rogerball0
N/A
Being the third man aboard i thought i'd write my side of a fascinating adventure.
What have i learned:
Well sailing at night no longer holds any fear as the seven days gave us pretty much every varible you could imagine, i've concluded (on the east coast at least) on account of the number of wind farms and the general level of activity that your path is pretty well lit a good proportion of the way.
Lobster pots are what gnats are to camping holidays, ............well we ended up nick-naming them 'minefields' such was the density of distribution - it seemed every tack i put in - there was another half dozen on the bow to get clear of.
Dylan has ADHD (is a constant fiddler and cant sit still)
The Centaur (i know......yawn) is a great boat to cut your teeth on in such a caper as i never once felt unsafe even when surfing at 10+ knots down waves in the dead of night (we even have photographic proof of some 14.7 knots on the clock, yet none of us know how we got that).
The two hours on four hours off watch system was very easy to maintain although when i presented myself once or twice for the early morning shift i was rambling abit and incoherent when showed charts or the gps but like an old telly once i'd warmed up i worked pretty well.
Did i mention i think Dylans got ADHD...............
Theres some truly magical pieces of coast line along the eastern shores, Flanborough head and the Farne islands spring to mind, simply incredible watching the birds and seeing a seal or two.
Scarborough: our time in Scarborough, the.......what can i say.............the oddest place i've experienced for sometime (and i worked in Weston-Super-Mare for six months), i've never seen a 'sci-fi' shop before and this place i think had four that i counted. Dylans posted some pics on his site of what you can expect to find inside; all skulls and swords, did you know you can buy a six foot long sword - and why wouldn't you? and not to forget the plethora of motorbility scooter shops. But i couldn't find more friendly people to banter with all things boats and a good deal inbetween, apart from two mad women who i'd previously said 'hello' to earlier in the evening whilst crossing paths along the esplanade only to have them screaming at me at around midnight when i went off to use the sailing club loo's, (i think they were beyond drunk). I seem to remember one of them slumped by the loo door and the other about to fall off the quayside, i spoke to a copper at the road-end of the quay and he didn't seem that bothered really.
The Harbour view cafe in Scarborough makes a breakfast like no other, i recommend a breakfast known as the 'Belly-Buster' if you've been out sailing all night in the cold on an empty stomach this is medicine.
Sturgeron works. We got back out to sea after our stay in Scarborough to be met not by much wind (about a 3 and of course on the nose as it was pretty much the whole trip) but a curious swell that pitched the boat about to an extent that both Dylan and myself started conducting experiments around the boat involving where you could sit most comfortably without wretching and how many Sturgeron is too many Sturgeron? Curiously John was completely unaffected by the boats motion.
3 is the maximum number of people on a Centaur for any long range sailing adventure, so its with a certain sense of curiousity that i'll watch the upcoming films Dylan makes with his family as there will be five aboard.
Dylan doesn't sit still for long i think he may have ADHD.
I found it very easy to fall asleep down below in strengthening winds despite all the noise, when i'm home i hardly sleep the whole night through without waking up, very bizarre - i think the motion of the boat and especially the leeward side helps knock you out.
Dylan keeps a boat pretty spotless, i've never seen a shinier, more lemony-fresh heads in my life.
We didn't eat half the food all three of us bought instead we mostly ate energy bars, biscuits, Dylans wifes homemade biscuits, Johns wifes homemade chilli and casserole but hardly touched any of the canned stuff and there was enough to feed an army.
Dylans coffee is on another level, now i like strong coffee but i fear a month sailing with Dylan would have me in casualty such is the strength of his brews, it could down an elephant, John and i stuck mainly to cup-a-soups mine super charged with chilli pesto (makes everything taste great)
Pot noodles are the fifth wonder of the world, they also have magical properties (well the 'Bombay Bad Boy' did) as it bought me out of my North Sea sea-sickness quicker even when medicating on Sturgeron.
Always always travel with a great cook; John Roots is that man he can produce dishes at all angles of heel and all hours of the day and night and is a great helmsman and wit too; everytime he took over from me on the helm he'd record staggeringly high boat speeds, i'm sure he had the engine on.
I would do this again in the blink of an eye, modern technology has made this sort of passage making quite stress-free and i know all the arguments about reliance on tech but you cant beat glancing at a hand held gps and knowing where you're going, how fast your going and a reasonable idea of when you'll get there added to that an honourable mention must be made of 'Nanny' the ST2000 Autohelm Dylan bought along as on more than one occasion it took the ball ache out of the night shift not to mention a few light-weather day shifts.
Anstruther Harbour is very pretty although the shower / toilet facilities were run in the most bizarre and childish fashion as everytime you wanted to use either you had to present your paper receipt at the door even though you had a wireless fob for the marina gate which would only have been given to you if you'd paid............answers on a postcard.
In Dylan and John I couldn't have sailed with two nicer blokes (i nicknamed them Waldolf and Statler) there were genuinely no raised voiced, plenty of laughs and more than a shot of adrenaline, what else could you want in an adventure?
Roger
What have i learned:
Well sailing at night no longer holds any fear as the seven days gave us pretty much every varible you could imagine, i've concluded (on the east coast at least) on account of the number of wind farms and the general level of activity that your path is pretty well lit a good proportion of the way.
Lobster pots are what gnats are to camping holidays, ............well we ended up nick-naming them 'minefields' such was the density of distribution - it seemed every tack i put in - there was another half dozen on the bow to get clear of.
Dylan has ADHD (is a constant fiddler and cant sit still)
The Centaur (i know......yawn) is a great boat to cut your teeth on in such a caper as i never once felt unsafe even when surfing at 10+ knots down waves in the dead of night (we even have photographic proof of some 14.7 knots on the clock, yet none of us know how we got that).
The two hours on four hours off watch system was very easy to maintain although when i presented myself once or twice for the early morning shift i was rambling abit and incoherent when showed charts or the gps but like an old telly once i'd warmed up i worked pretty well.
Did i mention i think Dylans got ADHD...............
Theres some truly magical pieces of coast line along the eastern shores, Flanborough head and the Farne islands spring to mind, simply incredible watching the birds and seeing a seal or two.
Scarborough: our time in Scarborough, the.......what can i say.............the oddest place i've experienced for sometime (and i worked in Weston-Super-Mare for six months), i've never seen a 'sci-fi' shop before and this place i think had four that i counted. Dylans posted some pics on his site of what you can expect to find inside; all skulls and swords, did you know you can buy a six foot long sword - and why wouldn't you? and not to forget the plethora of motorbility scooter shops. But i couldn't find more friendly people to banter with all things boats and a good deal inbetween, apart from two mad women who i'd previously said 'hello' to earlier in the evening whilst crossing paths along the esplanade only to have them screaming at me at around midnight when i went off to use the sailing club loo's, (i think they were beyond drunk). I seem to remember one of them slumped by the loo door and the other about to fall off the quayside, i spoke to a copper at the road-end of the quay and he didn't seem that bothered really.
The Harbour view cafe in Scarborough makes a breakfast like no other, i recommend a breakfast known as the 'Belly-Buster' if you've been out sailing all night in the cold on an empty stomach this is medicine.
Sturgeron works. We got back out to sea after our stay in Scarborough to be met not by much wind (about a 3 and of course on the nose as it was pretty much the whole trip) but a curious swell that pitched the boat about to an extent that both Dylan and myself started conducting experiments around the boat involving where you could sit most comfortably without wretching and how many Sturgeron is too many Sturgeron? Curiously John was completely unaffected by the boats motion.
3 is the maximum number of people on a Centaur for any long range sailing adventure, so its with a certain sense of curiousity that i'll watch the upcoming films Dylan makes with his family as there will be five aboard.
Dylan doesn't sit still for long i think he may have ADHD.
I found it very easy to fall asleep down below in strengthening winds despite all the noise, when i'm home i hardly sleep the whole night through without waking up, very bizarre - i think the motion of the boat and especially the leeward side helps knock you out.
Dylan keeps a boat pretty spotless, i've never seen a shinier, more lemony-fresh heads in my life.
We didn't eat half the food all three of us bought instead we mostly ate energy bars, biscuits, Dylans wifes homemade biscuits, Johns wifes homemade chilli and casserole but hardly touched any of the canned stuff and there was enough to feed an army.
Dylans coffee is on another level, now i like strong coffee but i fear a month sailing with Dylan would have me in casualty such is the strength of his brews, it could down an elephant, John and i stuck mainly to cup-a-soups mine super charged with chilli pesto (makes everything taste great)
Pot noodles are the fifth wonder of the world, they also have magical properties (well the 'Bombay Bad Boy' did) as it bought me out of my North Sea sea-sickness quicker even when medicating on Sturgeron.
Always always travel with a great cook; John Roots is that man he can produce dishes at all angles of heel and all hours of the day and night and is a great helmsman and wit too; everytime he took over from me on the helm he'd record staggeringly high boat speeds, i'm sure he had the engine on.
I would do this again in the blink of an eye, modern technology has made this sort of passage making quite stress-free and i know all the arguments about reliance on tech but you cant beat glancing at a hand held gps and knowing where you're going, how fast your going and a reasonable idea of when you'll get there added to that an honourable mention must be made of 'Nanny' the ST2000 Autohelm Dylan bought along as on more than one occasion it took the ball ache out of the night shift not to mention a few light-weather day shifts.
Anstruther Harbour is very pretty although the shower / toilet facilities were run in the most bizarre and childish fashion as everytime you wanted to use either you had to present your paper receipt at the door even though you had a wireless fob for the marina gate which would only have been given to you if you'd paid............answers on a postcard.
In Dylan and John I couldn't have sailed with two nicer blokes (i nicknamed them Waldolf and Statler) there were genuinely no raised voiced, plenty of laughs and more than a shot of adrenaline, what else could you want in an adventure?
Roger
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