damo
Well-Known Member
Summer cruise (he\'s back!)
After various trials and tribulations with family and boat it's nice to relate that I had a successful voyage despite the crap weather this summer.
Day 1 at the end of July was a head-to-wind motor to Porlock, during which the rocker cover gasket finally collapsed, sending most of the engine oil into the bilge, and the anchor winch finally packed in when the sprocket chain broke! Fortunately PBO-man made a new gasket from cardboard and silicone sealant which has now lasted for a further 40 hours of motoring, although he now has a floppy chart folio /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Porlock to Tenby was rough and windy (F8 at Mumbles for a while ) but the new hydrovane performed brilliantly for the first time. I stocked up on oil, then went over to anchor at Caldy Is where there was much more shelter from the strong SWly.
I was beating towards Milford Haven when it occurred to me that the tack to clear St Gowans would actually take me to the Scilly Is, so I kept on going. Naturally the wind backed during the day so I ended up anchoring at Port Quin Bay near Padstow. The next day was a slow beat in lightish winds and rain, enlivened by basking sharks and dolphins, until I eventually got the engine going for the last 20M to Lanzend, which I passed late in the evening
Pendeen light house (NB when the pilot says to keep well offshore to avoid the race, then believe it! I won't be deceived by the light winds next time)
Longships
It was a great run up the Channel towards the Channel Is - sun and whitecaps most of the way - but the thought of motoring against the tide into Guernsey that night didn't appeal, so for the first time I tried the old trick of heaving-to for a few hours west of the Hanois light. This worked a treat and I got about 5 hours kip: the gps showed a neat horseshoe track back to about a mile from where I started! I got to Bouley Bay on Jersey mid morning after my longest passage yet - 250M in 2 days.
I met up with my mate Bill who ran me in to St Helier to buy an anchor windlass, but nobody had one in stock. Amazingly though, the first place had an identical s/h SL-Hyspeed "out the back" which was seized up, so we settled on £20 with the hope I might get one working unit out of two knackered ones. I left the next morning to get back to England before the next bout of gales, so of course I had to motor all the way across the Channel in light winds and hot sunshine. It did allow me to strip the windlass though - I got it working by the time I reached the Casquets TSS - and I swapped them over while crossing the westbound lane (I had to keep wriggling out of the anchor locker every few minutes for a lookout /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )
I woke up to the sight of a Mediterranean anchorage in Hopes Cove:
I picked up a mooring at the Starcross club on the Exe and waited out the next few days of bad weather, which was profitably spent roofing a garden cabin for my mate Bob, and going up the mast yet again to try and fix the tricolour light:
Bob joined me for the return trip, and I was getting a bit anxious because I now only had 7 days before I was back at work. A slow beat towards Plymouth turned into a very wet and fast run in a rising SEly, and we got into Cawsands in the early hours in torrential rain, and only half an hour before the forecast veer to SW:
We moved round to Barn Pool the next day and enjoyed a grandstand position for 2 evenings of the Firework Competition, and a chat with one of the Jester boats just back from the Azores (hands-up who wants to cross an ocean in a b/keel Westerly 22 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )
Belgean:
The next weather window allowed another slow beat towards lanzend, via a nice anchorage by the lifeboat slip at Bass Point on the Lizard, and just after rounding the Longships again the wind backed to the SE and picked up a LOT. 13 hours of fair tide that day, along with 25kn on the quarter brought us to Port Quin Bay again, and a few hours kip after Bob's wonderful mackerel lasagne!
We left at 0100 and had a very fast sail back - it got a bit rough crossing Bideford Bay
(video ) - and we stopped in the Range at Ilfracombe for a couple of hours for a breather. The SEly was screaming down off Exmoor, causing small whirlwinds and nasty gusts (40kn?), and it was relief to get out of it after Porlock. The view looking back:
We made it into Portishead on one tide from Ilfracombe (18 hours from Padstow, with 2 reefs in all the way), and a nice hot shower and meal at my mum's!
So despite the crappy summer I did what I needed to keep me going through the winter /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif 830 miles in total in 16 days, and visits to lots of new places for Snow Petrel. The forum flag bravely flew throughout... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
After various trials and tribulations with family and boat it's nice to relate that I had a successful voyage despite the crap weather this summer.
Day 1 at the end of July was a head-to-wind motor to Porlock, during which the rocker cover gasket finally collapsed, sending most of the engine oil into the bilge, and the anchor winch finally packed in when the sprocket chain broke! Fortunately PBO-man made a new gasket from cardboard and silicone sealant which has now lasted for a further 40 hours of motoring, although he now has a floppy chart folio /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Porlock to Tenby was rough and windy (F8 at Mumbles for a while ) but the new hydrovane performed brilliantly for the first time. I stocked up on oil, then went over to anchor at Caldy Is where there was much more shelter from the strong SWly.
I was beating towards Milford Haven when it occurred to me that the tack to clear St Gowans would actually take me to the Scilly Is, so I kept on going. Naturally the wind backed during the day so I ended up anchoring at Port Quin Bay near Padstow. The next day was a slow beat in lightish winds and rain, enlivened by basking sharks and dolphins, until I eventually got the engine going for the last 20M to Lanzend, which I passed late in the evening
Pendeen light house (NB when the pilot says to keep well offshore to avoid the race, then believe it! I won't be deceived by the light winds next time)
Longships
It was a great run up the Channel towards the Channel Is - sun and whitecaps most of the way - but the thought of motoring against the tide into Guernsey that night didn't appeal, so for the first time I tried the old trick of heaving-to for a few hours west of the Hanois light. This worked a treat and I got about 5 hours kip: the gps showed a neat horseshoe track back to about a mile from where I started! I got to Bouley Bay on Jersey mid morning after my longest passage yet - 250M in 2 days.
I met up with my mate Bill who ran me in to St Helier to buy an anchor windlass, but nobody had one in stock. Amazingly though, the first place had an identical s/h SL-Hyspeed "out the back" which was seized up, so we settled on £20 with the hope I might get one working unit out of two knackered ones. I left the next morning to get back to England before the next bout of gales, so of course I had to motor all the way across the Channel in light winds and hot sunshine. It did allow me to strip the windlass though - I got it working by the time I reached the Casquets TSS - and I swapped them over while crossing the westbound lane (I had to keep wriggling out of the anchor locker every few minutes for a lookout /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )
I woke up to the sight of a Mediterranean anchorage in Hopes Cove:
I picked up a mooring at the Starcross club on the Exe and waited out the next few days of bad weather, which was profitably spent roofing a garden cabin for my mate Bob, and going up the mast yet again to try and fix the tricolour light:
Bob joined me for the return trip, and I was getting a bit anxious because I now only had 7 days before I was back at work. A slow beat towards Plymouth turned into a very wet and fast run in a rising SEly, and we got into Cawsands in the early hours in torrential rain, and only half an hour before the forecast veer to SW:
We moved round to Barn Pool the next day and enjoyed a grandstand position for 2 evenings of the Firework Competition, and a chat with one of the Jester boats just back from the Azores (hands-up who wants to cross an ocean in a b/keel Westerly 22 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )
Belgean:
The next weather window allowed another slow beat towards lanzend, via a nice anchorage by the lifeboat slip at Bass Point on the Lizard, and just after rounding the Longships again the wind backed to the SE and picked up a LOT. 13 hours of fair tide that day, along with 25kn on the quarter brought us to Port Quin Bay again, and a few hours kip after Bob's wonderful mackerel lasagne!
We left at 0100 and had a very fast sail back - it got a bit rough crossing Bideford Bay
(video ) - and we stopped in the Range at Ilfracombe for a couple of hours for a breather. The SEly was screaming down off Exmoor, causing small whirlwinds and nasty gusts (40kn?), and it was relief to get out of it after Porlock. The view looking back:
We made it into Portishead on one tide from Ilfracombe (18 hours from Padstow, with 2 reefs in all the way), and a nice hot shower and meal at my mum's!
So despite the crappy summer I did what I needed to keep me going through the winter /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif 830 miles in total in 16 days, and visits to lots of new places for Snow Petrel. The forum flag bravely flew throughout... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
