Concerto
Well-known member
Before I left today, I topped up my diesel tank. Very strange using a pump that can deliver 700 litres a minute and does not have a cut off valve. Luckily they restrict the flow to about 2½ litres a minute. Also I can look down the fuel filler into the tank as the top of the tank is about 6" under the cockpit floor. So, almost no spillage when full. Even stranger was leaving the harbour without paying. No, it was not free. The lady in the office had not arrived, but she phoned me about an hour and a half later and I paid over the phone.
The wind was a lot nicer today than recently, but still westerly. My destination was Stornaway on Lewes, with a course of 280. As the wind was fairly light I decided to keep slightly south of track as the tide was northward. In fact it proved to be wise. Initially I motor sailed with the mainsail very close hauled on starboard and then the wind veered and I was then on port tack. As it freed I was able to unroll the genoa as well for a short while before it became very tight again. It would have been a nice sail if I had been going either north or south, but the engine stayed on all of the trip.
It was nice to be in the cockpit in just jeans and a shirt and have the sun out when I left. Well, that did not last. The further out I went the colder it got. So I grabbed a thick sweatshirt. Halfway across, the sun disappeared under thick cloud and it started to rain. On with the oil skins, they seem to be my permanent uniform for sailing.
As I approached Stornaway, I thought that looks like a puffin, then another, and another. Literally saw hundreds of puffins, all resting on the sea until I passed nearby. Most dived, but a few attempted to fly and whacking the water with their wings.
Overall it was an uneventful day. Nothing much to see, nothing much to do and nothing broke.
The hills near Lochinver
Yours truly on the hottest day of the year!
The actual track was a gentle curve below the line.
For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one.
Round Britian day 1
The wind was a lot nicer today than recently, but still westerly. My destination was Stornaway on Lewes, with a course of 280. As the wind was fairly light I decided to keep slightly south of track as the tide was northward. In fact it proved to be wise. Initially I motor sailed with the mainsail very close hauled on starboard and then the wind veered and I was then on port tack. As it freed I was able to unroll the genoa as well for a short while before it became very tight again. It would have been a nice sail if I had been going either north or south, but the engine stayed on all of the trip.
It was nice to be in the cockpit in just jeans and a shirt and have the sun out when I left. Well, that did not last. The further out I went the colder it got. So I grabbed a thick sweatshirt. Halfway across, the sun disappeared under thick cloud and it started to rain. On with the oil skins, they seem to be my permanent uniform for sailing.
As I approached Stornaway, I thought that looks like a puffin, then another, and another. Literally saw hundreds of puffins, all resting on the sea until I passed nearby. Most dived, but a few attempted to fly and whacking the water with their wings.
Overall it was an uneventful day. Nothing much to see, nothing much to do and nothing broke.
The hills near Lochinver
Yours truly on the hottest day of the year!
The actual track was a gentle curve below the line.
For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one.
Round Britian day 1
