Cygnet
New member
Hi Adrain,
Just to let you know it's not all fun - I have little sailing experience (day skipper) mainly at weekends since September last year when I bought Cygnet and a little previously. There's a fair amount of paper work to get sorted CEVNI, ICC, VHF licence, Insurance, Registration, VAT docs etc - I've got a lot of this still to do with only about 40 days to go.
We sailed this weekend to the Eddystone lighthouse stopping off at Salcombe on the way back. We seemed to get there quite quickly sailing most of the way. On the way back we were close hauled and making about 6 knots over the ground (not bad for a 20 footer), but the water level on the port side was consistently up to the winch and at times above the window. There was plently of weatherhelm which made for tired arms, but releasing the main to reduce this also reduced speed - and is less exhilerating. However a trip below by Andy revealed we'd taken on board a far amount of water, so sailing at this angle was not a viable option. The weather deteriorated and we were forced to use the outboard motor (our only mechanical means of propulsion) to take us from the Mew Stone back to Salcombe. We could have opted to go to Plymouth but that would have certainly made us late for work on Monday. The engine pushed us at about 2.5 to 4 knots through a fairly rough sea east towards Salcombe - we were soaked through, the hand held gps was using batteres up like no tomorrow. Had the engine failed or were we to have run out of petrol we'd have had to sail south in circuits until day break as, for my experience the sea was too rough to anchor and we'd have had to get back to Brixham as I'm not confident enough to attempt to sail into either Salcombe or Dartmouth. Not a thought I relished. Fate smiled upon us and at about 11:30pm we moored to a visitors bouy in Salcombe after a very long, and latterly tortuous day. I had to sleep in a survival suit as my sleeping bag was soaked - the tomato soup we had heated up on the meths burner was the best you've ever tasted.
This morning we motor sailed to Dartmouth across Start Point - the sea was pretty rough for a 20 footer, but rough seas on a sunny day, rather than a cold night are much more appealing. The gps stopped working - inspection showed a green build up between two terminals on the pc link port - possibly caused by some sort of electrolysis, may be explaining the excessive battery consumption. Thank heavens it didn't duff out the night before. After a lot of crashing and banging we got into Dartmouth and took over most of a pontoon with our wet kit, cushions etc, and removed all the water from the boat.
Writing this now I ask myself why, but the answer will be found in the comfort I'll feel tonight in a proper bed. We should all re-establish the baseline from time to time. Conversely, in the med with flatter seas warm enough to swin in, sleeping in hammocks and the only protective clothing necessary being a sun hat, I don't think comfort will be an issue!
Sorry to have droned on but there's a lot of lessons in the above and in the same way that I like to learn from others I like to share my own experiences.
Mainly there's no such word as can't, 18 foot is plenty - let me know when you go - we can meet up and I'll buy you a beer.
Mat
Just to let you know it's not all fun - I have little sailing experience (day skipper) mainly at weekends since September last year when I bought Cygnet and a little previously. There's a fair amount of paper work to get sorted CEVNI, ICC, VHF licence, Insurance, Registration, VAT docs etc - I've got a lot of this still to do with only about 40 days to go.
We sailed this weekend to the Eddystone lighthouse stopping off at Salcombe on the way back. We seemed to get there quite quickly sailing most of the way. On the way back we were close hauled and making about 6 knots over the ground (not bad for a 20 footer), but the water level on the port side was consistently up to the winch and at times above the window. There was plently of weatherhelm which made for tired arms, but releasing the main to reduce this also reduced speed - and is less exhilerating. However a trip below by Andy revealed we'd taken on board a far amount of water, so sailing at this angle was not a viable option. The weather deteriorated and we were forced to use the outboard motor (our only mechanical means of propulsion) to take us from the Mew Stone back to Salcombe. We could have opted to go to Plymouth but that would have certainly made us late for work on Monday. The engine pushed us at about 2.5 to 4 knots through a fairly rough sea east towards Salcombe - we were soaked through, the hand held gps was using batteres up like no tomorrow. Had the engine failed or were we to have run out of petrol we'd have had to sail south in circuits until day break as, for my experience the sea was too rough to anchor and we'd have had to get back to Brixham as I'm not confident enough to attempt to sail into either Salcombe or Dartmouth. Not a thought I relished. Fate smiled upon us and at about 11:30pm we moored to a visitors bouy in Salcombe after a very long, and latterly tortuous day. I had to sleep in a survival suit as my sleeping bag was soaked - the tomato soup we had heated up on the meths burner was the best you've ever tasted.
This morning we motor sailed to Dartmouth across Start Point - the sea was pretty rough for a 20 footer, but rough seas on a sunny day, rather than a cold night are much more appealing. The gps stopped working - inspection showed a green build up between two terminals on the pc link port - possibly caused by some sort of electrolysis, may be explaining the excessive battery consumption. Thank heavens it didn't duff out the night before. After a lot of crashing and banging we got into Dartmouth and took over most of a pontoon with our wet kit, cushions etc, and removed all the water from the boat.
Writing this now I ask myself why, but the answer will be found in the comfort I'll feel tonight in a proper bed. We should all re-establish the baseline from time to time. Conversely, in the med with flatter seas warm enough to swin in, sleeping in hammocks and the only protective clothing necessary being a sun hat, I don't think comfort will be an issue!
Sorry to have droned on but there's a lot of lessons in the above and in the same way that I like to learn from others I like to share my own experiences.
Mainly there's no such word as can't, 18 foot is plenty - let me know when you go - we can meet up and I'll buy you a beer.
Mat
)