BobWad
Member
An "interesting" weekend.......
Those of you who have read my previous posts will know that I'm a complete novice at this small boat lark, having never been in control of one, so you'll probably read this and think - what a nutjob !
I finally bought my first boat (a 2011 Trophy 2352 with a 5l 260 hp Mercruiser) last Friday.
As she was sitting at Poole and I needed her to be at Ramsgate, I decided it would be fun (!) to sail her round, rather than get her trailered......
I armed myself with every piece of information that I could find, I've bought, read and memorised (most of) all of the contents of every book and website, got all the charts, worked out how to use the Garmin chartplotter, studied and learned all the VHF procedures etc etc. so I left no stone unturned on the theoretical side (I've got to wait for a place on VHF and Day Skipper courses and I'm too impatient to let that stop me) - I do have a solid maritime background working in the tanker industry for over 30 years though.
So I prepared a detailed passage plan, calculated distance/speed/consumption/tides/wind factors and was pleased to see that the weather for Saturday should be ok. I calculated that if we were lucky, we could do it in one hit, but put contingency plan(s) in place in case not....
So me and SWMBO set off for Poole Friday for an overnight stay before the 'adventure'.
Got off to a bad start as the pub we stayed in on Friday night was also host to a couple who had a drunken screaming argument in the early hours, so we didn't get much kip, but that's another story...
After a good in depth introduction to the boat from the boat broker (Bates), off we set with a full tank.
Headed south round the IOW to avoid the bank holiday Solent 'traffic' and discovered that all I had read about 'wind against tide' was correct. Even though it wasn't much of a wind, it had more of an effect on our passage than I anticipated, so it was slow, bumpy going.
By the time we passed south east of the IOW, it was distinctly uncomfortable - well, we were something like 15-20 nm offshore by then, so it's not surprising....
Anyhow, SWMBO was distinctly unimpressed to say the least - panic stricken is more accurate - and needed to go ashore sharpish !
So I hooked a sharp left, aimed for Portsmouth and put into Gosport Marina - which is lovely I might add !
SWMBO headed off on the train home and I settled down to a nice meal outside the Boathouse Café/Bistro overlooking the Marina, then kipped on the boat. Wasn't too bad although I didn't come prepared with any bedding, so two night's of not much sleep wasn't ideal preparation for a single handed assault on the balance of the trip.
Sunday morning eggs n toast followed by shifting to the fuel berth to fill her up again (she drunk the stuff on Saturday due to the conditions), then off I popped.
Similar conditions as Friday, but with the added amusement factor of a following swell made the next passage 'interesting'. Especially as I went in a straight line from Selsey Bill to Beachy Head, so I was again a fair distance from shore......
I was very pleased that I only 'stuffed her' once, but it took a lot of concentration to avoid doing it more often. At least I discovered that she empties out quite quickly
Anyway, what with the wind and the air temperature, my clothes dried off nicely
Beachy Head to Dungeness was very pleasant by comparison - I even managed to enjoy some of the scenery whilst dodging all the lobster pots en route, but time was flying by as I was still only managing about 10 knots max due to the roller coaster conditions.
Dungeness to Folkestone was similar, but it was getting cloudy and the light was fading as it was now around 8pm. Then the sh*t hit the fan....
After passing Folkestone, the sea conditions changed suddenly and dramatically - although there was no surface wave action as such, the swell increased in the blink of an eye - I would estimate something around 12-15 foot in constant and unpredictable directions. It could have been more but I wasn't in the mood to study it that closely. I had little control of the boat and for the first time I was very, very concerned for my safety. My mood wasn't improved by seeing the fuel gauge indicator knocking around the lower end.
Fortunately, I was only a couple of miles off Dover, so I aimed in that direction, hung on tight and crossed my fingers.
It took me over half an hour to get there and the sea state stayed the same all the way. I was not a happy bunny.
I finally made it and was fortunate enough to get a berth in the Marina - annoyingly though I was in a bit of a state and came in to the berth a bit fast and scraped the bow, so that will need patching up. Single handed mooring in a brisk off-berth wind, at night, after the fun n games I had just had was not conducive to a clean and smooth operation I can tell ya.
SWMBO came and picked me up, drove me back to Broadstairs and I slept in my own bed, like a baby.
Monday morning, and the last leg beckoned. Drove to Ramsgate, train to Dover then to the boat. Of course that's when you find out that there's no unleaded available at Dover Marina (doh!) but I have got 2 x 20l jerry cans, so I filled them both twice at the BP garage down the road (lucky I have a fold up trolley), topped her up and off we went.
As the song goes: What a difference a day makes.
Sea was like a millpond, no wind, sunny, lovely views all the way up from Dover, even SWMBO took the helm and was pushing 25 knots with a smile on her face.
The only mishap thereafter was that my plan to take the safe (draft) route through the Goodwin Sands worried her a bit because after her experience on Friday she wanted to hug the coastline.
That's all well and good and manageable at high tide, but we were right on low water by the time we were just off Pegwell Bay so there was no way through. Had to make a swift about turn, but still touched the bottom once before I got back on the deeper track back the way we had come.
So, back down to Deal then head north east, through the buoyed channel and got to Ramsgate no bother. Phew !
Tied up at visitor's berth as ours is in the inner Marina which is only accessible 2 hours either side of HW which wasn't until 1030. Popped into the Marina office to pick up entry fob, he knew nothing about us.... Wandered down to the berth and found someone already on it who said they'd been there for over a week (even though I had reserved it from Staurday 27th !!). Fortunately, there was an empty berth (better) next to it so we plonked ourselves there instead.
So, there you go. In hindsight I wouldn't have been so optimistic about the passage time, but I simply underestimated the slowing effect that the conditions have on a small boat (it doesn't affect tankers that much !!).
But it was an adventure, and I loved (almost) every bit of it.
Can't wait to get her out again, but got to do some home DIY first to make up for the 'lost weekend'.
Hey ho, such is life !!!
BobWad
Those of you who have read my previous posts will know that I'm a complete novice at this small boat lark, having never been in control of one, so you'll probably read this and think - what a nutjob !
I finally bought my first boat (a 2011 Trophy 2352 with a 5l 260 hp Mercruiser) last Friday.
As she was sitting at Poole and I needed her to be at Ramsgate, I decided it would be fun (!) to sail her round, rather than get her trailered......
I armed myself with every piece of information that I could find, I've bought, read and memorised (most of) all of the contents of every book and website, got all the charts, worked out how to use the Garmin chartplotter, studied and learned all the VHF procedures etc etc. so I left no stone unturned on the theoretical side (I've got to wait for a place on VHF and Day Skipper courses and I'm too impatient to let that stop me) - I do have a solid maritime background working in the tanker industry for over 30 years though.
So I prepared a detailed passage plan, calculated distance/speed/consumption/tides/wind factors and was pleased to see that the weather for Saturday should be ok. I calculated that if we were lucky, we could do it in one hit, but put contingency plan(s) in place in case not....
So me and SWMBO set off for Poole Friday for an overnight stay before the 'adventure'.
Got off to a bad start as the pub we stayed in on Friday night was also host to a couple who had a drunken screaming argument in the early hours, so we didn't get much kip, but that's another story...
After a good in depth introduction to the boat from the boat broker (Bates), off we set with a full tank.
Headed south round the IOW to avoid the bank holiday Solent 'traffic' and discovered that all I had read about 'wind against tide' was correct. Even though it wasn't much of a wind, it had more of an effect on our passage than I anticipated, so it was slow, bumpy going.
By the time we passed south east of the IOW, it was distinctly uncomfortable - well, we were something like 15-20 nm offshore by then, so it's not surprising....
Anyhow, SWMBO was distinctly unimpressed to say the least - panic stricken is more accurate - and needed to go ashore sharpish !
So I hooked a sharp left, aimed for Portsmouth and put into Gosport Marina - which is lovely I might add !
SWMBO headed off on the train home and I settled down to a nice meal outside the Boathouse Café/Bistro overlooking the Marina, then kipped on the boat. Wasn't too bad although I didn't come prepared with any bedding, so two night's of not much sleep wasn't ideal preparation for a single handed assault on the balance of the trip.
Sunday morning eggs n toast followed by shifting to the fuel berth to fill her up again (she drunk the stuff on Saturday due to the conditions), then off I popped.
Similar conditions as Friday, but with the added amusement factor of a following swell made the next passage 'interesting'. Especially as I went in a straight line from Selsey Bill to Beachy Head, so I was again a fair distance from shore......
I was very pleased that I only 'stuffed her' once, but it took a lot of concentration to avoid doing it more often. At least I discovered that she empties out quite quickly
Anyway, what with the wind and the air temperature, my clothes dried off nicely
Beachy Head to Dungeness was very pleasant by comparison - I even managed to enjoy some of the scenery whilst dodging all the lobster pots en route, but time was flying by as I was still only managing about 10 knots max due to the roller coaster conditions.
Dungeness to Folkestone was similar, but it was getting cloudy and the light was fading as it was now around 8pm. Then the sh*t hit the fan....
After passing Folkestone, the sea conditions changed suddenly and dramatically - although there was no surface wave action as such, the swell increased in the blink of an eye - I would estimate something around 12-15 foot in constant and unpredictable directions. It could have been more but I wasn't in the mood to study it that closely. I had little control of the boat and for the first time I was very, very concerned for my safety. My mood wasn't improved by seeing the fuel gauge indicator knocking around the lower end.
Fortunately, I was only a couple of miles off Dover, so I aimed in that direction, hung on tight and crossed my fingers.
It took me over half an hour to get there and the sea state stayed the same all the way. I was not a happy bunny.
I finally made it and was fortunate enough to get a berth in the Marina - annoyingly though I was in a bit of a state and came in to the berth a bit fast and scraped the bow, so that will need patching up. Single handed mooring in a brisk off-berth wind, at night, after the fun n games I had just had was not conducive to a clean and smooth operation I can tell ya.
SWMBO came and picked me up, drove me back to Broadstairs and I slept in my own bed, like a baby.
Monday morning, and the last leg beckoned. Drove to Ramsgate, train to Dover then to the boat. Of course that's when you find out that there's no unleaded available at Dover Marina (doh!) but I have got 2 x 20l jerry cans, so I filled them both twice at the BP garage down the road (lucky I have a fold up trolley), topped her up and off we went.
As the song goes: What a difference a day makes.
Sea was like a millpond, no wind, sunny, lovely views all the way up from Dover, even SWMBO took the helm and was pushing 25 knots with a smile on her face.
The only mishap thereafter was that my plan to take the safe (draft) route through the Goodwin Sands worried her a bit because after her experience on Friday she wanted to hug the coastline.
That's all well and good and manageable at high tide, but we were right on low water by the time we were just off Pegwell Bay so there was no way through. Had to make a swift about turn, but still touched the bottom once before I got back on the deeper track back the way we had come.
So, back down to Deal then head north east, through the buoyed channel and got to Ramsgate no bother. Phew !
Tied up at visitor's berth as ours is in the inner Marina which is only accessible 2 hours either side of HW which wasn't until 1030. Popped into the Marina office to pick up entry fob, he knew nothing about us.... Wandered down to the berth and found someone already on it who said they'd been there for over a week (even though I had reserved it from Staurday 27th !!). Fortunately, there was an empty berth (better) next to it so we plonked ourselves there instead.
So, there you go. In hindsight I wouldn't have been so optimistic about the passage time, but I simply underestimated the slowing effect that the conditions have on a small boat (it doesn't affect tankers that much !!).
But it was an adventure, and I loved (almost) every bit of it.
Can't wait to get her out again, but got to do some home DIY first to make up for the 'lost weekend'.
Hey ho, such is life !!!
BobWad
