Csárdás

Friday 16th July

We had originally planned to head down to the boat on Thursday and be back on Sunday.  My car was booked in for a service on Monday morning.  But gales forecast for Thursday and Friday put us off, especially as we’d be taking the kids (including 6 week old baby) and would have to use the dinghy to get out to the boat since the free launch service only runs from Friday evenings for the weekend.

So instead I rearranged the car to be serviced on Wednesday and set off on Friday.  By the time we’d packed all the kids up and got down to Tesco to stock up on provisions it was about 3pm by the time we got to the yard.  I got the dingy and outboard out while Ange and the boys had a drink in the club house and then got a lift over to the boat in the launch.

First drama: the batteries were dead.  I noticed the radar switch was in the on position.  Now, it could have been me since I had fitted the new radar only the previous weekend, but I do remember Jamie fiddling with the switches before we left the boat, for which I kept reprimanding him.  Anyway, without power we were somewhat stranded as I couldn’t even start the engine.  Once the radar switch was off the solar panel would start to charge the batteries but with the day about to end I doubted they’d be sufficiently charged by the time we needed to leave in the morning.  And it would have been a bit awkward without power that evening.

The batteries are as old as the boat - about 7 years old - so beyond their life expectancy anyway.  So as it was still 4pm I quickly called the launch back over, and once ashore jumped into the car and headed to the nearest chandlery whereupon I bought an expensive 86A/h battery to replace the smaller of our three batteries - used primarily as the engine start battery (which can be isolated from the two domestic batteries by the battery switch).  An expensive way to buy batteries but I didn’t have much choice.  Back on the boat by 5pm I quickly swapped it over and had the engine running and charging the domestics.

Next drama: About 30 minutes later an alarm sounded from the engine console.  I couldn’t make sense of the symbol that was lit up so I got out the engine manual and compared to the schematics.  It was the light on the far left and the first light on the diagram in the book was the “seal proof” alarm.  This meant that the saildrive seal - a rubber seal around the part of the engine that protrudes from the bottom of the boat, was breached and the advice therefore was to “sail immediately to port and lift the boat”.  Gulp.  That isn’t great news.  But I couldn’t believe it so took a look at the engine.  Immediately noticed that the fresh water coolant was low.  I topped it up, cleaned the sea water intake filter and fired her back up.  This time no alarm.  I looked more closely at the console and manual and realised that my console looked nothing like the one in the book.  Looking at the symbols themselves it was clear it was the water temp alarm, and the seal proof alarm was in a different position.  Got me worried a bit though.

So finally we were able to settle down and have some dinner!

Saturday 17th July

At 0830 on Saturday morning we slipped our mooring and motored down the channel to the fuel barge where we filled up with diesel before heading out of the harbour, hoisting sail and heading East for the Solent.  As forecast the wind had dropped but there was, as usual, still a big swell and with the wind behind us not able to keep the sails filled against the rolling motion of the boat.

The boys weren’t particularly happy with the motion of the boat and Ange put a DVD on for them to watch. Ben, at 4 years old, seems to have reached a more sensible age and took the option of lying in his bunk watching the DVD, and snoozed.  Meanwhile, Jamie, in the midst of the terrible twos, who can be a pain in the neck at the best of times, was, not surprisingly, whiny and clingy.  Maria, at 6 weeks, was much easier. I think she slept all the way.  Jamie required constant management!

After not very long I decided to roll up the jib, pull in the main and motor sail to boost our progress and steady the boat a bit.  With the tide going our way it wasn’t long before we were passed Hengitsbury Head where the wind shifted a little and the sea state became a bit more constant.  So we unfurled the jib again and reached up to Hurst Castle.  Ange was able to take the helm, while I took over baby and toddler management.  In fact we had a superb sail up to Hurst and I sat with the kids in the cockpit.  We rocketed into the Solent with the tide where the water went flat and the kids became more content.

While heading towards Hurst I spoke to Dominic and Gilly on the phone who had just set off from the Hamble in their boat and arranged to meet at Bucklers Hard.  Dominic was surprised to discover we had all the kids with us.  Here’s a photo of me speaking to Dominic on the phone with all the kids about me:

Running up the Solent the wind built and we made good progress with wind and tide towards the river Beaulieu.  Ange got the kids some lunch down below and off the entrance to the channel I turned into the wind to take the sails down, feeling the full force of around 30 knots of wind.  We saw 34 knots of wind funnelling down the river as we motored in.

Entering our allocated berth was awkward due to the strong spring tide running and the berths being up and down stream - the tide running fast into our berth.  With not much space to turn between the trots the tide will easily take you sideways and as it was we had to quickly abort, and take a second go, even then entering the berth somewhat diagonally!  Having only Ange to jump ashore and two inquisitive toddlers getting into the wrong place at just the wrong time (right in the way of the winch to which I had the stern line attached) made things slightly tense, but we got the boat in with no damage, though we did kiss the stern quarter of the boat next to us with a fender.

Shortly after we berthed, Doz and Gilly arrived in their boat (a lightweight racing yacht which they’d done really well to sail double handed into 30 knots of wind and a strong tide and make it not long after us).  But they were equally impressed with us even contemplating a weekend on the boat with two toddlers and a baby (i.e. they thought we were mad).

That afternoon was spent sat on the grass at Bucklers Hard sipping beer and pimms while the two boys rolled around and paddled in the river, before enjoying dinner and drinks aboard Csardas.

Sunday 18th July

The river Beaulie approach channel is restricted by a bar, and local soundings on the harbour master office suggested it would be gone noon before DoZ and Gilly could leave, and about 1330 before we could make it out ourselves.  But that suited us just fine and Sunday morning was spent walking the two miles or so along the river through the forest.  Even Ben and Jamie both walked most of the way and we all enjoyed Tea and Scones in the village before walking all the way back again.

After lunch we saw Doz and Gilly off and then prepared Csardas before heading out ourselves.  The plan was to head to the Western end of the Solent to spend the night at Yarmouth so that we’d be in a good position to catch the last of the ebb out past the Needles early in the morning at about 6am.  As we were punching wind and tide to get to Yarmouth and had kids aboard I simply motored right up the rhum line and we were in Yarmouth berthed against the new walk ashore pontoon by mid afternoon.

We ordered dinner at the Kings Arms, and to amuse a tired Jamie while we waited, I took him down the road to watch the cars boarding the Yarmouth-Lymington ferry which he was fascinated with.

Yarmouth is a lovely harbour in which to kick back, relax and watch the world go by.  And, apart from the usual shenanigan of getting children to bed, that’s exactly what we did that evening.

Monday 19th July

I need not have set my alarm for 0600 as I was woken at around 4am by the sound of Maria crying and Ange trying to soothe her.  Ange had got up to feed her, as usual, in the small hours but unlike usual was unable to settle her.  Maria normally just needs a quick burp and is straight back to sleep.  Not so this morning.  Although she usually settles easily we figured she probably just had a bit of wind so we weren’t too concerned, though it did mean we couldn’t get back to sleep.  Maria would only settle lying face down on top of one us.

Still awake at a little after 0500 I got up and made a coffee and took a look at the weather outside.  It was a lovely still, sunny morning and the wind had done as the forecast said it would and swung further to the south.  This was good news as it would mean we would be able to sail more freely direct to Poole rather than lump into the prevailing winds as normally happens (and with kids this usually means motor-sailing).  The wind had dropped too and was currently very light.

It also meant that what wind there was was gently blowing the boat off the pontoon.  Being alongside we were kind of parallel-parked with boats fore and aft of us.  So now that the wind was blowing directly off the pontoon it meant I could easily exit the harbour on my tod without having to get Ange out of bed.  So I decided to head off straight away, slipped the lines and motored out of the harbour.

A little while later as we were approaching the Needles channel and I was stowing warps and fenders Ben appeared at the companion-way with a big smile.  I think he found it novel that he had woken up to the sound of the engine and the boat underway.  He came up and sat in the cockpit patiently until I could get his life-jacket sorted.

James appeared soon afterwards, but was not in quite such a jolly mood (understatement).  He’d had a late night and I guess the engine disturbing him earlier than usual hadn’t really agreed with him.

I decided to take the route out past the Needles, rather than the North Channel that we’d come in by, as this would take us further South to give us a freer course when we turned for Poole.  So we motored out to the end of the Needles Channel before turning due West, cutting the engine and reaching gently back to Studland Bay.  With a gentle F2 we had a very easy sail back.

Unfortunately Maria still wasn’t right and Ange had to comfort her all the way back.  Jamie being in a bad mood didn’t help matters.

Still not overly concerned about Maria at 0900 as we approached Studland we decided to anchor in the bay and go ashore in the dinghy to give the boys a run on the beach.   Just to complicate matters I was unable to furl the jib - the furling line appeared jammed.  I decided just to dump the jib on deck and worry about it once anchored.

So we were anchored at 0930.  I dumped the dinghy in the water to make room on the foredeck and managed to unjam the furling line, then get the jib back up, before going ashore.

Maria would only settle in the papoose, nestled against either one’s tummy.  I walked up and down the beach with her and she was fine only to complain as soon as she was moved or we sat down.

We met another sailing family who came ashore in two boats - a regular Avon with outboard contained parents and 18 month old baby while a Walker Bay sailing rib was helmed in by their 8 year old daughter.  It turned out they were at the end of the first week of a three week sailing holiday.  They’d left The Hamble at the start of the previous week with the intention of sailing to the West Country but due to the gales at the end of the week had only made it as far as Weymouth.  Fed up with waiting in Weymouth they had dropped back to Studland Bay.  Nice to see another young family away on their boat and made us feel we weren’t the only ones taking up the challenge of sailing with toddlers.

By the end of the morning we were getting a bit worried about Maria.  She still wasn’t settling and seemed quite hot.  We headed back to the boat where we had lunch and then weighed anchor.  On the way back to the harbour Ange called NHS Direct and after quite a lengthy conversation was advised we should go straight to Poole Hospital where they have a children’s unit.  By now Ange was quite anxious so I upped the revs and motored quickly to the mooring.  Ange packed a bag for herself and Maria and, leaving the boat in the state it was, we piled into the dinghy and went ashore.

I dropped Ange and Maria off at A&E and then drove back to the multi-story carpark.  By this time James was fast asleep so Ben and I had to wait in the car for about an hour.  By the time Jamie was awake Ange had messaged to say she was now in the children’s unit and we went off to find her.

At Maria’s age the doctors have to be concerned about the chance of her having meningitis or some other bacterial infection.  So as well as taking blood and spinal fluids they put her on a course of antibiotics, and insisted on her staying in hospital for at least 48 hours.  In the event the tests came back negative and Maria obviously just had a virus.  To our great relief she shook off her fever by Wednesday evening but because of the antibiotics had to stay until Friday.

I had to enlist the help of a friend to look after the boys on the Tuesday morning so that I could get back down to the boat and collect our things, clean the dishes we’d left and tidy up before managing to visit Ange and Maria for an hour and getting back to collect the boys.

So a stressful end to an otherwise successful weekend saw me running around after the boys all week and Ange and Maria stuck in hospital in Poole.  But my initial worries that the illness was caused by something on the boat were put to rest when it transpired midweek that it was just a virus.

Sailing with toddlers is challenging.  We’ve done Biscay three times in the past, and several other long offshore passages and I can safely say they are nowhere near as challenging as a weekend jaunt in the Solent with a toddler with a case of the “terrible twos”!  But we are able to see past the difficult bits and the fact that we ended the weekend in the hospital and remember an enjoyable weekend.  We’ll do it again and it will get easier!

Crumbs, it’s been over a year since my last update.  Well it’s not surprising I suppose what with the increasing family population.  It’s funny how sailing across the harbour with two toddlers and a baby seems to present a far larger challenge than a 3.5 day Biscay crossing ever did!

Since my last post we’ve done little more than the odd day sail and one or two weekends away.

In May 2009 I organised a stag sailing weekend (prior to getting married in June).  About 11 of us got together between yachts Csardas and friend’s Swagman and sailed up to the Folly Inn nr Cowes where we had a pretty raucous time.  Hopefully we’ll be allowed back but ….

Late last season I discovered the radar wasn’t working.  I wasted a bit of time taking the headlining down and checking all the connections but found nothing.  Then while the boat was on the hard over winter I noticed a huge crack in the side of the radome.  A few weekends ago pal Phil Steele hoisted me up the mast to remove it.  At over £1000 I couldn’t really afford a new one.  Insurance was an option but the excess is £500 so still expensive.  It’s an unusual make as it is one to connect to a PC but, amazingly, the day after removing it I discovered an ex-display model on ebay and managed to snag it for £320.  Really surprised - plenty of raymarines and garmins on ebay but this is the only Si-Tex unit I’ve ever seen on ebay in the UK.

I have a feeling it may have been damaged by a halyard or the spinnaker pole up-haul.  And in any case it wasn’t in a great place on the mast.  It was fitted a few years after the boat was new and without moving things about at greater expense and hassle it was decided to install it just above the first set of spreaders on the starboard side.  Ideally it should have gone on the front just above the steaming light, but that would have put it at the same height as the radar reflector.  So the reflector would have had to be moved and we would also have needed more cable.  So we went for the easier/cheaper option of going for mounting on the side further down.  In retrospect it was a bad idea.  First, being only a 12.4 inch radome, the side of the mast presented too much of a barrier and we suffered a significant blind spot immediately to port.  Second, I think the spinnaker uphaul which exits the mast a little higher up may have bashed it when the spinnaker was abeam to starboard.  But I can’t be sure about that.

So, anyway, I decided to mount the replacement on a pole on the transom.  If you were to search the market place you would be forgiven for thinking that the only supplier of such a pole is Scanstrut.  But they are very expensive.  Another option would be a custom made job but that wouldn’t be cheap either, plus would take time.  I finally discovered a much cheaper alternative to the Scanstrut made by NOA in Sweden.  I also found a UK supplier.  So last weekend I went down to the boat with pole, radome, and cordless drill etc.  Here is the end result:

I may shorten the support struts a bit.

Radar, pole all fitted for about 2/3 of the price of a new radar!  I’ve probably not paid much more than I would have had, had I fitted the original radome to the transom in the first place.  So I’m happy.  The radar doesn’t get used much.  But boy are you glad you’ve got it when you need it.

Well we’re attempting a family sailing weekend this weekend.  But we’ve already delayed it a day due to rather strong winds and rain.  I don’t fancy ferrying two toddlers and a baby in the dinghy in those conditions.  The weather is supposed to improve a bit so we’ll head down to the boat tomorrow evening (when the launch service starts - so that will make things a bit easier) and the plan is to head into the Solent on Saturday and back again early Monday morning.  I’ll let you know what happens …….

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!