Concerto
Well-Known Member
It was another of those days, never unfurled the genoa, but for a different reason to the last post.
This morning I aimed to leave at 7, but was rudely awakened at 4.30 by a German yacht and a Dutch yacht shouting about where they were going to sail to. Just because they are up does not mean everyone is up at that hour, they could have walked a few steps on the pontoon and chatted quietly.
So, I was up at 6 and feeling slightly grumpy. The beach within the marina had 3 men entering the water for a swim at 6.30 and shouting loudly about how cold the water was. I quietly prepared Concerto to leave and just as I was about to start the engine, my German neighbour, who I had been chatting with yesterday and came onboard for a beer, said "GoodMorning. Where are you going to?" He had also been disturbed at 4.30. I slipped out of the berth at 6.55. After checking with port control, I motored out of the main harbour. After putting the last of the fenders away, I turned Concerto into a very light wind to raise the mainsail.
The shipping forecast and very other weather forecast were similar with S to SW 3 to 5. However, forecasts never seem to be right. The wind, if you could call it that, was from the SE and a 1 to 2 with a glassy sea. When I set to the required course, the very little wind evaporated as I was motoring faster than it was puffing. To stop the main slamming around I tightened the mainsheet. It took an hour and a half before I could slacken the mainsheet, but the light wind was from the NE. It must have been an onshore breeze caused by the land warming up fast and drawing the cold air off the sea. So, old faithful was having a field day and remained on for the whole trip.
As I was approaching Banff, I decided there was no point in leaving the main up, so I dropped it and stowed it correctly as the wind had vanished. Little di I know the real wind was becoming stronger than the onshore breeze and it would have been a satisfactory breeze to sail by from the SW but I was just 3 miles from Whitehills Marina so I could not be bothered even to unfurl the genoa. At a mile out I prepared all the fenders for starboard to berthing. Just off the entrance I gave a call on the VHF and no one responded. I found out later the harbourmaster goes home for lunch!
The approach to the harbour is rocky and narrow and you then have a sharp narrow port hand turn to enter the outer basin. Directly opposite the entrance is the visitor pontoon. There was 13m Dutch vessel in the corner, a space the looked long enough for Concerto, a Nicholson 45 and another long space. There was another larger German yacht following me in and he had to wait until I had finished turning round to enter the short space, leaving the larger space for him. The skipper of the Dutch yacht gave me a hand to moor up and there was only about a metre of space at the bow and stern, so it was tight. To my surprise the other yacht then decided to reverse out of the harbour. Someone later told me they were just having a look at a number of harbours to see which ones they were going to visit on their way back. All tied up by 13.15 after covering the 35 miles from Peterhead. So, 6 hours 20 minutes gives an average speed over the ground of 5½ knots. The Beta engine was running at 2200 rpm and 5.6 knots was on the log most of the time and I had a little bit of tidal benefit, but the slow progress into the marina wasted at least 20 minutes with little distance.
A small problem occured with my autopilot today. The pin that secures the ram to the deck socket had decided to work the securing pin out. This is the second time this has happened. After hammering the securing pin back into the main pin, with a bit of butyl rubber for extra grip, I decided I needed a small screw at either end of the securing pin to stop it happening again. Small self tappers fixed easily into the plastic end fitting at each end of the securing pin should solve the problem permanently.
Already had a quick walk round the village and bought some fish plus some more beers and diet cokes. The harbour master is a retired fisherman who served as one of the harbour's commishioners, as it is a community run harbour established in 1895 by Act of Parliament and opened in 1900. It is now mainly a leisure boat harbour with some small fishing boats. The new shoreside facilities are nearing completion and are excellent. Last year it was the runner up in the small coastal marina category in the national marina wards. Boats up to 10m are £20 and over that are £25. Well worth a visit.
This was at 7.15.
Concerto viewed through the narrow left hand turn entrance. The marina is inside the next basin and is for berth holders only.
For thos just finding this post, you can read from the start on this link. Each thread has a link to the next one.
Round Britian day 1
This morning I aimed to leave at 7, but was rudely awakened at 4.30 by a German yacht and a Dutch yacht shouting about where they were going to sail to. Just because they are up does not mean everyone is up at that hour, they could have walked a few steps on the pontoon and chatted quietly.
So, I was up at 6 and feeling slightly grumpy. The beach within the marina had 3 men entering the water for a swim at 6.30 and shouting loudly about how cold the water was. I quietly prepared Concerto to leave and just as I was about to start the engine, my German neighbour, who I had been chatting with yesterday and came onboard for a beer, said "GoodMorning. Where are you going to?" He had also been disturbed at 4.30. I slipped out of the berth at 6.55. After checking with port control, I motored out of the main harbour. After putting the last of the fenders away, I turned Concerto into a very light wind to raise the mainsail.
The shipping forecast and very other weather forecast were similar with S to SW 3 to 5. However, forecasts never seem to be right. The wind, if you could call it that, was from the SE and a 1 to 2 with a glassy sea. When I set to the required course, the very little wind evaporated as I was motoring faster than it was puffing. To stop the main slamming around I tightened the mainsheet. It took an hour and a half before I could slacken the mainsheet, but the light wind was from the NE. It must have been an onshore breeze caused by the land warming up fast and drawing the cold air off the sea. So, old faithful was having a field day and remained on for the whole trip.
As I was approaching Banff, I decided there was no point in leaving the main up, so I dropped it and stowed it correctly as the wind had vanished. Little di I know the real wind was becoming stronger than the onshore breeze and it would have been a satisfactory breeze to sail by from the SW but I was just 3 miles from Whitehills Marina so I could not be bothered even to unfurl the genoa. At a mile out I prepared all the fenders for starboard to berthing. Just off the entrance I gave a call on the VHF and no one responded. I found out later the harbourmaster goes home for lunch!
The approach to the harbour is rocky and narrow and you then have a sharp narrow port hand turn to enter the outer basin. Directly opposite the entrance is the visitor pontoon. There was 13m Dutch vessel in the corner, a space the looked long enough for Concerto, a Nicholson 45 and another long space. There was another larger German yacht following me in and he had to wait until I had finished turning round to enter the short space, leaving the larger space for him. The skipper of the Dutch yacht gave me a hand to moor up and there was only about a metre of space at the bow and stern, so it was tight. To my surprise the other yacht then decided to reverse out of the harbour. Someone later told me they were just having a look at a number of harbours to see which ones they were going to visit on their way back. All tied up by 13.15 after covering the 35 miles from Peterhead. So, 6 hours 20 minutes gives an average speed over the ground of 5½ knots. The Beta engine was running at 2200 rpm and 5.6 knots was on the log most of the time and I had a little bit of tidal benefit, but the slow progress into the marina wasted at least 20 minutes with little distance.
A small problem occured with my autopilot today. The pin that secures the ram to the deck socket had decided to work the securing pin out. This is the second time this has happened. After hammering the securing pin back into the main pin, with a bit of butyl rubber for extra grip, I decided I needed a small screw at either end of the securing pin to stop it happening again. Small self tappers fixed easily into the plastic end fitting at each end of the securing pin should solve the problem permanently.
Already had a quick walk round the village and bought some fish plus some more beers and diet cokes. The harbour master is a retired fisherman who served as one of the harbour's commishioners, as it is a community run harbour established in 1895 by Act of Parliament and opened in 1900. It is now mainly a leisure boat harbour with some small fishing boats. The new shoreside facilities are nearing completion and are excellent. Last year it was the runner up in the small coastal marina category in the national marina wards. Boats up to 10m are £20 and over that are £25. Well worth a visit.
This was at 7.15.
Concerto viewed through the narrow left hand turn entrance. The marina is inside the next basin and is for berth holders only.
For thos just finding this post, you can read from the start on this link. Each thread has a link to the next one.
Round Britian day 1
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