mini cruise

We had our first cruise with Sarah G at her home port last weekend. We deliberately didn't plan anything ambitious and only went as far as the Yealm but it was a good weekend and we had an excellent meal ashore in the Dolphin at Newton Ferrers.

We also managed a nice gentle sail down the river, out through the Bridge and on to the Yealm. Once past the breakwater we had a go at setting the cruising 'chute for the first time but the wind suddenly changed direction to the south west and freshened just past our predetermined threshold for setting such a big bit of nylon, particularly for the first time. Still, we carried on under normal canvas and dropped sail in Wembury bay and motored up. There were a couple of moments when we were a bit feeling our way as we had contrived to arrive at the Yealm bar at pretty much dead low water and there was not a lot of water under our keel.


All, was well and we savoured being back in one of the most beautiful rivers in the West Country.

The meal was all we wanted and we slept well through the night.

Sunday dawned with a leisurly start but a rather gray sky though not too much wind was forecast. We cast off at 1030 and motored down with the new ebb. Out of the river, I started to get sail up only to find that we had contrived to wrap the main halyard round the radar reflector and no way of coaxing it back round. In huge embarrassment, we motored to Cawsand and anchored there while I had a go with light lines to throw it over the spreaders and then to untangle the wrapped halyard. All to no avail and I was resigning myself to coming down the following weekend with a bosuns chair.

We therefore, motored back to Torpoint after lunch where I had a bit of inspiration. I had clipped the halyard to the end of the boom as we usually do and it occurred to me that if we pulled a messenger up the halyard over the spreader, it might then be possible to untangle the main halyard. The wind was blowing hard which both helped in throwing my light line over the spreaders but made it more difficult to retrieve the end. Eventually, though, I did and pulled one of our spinnaker sheets which has a nice big snap shackle on it up and over. Clipped to the main halyard which I slackened off as much as possible, I jiggled it round and suddenly we were free!


All in all a very nice weekend.

Proof she is in Torpoint

We really are on our mooring at Torpoint and it feels very good to be there. We have drawn a couple of conclusions, anything but earth shattering ones but we do need to do some stuff. Firstly, we definitely need to fit a tiller extension. The nature of the coachroof and such like mean that the best way to sail the boat is perched on the cockpit coamings.

Slightly more is that we feel the need to fit more hand holds below. I am also very keen to get the Aries up and working asap so that we have as much time as possible to get to grips with it.

All in all, good stuff and we plan to be down there next weekend as well.

Delivery Trip Part 2

The next day and a fair tide was to be had about 10:30 so we didn't rush to get up but did wake up to a good bit less wind and a more favourable looking sky. We had a bit of breakfast and provisionally planned to try for Weymouth which we hoped to reach around midnight. After hanging round a bit we decided to push off about 09:30 since we would be pushing a bit of flood but it would give us longer to get down the Solent. Leaving Sparkes was much less of a drama and we got away smoothly and started down the main Chichester channel again. There really was not much wind and we found ourselves motoring into a very gentle westerly. The various landmarks of the Solent slipped past and even speeded up a bit once past the Horse Sand Fort when the tide turned in our favour.

Just about lunch time we were passing Osborne bay and the house where Queen Victoria lived. Now it seems to be a very popular lunchtime anchorage but we continued on towards Cowes. I was down below making toasted cheese when we sensed that the wind was starting to fill in. Out came the jib and off went the engine so we could pass the home of yachting in proper style. We proceeded to have a great sail down the western solent with lots of tacks being crossed and even a session with a thing called boatphotos who take pictures of boats on spec and publish them on a website where you can then buy them.

With a strong spring tide under us and a good force 4 to 5 we fairly whistled down the Solent. The only two moments of minor drama were when we encountered a surprising but short lived tide rip just off Yarmouth and then just as we were in the Needles channel another boat avoiding action didn't work for him and we were forced to make a hasty tack from starboard to port. As we raced down towards the famous chalk escarpment of the Needles I took a decision and floated it to the other two which was that we should carry on past Portland Bill and aim for Torbay rather than Weymouth. A bit of discussion and we agreed on this. I also suggested we try two six hour night watches rather than the more conventional three. In retrospect I am not sure about the wisdom of it. Mostly it was nice to get a full six hours sleep but when 0400 came round I couldn't help reflecting that I would be getting relieved at that point rather than facing another two hours.

Anyway, that was for later. First we tacked right off the lighthouse but could only lay the entrance of Poole wit the persistent westerly. We arrived off Bournmouth about six and I set a course offshore and instructed Matthew to hold it for a good ten miles or so to give us plenty of offing to make it to the Bill. I then retired below. A few hours later I felt the boat change course and definitely slow down. A bit later on still and the engine came on. Finally, about two hours later I came up with us about ten miles south of St. Albans head and no wind whatsoever. The tide had definitely turned against us.

The weather was not so nice either. The wind persisted on it's absence apart from a very small puff from due west and bands of rain made themselves known as well so it was down to a monotonous chug first up to Portland Bill and then across Lyme bay. It seemed to take forever to get round the Bill but then I felt like a cork being popped out of a bottle as it seemed the next time I looked the light was some ten miles behind us. Six came around and I woke Matthew up and retired back to the forward cabin.

About three hours later I heard the jib being got out and the engine died. We were sailing again. I dozed for another hour or so and came on deck to see the Devon coatline ahead of us. The wind was freshening and I suggested we bear off a bit to make for Dartmouth rather than Torbay. There followed a lovely fast reach though she became a bit overpressed as neither of us really wanted to put a reef in. Then we were coming in past the Mew Stone and had arrived back in very familiar waters. For the first time we were in a boat too big to go on the small boat pontoon just outside the Dartmouth Yacht Club and we tied up to the 'DL' pontoon just above the Town Quay. After a bit of a rest, we rushed ashore for showers and a celebratory lunch and drink in the DYC. We were out of time as we were faced with a mammoth train ride to get back to pick up the car in Emsworth so made plans to move her on to Torpoint the following weekend.

It was great to finally use Sarah G for the sort of passage making we aquired her for and our faith in her also increased, the bit where we were overpressed on the approach to Dartmouth was particularly instructive as she became quite heavy on the helm but not unmanageable though I do usually work to not hang onto too much sail as the wind rises. All in all, a very good time was had though we would have preferred more consistent winds and less rain that is the sort of thing you have to put up with in UK waters.

Made it to Torpoint

Well, we had a very successful if cold weekend and Sarah G is now swinging to her mooring at Torpoint. We had a very pleasant sail from Dartmouth the the wind in the NE which accounted for the cold but did make for an initial run then a broad to close reach after the Start.

The journey home was a bit of an epic taking ten and a half hours. We had left the car in Dartmouth so had to get the train back. There are, by the way, no buses from Totnes to Dartmouth on a Sunday so we went on to Newton Abbot and changed for Paignton. Of course, none of the trains meshed and we had a 50 minute wait at Newton Abbot. Still, we did get the steam train from Paignton to Kingswear which was enjoyable.

Now, the big thing to plan for is the qualifying passage with my Brother which we are planning on doing from the weekend of 30 May. I also really want to get the Aries working by then so will have to see what we can do about that.

We didn't take a lot of photos and I am a bit behind in the the narrative of the delivery trip from Chichester so will have to buckle down this weekend.

Got to the West Country Part One

Well, we have managed our first passage on Sarah G now. She is currently on the visitors pontoon at Dartmouth waiting for us to take her the final bit round to Torpoint next weekend. Overall the whole thing was a success though, as ever, it certainly didn't go to plan. I arrived on Thursday evening after work and had an initial panic as they had moved her from where she was last time we were down. At least I found her on the “A” line and all ready to go. After ensuring that the cat was happy as this was also to be Schrodinger's first real passage, I tried the engine out and was delighted to find it starting exactly as the engineer had said.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting her ready with the last bits such as putting the now good diesel back in the tank and stowing all our stuff. The weather forecasts were very variable but seemed to be promising north easters of some sort but they were a bit vague as to strength. Audrey arrived and while she had chicken and chips I proudly cooked myself some pasta with pesto.

We had a bit of a drama with the cat as I had left the forehatch open to get some air moving and we suddenly heard this scrabbling sound and realised she had climbed out and was on deck. Without the harness, I was worried about her going over the side and not realising that the stuff beyond the scuppers would be very wet and not nice at all. I scooped her up and tried to persuade her back down the forehatch with Audrey below but she didn't like that so it was back to the cockpit. She seemed to settle down OK after that and looked quite happy on the dinette.

The next morning we did the final running around to get the last wires to the mast connected – specifically the VHF which was a right pig for Audrey to manage as she had to solder some very fiddly bits together under the mast. At least we got it all done just as Matthew arrived. An hour later and the tide had risen sufficiently for us to make a departure and bid a final farewell to Emsworth. The first passage however proved a bit short. We got sail up as soon as it freed a bit about half way down the channel and sailed out of Chichester Harbour on the last of the flood. We then found plenty of wind from the west and were quite pleased to have put a reef in the main. The sailing was a good bit brisker than I would have chosen for a first sail of the season and progress down the Solent was feeling a bit slow despite making around six knots through the water. Then, we noticed water coming over the deck sole as she heeled more and an inspection of the keel sump showed quite a lot of water in there. Without knowing if it was a slow leak or something worse,we took the option of running back to Sparkes to take stock and work out what was wrong. A very fast reach to West Pole and and a bit of drama trying to go starboard side to a berth to windward and we sorted ourselves out. The leak was, thankfully, a slow one, most likely from the zinc anode.

So ended our first day of the delivery trip with a total distance achieved of about 2 miles but with 16 miles logged through the water.

The rest of the delivery trip will follow.

Got to Dartmouth

We have had our first successful serious passage with Sarah G. Lots more boring detail will follow but I leave for now with a picture of Schrodinger on board to prove what a successful ships cat she is shaping up to be even if she does create merry hell when being put in the basket to take down there!