Our First Sail in 2013

All of that waiting for a good weather window was worth it as the sea was much more settled when we finally set off from Guernsey on 2 January 2013. We had a fantastic crossing to Portsmouth which only took 16 hours. Nicky's navigation calculations worked out perfectly; we were pushed northwards from Guernsey and on through the Alderney Race by the tide, with our speed over the ground in double figures. Once across the Channel, we arrived at the Needles Channel just as the tide started to flow east to help us through the Solent as the wind dropped off at night. For most of the passage we had 15-23 knots of wind on the beam so BV sailed fast and comfortably. Visibility, however, was not great dropping to 1-3 miles mid Channel. Radar and AIS technology helped us cross the busy shipping lanes safely but despite the 'big picture' they provide, at times it still feels as though we are the frog trying to cross the motorway in that old computer game 'Frogger'.

The best part of the passage, however, was watching the sunrise.

Storm Bound

The strong gales blowing into the English Channel have kept us in Guernsey. That has been a bonus as we have been able to spend more time with family. But in the short lulls between squalls and rain showers we have wondered if we are being too cautious and should have set off by now. Fortunately the excellent local weather forecasts broadcast on Marine VHF by Jersey Coastguard include actual wind reports from the area. Hearing about 50 knot winds at Cap de la Hague, which we would pass close to on the way north, persuaded us that we have made the right decision to stay in the shelter of Victoria Marina in St Peter Port.

Servicing one of the genoa winches

We have taken the opportunity to spend two days servicing all of the winches. The photos are of one of the large genoa winches in pieces. Each of those took an hour and a half to strip apart, degrease with paraffin and reassemble with new grease and oil. With so many small parts, including small springs that can ping off, we were very pleased when all seven winches were serviced and back together without the loss of any components. Our cockpit tent, once again, came into its own in providing a sheltered work area.

The offending shaft seal

We finished off the routine winter service of the engine by changing the impeller in the seawater pump. Whilst doing that we discovered a slight leak from the pump's drive shaft area. The pump housing has spaces in it so that water can escape if the seals go. When this has happened in the past I was advised that it was not economic to change the seals, "just change the whole pump". It was certainly an easy solution but left a large hole in the wallet. Two days before New Year, however, was not a good time to order in a complete new pump. I was also concerned that any mistakes or damage from stripping the pump down could cause us to miss a weather window.

Geoff Tucker, the local Beta Engines agent, came to our rescue and, whilst his wife did a quick bit of shopping, he spent 45 minutes striping down the pump and replacing the leaky seal. He even showed me every step and talked through the considerations so that we would be able to do it ourselves during our travels. Great service on a Saturday morning and a far better (and more economic) solution than changing the whole pump - the Finance Director is very pleased!

Turk's Head knot

Much more interesting than leaky pumps was the results of Nicky's decorative ropework on the steering wheel. We had to cut off the old, rather tatty, Turk's Head which marked the wheel's centre point when we re-sewed the leather cover earlier in the month. Nicky's new Turk's Head knot is much smarter and completes the refurbishment work on the wheel.

There is still lots to do but the list of jobs finally seems to actually be getting shorter. Just as well with just three months to go before we set off!

Fortunately being storm bound is not all maintenance work though; the lunches can be very good!

Guernsey for Christmas

After three days of gales and squalls, on 21 December the weather finally settled down with a few hours of light south easterly winds and blue skies. Later in the day the wind was forecast to come from the west (the direction we would go on leaving Cherbourg) and would then back to the southwest around about the time we would need to turn southwest to reach Guernsey. Itching to get going, we were kept in Cherbourg waiting for the tide to turn. The Alderney Race was the barrier and, to avoid very unpleasant conditions and strong adverse tides there, Nicky had calculated that we should not leave Cherbourg until 1300hrs. We had until midnight to get to Guernsey before the next gale was due to hit the Channel Islands area.

We slipped on time and found the wind to be exactly as forecast; directly on the nose for the whole of our passage. Disappointingly after all of the excess wind in the gales there was now not enough wind to get BV sailing properly either. Reluctantly we accepted that if we tacked backwards and forwards in the light wind we would not make it to Guernsey before the gale hit, so the engine stayed on for the whole passage. We tied up to the waiting pontoon in St Peter Port at 2040hrs and, as we toasted our arrival, the heavens opened. We smiled realising that not only had we made it to Guernsey in time for Christmas but also that we had beaten the bad weather. Next time, hopefully, we'll do it under sail in order to properly earn our arrival tipple.

Fighting for a spare berth in St Peter Port's Victoria Marina

Since it was neaps, high water was at about midday.  We spent the morning refuelling as soon as there was enough water at the fuel berth and then waiting for there to be just enough water over the marina sill to get in there before showering and changing in time for a planned lunch in the Guernsey Yacht Club with Nicky's father and his partner.

Despite the tide constraints we managed to arrive spot on time. As we relaxed in the bar we mused that, on the one hand, we would not need to worry about tides delaying our departures or ruling our timings when we are cruising in the Mediterranean but that, on the other hand, light wind passages under motor would be a very real possibility. The oft stated cruising folklaw is that in the Mediterranean there is either too much wind or what there is is directly on the nose. With our escape plan we have traded the benefits of normal employed life for time. If we have got that right then we hope that we will not feel the same time pressure to get to destinations that prompted the cynical assessment of the sailing weather in the Mediterranean. Roll on next year so that we can find out!

For now though it was time to enjoy time with the family and the normal excesses of Christmas. Nicky's father even ensured that we had enough Christmas decorations to set the scene in BV.

Winter Madness?

With the normal succession of Atlantic depressions which sweep in from the west, sailing in the English Channel during winter is regarded by many as bordering upon madness, especially if you have any sort of deadlines to meet. Other than trying to get to Guernsey to be with family for Christmas, for once we had no 'getting back to work' deadline or essential appointments that would restrict us. We had also just picked up our mainsail from the sailmaker so after bending it on we wanted to get back out on the water sailing. BV had been in port too long!

Cherbourg's Visitors' Pontoon

On Tuesday 18 December there was a small weather window between depressions so at 0600 we set off to cross the Channel. The forecast had a strong south easterly wind which would hit us towards the end of our passage so we aimed to tactically position ourselves up-wind and up-tide of Cherbourg's entrance when that was due. We had enough time to cross to Cherbourg before the weather turned grim again.

The strong south easterly did not materialise so we ended up sailing a little further than we needed to but it was a good crossing. Strangely the visitors' section of the marina was empty apart from French sailing school yachts practising mooring and a couple of live-aboard yachts.

There was also a huge brand new Swiss flagged catamaran with a busy team of technicians finishing off commissioning her. The purple 'bling lights' all of the way up the leading edge her mast and matching floodlights for her boarding steps certainly make her stand out at night when in port; not an additon we intend for BV.

Consolations

Shortly after arriving our weather window closed firmly with the wind blowing very strongly directly from the direction of Guernsey for the next 3 days. We bravely decided to stay in Cherbourg and take advantage of the good wine, cheeses and seafood. Excellent consolations to make up for being held up in port.




It was not all R&R though. A recent delivery of sacrificial anodes for the fridge and the engine plus a handful of screws and the pieces of varnished teak ensured we were never short of a job or two. Changing the fridge anodes ended up being more troublesome than expected with some debris from the old anodes blocking the cooling pipes; we had to pull the water cooling circuit apart and flush it all through to get things working properly again.

We also used the time to fit the spice rack/shelf in the forward galley locker and screw the new teak kitchen roll holder into position. All successes from our labours the previous week. However, the one topic not to be mentioned in conversation at the moment is the wooden cabin doors. We have refitted them to check that they fit properly after being trimmed and having the drip rail fitted, it's just that the quick couple of extra coats of varnish to tidy them up have not come up well enough. We now have a New Year's task of stripping the old varnish right back on the inside of the doors and starting the varnishing again. Definitely frustrating but worth doing properly for both cosmetic and practical reasons.

Cowes Revisited

Mai-Cha III

Athos

Saturday morning was an early start with just a short hop across to Cowes on the agenda.  It also gave us the chance to take another look at the spectacular yachts we saw the previous evening; the 147 foot long Mai-Cha III and the 201 foot long Athos.

I love the style of the Van de Hoek Classic yachts so for me Athos stole the limelight, and hence there are more photos of her.

Friday Night Out

Nicky had an appointment in Cowes on Saturday so as soon as she had escaped from work on Friday night we were able to get down to the south coast and head west on BV.  There was no wind but it was a fantastic evening... and there were some amazing yachts off Cowes.















We avoided the bright lights of Cowes and anchored for the night at the bottom end of the Beaulieu River, arriving at the entrance to the river with the very last of the light from a beautiful sunset.

Newtown River... Again!

As you can see from the photograph above, this weekend saw us lazing around in Newtown River again.  Not exactly what we would have expected to do but with a good westerly wind, by the time we had tacked backwards and forwards and were abeam Newtown River, it seemed an appropriate time to stop.  It turned out to be a very peaceful and relaxing stop... perfect for a lazy weekend afloat.

Newtown was surprisingly quiet for the summer; I guess it's that rainy weather effect again!  Just one minor drama and that was a small yacht (nearest one in the photograph above) which dragged its anchor and drifted past us.  We rapidly inflated the dinghy and rowed out (outboard motor taken home last week) to catch the yacht and haul her back before she ran aground.  It was high water.  Once safely attached to BV we hauled up their anchor chain and, with the help of the Harbour Master's launch, moved her onto a mooring buoy.  It was clear why she had drifted; there was only about 4 metres of anchor chain and rope deployed and the depth was about 4.5 metres at high water.  She should have had about 25 metres of chain and rope out.

Sunday morning was sunny and that brought out the crowds. Lots of boats arrived including a whole collection of small gaff rigged yachts which landed on the beach.  The cooking smells wafting from their BBQs were fantastic as we motored out of the narrow entrance.

Once away we elected to go for a poled out genoa rather than hoisting out spinnaker.  We have a self imposed limit of 15 knots true wind above which we do not hoist our spinnaker.  BV can take it easily but it is a powerful sail and we have found that if the wind gets up much above 15 knots it is hard to lower the sail with just one person on the foredeck; at those winds it tends to lift me off the ground as I try to haul it down.  With the poled out genoa though we still made good progress with > 8 knots through the water; its just not quite as colourful.



Clearly there were no such limits imposed on Savannah who sailed past us looking splendid with an enormous red asymmetric flying.  We also saw the new Dutch J Class Rainbow beating up the Solent but sadly too far away to take a decent photograph of her.  We suspect that she was getting some training in before the start of the J Class Solent Regatta 18-21 July 2012.

Experimenting

The great British Summer (or lack of it) continued with a dismally rainy Saturday.  We escaped down to BV on Friday night and luckily timed our arrival between rain showers.  Unfortunately, having stayed dry, we then woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of heavy rain.  Breakfast in the cockpit didn't seem to be a great idea with the seats awash.

When we did get going it was a case of full oilskins on and make the most of enjoying the sailing despite the weather.

This is me hiding under the sprayhood claiming that I was taking artistic photographs (whilst Nicky steered in the rain).

We did get to see ICAP Leopard 3, one of the fastest monohulls in the world, from very close up as we passed north of Cowes.  Sadly it was chucking it down with rain and the photographs I took are spoiled somewhat from some spots of water on the lens filter.

Also moored off Cowes was a beautiful classic wooden schooner making ready to sail.

One of the only problems with sailing is that cruising yachts tend not to go very fast.  If you just have a weekend it is hard to get somewhere interesting and new and then get the boat back to its mooring again in time for work on Monday.  Being able to have the time to explore new and exciting sailing destinations is the main reason we have decided to leave work and sail full time from next year.  In the meantime we are very luck to be able to keep BV by the Solent.  It's pretty sheltered by the Isle of Wight so we can generally sail any time we have free, whatever the weather.  There are also lots of nice little harbours and anchorages to visit within easy reach of a day's sail.

Newtown, the old salt beds and derelict sea wall

This weekend we didn't go far but headed towards one of our favourite anchorages, Newtown River.  It's a beautiful spot with old disused salt beds that are now a bird sanctuary.  Peaceful and quiet, you feel very close to nature there.

Our first distraction was a smaller yacht that, despite having practically the whole river to anchor in, chose to drop their anchor nearly on top of ours and settled less than a boat length ahead of us.  When the tide turned there was a good chance that we would turn before he would because of the effect of water flow over our long fin keel in comparison with his lighter boat with a thin, more modern, keel.  After politely pointing out that the yacht was uncomfortably close to us with a risk that we might collide when the tide turned, they reluctantly lifted their anchor and stormed off at high speed with the chap grumbling.  We are still not sure why they didn't just re-anchor 30 meters away; there was a lot of space there and plenty of water.

The second distraction came at low water.  We were 2 days after Spring tides so in a relatively shallow river with restricted swinging room there wasn't much water left at low water for a yacht like ours with a 2 metre draught.  As low water came we found that we had drifted to the edge of the river and the keel was touching the mud.  As the photo on the right shows, perhaps a little too close to nature!  When the tide rose a little we re-laid our anchor a few metres closer to the opposite side of the river so that BV would swing properly at the next tide change and hopefully guarantee us a good night's sleep.  It did.

The morning brought bright sunshine and Newtown River was beautiful.  One photograph doesn't really capture the view so I have taken the opportunity to experiment with piece of software that stitches together several photographs to create a panoramic view.  These are the results:

The sail home was also very pleasant and gave me the chance to capture a short video.  Not because the  views were particularly spectacular, more because I haven't edited a video on my computer before and then posted it on a blog.  It turned out to be not too difficult and having worked out how to post the video below I'm sure that it will come in handy to represent some of the sailing and places we visit in the future.

Rainy Day Dreaming

Apparently the jetstream is not in its normal place for this time of year.  The result is another rainy day in the UK!  When is this year's UK summer going to arrive?

To brighten things up I've looked back over some photographs of our previous cruises and thought I'd post some of them so that you won't think that this blog is just about boring yacht maintenance.

Blasting through the Solent

Leaving the Isle of Wight behind

These were taken in the Solent and en-route to South Brittany which is one of our favourite sailing areas.  Sadly we haven't normally had enough holiday time to comfortably get there and back so the last time we visited was in late August and early September of 2009.  It was glorious weather and the fantastic anchorages were far less crowded than in high season.

Ster Wenn, Belle Ile, South Brittany

Ster Wenn, Belle Ile, South Brittany

Nicky is tied up with work until after the Olympics are over.  In some ways that is really good because normally we'd be looking to try to set off for a Summer cruise around about now.  The extra time waiting for Nicky to be free from work will give the jetstream a chance to sort itself out and hopefully bring us some good cruising weather.  We'll set off for several weeks to test the new equipment onboard and make sure that everything that we have pulled apart over the recent months is working properly.  We aim to revisit South Brittany looking for idyllic anchorages...

great seafood....

and sunshine sailing....

Happy thoughts and a taster of what's to come when we can cast off the shorelines and set sail full time.