Itchenor Hard

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st0ne5ish

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Hello,

Going to be putting my Bilge keel onto Itchenor Hard this week to give it a clean and a fresh coat of antifoul between tides. Having never done this before does anyone have any tips or things to watch out for?

I was thinking of putting it on about an hour after high tide. What the safest way to get it back in again once the tide comes back in?

Thanks,
Steve
 
Two things you need to be aware of before drying out, firstly, are the tides going from spring to neep, or neeps to spring. This week they are going from neep to spring. If they were going the other way there is always the danger of being 'neeped', stranded until the next springs. The second other factor is barometric pressure. If it was currently low pressure but going to become high, then another possible cause to get stuck would exist. However, the pressure is high and likely to be all week. So an hour before or after or even HW itself you will be able to safely float off, as the following tide will be slightly higher.

Dont forget to take a hose with you, then you can wash off all the muck before you put the fresh AF on. Good luck
 
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st0ne5ish said:
Thanks galadriel, out of interest how does the pressure effect things?
Click to expand...

Every millibar of pressure higher than the norm depresses the rise of tide by one centimetre, roughly, give or take, and with all normal disclaimers. Thus, if pressure rises while you're painting and decorating, there'll be a bit less water to float you off.
 
Hi
Remember to be going by the HW time of Itchenor not the harbour entrance. I'd err on the side of caution timings wise. When I did something similar I used the hard hose which you pay to use if you require for any length of time(and you may need your own nozzle, it keeps getting nicked)...(not sure if you'd need your own extension)... I found the Conservancy office and staff very helpful.....(phone in advance, others may be using the scrubbing piles and therefore the electric or hose) .........there is electric power too if you were to pressure wash (err can of worms?). But it is a busy hard too so picking your spot is tricky, there are odd chains on the lhs as you look out from the hard you could secure to as you float off........ do a recce beforehand if you haven't already. I got some cheap waders from Lidl which come in handy for this sort of thing..... walking the boat about in the shallows might be the easiest way to do things (before tide starts to really shift).
 
Hi,

Thanks for the tips Dave, I was planning on using a pressure washer but it's a petrol one, I phoned the harbour office today and they said I should be able to negotiate with anyone who has booked the piles for use of the water or they said there is a tap onshore I could use.

Cheers,
Steve
 
I launch my dinghy there a lot and the current cannot be underestimated on a spring ebb. As I use a drysuit I often help out others who are less waterproofed either launching or recovering as the drop off at the low tide mark is very sudden and you can find yourself waistdeep just a few meters offshore. Even where you will be leaning-to.

Also, and this is just from observations of others doing what you propose:

- take a long hose, I think twice the length of a normal garden hose should do it
- for electric power you will need more than a 50m reel. The last lot I saw there were about 10m short
- the hard is very busy at weekends, try a weekday

I also recommend:

- a prawn sandwich from the fish stand on the hard. Absolutely delicious!
- a pint in the pub up the road. They serve some very good ale there.

Hope this helps!
 
Twister_Ken said:
Every millibar of pressure higher than the norm depresses the rise of tide by one centimetre, roughly, give or take, and with all normal disclaimers. Thus, if pressure rises while you're painting and decorating, there'll be a bit less water to float you off.
Click to expand...

.........and the norm is 1013mb...
 
Hi Steve
Good luck.........its going to be hot dirty work but as you say the hard should be quiet. My late thought was what is the draft of your boat? I've never been on a bilge keel boat so my tip? about walking the boat around might be inappropriate. Certainly Gaffers comment about how the hard suddenly shelves near the low water area and the strength of current are factors, but you plan to be drying out well before that kicks in. BTW there is a shower you might want to use there afterwards, and park your car and anyone elses a good distance from where your spray might travel:)
Dave
 
and park your car and anyone elses a good distance from where your spray might trave
Click to expand...
Parking is not permitted on the hard ... big fines threatened. The car park is a short walk away so will be well out of reach of even the most powerful pressure washer
 
Hi Vic
Indeed, there is parking and "Parking"...... but when it is quiet and you are working on your boat with car nearby, boot open and introducing yourself at the office......... parking should not be a problem

but when its a hot sunny bank holiday weekend you'll struggle to even get in the car park, if you haven't got run over by massive RIB trailers doing 180's on the hard:D...... Emsworth is mellow by comparison (I even quite enjoy paddling out down the channel at lowish water to float my dinghy)
 
Job done yesterday, no problems at all, we had a really good day.

Thanks for all the tips, glad we took 2 hoses otherwise it would have been a problem. The boat was really messy underneath, I think half the worlds barnacles had set-up camp on the bottom. It was messy work and after choosing red antifoul we ended up looking like we had gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Thanks to "oldharry" a fellow Trident 24 owner who had seen the messages and come down to offer some tips and lend a hand securing the boat.

We got the whole job done in less than 4 hours and spent a good amount of time in the pub relaxing and watching the footy, now the topsides and deck look worse than the bottom of the boat!

Anyone have any tips on painting the topsides and deck? Paints methods etc...

Cheers,
Steve
 
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