Sailing from Chatham to Portsmouth and back - my latest YouTube video.

[Concerto]

Sailing to Portsmouth from Chatham for the Westerly Owners Association's 50th anniversary and back, in 2016. This is a video I have just loaded on YouTube. It is just over 9 minutes long and is mainly about the sailing, some of which is in strong winds. In fact the section from the Solent to Eastbourne was rough, and when I arrived I met a friend who had been storm bound there for 3 days and was shocked I had just arrived. There is also an accident I suffered, along with 2 other events, that make this a memorable trip. The video is a composite of photographs and video as it was just a personal record of the trip I have made into the video. Enjoy.

 

[tony_lavelle]

Roger, unfortunately the link doesn't work

 

[Slipperman]

A cracking video, well done - makes me want to do it! How long did it take you to sail from Portsmouth to Ramsgate?

 

[Gary Fox]

I would never admit my speed log was over-reading!

 

[Sandy]

I would never admit my speed log was over-reading!

Sadly not an excuse these days with GPS.

 

[Concerto]

A cracking video, well done - makes me want to do it! How long did it take you to sail from Portsmouth to Ramsgate?

2 days. I left Haslar and went straight to Eastbourne and the following day to Ramsgate. I tend to do long day sails. The longest I have done was from the Medway to Brighton in one hop using the tides with only 4 hours of adverse tide. Another was from Isles of Scilly direct to Salcombe. Luckily both were fast reaches.

 

[Concerto]

I would never admit my speed log was over-reading!

At the time I did not realise, but it has been corrected by 15% after this trip but I still have not had the right conditions to accurately check it 4 years on.

 

[Concerto]

Roger, unfortunately the link doesn't work

It is working Tony, try again.

 

[capnsensible]

Sadly not an excuse these days with GPS.

Turn the GPs off. ??

 

[tony_lavelle]

It is working Tony, try again.

Yes, it's working now. Thanks Roger.

 

[tony_lavelle]

That accidental gybe incident with the mainsheet could have been very nasty, especially when sailing solo. As your traveller is (wisely) aft of the cockpit it was very unlucky that the sheet caught you. Do you rig a preventer when sailing downwind in 20+ knots?

I note you have a strop from the boom end to the mainsheet block. is that a Gybe Tamer (from the nice gentleman in Chatham Marina) or just a strop?

By the way, what engine do you have? If it is a Volvo Penta MD 2020 or 2030 (I've had both), then I recognise the overheating problem. Symptoms are overheating alarm going off, noticeable loss of power/revs, coolant in the bilge but heat exchanger still full. The rubber boots on the heat exchanger may balloon and split. In my experience it's hard salt and soot deposits in the exhaust elbow or riser causing back pressure on the seawater, forcing it into the freshwater side via the rubber boots which are held on with jubilee clips. Cleaning with acid etc may not completely solve it. After years of trying solutions suggested on forums like this I spent £600 (ouch!) on a new riser and it's been fine since. I can feel a WOA mag article coming on...

 

[Concerto]

That accidental gybe incident with the mainsheet could have been very nasty, especially when sailing solo. As your traveller is (wisely) aft of the cockpit it was very unlucky that the sheet caught you. Do you rig a preventer when sailing downwind in 20+ knots?

I note you have a strop from the boom end to the mainsheet block. is that a Gybe Tamer (from the nice gentleman in Chatham Marina) or just a strop?

By the way, what engine do you have? If it is a Volvo Penta MD 2020 or 2030 (I've had both), then I recognise the overheating problem. Symptoms are overheating alarm going off, noticeable loss of power/revs, coolant in the bilge but heat exchanger still full. The rubber boots on the heat exchanger may balloon and split. In my experience it's hard salt and soot deposits in the exhaust elbow or riser causing back pressure on the seawater, forcing it into the freshwater side via the rubber boots which are held on with jubilee clips. Cleaning with acid etc may not completely solve it. After years of trying solutions suggested on forums like this I spent £600 (ouch!) on a new riser and it's been fine since. I can feel a WOA mag article coming on...

Tony

I was hand steering on starboard gybe dead running and sitting to port, a slight wind shift or wave caused it and wham over went the mainsail. Unfortunately the sheet just dipped as the boom reaches to the middle of the cockpit and the mainsheet is further aft, this causes the mainsheet to loop down. In a way I was lucky being to port as I would have been whacked and pinned against the lifelines by the mainsheet if I had been sitting to starboard. Normally when dead running I stand as I am then at the forward end of the cockpit and cannot get caught by the mainsheet.

The strop is to reduce windage and shorten the 6 part mainsheet. This was fitted by an earlier owner, along with the Easy Marine Easymatic block system that has two jammers so you can adjust at 3:1 and 6:1. Easy Marine Easymatic 1 Lower Double Violin Block 6:1 / 3:1 with Double Easy Servo Cleat 93102

Concerto has a 28hp Beta. Luckily this does not have any rubber boots in the heat exchanger like the Volvo. The overheating was due to my error. Whilst in Dover I checked the weed filter and forgot to turn the sea cock back on. Once I turned the sea cock back on, I retarted the engine to clear the Dover Western entrance but the cooling water was not enough to stop it boiling a second time. Unfortunately this caused a rapid build up in the heat exchanger and virtually blocked it. When the wind dopped near Beechy Head, I decided the engine was now cool and motored at 1400 rpm instead of 2200 rpm. This was fine and the engine did not overheat for the 15 miles under engine. Cleaning the heat exchanger on the Beta is pretty straight forward once it has been removed. The only tricky bit is refitting it on new O rings without pinching them.

You can just see some muck in the heat exchanger core.


This is where most of the blockage was.

 

[DJE]

Sailing to Portsmouth from Chatham for the Westerly Owners Association's 50th anniversary and back, in 2016. This is a video I have just loaded on YouTube. It is just over 9 minutes long and is mainly about the sailing, some of which is in strong winds. In fact the section from the Solent to Eastbourne was rough, and when I arrived I met a friend who had been storm bound there for 3 days and was shocked I had just arrived. There is also an accident I suffered, along with 2 other events, that make this a memorable trip. The video is a composite of photographs and video as it was just a personal record of the trip I have made into the video. Enjoy.

Enjoyed the film.
We did the Chatham to Portsmouth trip a few years ago delivering our new boat. We also had overheating problems so shut down the engine as soon as we cleared the Medway and sailed to Dover in a fresh northeasterly. Temporary repairs in Dover then motored to Eastbourne for further repairs and to hide from a gale, then sailed home in a perfect northerly F4.
The Volvo cooling system was never right until we had cleaned out the saildrive leg and replaced the exhaust elbow.

 

[Concerto]

Enjoyed the film.
We did the Chatham to Portsmouth trip a few years ago delivering our new boat. We also had overheating problems so shut down the engine as soon as we cleared the Medway and sailed to Dover in a fresh northeasterly. Temporary repairs in Dover then motored to Eastbourne for further repairs and to hide from a gale, then sailed home in a perfect northerly F4.
The Volvo cooling system was never right until we had cleaned out the saildrive leg and replaced the exhaust elbow.

You have described why I dislike Volvo engines and saildrives. Much prefer a shaft drive as it is simpler and hate the spare parts prices of Volvo and exhaust elbow. So glad Concerto came with a Beta engine, which is the marine engine of my choice.

 

[DJE]

You have described why I dislike Volvo engines and saildrives. Much prefer a shaft drive as it is simpler and hate the spare parts prices of Volvo and exhaust elbow. So glad Concerto came with a Beta engine, which is the marine engine of my choice.

Agree but the Volvo came attached to such a beautiful boat there was nothing I could do!