Csárdás

Yikes, I haven’t written anything since July.

Well, needless to say the damaged stainless steel bow roller fitting was removed and a new one was made up from scratch.  It turned out to be quite a complicated thing to make and the lads at Hayeswood Technical Services in Poole did a grand job.   I filled all the existing holes with epoxy and redrilled and refitted larger bolts.  It all looks nice and new and the new part is made of thicker 5mm plate, so it’s stronger than ever.

Shortly after the Round the Island race we sailed as a family to the Hamble and joined some other Hanse yachts for the Hanse rally.  We had a strong following wind across Poole and Christchuch bays so it was a bit rolly.  Ben didn’t look too impressed, and stayed subdued until perking up when we reached the flat water of the Solent.  James slept all the way.  As we had the kids on board we didn’t bother racing the next day, but motored out to watch the other boats start and then motored across to Cowes for lunch.  An enjoyable weekend, and pleased that we had managed it with the two littluns.

Not much to report since then.  Just the odd day sail.

Have just arranged for Csardas to be lifted out of the water in Feb for a couple of months.  And have organised a new mooring.  Next season Csardas will be moored on a swinging mooring in the harbour just off Hamworthy.  It’s much cheaper than the marina which I feel I am not getting value from, especially as the boat is taking a bit of a back seat for a while.  But it’s also the right side of Poole bridge which can be a pain.  The bridge requires too much planning when we have a 40 minute drive to start with, and we’ve missed it a few times, when coming in and in terms of getting out for the day at a sensible time.  By the time we’ve packed up the kids and got them in the car we never seem to get to the boat for a good time.   I think being on a mooring will be fun even if all we do is get the launch to the boat and don’t go anywhere.  And it’s less work to get off and on a buoy.  It probably also means I’m more likely to sail on my own, and if I should feel brave enough to take Ben out on my own next summer, on a fair day, I think it will make life easier.  We’ll see!

I have always wanted to take part in the Round the Island Race but always tended to be away over the summer. This year, with no family sailing holiday planned on account of James being only five months old, I made an entry. I don’t think I quite knew what I was letting myself in for. Somehow I had gained the impression that it wasn’t too serious - more of a jamboree - a family affair - with thousands of yachts of various descriptions all taking part for the fun of it. I was to find out that most took it far more seriously than that. I hadn’t been too successful in gathering a strong crew, ending up with just myself, Phil and Wayne, who had only been sailing twice before. But imagining that it would be a relaxed affair I thought we could just enjoy the day without too much effort and get by quite happily with just the three of us. As we can easily do when we cruise.

Approaching the day the forecasts suggested it was going to be blustery. I hadn’t been organised enough to book a berth in Cowes so I started to worry about getting moored up with 2000 other boats. The original plan was to join the PYRA fleet in a race to Cowes on Friday, but I decided I wanted to try and get to Cowes a bit earlier to ensure a good berth. My friends John and Sue on Swagman were going to arrive on Thursday evening so it would also be nice to get there early enough to spend some time with them. However, my crew couldn’t join me until after work on Thursday, so we woud have to get the 2130 bridge lift. A look at the tide tables revealed the tide would be flooding into the Solent through Hurst Narrows at about 11pm on Thursday night. So it was decided we would leave Cobbs Quay at 2130 and keep sailing to get into the Solent and pick up a buoy at Yarmouth around midnight, then hop along to Cowes on Friday morning.

We had quite a ride to Yarmouth in a Westerly force 6. A big swell saw us surfing at speeds of up to 11 knots at times. We started off with one reef and soon put in another out in the bay. With the wind dead aft the genoa was flapping around doing nothing, so it was soon rolled away and we sped along with just the double reefed main. Phil did a sterling job checking our position as I gripped the wheel and, after several attempts to pick up a buoy in the dark, against a strong tide and wind, we were on a buoy off Yarmouth by 0030 and into our bunks.

Early Friday morning we ambled along to Cowes and initially moored up alongside Swagman until we were moved by the harbour master to a boat more our size. There were actually still bits of pontoon free, but we chose to be nearer the outside to avoid being trapped in the morning. We enjoyed a leisurely day and mid afternoon a whole fleet of yachts turned up and quickly filled up the remaining berths - it was of course the PYRA lot who had enjoyed a fast sail from Poole with wind and tide.

Up at 5am on Saturday to prepare for our 0650 start. It was still quite blustery and boy was it busy near the start line! We didn’t manage a very good start and I soon realised we needed more crew as it became a case of looking out for and dodging other boats as we tacked back and forth towards the needles. With 1700 boats in the race it was busy! Being a first timer I’d marked a position just outside of the wreck off the Needles and wanted to give it plenty of room. The fleet bunched up at the Needles with boats jostling to get round and we all became very close. A rather rude and aggressive skipper outside of us started shouting at us to bear away saying we had room. I shouted back that that was my decision to make and I’ll go when I’m ready. I’m perfectly in my rights to hold a boat out and not be pushed towards danger.

Once round the Needles we headed off down wind with the wind on our starboard quarter. Big and confused swell plus the gusty wind put everyone on the edge of control. We could see boats broaching and rounding up left right and centre. A larger cruising boat was overtaking us to windward and clearly wanted to head inshore, and kept pushing down towards us. I was concerned that he was too close, plus he was confusing the air we were getting. Unfortunately the inevitable soon happened. We caught a gust and a bit of swell the wrong way and the boat began to round up into the wind. I had the helm hard over but had no control. There was no time to do anything and our bow smashed into the port quarter of the other yacht. The stainless steel plate and bow roller on the front of Csardas was twisted and bent out of all recognition. Bolts had sheered and the bottom of the pulpit stanchion was hanging loose. Phil went up and checked the forestay attachment. It was being pushed to one side by the bent stainless but was otherwise fine. Luckily the forestay on Csardas goes through a slot in the bow and connects to the stem lower down. Some boats have the forestay connect higher up with the attachment integral to the bow fitting. It might have been worse were that the case - we could have lost the mast.

As we hit the other boat there was much shouting and hand waving from the other boat, and I found myself apologising to them. But a few minutes later I realised that they were in the wrong. They had been overtaking so should have stood clear. Had they not been so close we wouldn’t have hit them. Boats were rounding up all over the place so allowances should have been made when passing. And afterwards we could see this other yacht rounding up every so often also. So they should have known the score.

There didn’t appear to be any noticeable damage to the other boat beyond some cracked gelcoat. I suspect a bit of gelcoat filler and a polish is all they need. Unfortunately Csardas requires a new stainless steel bow fitting. Just lucky that it is not structural. The boat will cope without it for a while.

That incident made us a bit nervous of other yachts that would insist on getting quite close. There was no way the three of us could fly our large spinnaker in those conditions. As it was I was the only one who knew how to do the foredeck work, but in those conditions I was also the only one who could steer the boat. So we stuck with white sails. It would have made such a difference to have more crew. With our handicap based on having such a large spinnaker it was clear we weren’t going to do well. But after the collision I don’t think we were too worried about that. We just wanted to get back without any more dramas.

Whilst on the south side of the island we listened to mayday after mayday on channel 16. We saw broken masts, ripped sails, heard reports of man over board, and someone being knocked unconscious in an unexpected gybe. A helicoptor lifted someone off just off St Catherines Point and there were two lifeboats on station. It was chaos. At one point the coastguard responded to a mayday call by saying, in not so many words, “Sorry, we’re rather busy at the moment”. The silly thing is I don’t consider 20 knots windy. In normal circumstances, it was pleasant cruising weather. But add in thousands of boats and aggressive competition and it becomes a different ball game.

The fleet came together again rounding Bembridge and up to the Fort. After the fort we began our beat back to Cowes and it became busy again with lots of ducking and diving. By this time Phil and Wayne were working the sails when we needed to ease off to duck under a starboard boat, and power up again afterwards. They were learning fast.

At one point we ended up nearer the north shore and heading towards Cowes. While most boats were heading south and tacking along in the shallows out of the tide I decided that despite the foul tide I’d stay in clear air and clear water and keep our lives easy for a while. We really could have done with someone on the bow keeping a permanent look out at the very least.

An exciting finish as yachts bunched up again and we finished at 1538 after 8h40 mins. On corrected time we came only 40th out of 43 finishes. Not at all great. But considering our short-handedness, and inexperience, plus a very tricky handicap based on having a huge spinnaker which we did not fly, we should be pleased. Upsetting to suffer damage, but it could have been worse. It will fix. And I’m sure had that not happened and put a cloud over us we might have done better.

By the time we got into Cowes, Shepherds marina was full. But we got a berth alongside another yacht on the visitor’s pontoon up the river and had a well earned beer before going ashore for a curry!

On Sunday we joined the PYRA fleet for a race back to Poole. Similar conditions so a beat all the way back. Again not a great start but with the skills learned the day before Phil and Wayne worked the sails and we managed to keep pace with some other class 1 yachts and thoroughly enjoyed the sail back.

An interesting weekend. The RTI race not quite what I expected. But despite the mishaps, an enjoyable one and I think everyone learned a lot. Next time, if there is one, I’ll make sure we have more crew!

On Monday I slackened off the rigging to remove the forestay and then after lots of hammering and cutting of bent bolts managed to remove the mangled stainless plate before reattaching forestay. I’ve given the plate to a friend who works with metal to see if he might be able to straighten it, or make a new plate up. Failing that I’ll have to go commercial. But in the mean time the boat is usable - the bow just looks a little tatty and there’s no bow roller, oh and the pulpit is wobbly. There’s always something to fix!

It was time MJT Net Ltd got together for a strategy meeting with Dave Collins, the CEO of Shareware Promotions, who handle MJT’s online marketing, so on Tuesday the two companies chartered Csardas for the day:

A very productive and enjoyable session. Another great day at the office

There’s good, reasonably priced, Wifi access at the marina, with an access point on each pontoon, and Wifi can be had at many destinations. The only problem is that the boat laptop is permanently “plumbed” into the chart table with the screen closed so it won’t get great Wifi reception unless it is removed and opened up.

I’ve seen these dedicated marine Wifi antennas for sale for about 200 quid and heard good things about them:

But 200 quid!? A bit of Googling revealed that they’re made in the USA by Radiolabs who sell them for $169.95 USD. They’ll ship to the UK by airmail for $45. So a total of just over $200 = £100 GBP. And even if one gets clobbered for VAT by the postman it’s still significantly cheaper. So of course I’ve placed an order along with a marine grade USB extension cable. Big savings.

I look forward to receiving it and mounting it on the rail. I can see the boat being used as an office more regularly

Great weekend to Alderney and back. A PYRA event - was meant to be Cherbourg but militant striking French fishermen put us all off. So Alderney it was. Cracking reach across to Alderney in 8h45m. Flew spinnaker to begin with until wind picked up and became too close.

I think we were second or third PYRA boat to arrive in Alderney to find all mooring buoys occupied. Rafted up and soon were 4 boats to a buoy. Very bumpy night, lots of creaking and snatching - hardly slept at all.

Hired bikes and rode around the island on Saturday, visited the town and enjoyed lunch overlooking the harbour.

Unfortunately wind went round to NW over Sat night, so a very close hauled sail back in a strong Easterly running tide. The fully crewed race boats were all immediately powered up and pointing much higher than us so we ended up further east than the rest. Eventually I got the boat trimmed and was pleased with how well she was pointing but it was a little too late. About 20nm SSW of the Needles the wind died and we decided we wanted to get home at a sensible hour so fired up the engine and motored the rest of the way.

Came upon Eye 2 Eye tacking against wind and tide up Poole approach channel. Turned out they had engine problems so we towed them into the harbour and up to Parkstone. Going into the harbour at full revs our SOG managed only 2.5 knots!

Superb weekend. Great sailing despite having to motor the last 4 hours. Glad to have been to Alderney for the first time. Been to Cherbourg loads so, frankly, the change of destination was welcomed.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/marcus.tettmar/PooleAlderney68Jun2008

It’s been a while since I updated this blog.  As you may have noticed I have just migrated the old blog over to Wordpress.  The old blog software was way out of date and always had a few problems.  So this switch over was long overdue.

Csardas came out of the water on 22nd March for a couple of coats of antifouling and went back in early on 5th April.  Phil, Ian and I were keen to get out sailing so we literally drove her out of the slings straight down to the bridge and out into the harbour for a quick sail.   The sun was shining and there was a light breeze, so a very pleasant first sail of the season.

Phil and I participated in the first PYRA (Poole Yacht Racing Association) persuit race on May 4th.  Csardas has an IRC rating handicap which puts us in class 1 with the serious racers and their carbon fiber sails and 8 strong crew.  The two of us have absolutely no chance sailing to our official handicap with a boat set up for cruising with dirty white sails.  But it’s the taking part that counts!   The wind died before any boat had even reached the first mark and yachts ended up pointing in all directions.  The 2 hour time limit was up before the lead boat had reached the second mark.  The finishing boats had a hard job determining any kind of finishing order.  It was probably all a bit random but we finished something like 14th out of 28 boats.

The next event was the PYRA Poole - Lymington - Poole weekend.  Phil and Wayne joined me for that.  This time there was absolutely NO wind.  After hanging about for a bit to see if the wind would pick up the race officer told everyone to motor in convoy towards Lymington and hope for breeze.  It never came.  So we cracked open the beers and turned the music up.  Others found novel ways to entertain.  Eye 2 Eye hoisted their spinnaker and then appeared to motor backwards to fill it!  Mark Taylor from Ear to Absurdity entertained the fleet by wakeboarding behind his yacht, using the Spinnaker Halyard.  His crew motored the boat at full revs.  Yes, it worked.  It was quite a spectacle.

The following morning there was a slight breeze in the Solent and we were able to do a short race.  Neither Wayne nor Phil had set a spinnaker before so I wasn’t expecting us to do very well against the other class one boats.  Not surprisingly we finished last.  However, as there were only three boats in Class 1 we came away with third place :-).   The wind was accentuated by the Solent and once outside it died away to almost nothing again.  There was to be a race from the North Channel marker to Poole.  We hoisted the Spinnaker about 100m back from the start line only to have the wind die on us before we’d even crossed it!  They extended the start time in view of the conditions but still many boats didn’t make it, including us. We again motored all the way back to Poole!  In fact no one finished that race within the allowed time.

Despite the lack of wind we enjoyed blazing sunshine and good company at Lymington.

The next planned trip is a PYRA race weekend to Cherbourg and back on June 6th.  A few jobs to do on the boat before then, and hopefully time for a short bay sail too.

When we got to the boat last Wednesday I switched all the instruments on only to find the Garmin 182C chart plotter which I have had for about 7 years failed to power up properly. The screen remained blank and all it did was beep. I checked the fuse and wiring but all seemed fine.

No matter we certainly weren’t going to need GPS for a short 1 or 2 hour sail. So we left it all alone.

I phoned Garmin the following morning. I found a technical support freephone number on their website and right from the start I was impressed that I got straight through to them. I was told to test the voltage at the back of the unit but if all seemed fine then they do a fixed cost replacement service for items out of warranty. So on Saturday I tested the voltage. No problem - 13.5 volts. But unit still not working properly. So I removed the unit and took it home.

On Monday morning I phoned Garmin again. Got straight through. Was quoted £101 for a replacement.  The unit cost about £500 new 6 years ago.  I was given a reference number and told to package the unit up and send to them in Southampton.  I packed it all up and took it straight to the post office.  That was Monday 7th Jan.

This morning - Thursday 10th Jan - I received a parcel from Garmin containing a factory refurbished 182C.  All shiny as new.

I think that is fantastic service.  And I will certainly be buying Garmin again!

Last Wednesday went sailing with friend Tom. He had been wanting to go sailing and, being a teacher, was keen to go during the school holidays. He hadn’t done much sailing before but being a Territorial Army type was not at all put off by the prospect of bad weather. In fact I think the thought of going out in a gale appealed to him.

I’d looked at the forecast for the first week of Jan and it was mostly pretty grim but with what looked like a lull between weather systems on the Wednesday with no more than a force 4 forecast. So plans were made and we went down to Poole early in the morning. When we arrived it was pretty obviously more than a force 4. The marina office was forecasting a force 6 and it was definitely blowing over 20 knots from the East.

The biggest problem was we were being blown off our berth and there were only the two of us, one of whom was inexperienced. So getting in and out the berth in this strong a breeze without destroying the yacht next to us could be challenge. So I briefed Tom on the art of slipping the bowline and off we went. With some deft fending off from Tom after dropping the bowline we were off.

Second reef in once through the bridge and we sailed down the channel. It was really blowing old boots withe the anemometer regularly showing over 30 knots. This was not a force 4. More like a force 7. With the wind in the East it was funneling into the harbour entrance and I don’t think I have seen it quite so rough just outside Poole harbour. Big swell, maybe 2 meters high. What a ride! We took plenty of spray over the bow and got suitably wet.

Genoa up but with lots of rolls in it - the smaller self-tacking jib would have been better but we hadn’t had time to change to it before we’d left for the bridge opening. We crashed on towards Old Harry for a bit before turning and surfing at high speed back into the harbour.

Unfortunately while Tom was sailing up the channel and my attention was diverted down below we suffered a gybe. In those winds I was half expecting to see the boom parted from the mast but the only damage was a snapped lazy jack on the starboard side caused by the force of the sail pushing against the lazy jacks.

I was concerned about getting back into the berth with such a strong cross wind so I rigged plenty of fenders on the starboard side with the backup plan to allow the wind to take us alongside the boat next to us if needs be. But Tom being an army sort was clearly good at taking orders and acting quickly. We went into the berth fast with Tom jumping ashore with both lines. When two handed like this I rig a stern line with a big loop in the end fed through the cleat on the boat to the genoa winch. Tom dropped the loop over the pontoon cleat as he jumped off before going up front with the bow line. I can then pull the stern line from the winch while standing at the wheel. Works a treat. Plus in wind like that I can then use the winch to pull the boat closer to the pontoon.

Despite it blowing over 20 knots in the marina Tom agreed to be winched up the mast to fix the broken lazy jack. Top man. Must remember to take army types sailing again in future!

Great start to the year!

Wednesday 20th June

Gerry and Phil arrived at the airport just after I had seen Ange and Ben through departures. After a few obligatory pints of guiness we caught a taxi back to the marina. Baby items were stowed and the cot transformed back into a sea berth and the boat readied for sea.

It was raining horizontally and the wind still howling from the SE. The outer visitors’ berth of Kinsale marina is not the best place to be rafted up in a SE gale. A couple of days earlier we had spent a very uncomfortable night rafted up to a large motor cruiser and a heavy maurice griffiths ketch up against us. I was up all night adjusting fenders and no one slept from the howling and slapping of waves against the transom. The second day the ketch left early when there was a lull in the wind. But it soon picked up again and we had another uncomfortable night. The owner of the power boat then turned up amid howling wind and pouring rain and announced he had to be at the yard to meet a lifting out schedule. I was somewhat suspicious as I couldn’t believe the yard would be lifting boats in this wind, but I donned wet weather gear and fired up the engine in readiness and pondered how we’d get away from this boat with 25 knots of wind pinning us against it. It became clear that the power boat owner was relatively new to this game and perhaps it hadn’t occured to him that we didn’t have two enormous engines and a supersized bow thruster like he did.

The marina manager turned up and stated that the power boat wasn’t going anywhere. Sure enough the owner then got a call from the yard to say stay where you are. But the marina manager then told me that if we wanted it there was an inside berth available. We did! Peter from Songlines very kindly offered to assist and bravely stepped into the lashing rain to help. Ange put Ben in his cot and I explained to the power boater how we would attempt to spring off his stern quarter. The maneuver went well and everyone watching was impressed. Once tied up facing the wind in the inside berth it was like the wind had dropped. Suddenly the slapping stopped and we were upright and all was calm again.

So on Wednesday the wind was still blowing from the SE, in the direction we wanted to travel, but the forecast suggested the low should slowly head east and give us NWly winds sometime on Thursday evening.

Thursday 21st June

On Thursday morning the wind had vanished. A slight puff from the North. So after a lazy morning, filling the tank with diesel and buying a few extra items for the ships stores, we headed out of the harbour just before noon.

This would be Phil’s first passage, his longest trip to date Poole to Lymington and back - about 20nm in either direction. He took a few anti-seasickness pills just in case. Probably a good job as there was a bit of a swell left over from the recent strong winds. And with only light winds to begin with the waves would often knock the wind out of the sails. So there was a fair bit of rolling around and crashing and banging of sails to begin with but slowly the wind picked up.

We were all looking forward to Phil experiencing his first night sail and basic tuition on lights was given fully expecting us to see one or two ships and fishing boats. In the event it must have been the most uneventful night ever. It was also incredibly dark. The cloud cover obscured the stars and moon and we didn’t see one other vessel all night!

Friday 22nd June

The wind had picked up on Friday morning and we began to make up for our slow progress. We even managed to fly the spinnaker for a while but took it down when the clouds we had been watching towering up into the sky behind us began to get closer. We weren’t quite sure what it meant but it looked ominous. As it happened the wind picked up only a little and we avoided any rain. We ended up with the genoa poled out instead.

We caught sight of the Isles of Scilly by about lunch time and decided to make use of this wind and get further East. We skirted the northern, rocky shores of the islands and headed across the shipping lanes towards Wolf Rock and on towards the Lizard. Crossing the traffic separation scheme gave us plenty to do as we dodged the ships.

Later on, somewhere near The Lizard I noticed a dolphin break a wave on our starboard side. Then more. Phil was down below making tea or something so I shouted for him to drop what he was doing and get on deck. You never tire of seeing dolphins around the boat, and it’s not a daily occurence in the channel as it is further south, so this was special. For about half an hour we had a large pod of dolphins playing on our bow wave and swimming around the boat. What a treat.

The following night was much more pleasant. The stars were visible. We saw several shooting stars and even a couple of satellites and the phosphorescence sparkled in our wake. In the morning, with the wind dead aft we poled out the genoa to stop it flapping around and picked up our pace.

Saturday 23rd June

I had decided to head to Dartmouth. Neither Gerry nor Phil had been to Dartmouth before and it is my favourite port on the South coast. So I wanted them to see it and experience the grand river entrance. We arrived just before Noon. We could see rain lashing down on the land. It was dry out at sea. It was strange to have to put our wet weather gear on because we were heading into a harbour rather than out of it! We got soaking wet as we motored into the river, but just to give the boys a bit of a tour we motored up to Ditisham and back before mooring at the marina in Kingswear.

With dripping overalls hanging up in the boat we tried to time our trips to the shower block with breaks in the weather and then went over to Dartmouth on the ferry for a late lunch. Back on the boat the weather began to improve and we were soon sitting outside sipping a beer. A wooden 50 foot Sparkman and Stephens designed yacht of around 20-30 years old was tied up outside the pontoon and it turned out was being handed over to it’s new owners, a young Belgian couple. They were left by the old owner with just their dog as crew and asked us if we would help them take it to their fore-and-aft mooring in the river. However, what wind there was was, plus an ebbing tide, was pushing them on to the pontoon and boats of this design and age are notoriously uncooperative under power. A power boat was moored, unattended in front and a boats length behind were moored boats and the boat hoist dock. At first we just assumed the usual role as crew and stood around waiting to be told what to do. But it soon became apparent just how inexperienced this pair was. The young lady on the helm appeared to want to go full power ahead and hope for the best. Gerry and I both knew that the power boat in front would become a heap of fibers if we tried that tactic. I saw three options - one was to spring off, another was to use a long line across to the next trot of boats and pull the bow off, and the other was to move the powerboat. I suggested springing off to begin with as that involved less rope and messing about. This presented two options - springing forward and moving out astern, or springing back and moving out forwards. The first would get us further off the pontoon but then we would be putting our faith in the ability of the boat to steer backwards under power, and we all knew that a boat like this would probably make it’s own mind up as to which way it would go when motoring astern, so we decided not to risk that method. Springing aft would be safest, but wouldn’t get us as far off the pontoon due to the shape of the boat. Sure enough the ebb tide, the wind, the long keel, the shape of the aft section of the boat and no doubt the offset engine all contrived against us. We just couldn’t get the bow to come round far enough. Oh, and the fact that the owners had clearly never sprung off before and the young girl just wouldn’t leave the engine in gear. She finally insisted that I tied the stern line tight and she put the engine in full ahead. I had no idea how that would do anything other than keep the boat on the pontoon, or pull a cleat out of it, but she seemed to think it would pull the bow out. I was beginning to lose patience. We were here to help not give instruction to unwilling students. Finally the most sensible decision was made - to leave it until tomorrow, get the marina to stand by with a rib and try again with the tide and/or wind hopefully pushing the other way.

Sunday 24th June

On Sunday morning after a trip to the chandlery for some necessary and some unnecessary items, including a bit of “practise rope” that Gerry bought for Phil, we were again accosted to help move this enormous yacht. This time the wind was blowing lightly off the pontoon and the marina guy had quite happily obliged with a dory. At the end of the day faced with the option of attending with a launch or the potential for several squashed yachts it is an easy decision for the marina to make. Of course with the wind now helping the boat left the pontoon easily and safely. We then motored up to the trot of moorings to which the boat should be tied. It then transpired that the new owners didn’t actually know which mooring it was and got on the blower to the old owner. Finally they discovered that we were to tie alongside a ketch and that lazy lines had been left for us to pick up. Unfortunately the new owners appeared to be in a bit of a hurry and rather than motor around and reconnoiter the situation they made a decision to go port alongside. The marina guy moored his dory the other side and helped with lines and we were eventually tied up to this ketch after a bit of tug of war against an overzealous helms person. We then discovered that the lazy lines to the buoys were on the other side of the ketch. So we had to cast off and start again, this time the other way round. Again a simple case of helping out turned into a bit of a chore and we all got covered in seaweed and wet from the lines. Eventually the marina guy, eyes rolling, ferried Gerry and I back to the marina. We were left wondering if this couple had bought the right boat for sailing two handed. These boats were build with no engine in mind, when marinas were scarce and designed to be sailed by 12 crew. But I’m sure they’ll learn about the boat’s idiosyncrasies in time. I just don’t want to be moored too near them in the process.

The plan was to leave the Dart that Sunday evening and catch the tide round Portland Bill at 1am. We motored out of the river in a light drizzle at 1830 into a flat calm. The engine stayed on for about 4 hours until the wind started to fill in. The forecast was for NWly gales later. Later means 12 hours. We should be in Poole by then, but hopefully we’d get the beginnings of the gale and get a fair breeze behind us. We certainly did and were soon charging along at 6-7 knots. Phil seemed to be enjoying helming and ended up helming almost all the way, right through the night, and did a great job, keeping us bang on course and at a good pace. The low cloud cover at night meant we could see Portland Bill lighthouse earlier than expected, and we could even see the light from the RACON buoy marking the TSS mid channel. It was a great night sail and as the sun came up we could see Anvil point ahead.

Monday 25th June

We pretty much sailed the rest of the way by eye, back in familiar waters, hanging a left at Anvil point and rounding Old Harry to head North up to Poole Harbour against the wind, enjoying a fast beat into the harbour.

A superb sail back, and what a first passage for Phil, logging 340 nautical miles. We pointed out that many yachts in the marina probably do less than that in a season.

Shame about the weather. We didn’t get to see much of Ireland. But the passages there and back were great fun, in great company. Where to next year?

Awoke to a brighter day. After Ben’s morning sleep we went ashore in the dinghy and had a walk along the cliff tops and into the village. Not much there apart from lots of pubs and a small shop. Only the shop was open so we purchased a few items for our lunch and made our way back to the boat. Ben seems to like the dinghy. He stands at the front mesmerised by the bow wave. Climbing 10 foot down the quay wall ladder into the dinghy with Ben under one arm would have had the health visitor reeling. But then so far we have yet to follow much of their advice or we would be living in a padded cell and never have left the house in the first place.

Once back at the boat Ange gave Ben his lunch as I casted off and hoisted sail. With the wind now from the east we had an easy and relaxing sail along the coast back to Kinsale. Along the way we managed to catch three big mackeral but not before losing two lures. The first due, we think, to a badly tied knot, and the second to a large fish. Our speed had increased to more than mackeral catching velocity and the line was cut clean through, so we reckon something large had chewed the end off.

Ben did well on this sail. He has a sleep soon after his lunch so that gave us a chance to have ours and the gentle sailing gave him a good couple of hours. After his sleep we clipped a harness line to his lifejacket and tethered him in the cockpit and managed to keep him amused for a while. Nearing Kinsale and his attention beginning to wane we strapped him down below and put a Telly Tubbies DVD on. Back to traditional pilotage for yours truly, with the chart plotter laptop reduced to baby cinema. At least it kept Ben busy and safe while Ange and I could wrestle with rafting up.

Kinsale was heaving. Weekend traffic I guess. The 40 metre yacht, Parlay, still taking up half the visitor pontoon. So lots of rafts 4 deep covering the rest. We had to raft alongside a big power boat of most inconvenient proportions - the tops of our stanchions meeting her gunwale, even with fenders down. Some jiggling with doubled up fenders took place while a 73 year old Maurice Griffiths ketch, of some tonnage no doubt, came along side us, ther bow sprit inches from the boat in front. Several miles of rope and fender seemed to sort things out, at least until the swell kicks in …

Noticed Songlines, a Moody 42, which we had seen here last weekend, with a Springer Spaniel on board, here again but this time without a mast. Turns out the couple on board purchased her a couple of months ago from Southampton and are on the way back to their home in the Shetland Isles. Somewhere near Fastnet one of the shrouds broke. They narrowly avoided losing the mast and are now having the rigging replaced here in Kinsale. They said they had planned to take 3 months to get their ‘new’ boat home but have already spent 6 weeks stuck in Ireland. Luckily they are in no rush. And it could have been worse. They are certainly well to have new rigging for their home waters!

Ben away to bed and boats lashed together Ange cooked up the day’s catch and made Patatas Bravas to go with it. Perfect.