Glorious...

Glorious only begins to describe it..  these are the kind of sailing days you dream abut in cold January and February..  sun glinting on the water, full sails, tshirts, shorts and bare feet sailing...

A 16:00 HT but on the boat by 13:00, and away by 13:30 as they are big springs at the moment..  sails up in Sweare Deep and then proceeded to go backwards for half an hour! 😀  Winds very light, and the easterly's are back, and the aforesaid spring HT was pushing some serious amounts of water about (it was a 4.7mtr tide today) - check those tacks in the track below and you can see how little progress was being made, every time I tacked I was making about 3knts SOG but in the wrong direction..  still , who cares, the sun was shining..

Wind started to build about the time I was finally getting to Beacon, it also started flicking round 10' or so every now and again which gave a welcome lift..  winds definitely stronger over towards the Thorney shoreline, and for one tack I got an enormous lift that almost took me past Marker before dying and flipping back more southerly..  all in all though, very encouraging, she was moving well, and pointing well - some unofficial competition against a couple of Shrimpers was encouraging...

Started playing around with the genoa tracks and moving the fairleads back seemed to help with getting the genoa in a few extra notches..  really need to read up on how to use them better.

Turned for home just past Mill Rythe port marker buoy and then had a fantastic broad reach up the harbour (the 5.1 in the log, and a whole load of others, was on this reach back) with the wind building solidly all the time until by the time I turned the corner at Beacon going into Sweare Deep she was getting heavy on the tiller. 

One last goose wing run, and then engine on at Northney, sails down, and a lovely run under motor back to the mooring - more please!

Log:

Distance: 10.53 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  F2 and building ; SExS going SExE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  5.1 / 2.6

There and back... soldiers wind...

Mid day HT (11:23 BST) so an ideal opportunity, given just the taste of a sail I had on Friday, to at least (or last!) get out on Sparrow..

On to the boat at about 10'ish then and started prepping things for departure..  quick check on Cambermet confirmed my earlier suspicions that it was a little blowy - the weather beacon was reporting consistent F4's at the bottom of the harbour, so I decided based on local conditions that some reefs were the first order of the day, and rolled in four turns - just less than the first batten. 

Winds were also just north of westerly, which is a damned unusual direction for round here, but still very welcome in light of the sheer quantities of easterly's we had at the beginning of the season - the westerly's are back..

Given that direction though I decided to try something new'ish, and having dropped the mooring at about 20 past, with the new engine purring away on minimum revs, I rolled out all the genoa just by the bridge cardinal and then ran down the ditch under just genoa - no main - even against tide we we were seeing 3.8's SOG.

It was blowy, but a downwind run allows more sail, so I stuck with it all the way to the end of the Sweare Deep channel, where, gybing the genoa, I then turned and got all the way down the harbour to NE Pilsey on one tack, and with just the genoa..  all remarkably stress free, with the tiller pilot gently whirring away...

Terror - one of the last of the old local oyster boats..  very fast and seaworthy, unusual to see her with reefs

Just after NE Pilsey, with the wind building, decisions were required...  a turn to the top of the harbour would require main as it was going to be a beat, I would also almost certainly have to roll in some genoa, and would I need the engine to help keeping her head to wind? 

As it turned out, all went very well, first rolled in some genoa, then gybe round on to other tack, and while she was head to wind I shot the main up and tied off, and then bore away..  amazing when a plan comes together - one tack to get me some deeper water and off Pilsey Sands, another tack in Sweare Deep, and I eventually put the engine on just off the entrance to Northney - not often I get that close to home under sail!

Good sail, but definitely on the cool side, and we're now heading into a period of unsettled weather..  windy and showery..

Log:

Distance: 7.81(cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 gusting F5 ; NWxW
Sail Plan: Reefed main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4.4 / 3.3

Poked our nose out...

...and decided the pub looked a better option...  

...can you blame us? 😁

A cut to the bone Jolly Boys team convened at Rod's gaff for an 0915 depart, with only three of us present for todays trip (Smiffy was in the Big Apple, and t'other Dave was otherwise engaged) - forecasts were not brilliant but needs must and we were expecting grey skies, a slight chance of rain, F4 in the morning building in the afternoon, SW'ly and a slight chance of rain.. 

What we got once we'd left the harbour (and we'd already out double reefs in as we could see it was more than expected) was F5 gusting 6, WSW, with drifting rain, and occasional F7 blasts.. the target for the day was Marchwood, which is at the top of Southampton Water, but given that it was already half 10 as we exited the harbour, and with that wind direction, our destination was a loooooong beat away, we bailed...

Sometimes you just have to accept that you aren't Transatlantic sailors, you are out there to enjoy yourselves, and if the weather doesn't play ball, you go to the pub...

Rodders has just heard that there's Haddock and chips on the 'specials' board at the pub..

PS. By the by, it was stupidly busy out there for such a hideous day- every man and his dog seemed to be out, but then we realised that it was the Round the Island (as in Isle of Wight) race the next day and most of these boats would have been heading for marinas in Cowes so as to be ready for the start the next day... true enough - this was the start line this morning!

Log:

Distance: 8.0 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F5 gusting F6 (occasional F7) ; WSW
Sail Plan: Double reefed main / reefed jib
Speed (Max/average in knots): 6.8 / 3.9