Tacking practice..

Seize the moment...  and bloody pleased I did...

Glorious weekend in the UK with plenty of breeze (forecast was 3 gusting 4) which is Sparrow's sweet spot, the only downside was an 18:30 neap'ish HT, but needs must, and even a few hours on the water was better than none at all, and besides, after that all too short shakedown the other night I was keen to get out for a slightly longer trip..

Down the club by 2'ish then and after a chat with fellow club member Julian, I found some bits to do while I waited for a little more water to arrive...

Main order of duty was to find some buffering/fendering materials for the new tender as she currently has none. 

Round the back of one of the containers at the end of the yard though, I found a couple of old small fenders, still inflated though a little soft. Clearly surplus to anyone's requirements, so with the addition of some line I found in the boot of the car I added these to one side of the tender - I'll make a more permanent fixing this week, but lashed long'wise, end to end, they were perfect...

The tender is beginning to come together - some O rings on the bung fixed the dripping issue I had the first time, and to all intents she is almost dry now...  one of the other issues though was the hawser/towing line which was too short to allow me to tie her off to Sparrow at my usual attachment points but still have her broadside to the cockpit to make getting in and out easier and safer..  I have some 12mm mylar rope in the garage which was a gift from the brother in law and removed from one of the Clipper Round the World yacht race boats a few years back, so a length of that whipped at each end was pressed to service..  it's probably too thick but it tickles me that a rope that probably saw the worst of the Southern Ocean is now a towing line for my little tender.. 😀

With just over 3.5 hours to HT I launched the tender and made my way to Sparrow to get her ready to go..  depth showed me half a meter under the keel, so having taken covers off, started donk, tied off tender, and dropped the mooring chain we were off..  not bad on a 3.4 mtr tide.

Also not surprisingly though, that early in the tide it was flowing fairly strong against me (and the rest of the afternoon to be honest) so with the wind direction being mostly southerly with just a little east in it, I motored to Beacon where I put the main up for the first time this year, slackened the topping lift, rolled out the genoa, and then went tacking for the afternoon..  😃

Pictures of Sparrow courtesy of Julian's missus as they were out on their boat.. 

Lovely afternoon with just enough breeze to keep Sparrow on her toes...  she was pointing well despite the full genoa, and she was also moving well, a regular 3.5 knots SOG. 

What was also gratifying was that the experiment with the genoa sheets seems to be a qualified success..  tacks were definitely smoother with the sheets feeding far more easily, what I want to now is get some guards for the chain plates to stop the sheets catching, I have an idea what I can use and how to do it (seen on one of the other boats in the yard) so I'll fabricate those this week...  "Qualified"? Well they are a little hard on the hands, as I suspected, but not unduly so, and they are manageable

Hurtled past Marker, carried on another couple of tacks and then turned and goose wing ran for the top of the harbour (picture top of post) - I was getting cold and besides I had a fish and chips vision praying on my mind..  gybed just off Emsworth Beacon, rolled the genoa away (as the main was blanking it), started the engine off Sweare Deep, and then sailed down the ditch past Northney (very unusual to be able to do that as the wind down there is very very squirrelly and comes from all directions) before dropping the main just shy of the bridge and then picking up the mooring..

Packed and tidied away and then spent 10 minutes tightening up the stays (nothing like a good tacking session to show which one's are loose 😏) before heading home (via the fish and chip shop 'natch)..  excellent sail!!

Stay tuned for possible updates on the engine front..  changes may be about to happen...

Log:

Distance: 7.56 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 gusting F4; S going SE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.9 / 3.1

Quick shakedown...

A lazy afternoon doing some further tinkering with the engine before deciding enough was enough and it was time to find the proof of the pudding..

An hour past high so it was only going to be a quick jaunt, but the engine worked well, the sails came out for a downwind drift, and then back on to the mooring..

Beer was splashed on boat and to Neptune..  fair winds..  the season starts here.. 👍

Log:

Distance: 2.38 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  F2 ; SE
Sail Plan: Genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4.5 / 1.0

Dolphin!

We may have needed that (left)...   😋

Just back from a hugely enjoyable (and very lucky) trip with the Jolly Boys..  Rodders came up with the idea of doing these fortnightly as it coincides with optimal tides on his pontoon mooring, and I think this season we'll continue this for as long as we can (holiday and family commitments notwithstanding)..

We're also very boring, as all of us love Cowes, so yet again this was our target for the day, for no other reason than the sailing is the point of the day rather than the destination, but a plate of fish and chips in the Island Sailing Club is also a huge draw! 😀

So, conjoined at Rod's crib at half 9, on the boat by 10, and a mere half an hour later dropped the mooring lines (we're a well oiled machine these days) and I was reversing AmiLy out of the berth. 

Glorious morning with wall to wall sunshine and a vaguely SE'ly breeze, which gave us optimal time for a gentle tide assisted westerly run, drinking tea, eating triple chocolate biscuits, and on this occasion being HUGELY cheered by the sighting of a dolphin passing west to east, just off our port side..  fantastic! 😊

Just off  Gilkicker and we decided to hoist the "big blue meany" as the winds were light and although progress was being made it was too good an opportunity not to use it..

Cowes ahead and the meany flying..  what a lovely day...

Called ahead for a lunch time mooring and the only option was on the outside pontoon as they were expecting a rally - bit rolly, but all fenders deployed, we headed off for aforesaid fish and chips - which were as ever bloody delish.. 

Rodders kicking his boat...  yes we wondered why too..  😆

Tide wasn't due to turn in our favour until 17:20'ish so having stuffed our faces it was back to the boat for coffee and cake while we waited ..  the timing was yet again optimal, as the Heavens opened and it poured with rain while we sat there, but as the tide was turning the skies cleared, the sun came out and the wind went westerly for another nice reach back to home port..  told you it was a lucky day..

Back on the home mooring by half 7'ish and home for well earned sleep...  brilliant trip.

Log:

Distance: 25 miles (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction):  AM: F2/SSE / PM: F3/WNW
Sail Plan: Full main and asymmetric or genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7.8 / 2.2