windex's as this one has lasted at least two years maybe three! 😀

12:22 HT and a 4.2 Mtr tide but although it was stupidly warm and sunny, the biggest issue was wind, or rather the lack of it..  the forecasts had been saying F2 gusting 3, but what we got was an entire Beaufort less with a F1 gusting 2... no matter, I had coffee, a fishing rod, some fuel, and an urge to try a passage out of the moorings that I'd been thinking about trying for ages..

This is it..  normally I come to and from the mooring via the passage at bottom (known as "the ditch".. to me anyway 😀), but there is another passage, north of the bank, that a number of club boats on that side of the moorings tend to use and I've never tried it..  well, until now anyway.

By way of a digression though, back in the day..  1980?? earlier? I learned to windsurf, and the school I went to (run by Peter Williams) was based at the marina there..  we had the school boards roped to the shore (so we couldn't get in to trouble) at the slipway, bottom of picture. At the end of the week as the RYA Part 1/2  examination required us to be able to sail on all points of sail, the final test was to sail round that bank as the instructor told us if we did that then we would have completed the requirement... 😁

Anyway, back to yesterday, no issues with this circumnavigation either. I was mildly surprised at how deep it was, certainly no shallower than the ditch..  most of the time (and this was an hour and a half before high) I was seeing a metre/metre and a half, below the keels (and I have a generous keel offset, set so it was more like 2). 

It was so wind'less, I hoisted main while coming down the channel past the moored boats, and then set off for a slow drift. In the occasional puff we made progress. but it was a tiller pilot and fishing rod kind of a day.

Lovely day out but I was never going to be able to make any progress against the tide in near calm conditions, so I turned and ran back for the mooring on the last legs of the tide..  beer in the cockpit completed a perfect day.

Log:

Distance: 3.98 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  F1 gusting F2 ; Between WxS and SSW
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.2 / 1.6

Camber clamber and a few odd jobs..

Glorious dog days of summer here at the moment (thanks to both former tropical cyclone Franklin, and the oft mentioned [here] jet stream buggering off to the north 😀), which not surprisingly resulted in the longest cruise of the year so far..

Bit of maintenance first, though - hot sun and rain don't do boats any favours, and I noticed previously that there were a couple of cracks on one of the cockpit hatches that needed treatment urgently. Mixed up some Gorilla epoxy and with some thin plastic forced that into the cracks, and the surface before clamping between two bits of HDPE (non-stick). Yesterday I slapped on some of my go to paint to cover/protect the damage - they'll need another coat at some point (it's been a long season) but they look OK.

I also needed to sort out my kicker, which was original to when I got the boat but not really man enough (in terms of size)..

.. and the line was beginning to show signs of wear..

...recently got lucky on eBay with the following, so fitted that - only 2:1 compared with the old ones 4:1, but significantly beefier and I may still add a couple of blocks to get it to 4:1..

That done it was time to go sailing... HT was 16:21 and it was a 4.58m tide, so still Springs. Given the lateness of the tide though I aimed to get to the boat for half 12'ish, banking on the size of the tide to result in water arriving quickly. As it happened it worked perfectly, and I was on the boat on plan, though I'd had to launch the tender from the very bottom of the slipway.. 😏

Did the aforementioned painting, started the engine, and then dropped the mooring at 13:00'ish to motor into a gentle easterly before putting sails up, and bearing away at the Beacon. An easterly is a God-send as it means a straight reach to the end of the harbour where normally I'd be tacking the whole afternoon, in a light wind, against a strong Spring tide... 

The fishing was rod was deployed and almost immediately I got a bite - think the hook must have hit him on the head as it went down..  second one of these I've had this year, and a school (ie. juvenile) bass I think (?) either way - mug shot taken he was returned to the briny, and true to form I never had another bite all afternoon!

2.5's and 3's all the way down the harbour even against tide, until almost as if someone flicked a switch, and right by Verner - the wind shot up two entire Beauforts, and also swung round 70 degrees! From a nice gentle reach we were over on our ears, tiller under chin, and beating hard to maintain direction..

...there you go..  14:15 to 14:25.. 70 degree shift in 10 minutes.. then a 40 degree shift an hour later.. 😏

Rolled a bit of genoa in to help with pointing, and then headed off over Pilsea Sands - I was thinking that on a rising tide if I got stuck it would only be for a while, and also, I was out of the tide - as it happened I never saw less than a metre under the keel all the way, and after a couple of long tacks I slid out into the main channel just by the Port marker for the Thorney channel... 

Bore away for Camber...

..rounded it and noticed that the wind had moderated, and also shifted again (gone more Easterly) - so 

tightened up, rolled the genoa out again, and made Snowhill ('hello old friend') in one board...

... before looping though the boats anchored of East Head, and then bearing away for the main channel, and a long, long, goosewing run up the harbour and home...

Superb day out, but 'changeable' doesn't even begin to describe it!

Log:

Distance: 12.44 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F2 going F4 going F3! ; ExS going S going SE
Sail Plan: Full main and full/reefed genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.0 / 2.8

Lazy hazy day drifting..

....with perhaps a little fishing along the way... 

..no fishey's were damaged in the making of this production, although a decent size, I thought he was better off with the rest of the guys and girls, so after his/her photo shoot he went back over the side..  by the by, handsome looking fish, mackerel..

Anyway - I jump ahead of myself..  a brief hiatus of Indian summer here in the UK, and from the ridiculous (of the last sail) to the sublime of this weekend...  Wth a dog tide weekend in between where the tides were good for nothing, I was determined to try and grab some sailing time, though I knew up front the winds weren't going to be up to much..  nonetheless this seemed to be the better of the two days so down to the boat by 10 - three hours before high tide - signs that other club members were doing the same..

I'd bought the stiff bristle broom with me as the last time I came down I noticed the weed was beginning to take hold - two transits of the boat and the weed had gone from waterline and rudder, and I hopped on board to ready the boat..  we were gone by 11, motoring down the trench in a light Easterly wind, and following a fellow club boat....  as we came off Northney I noticed the gulls sitting on the water, so engaging autopilot ducked down below for the rod to be ready..  as we went through I dropped the rev's and let go the spinner and 5 minutes later the chap/chap'ess above joined me..  first fish of the season..

Raised the main shortly after, let out all the genoa, bore away fro the harbour entrnce and then...  just drifted..  occasional puff of just about F2, bit of F1, occasionally nothing, and all the time the wind was heading as the heat kicked in..

I felt for the guys doing the Round Hayling race.. hard work...  I noticed SUP's were in the race this year..

Half an hour later 4 dragon boats came past and that looked even harder work...

When it became clear that I was never going to make Marker against tide and a fluky wind, I turned for home, dodged the Optimist fleet that was drifting in a race, and headed back to the mooring..  I was crisp round the edges, but a surprisingly good day considering I hadn't gone anywhere!

Log:

Distance: 5.19 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 going F2 and occasional F0; anywhere between E and SSE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4.9 (motor) / 2.0

Fishing and HISC and catwalloped..

How good was it to get out on the water in Sparrow...

So - been a while since the last sail - a whole load of duff tide weekends, and then the Jolly Boys cruise, then a spot of being ill, and here we are 6 weeks after I last took her out...

Prime time tide today (14:00'ish) so I was on the boat by 11, in what looked like not very much water (and still no sight of the damned windex 😕).

A quick sort out, checked the bilges (dry) and I then changed the fuel in the outboard remote tank to fresh as it dated from Easter/launch weekend, and in this heat that's more than long enough. with fresh fuel engine started up second or third pull, and we were ready go..  only downside was what looked to be not very much wind.. in which case, fishing rod was deployed and ready...

Motored down the channel - I did consider raising main in the pool by the bridge but there really wasn't a lot of water about - and then finally raised main and rolled out genoa as I passed Sweare Deep... just as I caught my one fish of the day..

Motor sailed past Marker as the wind was just, just, right to do it on one tack most of the time - it kept veering a few degrees more south every now and again - but the engine was finally switched off just past Marker and then I had a couple of excellent sails down to HISC (almost) and back, while enjoying the sun, and an increasing breeze..

Cracking day rounded off by a chat with some of the Jolly Boys (and partner) on their kayak's, and Silhouette Chris back on the moorings - and another seal sighting in the moorings as I was tying up ...  absolutely cat-wolloped when I got home though - that bout of illness took it out of me..

I'm doing a delivery trip with Rod the Mod on Tuesday - AmiLy is going into Northney for some work so he, t'other Dave, and I will bring her round from Whale Island - we have high hopes we'll be able to fly the chute (also known as the purple meany)..  I'm meeting them at 11, so I think some much needed bodge'ry on the tender and launch trailer is the order of the day before I meet them..  more anon..

Log:

Distance: 9.42   (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind: F3 going F4 (& gusting bottom end of a  F5 by the end of the sail); SW going SWxS
Sail Plan: Full main; couple of rolls in the genoa..
Speed: 2.3 / 5.0