Cowes Fire Works..
- Thread starter onesea
- Start date
GBR6400T
New Member
You might get lucky - a lot are laid specifically for Cowes Week, and some may head home after Friday's racing
Enjoy it!
alahol2
Well-Known Member
Ssshhhhh!
prv
Well-Known Member
I was just surprised; I assumed he had meant to write "inside the moorings and outside the breakwater". As far as I remember, everything south of the breakwater is either "built up" with moorings etc or too shallow, given that we'll be there over a reasonably springy low tide. Don't think I'd want to anchor anywhere in there as I might not get my anchor back. A lot of junk on the bottom!
Pete
jimbaerselman
Well-Known Member
Shouldn't be too much traffic if you park on the Bramble . . .
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
No, I wrote what I meant. Not a lot of water so shallow draught but a rising tide.
Elessar
Well-Known Member
Did you go? I did for the first time for me. Absolutely spectacular. Ive seen good fireworks, but never good fireworks that last that long. We anchored in a perfect spot and had a Chinese takeaway whilst watching. Perfect.
We didnt rush to leave and it wasnt a bright night so 8 knots was our safe speed. Saw a few speeding idiots but their navigational skills were such that they kept to the deepwater channels, no doubt using their plotter and killing their night vision, thus they were easily avoided. Lots of blue lighted boats giving advise to speeders and those with incorrect nav lights. The majority of the latter were raggies, do they not label the switches in sailboats these days?
We had a great evening
Mudisox
Well-Known Member
When exactly this year?
VicS
Well-Known Member
British fireworks championships 13th and 14th Aug
http://www.visitplymouth.co.uk/events/british-firework-championships-2013-p1166573
http://www.britishfireworks.co.uk/bang/
Richard Shead
Slipped Anchor
Did you go? I did for the first time for me. Absolutely spectacular. Ive seen good fireworks, but never good fireworks that last that long. We anchored in a perfect spot and had a Chinese takeaway whilst watching. Perfect.
We didnt rush to leave and it wasnt a bright night so 8 knots was our safe speed. Saw a few speeding idiots but their navigational skills were such that they kept to the deepwater channels, no doubt using their plotter and killing their night vision, thus they were easily avoided. Lots of blue lighted boats giving advise to speeders and those with incorrect nav lights. The majority of the latter were raggies, do they not label the switches in sailboats these days?
We had a great evening
Gotta ask, how did they deliver the Chinese?
Seajet
...
Sampan of course.
Elessar
Well-Known Member
Ha good question
We put the girls ashore at trinity landing and we hovered, collected them when they had the supplies.
onesea
Well-Known Member
Ha good question
Bummer daughter loves Chinese if they delivered I would get her out afloat.
As it is no I did not go, she decided she did not want to go sailing but canoeing, spent today paddling around instead...
Glad you had a good night...
prv
Well-Known Member
Yep, we went, and glad we did. Fireworks were good, Red Arrows an unexpected bonus! It felt like we were directly under the centre point of their display, crossing low (very low!) over our heads several times. The Sea Vixen (I believe) was interesting as well but a little annoying as we had just put mate's nephew to bed for a nap before the fireworks, and those 1950s engines are awesomely noisy
. We sailed over and anchored straight away, no missions into Cowes for takeaway. Chris cooked a very acceptable curry on board instead while we were waiting.
Didn't really see any of the dangerous behaviour people were stressing about upthread, nobody anchored on top of us or wove in and out of the moorings and anchorage at speed. Only a couple of close encounters - one a large multi-deck tripper boat holding station sideways-on to the tide in the gap between us and the next anchored boat, but with a pro crew on the bridge looking down at us occasionally I was happy they'd avoid touching. Other one was a big ketch with a tall wheelhouse who came slithering past at a funny angle, grinding his bow-thruster - he was further away than the tripperboat but giving off a concerning air of not-quite-in-control. Otherwise no worries at all, even when the large Navy yacht next door decided to show off by leaving under sail ("hoist when ready!", "ready!", "haul away!", etc). Maybe there was some interesting traffic congestion at the Hamble etc, but we weren't going there. Half an hour after the end, with the lad back in bed and fast asleep, we picked up the hook and tootled round to Osborne Bay. Not many other vessels on the way, except at anchor. Several, as Elessar says, were sailing boats displaying a tricolour while anchored - and since I doubt they all anchored under sail, they must have been incorrectly using it while motoring too.
We did have a bit of a bouncy night at Osborne - like a millpond when we arrived but once the tide turned against the wind it got a little choppy even in the lee of Old Castle Point. Discovered that Ariam's sugar-scoop stern stern is a ******* for wave-slap, unlike Kindred Spirit's counter, since we were tide-rode with the stern into the wind. I probably should have gone closer in (we were not the outermost boat though) but it was busy and I've not been there at night before.
Yesterday morning we motored across to Portsmouth to look at the ships (nephew is fascinated by different kinds of ships the way some other five year olds obsess over dinosaurs), then the wind filled in and we had a cracking sail back.
He's probably going to start bugging his parents again, about them buying a boat
Pete
Elessar
Well-Known Member
Yep, we went, and glad we did. Fireworks were good, Red Arrows an unexpected bonus! It felt like we were directly under the centre point of their display, crossing low (very low!) over our heads several times. The Sea Vixen (I believe) was interesting as well but a little annoying as we had just put mate's nephew to bed for a nap before the fireworks, and those 1950s engines are awesomely noisy
We sailed over and anchored straight away, no missions into Cowes for takeaway. Chris cooked a very acceptable curry on board instead while we were waiting.
Didn't really see any of the dangerous behaviour people were stressing about upthread, nobody anchored on top of us or wove in and out of the moorings and anchorage at speed. Only a couple of close encounters - one a large multi-deck tripper boat holding station sideways-on to the tide in the gap between us and the next anchored boat, but with a pro crew on the bridge looking down at us occasionally I was happy they'd avoid touching. Other one was a big ketch with a tall wheelhouse who came slithering past at a funny angle, grinding his bow-thruster - he was further away than the tripperboat but giving off a concerning air of not-quite-in-control. Otherwise no worries at all, even when the large Navy yacht next door decided to show off by leaving under sail ("hoist when ready!", "ready!", "haul away!", etc). Maybe there was some interesting traffic congestion at the Hamble etc, but we weren't going there. Half an hour after the end, with the lad back in bed and fast asleep, we picked up the hook and tootled round to Osborne Bay. Not many other vessels on the way, except at anchor. Several, as Elessar says, were sailing boats displaying a tricolour while anchored - and since I doubt they all anchored under sail, they must have been incorrectly using it while motoring too.
We did have a bit of a bouncy night at Osborne - like a millpond when we arrived but once the tide turned against the wind it got a little choppy even in the lee of Old Castle Point. Discovered that Ariam's sugar-scoop stern stern is a ******* for wave-slap, unlike Kindred Spirit's counter, since we were tide-rode with the stern into the wind. I probably should have gone closer in (we were not the outermost boat though) but it was busy and I've not been there at night before.
Yesterday morning we motored across to Portsmouth to look at the ships (nephew is fascinated by different kinds of ships the way some other five year olds obsess over dinosaurs), then the wind filled in and we had a cracking sail back.
He's probably going to start bugging his parents again, about them buying a boat
Pete
Excellent
Poignard
Well-Known Member
I woiuld like to have seen that. Always good to see a yacht being manouvred under sail. Pity so many yachtsmen daren't do it nowadays. Traditional skills being lost (or not even being learned).
prv
Well-Known Member
Mm. Partly down to changing types of boats as well though, I think. I used to quite happily tack down the Itchen in Kindred Spirit, moor (to a buoy) or anchor under sail as often as not, and drop the last sail and start the engine within a biscuit-toss of my inside marina berth (and sailed onto an empty outside berth once just to make sure I could). I would be extremely wary of doing the same things in Ariam. Not just because she's bigger, but because she just doesn't feel so handy for instant manoeuvring. There's less flexibility in the rig - the big fully battened main just wants to go FAST all the time - which is nice when you're at sea but not ideal in close quarters. No real way to scandalise it while weighing the anchor, or to slow down among moorings. On the Poole trip I tried to heave-to to talk to Colin in Fortuna, but the boat just would not stop and the best I could do was circle slowly round him. KS you could heave to, adjust the angle to the wind using the mizzen, and if you swept some crumbs from lunch over the side they'd keep you company for minutes at a time as you were absolutely stationary relative to the water. I get the impression that the engine is a fundamental part of Ariam, without which she is at least partly disabled, and I never really felt that way in Kindred Spirit (though the engine was certainly jolly handy to have!)
As you say, good to see the Navy doing their thing. They had what looked like quite a big genoa stowed along the rail, they sheered off from the moored boat they were rafted alongside (I'm guessing with a stern spring and a good shove to take the bow through the tide, which would then peel the boat away) and half-hoisted the genoa halfway through the turn which would have helped whip the bow round. Then they quickly brought it all the way up and departed downwind under jib alone; didn't see where they went or whether they later hoisted the main as well (sensible to wait until clear of the other anchored boats).
Pete
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Poignard
Well-Known Member
Interesting post.
Do you regret going for a modern rig?
I like a boat that will heave to while you put a reef in, work out where you are, wait for a lock to open etc.
Do you regret going for a modern rig?
I like a boat that will heave to while you put a reef in, work out where you are, wait for a lock to open etc.
prv
Well-Known Member
I don't regret the change of boat - it's nice to get places quickly, it's nice to have hot water for washing up, and it's nice to have a heads compartment I can actually fit into. Also nice to have space to bring more than one friend along. On the other hand, Ariam is harder to single-hand - I'm pinned in behind the wheel out of reach of the halyards etc (though I can reach the main and jib sheets) and of course you can't turn a wheel with your bum like you can with a tiller. She can't take the ground (I would be very reluctant even drying out alongside a wall) and with a new paintjob that my dad (co-owner) paid for I'm rather twitchy about any contact with anything. Kindred Spirit was hand-painted matt black like an old tarred fishing boat, and very strongly built, so although I did my best to avoid bashing things I was never scared of the odd bump.
It may be possible to get Ariam to heave to better than she did outside Poole; I keep meaning to take the time to experiment.
I don't regret the performance of the modern rig, but it is less interesting to play with and certainly less photogenic. Basically I have it for a purpose - exploring more of the Channel coast in limited time off work. Crew and weather permitting, anyway.
It's a different kind of sailing to what I did in Kindred Spirit.
Over the rest of my life it wouldn't surprise me at all if gaff rig features again.
I believe there's a lot to be said for gaff (and the accompanying solid heavy-displacement hulls) for ocean cruising. Aluminium marconi masts, including my own now, make me uneasy from an engineering point of view. The loads are so high, and practically everything is a single point of failure. Compare to a stumpy telephone pole with numerous galvanised guy-ropes going to the top of it. None of the stays and shrouds on Kindred Spirit were individually essential - any one of them could have carried away while sailing hard on the wind and the mast would be fine. That's reassuring to know. Also most of KS's rig was constructed of wood and cordage - the only specialised parts on the masts and spars were blocks and the goosenecks (and the latter were simple fabrications from stainless plate and bolts). I find this reassuring too. Everything lends itself to simple tweaking and modifying using lashings and lanyards; on KS there was a canvas pouch screwed to the bulkhead in the cockpit which was stuffed with hanks of cord for tweaking things.
It'll never be built, but my fantasy liveaboard cruising design is a 45' long-keeled vaguely pilot-cutterish sort of hull, in steel, with a very large junk mainsail, a standing-lug mizzen sheeted to a Cornish-style bumkin on the port quarter, and a gaff-cutter-type bowsprit, jib, and staysail...
Pete
alahol2
Well-Known Member
Had a great night at the fireworks, went inside the breakwater and anchored between the moorings and Venture Quays. No one else competing for space. Had a barbie and a bottle of wine while we watched the Red Arrows and Sea Vixen. Great view of the fireworks which were probably better than the last few years.
After the fireworks it was easier to stay where we were so spent the rest of the evening listening to the band and had a, relatively, peaceful, if occasionally rolly, night.
Next morning sailed down to Newtown for the day. Sunday we sailed into mid-Solent and hove-to while the big Fastnet boats tacked down, got some cracking photos.
See what I did there? Replied to original thread and the thread drift as well.
After the fireworks it was easier to stay where we were so spent the rest of the evening listening to the band and had a, relatively, peaceful, if occasionally rolly, night.
Next morning sailed down to Newtown for the day. Sunday we sailed into mid-Solent and hove-to while the big Fastnet boats tacked down, got some cracking photos.
See what I did there? Replied to original thread and the thread drift as well.
