Concerto is on the move

[Blueboatman]

You forgot towing a small fishing float.

I nearly lost my first boat to one of those damned things before I’d ( actually my crew had, bless him for ever) worked out what to do- we walked a weighted line back from the bow and then winched the foul leader and buoy up near the surface using the cockpit winches
And then a bread knife tied to the boat hook .
Grrrr .
We were ‘anchored’ by the stern and with a low freeboard and non self draining cockpit and just enough sea running to be getting a fair bit of water onboard.

You can nip over to Eire and the IOM and the Hebrides from Pwllelhi.

Any plans for an Irish/craic/ circumnavigation next ?

 

[Wandering Star]

We ran over some sort of fish trap passing through the Messina Straits at night. Just palm fronds floating flat on the surface of the sea suspending a rope to some sort of trap I imagine - we never got to see the trap. What a mess! I was fortunate that one of my crew was a competent scuba diver and she managed to cut everything away with a bread knife but it took her a couple of hours to do. Our concern was for the stern gear so we put into Palermo where the same crew inspected the gear properly in daylight.

 

[Concerto]

Slipped out of Newlyn at 0600 with a sloppy sea and no wind. Raised the mainsail and headed past Mousehole passing lots of fishing markers. The wind started to change from astern to the starboard quarter, but too little to make any difference. The closer I got to Lands End, the more wind there was. Turning northward brought the wind just in front of the beam and Concerto was relishing the conditions. However the wind kept increasing and the autopilot was struggling to hold her steady even though the sails were correctly balanced. Nothing for it, hold on for a few minutes for a bit more clear water and I reefed both sails. Still charging along and the wind still increased and I was considering a second reef in the main, but as the end of the headland was close I decided to hold on (tight, ha,ha) to clear the land. As expected the wind settle back to a more reasonable strength for the single reef. Boat speed had been hitting the high 7's, so quite exhilarating. This continued for several hours and then the wind slowly started to drop. The reefs were shaken out and the speed dropped to around 6 knots. The wind continued to drop and eventually I had to motor. The fishing float only clunks the hull when the engine is above 2000rpm, but still a very annoying noise as it is irregular. The most remarkable thing I noticed half way across the Bristol Channel was the colour of the water. Having sailed most of my life in the muddy waters of the Medway and Thames, the water was no longer blue green like along the south coast but a bright light blue. This changed back to a blue green colour as I approached the South Wales coast. During the afternoon the wind picked up again and I was able to sail towards Milford Haven. Feeling quite hungry I opened a can of Korma chicken and warmed through and then added a packet of Golden Vegetable Rice to the sauce pan, once it was already I ate al fresco in the cockpit straight out of the saucepan. It was too rough to use a plate and my bowls were not big enough. It was dark as I approached the harbour entrance and relatively easy to locate the small vessel channel and work along the cliff sided entrance. As the main channel turned to starboard I continued straight on towards a white flashing buoy and then gently steered to port to enter Dale. Now it was a question of finding the pontoon. It has a small constant white light, but finding it with yachts on mooring and many others anchored is not easy. Finally I realised one of the boats with an anchor light on and a green light in the water was tied to the pontoon. As I finally decided which side I was berthing, the owner turned on his deck floodlights and stood on the pontoon to assist me in. He advised slipping back slightly as a section of wood edging was missing and exposed bolts were protruding. This was all very helpful at quarter past midnight. I ended up having a chat with him for about a quarter of an hour. Whilst chatting there were some bright flashes of approaching thunderstorms. We both went off to bed expecting a downpour, but it all passed to the west. Having been without a mobile signal for most of the day, I checked the tides for heading towards St Davids Head and decided an 8.30 start was to be aimed for. This section of the trip had taken 18 hours 15 minutes and the total sailing time was now 104 hours.

Overnight the wind changed to being a strong easterly and this is the worse direction if in Dale. The boats at anchor or on moorings were certainly bucking nicely. Moored to the pontoon behind another vessel meant I was not so badly affect, but the occasional snatch on a line made you realise this was not a place to stay. A little later than planed I left at 8.30. Before I headed for the entrance I raised the main with a single reef. Then gently motor sailing on a reach through the entrance and turning on to a dead run. Not a comfortable point of sail in a rough section of water, so headed slightly further south with a reefed genoa and decided to sail outside all the islands and miss Jack Sound and Russel Sound with the notorious Bitches. It meant I had some good tide with me and none of the tight channels with up to 8 knot tides. However I did pass an interesting overfall to the west of Ramsey Island. The standing breaking wave was quite a sight. Once clear of the islands the wind stablised and like the day before slowly dropped. Sails unreefed and then some 40 miles from Pwllheli, the wind suddenly evaporated. Boat speed showed 0.12 knots and the autopilot was beeping as the boat was not responding to the helm. It was all so sudden, I started the engine and rolled the genoa away. Thinking this might be for the rest of the day, I dipped the fuel tank (no gauge) and found I had a third of a tank. It was a time to calculate if I had enough fuel left to reach Pwllheli. I remembered reading the engine consumed 1½ to 2 litres and hour. So how many litres in the tank and could I check the consumption rate in the engine papers. In the sales leaflet was a consumption chart that showed at 1600rpm 1 litre, at 2000rpm 1.75 litre and steeply rising from there. The tide was also pushing me north at about 2 knots. If I motored slowly and the tide continued, then I would only use about 7 to 10 litres, there was definitely more than that in the tank. Phew. Then I felt a light breeze, so unfurled the genoa and started sailing at about 3½ knots so stopped the engine. Unfortunately it had headed me by about 30 degrees. I would rather sail than motor, so kept sailing. 10 minutes later the wind had risen further and I doing 5½ to 6 knots and it had veered almost back to the course I needed. This gentle sailing continued for hours. Close to where the MOD target float should be, a pod of dolphins came to say hello. An hour later another pod made a brief appearance. 5 pods of dolphins in 10 days almost seems magical. Seeing Bardsey Island to lee I realised I was about 3 miles west of my course. Slowly the wind veered and altering the autopilot a few degrees at a time, the course ended up 20 degrees further east than I needed but went and sailed above the original course to gain some windward room in case the wind changed again. This meant I could sail to the south of the islands off Abersoch. As the light was failing I realised there were some rocks just on the surface south of my course, so eased the sheets and passed safely between the island and the rocks. The sun had now set but there was still some light in the sky as it was the day before the longest day. It seemed to take for ages to sail the final leg, well it was about 8 miles to go. Trying to pick out the buoys and entrance lights was quite difficult as there were two very bright lights passed Pwllheli that confused me. As I started entering the harbour I took it very cautiously as it was now low tide. The tidal height was quoted as 1.55m and I draw 1.6m. In 4 places my echo sounder, which is set to keel depth, showed 0.0 but I never slowed. There are plenty of lights ashore reflecting off the water that make seeing the small light channel buoys quite difficult to see. Finally the marina is ahead of me. My berth is almost at the far end of the marina. I was surprised at how many people was still out entertaining in their cockpits as it was close to midnight. To my surprise a boat pulled out from one of the pontoon rows ahead. Due to my slow speed this did not cause any problem but we passed quite closely. Each pontoon is clearly marked with a lit sign with the pontoon row number. This made it easy to turn into the correct pontoon, but I then had to count 7 fingers down to find my berth. Not so easy and then slipped into the berth and tied up at midnight. Another 15½ hour day, making a total sailing time from Chatham to Pwllheli of 119½ hours. Do not ask the mileage as the log was jammed when I left and only cleared 2 days after leaving and it was only when I was arriving in Newlyn did I find there was a grand total of miles sailed since I fitted the chart plotter in May 2014. It is now reading just over 7200 miles.

This morning the cabin felt stuffy and warm, so I opened the hatches. Then I got a true Welsh greeting, it started to rain. It almost seemed like an anticlimax to end the trip as there had been no rain for 10 days. Went to the office to let them know I had arrived. They stated the gate and loo block security locks were broken, so I did not need any key fobs. But I shall have to go back as I need a key fob for my wife to enter the car park and once the security locks are fixed (if ever as it is council run).

Hope you have all enjoyed reading about this delivery trip, it certainly was never intended to be a cruise. Later I will try and load some photos and shortly I will create a short video of the trip.

 

[Concerto]

I nearly lost my first boat to one of those damned things before I’d ( actually my crew had, bless him for ever) worked out what to do- we walked a weighted line back from the bow and then winched the foul leader and buoy up near the surface using the cockpit winches
And then a bread knife tied to the boat hook .
Grrrr .
We were ‘anchored’ by the stern and with a low freeboard and non self draining cockpit and just enough sea running to be getting a fair bit of water onboard.

You can nip over to Eire and the IOM and the Hebrides from Pwllelhi.

Any plans for an Irish/craic/ circumnavigation next ?

I tried doing something similar, but I could not get the line to catch the small fishing float. I have the tools do do this aboard. Even whilst in Newlyn I looked in the clear water to see if I could snag the line but alas no. I will get the boat lifted shortly. The antifouling is looking quite clean and showing lots of white after the 10 days sailing.

Later this year I will be introducing my grandson to going sailing as I explore the local area more. Next year I am planning to sail round Ireland and a year or 2 later intend to head to the western isles to visit the places I missed on my round Britain trip, then head to Orkney, Fair Isle and Shetland again as I enjoyed them are so much. Then head down the east coast of Scotland and use the Caledonian canal.

 

[Blueboatman]

I tried doing something similar, but I could not get the line to catch the small fishing float. I have the tools do do this aboard. Even whilst in Newlyn I looked in the clear water to see if I could snag the line but alas no. I will get the boat lifted shortly. The antifouling is looking quite clean and showing lots of white after the 10 days sailing.

Later this year I will be introducing my grandson to going sailing as I explore the local area more. Next year I am planning to sail round Ireland and a year or 2 later intend to head to the western isles to visit the places I missed on my round Britain trip, then head to Orkney, Fair Isle and Shetland again as I enjoyed them are so much. Then head down the east coast of Scotland and use the Caledonian canal.

That all sounds fantastic.
Hope your propellor etc are just well polished and you’re off again daysailing v soon. Train em young eh

 

[Concerto]

Concerto shortly before leaving Chatham Marina for the last time.


Sheerness slipping away into the distance.


Sailing the muddy waters for the last time.


Motoring on a glassy sea near Dungerness.


Sunset near Beachy Head.


Tonic, a Bavaria 46, left Chatham left Chatham 4 days before me. They arrived via Calais. This was in Weymouth.


The eroded cliffs below Portland Harbour.


Portland Bill.


Sunset over Start Point.

 

[Concerto]

In the Bag, Salcombe.


In The Bag looking the opposite direction.


Salcombe is so pretty.


Anchored close to the cliffs just outside Salcombe.


Cliffs to the west of Salcombe.


The clouds look ominous over The Lizard.


Newlyn Harbour.


Rocky cliffs near Lamorna Cove.


Longships Lighthouse.


Sunset in the Bristol Channel.

 

[Concerto]

Such a beautiful sunset over the Bristol Channel I could not resist including a few more photos.







Skomer Island looking east.


The race just off Ramsey Island.


Ramsey Island looking east.


Sailing under full sail heading for Pwllheli.


Bardsey Island with the mainland coastline.


The Pwllheli Marina building.

It was raining as I got back to the boat so have not yet taken a photo of Concerto in her new berth surrounded by small motorboats.

 

[Tranona]

Your photo of the cliffs at Lamorna brought back memories. My wife's aunt owned a smallholding a couple of miles west at St Loy. Spent some happy summers there when our children were small. Plenty of fields to run around in (used to be daffodils before the cost of shipping up country killed it) and tocks to climb over. Good fishing for wrasse as the tide comes in. They feed on limpets so simple bait on big hook and strong gear. Good sport and the cats and dogs loved the cooked flesh. Her cousin used them for baiting his pots.

 

[dgadee]

What's your autopilot?

 

[Concerto]

What's your autopilot?

Raymarine EV100 tiller pilot. I have found it to be very reliable and control in rough condition. I chose this over a tiller pilot as the ram is much larger and all the electronics are below deck except the display.
EV-100 Tiller Pilot | Autopilot for Tiller Sailboat | Raymarine

 

[mrming]

Raymarine EV100 tiller pilot. I have found it to be very reliable and control in rough condition. I chose this over a tiller pilot as the ram is much larger and all the electronics are below deck except the display.
EV-100 Tiller Pilot | Autopilot for Tiller Sailboat | Raymarine

I have this pilot too, also on a Fulmar. Can confirm it’s very good.

 

[dgadee]

I have this pilot too, also on a Fulmar. Can confirm it’s very good.

I have a Wheelpilot which is rubbish. On the Fulmar project I am installing OpenPlotter/Pypilot with an arm. Quite a bit cheaper.

 

[Lightwave395]

I have this pilot too, also on a Fulmar. Can confirm it’s very good.

I have a permanently connected Raymarine linear under deck ram with an S1G pilot on my tiller steered 7.5 ton 40 footer. There's a bit of friction when it's not in use but it's never been enough to be a problem

 

[E39mad]

Hope you enjoy your new cruising grounds. My neighbour keeps his Swan 46 in the marina. Say hello to John if he's around.

 

[Concerto]

Hope you enjoy your new cruising grounds. My neighbour keeps his Swan 46 in the marina. Say hello to John if he's around.

Next time I am back on board I will take some time to wander round the marina. Do you know his berth number and boat name to make it easier to find him.

 

[Concerto]

Concerto in her new berth surrounded by mainly small motorboats, it feels quite strange compared to my old berth amongst larger yachts.


Today I took the train back to Chatham to collect my car. I thought you might like to see how sad my empty old berth looks now.

 

[Concerto]

I have this pilot too, also on a Fulmar. Can confirm it’s very good.

IIRC I think I recommended the EV-100 to you, after I advised which Fulmar to buy out those that appealed to you at the time.

 

[mrming]

IIRC I think I recommended the EV-100 to you, after I advised which Fulmar to buy out those that appealed to you at the time.

It actually came with the boat (which you kindly advised on), but I’ve also since purchased a spare ram from a forum member as I’ve come to rely on the pilot so much.

 

[dgadee]

I had been using the PCNautic arm (until my Seawolf was damaged). This has the spec: Pcnautic Bare Tiller Drive

Any idea how that compares in power with the Raymarine one?