Seawych 19 Kamala

Oars

2012-01-15T13:27:00.001Z

Painting the oars with some yacht enamel I picked up for 50p from a boat jumble. Must be at least 10 years old. Very 70s colour.

posted from Bloggeroid

Spot the Seawych #1

2012-01-14T08:02:00.001Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-u6JWaRPgE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

An occasional game. This YouTube video from Mr Keep Turning Left, Dylan Winter, features a Seawych 19 somewhere in the footage. Can you spot it?

Dylan Winter is travelling the coast of Britain in a 19 foot sailing boat. (Sadly, the wrong 19 foot sailing boat, a Mirror Offshore). As a former BBC cameraman he is making short videos along the way and these are excellent. Look for keepturningleft.co.uk on the web.

posted from Bloggeroid

Windy Wendy says 54kt gusts.

2012-01-04T22:18:00.001Z

Just went into the garden with the dog and got blown all over the place. St Helier pierheads is saying 33kts gusting to 54kts (62mph / F10). I think this is the highest I can remember hearing in the last few years. Anyone heard a higher value from Windy Wendy in the past?

posted from Bloggeroid

Harbours Response to the Muddy Protest

2012-01-03T17:21:00.002Z

Further to the Muddy Protest by Roy Deeming at the weekend in relation to the mud build up in St Aubin's Harbour, Myra Shacklady, the Commercial Operations Director at Jersey Ports, was interviewed on Radio Jersey this morning.

CLICK HERE to listen to her comments. (about 5 minutes long)

Apologies for the poor sound quality at times.

Prior to that Roger read out an email from Bob Thompson praising the work harbours have done in association with SOBOA.

Listen to that HERE (50s long).

If anyone reads this blog, please feel free to add your views to the comments below.

A Muddy Protest

2012-01-02T13:57:00.001Z

Looking at the minutes from previous SABAO (St Aubins Boat Owners Association) AGM's and monthly meetings of SABOA committee with Harbours (see below), you have to say say Roy Deeming has a point about dredging. While blocking vessels entering a dried out harbour is unlikely to raise many hackles it did get the issue aired in all the local news outlets. Thanks Roy.

In the interests of fairness I would add my own view that, aside from this one issue, harbours are doing a good job generally in St Aubins.

BBC Radio Jersey Interview with Roy: Click Here

JEP Article: http://www.thisisjersey.com/news/2011/12/30/boat-owner-plans-new-year-st-aubins-harbour-protest/

Channel TV Article Online: http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_jerseynews/displayarticle.asp?id=497652

Extracts from minutes regarding Dredging....

Feb 2009:

"• The Harbours Office was looking to purchase a small barge for the purpose of dredging. None has
yet been found and therefore it was likely that contractors would be used in 2010 for this operation"

March 2010:

"Dredging - The exact method that the Harbour’s Office intends to use, has not yet been decided. SABOA has no reason to believe that it will not happen some time around summer this year"

Feb 2011:

"Dredging – Jersey Harbours were already preparing for the dredging of the harbour by applying
for permission to dump all the spoil three miles out to sea. Although unconfirmed, it was expected
to take place towards the end of the summer once all other works had been completed. Jersey
Harbours had said that any vessels that were expected to move, would go to La Colette Marina
which itself was due to be heavily reconfigured at some point this year. Again, the timing of this
is not confirmed yet. It will get done, it was just a question of when"

Sept 2011:

"Dredging-PLN confirmed that dredging will go ahead this winter, probably around Christmas time andthe letters asking for tenders are going out around now. More detailed information on how it
is being done and when & where boats have to be moved to will be given once the tender has
been accepted. The sand may be dumped above the ground-chain near the Bulwarks to make
a firmer base for the boats along the wall.
Ways of altering the flow of water through and round the harbour are being actively looked
into by experts from Arups, who are in favour of moving the groyne to the end of the North
Quay instead."

Present:

Jersey Harbours are now saying September 2012.

Christmas Sail

2011-12-28T19:04:00.001Z

Just a quick run out today to check the engine after its service last week. All running sweetly. Stuck the jib out for 10 minutes as well but wind picking up, gusty and quite a swell running so not much fun. The dinghy being towed was all over the place. Hopefully lots more to come in 2012.
J

posted from Bloggeroid

Jersey Boat Show

2011-05-02T20:22:00.000+01:00

I don't really get the boat show. I like the atmosphere and the food and the music, but the boats?

You can only get so much enjoyment from owning and running a boat, and that enjoyment bears no relation whatsoever to the cost and size of the boat. So who buys those things?

I guess I'm not the kind of boat owner that Harbours want to encourage, i.e. one with no money. The only good thing about it this year was it made me REALLY appreciate what I've got. And I earned some cash playing on the stage with The Pinnacles.

St Aubin Boat Jumble

2011-04-30T19:48:00.001+01:00

From my point of view, this was a great success again. Managed to get plenty of bargains. The start time was meant to be 10am but it seems that if you want the best stuff you have to be there before 9am. Might as well just make it a 9am start next time.

My top buy had to be a 5" brass porthole, complete with backing plate. I'd like to fit it to Kamala but if it turns out to be too small I can sell it on ebay and recoup the cost of EVERYTHING I bought at the sale which was:

5" Brass Porthole
A HUGE yellow mooring buoy.
A pair of 7' wooden oars for the wooden dinghy.
A new and unused child's lifejacket.
A foam beach cricket set
Some meaty chain to upgrade my outer mooring
A signed copy of Secret Anchorages of Brittany by Peter Cumberlidge
An RYA Competent Crew handbook

All for less than £50.

Wish I'd bought the other two portholes to sell on ebay.

My favourite moment was seeing a trailer load of seagull engines go for £80!

I'm busy polishing up the porthole and it looks amazing.

Sponge Overboard!

2011-04-28T21:11:00.001+01:00

Today I had some time due to a short working day, and so at 3pm I was rowing out against a F3-4 NE'ly wind to Kamala. I suspected that there was enough wind to keep me out of trouble so I decided to not even drop the motor into the water.

The first thing I found is that under just the mainsail Kamala will not bear away past a reach very easily. Once the genoa is unfurled a little the nose will pull round. The second this is that with her undersides scraped back to the gelcoat and a super-smooth layer of antifoul, she goes MUCH better. Last season I'd struggle to see 4 knots whatever the wind was doing. Today she seemed happy to stay between 4 and 4.5, at one point getting up to 4.7 knots.

The initial plan was to go to Elizabeth Castle Harbour. My mooring lines were still all messed up from the refit work last week and the fenders were all packed away, so in the end the idea seemed more trouble than it was worth for a short sail.

On the way to the Castle, the ship's sponge decided to blow off the coach roof. 'It's just a sponge', I thought at first. A sudden idea to practice an unplanned man-overboard recovery, coupled with the thought 'What if it was Edward?' (my son), had me spending 5 minutes trying to recover the sponge. After a few near passes I eventually got it back. More practice needed, but happy with the outcome.

After this excitement I decided a course change to Belcroute, my usual 'stop and rest' spot, would give a nice sail and a chance to tidy up a few things. So we arrived and I anchored on the lunch hook.

Time to re-jig the genoa. Always too slack in the luff, the tensioner arrangement made no sense as it was and an improvement had struck me on the way over. Too trivial to explain, I don't know why I didn't do it ages ago, but now my genoa luff is taught and can be adjusted.

Finally, a short close-haul back to the mooring. Picked up under mainsail only, first go!

Noticed the top link in the mooring chain is on its last legs, need to find a replacement beefy chain at Saturday's boat jumble.

Not a bad trip and all without the motor. Just as well, as that's next on the list for maintenance.

Other Boats....
Speaking of Jumble, the Wharram Tanenui, 'Jumble' was given away this week. Nearly to me! Having had a look at her today, I was spared. She's in quite a state. Be interesting to see what happens to her now.

Talking of states, as I rowed back along the first row to the dinghy pontoon, the boom of one of the abandoned hulks in St Aubins was out at right angles, just right for taking out the windows of the boat next door. I climbed on, managed to not fall through the broken decking, and lashed the boom amidships. Now there's a fixer-upper!

RYA Powerboat Level 2

2011-04-26T00:14:00.003+01:00

I now have this qualification after a fun two days spent blasting around St Catherine's in a RIB with the Tony Cavey training centre. See St' Catherine's Sailing Club if you're interested. Thanks to Henry for being such a patient instructor.

http://www.scsc.org.je/

Kamala Relaunched

2011-04-21T10:00:00.030+01:00

After a week spent on drying pad number 2 in St Aubin, having the undersides scraped back to the gelcoat then primed and antifouled, it was time to get her off before we got neaped. A couple of helpers came along too...


The crew of two.

Almost ready to go.

Dinghy practice, with the kids trying to paddle us around Belcroute.

The good ship Kamala.

Grace helming for the first time.

A picture of concentration.

Kamala's Bottom Gets the Works

2011-04-20T19:00:00.011+01:00

After two years of neglect it was time to antifoul. With a week on the drying pad booked, perhaps it was time to remove ALL the cracked and peeling bottom paint, inspired by PBO May 2011 edition.

Option 1: Blasting - £400
Option 2: Chemical Paint Stripper - £100
Option 3: Harris Paint Scraper - £2.75

Guess which I went for.

To get the boat to sit comfortably onto the home made blocks, I had to place them by hand before she settled on the bottom, and then make sure she sat down on them without shifting around. Only one way to do that...

every morning!

She's on the bottom here.

Og came too.

Just starting. Note the blocks. The chains were meant to sink the blocks but weren't heavy enough.

Og and Kamala. Twins on the blocks.

Two more twins. My nephews helping sand.

Nearly there.

Primocon. Amazing stuff.

A new foot has been glued to the port keel with epoxy. The yellow jack is holding it on.

The bucket is to stop the boat tipping backwards off the blocks.

Its blue! No more weed for 12 months.


Job done.

Off to win Battle of the Bands now.

A bit of a tidy up.

2011-04-14T14:00:00.000+01:00

Having cleaned up the cushions with anti-mould and -mildew stuff, I thought I'd start with a clean up inside. Started with the fore cabin.

Think I'll leave the saloon for now...

Have we been burgled?

Wondering whether to take that stupid saggy board off the front porthole.

Early Start to Clean Up Cushions

2011-04-10T12:03:00.008+01:00

First day allowed onto boat after an operation and 3 weeks off work. Got up early and had a clean up down below.

Took all the cushions out and gave them a scrub down with mould and mildew killer.

The pink flask is my wife's, honest.

Clean cushions drying in the sun.

The Dinghy has Wanderlust

2011-02-23T21:54:00.003Z

Today was the day I picked to go sailing this half-term week. On the plus side, it was warmish (10°C) and blowing a nice Force 4 from the south-west. On the minus side, it was drizzly and misty and the tides only permitted a couple of hours out of the harbour.

Because the wooden dinghy (see earlier posts) was at home for a bit of TLC I took the inflatable. I think it has been in the shed too long.....

I left the harbour and approached my outer mooring buoy where I intended to leave said inflatable, but missed it. Three times (I'm out of practice). On the forth successful attempt, I reached for the dinghy painter to tie it on to the buoy. No dinghy. I looked back to see the dinghy floating free 100m away, between me and the harbour entrance. I recovered it and tied it (securely this time) to the mooring buoy.

The ensuing sail was the closest I have come to being out of sight of land, visibility being down to about 1000m. Just a simple 'round the castle' jaunt, anti-clockwise. The highlight was getting Kamala to sail herself for a little while as I took a break below, out of the rain. Not quick, (2.5kts in 15kn of wind!) but straight.

The dinghy episode then continues...

Approaching St Aubin's fort, I couldn't quite make out the shape of the dinghy on the mooring where I'd left it. Perhaps the mist, or the swell hiding it? Astute readers will not be surprised to learn that the small grey object drifting off towards the gunsite in the freshening breeze was the same wayward inflatable making a second bid for freedom. It was recovered and given a severe talking to.

Some may question my seamanship at this point. All I can say in my defence is that in the first case the painter was securely(!) 'o-x-o'ed around a cleat, and in the second a round turn and two half-hitches should have made it quite secure around the mooring buoy. I will be MUCH more careful next time!

Sailing in the rain isn't so bad with the right clothes on and as ever I learnt a few things today.

Engine: About 1hr

A Windy January Sail

2011-01-23T22:32:00.000Z

Today was my chance to see what Kamala was like in a bit of a blow. It was 4-5, gusting more (35 knots according to the coastguard warning), but being from the North-East, there was no fetch in the bay to kick up a troubling sea. With 2 reefs and a similarly reduced jib, Kamala coped well for the most part.

Not long after setting off, a yacht race began from St Helier, and I spent much of the sail surrounded by, and trying to keep out of the way of, the entire racing fleet. The first boats through were impressive with their genoas raised and blowing out in the gusts. I hove-to for a moment to get these pics:

The wind increased in the middle of the bay but a close-ish haul towards The Gunsite was just about do-able. Then a rain squall came in. Kamala leant over further than ever she had before and my stomach lurched. Although she responded to the rudder and luffed up quickly, I decided that was enough adventure for one day and bore away back to the harbour.
The boat is nicely balanced when reefed (better than when not, to be honest, since the reduced jib shifts its pull further forward, lessening the weather helm) and coped with some quite strong gusts before 'the big one'. In any sort of sea she would no doubt be stopped dead and have zero windward capability, but hey, that's Seawych's. All part of the fun.

Low, Low Tide

2011-01-22T21:58:00.023Z

This morning was a perfect morning for a sail, but I couldn't. Instead I took my two eldest to Belcroute to observe a 0.8m low tide and see what creatures of the deep might be lurking at the bottom of the inter-tidal zone. Also, I wanted to check out the possibility of sinking a mooring there for Kamala for the summer.

The pictures tell the story.

These rocks are normally hidden. Hope they are on the chart.

The Fort from Belcroute. Almost totally land-locked.

The marked rocks

Looking out towards Noirmont Point. Looks like its safe to cut inside the East cardinal from this angle.

A Morning Eclipsed

2011-01-04T21:34:00.001Z

More of a cycling than a sailing post this, so be warned.

In preparation for the daily commute commencing the next day after a three week rest, I went for a cycle ride two consecutive mornings, to blow off the cobwebs and get the legs in gear. This was the second, and should've featured a substantial partial solar eclipse. Cloud was the only thing visible this morning, though where it broke over the sea to the south it gave spectacular crepuscular rays. The main reason for this going in the blog is the shot of the bay and the composition on the Noirmont point / condor ferry shot. Good enough for their brochure, no?

It was noticeably darker this morning, due to the eclipse. A bit later on the ride I was horrified to notice that Guernsey had a clear view of the sun!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/guernsey/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9337000/9337603.stm

New Year's Resolutions - Boxing Day sail

2010-12-26T20:03:00.083Z

One of my two New Year's resolutions is to keep this Blog on track and up to date. I had several great day sails last year and one over night trip, but none of them made it onto the blog. With my new-found motivation I will start to add them in retrospectively.

This first entry is from Boxing Day 2010. Having decided to leave the sails on and everything fairly ship-shape and Bristol fashion over the winter, I then looked at the tide tables and realised that a combination of short winter days and the position of my boat high up in the harbour meant that there was no way I could sail until 26th December. You can imagine my surprise when a few months later, the day in question dawned bright and still. Tides, weather, wind and wife all in one accord.

It was an early, frosty start, and my biggest worry initially was not slipping into the water from either the icy pontoon, the icy dinghy or Kamala's icy deck. The lock for the dinghy oars was also frozen (and a little corroded) so I nearly had a wasted trip. Luckily it gave after a sucked the key to warm it up and lubricate the lock all at the same time. Grim, I know.

The ice on Kamala's deck was reflecting the early morning sky in a way that photographs can't convey. it was beautiful. No one else was around and there was no wind, just a calming stillness, perfect after the busyness of the previous day.

I motored steadily out into the bay, with the full main optimistically raised. As I rounded the fort I could see a dark line far out beyond the mouth of the bay, indicating a rippled, wind-creased surface in contrast the the grey smoothness all around me now. I head out to see what was out there.

As fast I was heading south, the leading edge of the wind was travelling north towards me twice as fast, and it wasn't long before we met, the wind continuing past me and filling the bay.

The rest of the trip comprised happy, perfect sailing in ideal conditions. The sun quickly melted the ice from the boat and warmed the skipper. I had the water to myself for the majority of the trip, only as I headed for home meeting a rowing pair and later a tandem kayak.

The wind was so steady I was able to lash the rudder and relax at times, a rare event on Kamala. I eventually sailed close in by the gunsite, and not long after dropped and packed away the main, finally drifting back towards the harbour under jib.

Picking up the mooring in the harbour was eventful, being the first attempt since replacing the lazy line and releasing the bowlines from a marauding tender that had wrapped itself around them. On the first attempt the lines got tangled under the keels and the boat nearly turned through 180 degrees. The second attempt was little better but I was able to pull the various mo0ring lines to manouvre the boat into the right place in the end. What with that effort and the sun I was now quite warm.

All in all this was a memorable sail that, even if taken alone, more than justified the decision to leave the boat rigged and ready over the winter.

Summer Sleepover with the Girls

2010-07-28T21:23:00.003+01:00

On Sunday night my two girls, aged 3 and 7, stayed over on the boat. It was the first time for the youngest one but she took it in her stride and enjoyed herself.

We got to the boat just after HT and sailed under jib only to the Gunsite and dropped the hook. I wanted to go further out to the middle of the bay so we'd stay afloat all night but was persuaded to stay closer in. I tried to go for a depth to dry out at half tide to keep the bumping around to a minimum.

The girls fell asleep after the customary hot chocolate and mostly slept soundly. We bumped around a bit around 11pm and again at 4am. I was awake pretty much all night as ever. I don't know why I don't sleep on the boat, it's becoming a real problem. Can't relax I guess and quite uncomfortable births. I'm going to try a duvet rather than sleeping bag next time.

We set off early for Belcroute in a freshening wind. Belcroute was sheltered, sunny and warm and we had breakfast and landed for a while and I had a swim.

All too soon it was time to go. We left the shelter of Belcroute with full sail up but quickly had to get down to 2nd reef as we got out of the lee of the high ground. On the way back we managed to drop an essential child's drinking cup over the side and performed a pretty repectable MOB procedure to recover it without fuss within a couple of minutes. We made it back to the mooring and got to the harbour pontoon in the dinghy with literally two inches of tide to spare!

(pics to follow.)

I'm really glad both girls had a good time.

Eleonora E - TB Davis' 'Westward' comes home.

2010-07-23T18:23:00.000+01:00

TB Davis racing yacht 'Westward' came back to Jersey today in the form of the replica 'Eleanora'.

Fine weather and light winds greeted this magnificent vessel as she passed Noirmont to head into St Helier, just like her sister ship must have done countless times 80 years ago. A huge flotilla of local boats escorted her in, including Kamala. We just bobbed around outside the fairway to watch the boats go by. By the time she got to us she was lowering the sails but still looked impressive.

I managed to get out on the water nice and early so had time to motor to Belcroute, grab the innermost mooring for a time and get the autopilot wired in again. I also had a swim to shore, where a hapless fisherman had gouged a chunk out of his finger on the rocks. I swam back to the boat and brought the first aid kit with the dinghy. Turned out just a plaster was required.

I left the dinghy at Belcroute and had a perfect sail out to the Red and Green bouys in the bay where I waited for Eleonora.

Coming in I was close to running out of water as the tide fell. I got to the mooring well enough but getting the dinghy back into the harbour was interesting:

I've added this last photo just beacuse of the colour of the water:

I'd like to think that even if I had the money, I'd be wise enough not to waste it travelling to see wonders that only equal what we have here. We live in an amazing place.

Links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-10714174
Interview with 'new' owner
Some cracking pictures of her arrival
JEP article and pics

How I broke Elizabeth Castle

2010-07-01T16:21:00.003+01:00

A shameful day. I sailed with my daughter to Elizabeth Castle harbour for a picnic tea. There was already a boat on the floating pontoon so we tied to the mooring points on the jetty. The swell was quite significant but the boat looked OK to leave for the 10 minutes or so we'd be gone.

On my return, I was horrified to see a huge chunk of the jetty missing. The bow line was now hanging vertically downwards with the mooring point it was attached to still embedded in a large piece of Tudor masonry some feet below the waves. I only just could pull it up.

Unsure whether to leave a note, I plucked up the courage to email Jersey Heritage when I got home.

Dear Sirs,

I visited Elizabeth Castle last Sunday with my boat, a small (19ft) sailboat. I tied up to the stone jetty as someone was already on the floating pontoon. Unfortunately the inner most ring on the jetty, which was quite rusty, broke away as my boat moved around a bit in the swell and took a sizeable chunk of the jetty away with it. Fortunately no damage was sustained to my boat as a result.
yours,

Jason Wyatt

Never got a reply, so I guess I'm in the clear.

Gorey and Back

2010-06-03T22:28:00.000+01:00

After not selling the boat (see previous post) decided to do the opposite, i.e. use it. More details shortly but see pics for the gist. Camera memory card full at start of day two so use your imagination for that bit.

May 2010 - Gorey and Back

A Close Shave

2010-06-03T22:01:00.000+01:00

I don't know whether it's because I'm nearing a 'special' birthday or whether its the time of year, but once again I had a 'let's sell the boat' moment. I had one last year about the same time. Both times, I put an ad on jerseyinsight.com, and both times I had someone interested. (These moments usually come after a 'heated discussion' in our house about how much time and energy the boat is absorbing)

First point to note is how often boaty people must check the classifieds on there because I had two of my nautical aquaintances contact me to ask 'why?' and 'what the heck are you thinking of?' respectively, and the ad was only up for around 24 hours.

The third person to make contact was interetsed in buying the boat. I really nearly did decide to let it go but after sleeping on it, going for a long bike ride and sleeping on it again, I decided, no, we decided, to keep it. The text I sent the potential buyer to communicate this decision received this reply:

"Glad you are keeping her.Truth is I owned her 26 years ago, her name was Bewyched. She was a great little boat, though the engine we had gave us a few moments! Lots of fun, took my wife out at 39 weeks (with the dog!) Enjoy her but if you ever do decide to let her go please give me first refusal as it would be fun to have her again one day."

All being well, myself and Rob (author of above text and former owner of Kamala / Bewyched!) will have a chance to meet up, sail and swap stories in the summer. Watch this space.

This one's for you Rob, from last summer:

Windy Evening Sail

2010-05-11T23:24:00.005+01:00

I left school as soon as I could and cycled to St Aubin. I got to the boat around 4:30pm. I was surprised by how windy it was and the chop around the harbour entrance was hard to row through. Wind was NNE. Put two reefs in the main and tried to sail off the mooring but made a bodge of it without the genoa up. The bow wouldn't turn away from the wind to run out to sea.

With the genoa partially let out control was restored and we rocketed out towards belcroute. Wind was gusting to 25 knots, sometimes for long stretches at a time. Decided to scoot accross the Elizabeth Castle / St Helier and this took a while against the wind. Averaged around 2.5 kts on the GPS. Off the wind a little, saw 4.8 for some stretches. Even with the small sail plan boat was well heeled over.

Once I got near the castle it was clear that there was no point in running into the harbour just to beat out again. Decided that the offshore breeze would create a nice bit of flat water in front of the Gunsite Cafe so headed back accross there. Better wind angle and saw just over 5 kts for a time.

Anchored off Gunsite. Very flat water and wind lessened in lee of land. Note kettle and hot chocolate! (And a grumpy looking skipper - just wind-shocked I think) Sailed back onto mooring with genoa only. Practiced sailing onto a mooring upwind of mine. Didn't go too well but managed to round up to mine upwind and upstream and drifted down on to it with very little fuss. Quite pleased manage the whole sail with no engine. (Had it ready just in case!)

My home made dinghy on its pontoon home.

Wind: NNE, 13-25kts
Motor: 0
Distance: 4.8 nm
HW 1740 BST

First Sail of 2010

2010-05-11T23:03:00.002+01:00

I can't remember the exact date of this sail but it was a couple of weeks ago. There was no wind at all in the bay and I only found some by motoring out beyond Noirmont towards the port and starboard markers in the middle of the bay.

Wind: 0-9knots
Distance:3.80 nm
Engine: 40mins

This is the new Jeckells sail and I'm really pleased with it. It fitted straight on, seems to pull well and looks well made.

A view to the West from the middle of the bay.

Ruadiere starboard bouy. Any further in and the wind just died.

Kamala on her summer mooring in St Aubins outer harbour. A beautiful evening.

Impeller Dilemma

2010-04-26T22:45:00.000+01:00

I've bent the new sails on and we are nearly ready for the season. Knew something was up with the engine from last year, when it kept cutting out at low revs. I guessed it might be the carb again and cleaned it out with the spray. Didn't help, so looked at the cooling. Bingo! water flows nicely through at high rpm but at low revs, virtually nothing.

Checked the manual for the honda and took of the gearbox housing (easy, just two bolts plus the gearbox linkage) and took it home for a look. Bought a new impeller from Fox in Jersey for £15 or so.

And here are the results:

Impeller housing.

Spot the problem?

This is what a good one looks like for comparison!

New impeller nicely tucked in place.

Re-installing the gearbox case was pretty tricky as the drive shaft from the engine to the propeller dropped out when I took the gearcase off and it is very difficult to realign at the top. Took a long time and a lot of fiddling to get it in place, and then it promptly dropped out again due to gravity. Eventually aligned it again and held it in place this time and screwed it all together. It all seems ok but I haven't tried it with the engine running yet. I'll try it tomorrow and if it works, I'll go out for a sail (first this year!)

Dinghy Launch Day.

2010-04-08T21:35:00.001+01:00

Today, after a 6 month build process, I put my Rye Bay 8' in the water for the first time. It floats! The kids had a good trop round the outer harnour with me and they loved it too. It's now down in the harbour waiting for a) a name and b) enough water to be able to get to Kamala.

All the photo's are here:

Building a Rye Bay 8'

Kamala is remarkably dry inside. I left all the cushions and covers off the lockers and they've dried out a treat. Sails up is the next job then fixing the broken vent.

Review of 2009

2009-12-30T19:51:00.001Z

Work Done
At the start of last season I had a list if things that I thought needed doing:

new mainsail
headlining in forward birth area
anti-fouling
engine service, especially the carb.
leaking windows need attention
cockpit locker covers

of these I have done them all except the headlining and the cockpit covers, so pretty successful.

Sailing Done
I would never have believed at the start of the year all the things in Kamala that I have enjoyed in our first proper season together. Highlights are of course sailing to Les Minquiers (saw them on a Bergerac last night, but that's another story), and the trip to Sark, Herm and Guernsey. I have also enjoyed taking many friends out on her throughout the year. My favourite however was taking my two middle children round to Portlet for lunch after they had stayed the night on the boat. It was the first time my daughter had shown any interest in the boat and the trip to Portlet was an unplanned grasp at the outstretched hand of opportunity.

The catalyst for these adventures was the confidence instilled by a week with Phil at Jersey Sailing completing part of my Day Skipper practical. Hats off to the team at JS.

Other
I have read some great sailing related books this year. My complete reading list for 2009 has been:

Captain Bligh's Portable Nightmare - John Toohey
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow - AJ Mackinnon***
The Long Way - Bernard Moitessier
Sailing Just for Fun - AC Stock***
There be no Dragons - Reese Palley
Race Against Time - Ellen McArthur
Treasure Island - RL Stevenson
The Heavenly Man - Brother Yun
Gipsy Moth Circles the World - Sir Francis Chichester
Endeavor - Peter Aughton
Land on My Right - Ron Pattenden
Cruise of the Conrad - Alan Villiers

OF these the "***" indicates my two favourites. Both recommended to anyone with a small boat and big dreams. Which leads nicely on to...

Dreams of Sailing (and nightmares of work) for 2010
Sailing:
Round the Island - slowly! Taking a few days (a week?), possible overnights at Gorey, (Ecrehous?) Rozel, Bouley, Bonne Nuit, Greve de Lecq, St Brelades. Sign up here if interested. May or Summer.
Minquiers again.
St Malo and the Rance (summer holiday!)
Racing/Sailing on other on other peoples boats.
Go sailing with 'OG' and Nicky & Helier Heath.

Work:
Finish Building Dinghy / Tender
Antifoul (again)
Fix Broken Window
New Cabin Vent
Replace single Washboard with split ones.
Fit Cockpit Locker Covers
Drop Mast
New Main Halyard
Check Rigging
New Mainsheet
New Genoa
Sort out awful paint finish (maybe over next winter when Kamala comes home)
Buy a Seagul Engine for tender.

Overall its been a fantastic year sailing with no regrets. Oh, and the dinghy is progressing well.

On and Off the Blocks

2009-12-14T23:46:00.000Z

Last spring, when I had my boat on the blocks, I realised how close I'd come to disaster when Kamala's keel only just managed to squeeze between two drying blocks and therefore remain level.

It was only after she'd dried out I realised the possible alternative. (see below)

This is Pitch and Putt II, under new ownership now, not fitting quite so well on the blocks.

PBO July 2009

2009-11-22T22:01:00.000Z

I never got round to posting this at the time it came out, but July's Practical Boat Owner Magazine featured my very own Kamala in the mystery port competition. The port was St Aubin, obviously.

Kamala is the little red one in the foreground, on her old mooring near the entrance. Don't know when the pic was taken.

Dinghy Project Goes On

2009-11-22T21:56:00.002Z

The dinghy outside is now done ready for the keel and then paint. Inside is next.

All the pics are online here

Dinghy Build Photo Album

2009-11-05T00:03:00.000Z

If you click the link below you can see the photo's from the build of the Rye Bay 8' dinghy, 'Pickled Tink'. It's probably 1/3 finished at the time of writing.

Building a Rye Bay 8'

New Dinghy Part 2

2009-10-31T21:56:00.001Z

This is what I've spent half-term doing.

It deserves its own blog page, and I'll sort that out when I'm not up to my elbows in epoxy.

It looks like a boat now any way. Compare with the cardboard model of the same boat below. Still a long, long way to go. About 15 of the supposed 40 hours done so far.

FInal Sail of 2009

2009-10-31T21:46:00.000Z

This afternoon, HT was at 16:42, 9.8m; plenty enough to get in and out, only hampered by the early onset of darkness. There was more water than I expected so I rowed out and soon had the motor on and sails up ready to go.

As I was leaving home Windy Wendy had 9-11 knots at St Helier Pierheads but there was much less than this once I got out. Still had a good time and got Ollie the Autopilot earning his keep too.

As I was coming in due to the lateness of the our, Nicki and Helier were just taking 'Og' out for a short run. The advantage of having lights nav lights, I guess.

In rapidly increasing darkness I managed to partly 'winterise' Kamala, ready for the gales to come next week. I took off the sails and removed any rope that could be brought in. Next season will need a new mainsheet and a new main halyard at the very least.

By the time I left it was 5:30 and totally dark, but St Aubins is a beautifully lit area so finding my way to a slipway was easy.

Virtual Skipper 5.0 online

2009-10-05T20:50:00.000+01:00

If you value your time and hope to acheive anything in life, you'll avoid this game. It's too amazing.

I mean it, don't go here:

http://www.virtualskipper-game.com/en/

because you'll download it for free, spend all your time on it till the wee small hours and then feel crap at work the next day.

Or maybe that's just me.

New Dinghy (Work in Progress)

2009-10-05T20:47:00.001+01:00

Having dumped my old GRP dinghy, I need a replacement.

I got the plans from Stanley Small Craft for a Rye Bay 8 for £15 (sailing version). Can't remember where I found the website from now but its at

http://www.stanleysmallcraft.co.uk

I was looking at either a Catspaw 8 from B&B Yacht Designs or something from Glen-L, both of which were over £50 just for the plans, when I came across this one.

Paul at SSC is super helpful and the plans arrive by email.

I made a model from the plans out of cardboard, and I like the way it looks.

Will be ordering the ply and epoxy soon. Hopefully locally sourced if the price is right. I'll do a new blog of the build.

Meanwhile, thanks to Nicky and the Crew of 'Og' who have given me access rights to their piece of tupperware while I make my tender over the winter.

Dinghy Dumping

2009-09-20T00:25:00.001+01:00

Being short of cash, I had a hunt around for things to sell on the local trading/classified site. The GRP dinghy I bought over the winter was on the hit list of things to go. It had taken on water through a damaged keel since day one, but had recently got a lot worse, it was also really heavy and one of the gunwhales was coming adrift.

I went down to the harbour today to show it to someone that was interested. Didn't want it, but did help me get it out of the mud, up the stairs and onto my car roof rack. Thanks Doug. However, on reflection, I decided that it wasn't worth bringing it home to repair, so I pitched it straight off the roof rack and into the dumpster.

It did tow nicely and was good to row single handed, and it was handy to have a crappy dinghy I could leave at the harbour and not worry too much about. No regrets about dumping it though.

In for the Winter

2009-09-18T20:00:00.021+01:00

Tonight I cycled down after work and brought Kamala in to her Winter berth in the inner harbour. It was a balmy evening and I fancied swimming out to get her, given the waterlogged state of the dinghy.

I had earlier picked up the new genoa from the post office so was pretty laden, with changes of clothes, swimming gear, sailing shoes etc.

Friends who have a rather fancy cruising RIB were walking down to the harbour and offered me the use of their dinghy. I readily accepted when I saw the chop from the easterly kicking up around the outer moorings. The bluff front of their dinghy and the wheels built into the hull made rowing seem like hard work.

The new genoa needs a thicker luff rope and so couldn't be fitted straightaway.

On this same evening, there was an unveiling of a new memorial stone to mark the sailors from St Aubin who went to the Gaspe peninsular.

Herm to Guernsey

2009-08-30T22:08:00.004+01:00

Sunday 30^th Aug 2009 Herm to Guernsey 4.5NM

Wind S F4, light rain at first and then fair.

The overall purpose of the trip was to make the Vale Earth Fair at Vale Castle in Guernsey, a music festival taking place Midday to Midnight on the Sunday.

I managed to sail this passage most of the way, setting off south and then through the Percee and Corbette Passages between Herm and Jetou. I made a mess of the Little Russel, but luckily it didn't make a mess of me; The wind was against an unforeseen current and I wasn't properly prepared for the pilotage. I wouldn't like to be in the same position at springs. Another lesson learned. The motor stepped in again to save the day.

I had planned to use Bordeaux Harbour, just north of Vale castle, but with no depth marked on the chart, it turned out to be dry on my arrival and with quite a rocky bottom in many parts. Just to the north of this I noticed a sheltered bay of moorings. I snuck in here and initially anchored, until a friendly local fisherman offered me his spare mooring. I tried it, but it was exposed to the southerly chop from the Russel so I moved back inshore on the hook. This was the best anchorage of the trip, very snug, and a perfect fit for a Seawych. I walked a couple of miles to a petrol station to fill up the fuel tank in case of having to motor back the whole way to Jersey the next day. A sensible precaution as it turned out, and fortunate too, because until recently petrol wasn't available on a Sunday in Guernsey.

The festival was great, with many Jersey friends there too. I believe the Vale Earth Fair holds the record for having a higher number of piercings per square mile than anywhere else on the planet. OK, I made that bit up, but it's that kind of festival. After so much solitude, being around thousands of people at once was unnerving and I had to take a break back on the boat for an hour at dinner time.

Sark to Herm

2009-08-29T22:50:00.001+01:00

Saturday 29^th August 2009 Sark to Herm, 5.5NM

Wind SW 3-4 Fair and Sunny

The wind finally dropped overnight, so I left for Herm around 7am, hoping to have a bit of a sail on the way. After heading North for an hour or so against the tide and not getting far fast, I turned east and motored for Belvoir Bay. When I arrived the beach and anchorage were deserted so, not being too sure on how far in to go I anchored a way off shore. In the end the privacy further out was quite welcome as many boats and ferry-born day trippers soon swarmed into the bay. There was at least one fouled anchor among the yachts. I rowed ashore and walked around Herm, having a first class Greek salad at the pub next to the harbour, and writing postcards.

Does everyone find there's something special about swimming off your own boat, or will the novelty wear off? Anyway, I returned to Kamala, and swam a few circuits around her. It was the first day hot enough to try out my solar shower. What a fantastic device! Every boat should have one. After the swim, I hung the shower on the boom and washed in the bottom of the cockpit.

I cooked myself dinner and then phoned Herm harbour office to request permission to stay the night and moved along to shell beach, swinging the lead line to anchor in as close as possible without grounding in the morning. After being crowded with so many boats and people during the day it was a treat to share the whole of Shell Beach (it felt like the whole of Herm) with just one other vessel that night.

A Day in Sark

2009-08-28T21:22:00.000+01:00

Friday 28th Aug 2009, Sark

Wind Westerly F7. Stayed put!

I really enjoyed my stay in Sark. By chance I met some friends from Jersey who were camping and spent happy times in their company, enjoying the sunshine, drinking, eating, cycling, exploring, drinking, etc. If only the nights were as good; despite its location on the east of the island, theoretically sheltered, some chop from the westerley gale found its way around the top of the Sark and, bouncing off the rocks, made Kamala roll and pitch all over the place. I felt pretty rotten the next morning, the lowest point of the trip. The second night I moored further out, away from the rock face, and rigged up an anchor on a bridle off the stern to hold us into the waves, and things were much better. The Point Robert light is pretty spectacular from the moorings in Greve de La Ville, its beam rushing along the cliffs and then overhead and out to sea.

The Lumpy Mooring in Sark

Jersey to Sark

2009-08-27T22:48:00.015+01:00

Thu 27^th August 2009 Jersey to Sark, 22.5NM

HW 10:28(UT) 8.9m LW 17:07(UT) 3.6m

Wind W4, cloudy. Swell – pretty big.

(Yesterday's weather: Force 6+; Tomorrow's forecast: Force 6+)

At 9am, I left my home mooring in St Aubin's Outer Harbour, Jersey, planning to get to Sark around tea time. I'd done the same passage on an RYA course some months earlier so had some idea of what lay in store, although on that occasion there hadn't been quite so much swell, as I recall. An hour or so into the trip, still on Jersey's south coast, there was a coastguard warning on the VHF of F6-7 winds in the area 'soon'. I was already a little unnerved by the size of the waves and so turned round and abandoned the trip there and then. It was only another boat querying the forecast a few minutes later that made me realise that 'soon' doesn't mean the same as on land, e.g.”I'll be home soon”, so on we went.

There were a few dolphins playing in St Brelade's bay, but they did little to ease my apprehension about the conditions. Little Kamala took it all a lot better than I.

Rounding Corbiere Lighthouse bought the wind and waves onto the beam, and the stream behind us. Up sail and north! The swell was still pretty impressive from the cockpit of a little boat, but rolling, not breaking. Not that is, until we got dangerously close to Rigdon Bank. Suddenly, half a mile ahead I saw very large, steep waves with white crests covering a large part of the sea, exactly across our course. Even from that distance it was pretty clear that there was no way through. What would have happened had we carried on I still get shivers thinking about. The pilot book showed a narrow safe passage inshore of the bank, so we headed for this. Even here it was quite unpleasant so I started the motor to get through as quickly as possible.

The passing of Gronez on the North West corner of Jersey saw the sea transformed into a very pleasant place to be and I finally started to enjoy the trip. The weather improved too. All too quickly we reached the approaches to Sark. I gingerly crept through the Goulet passage, past La Maseline harbour and under the Point Robert lighthouse to Greve de la Ville, as it seemed the best place to ride out the impending gale for the next two nights.

From Seawych Newsletter Pics

Autopilot #3

2009-08-25T22:37:00.000+01:00

Bought a battery, a solar charger and a connector and mounts*, and now have a fully functioning autopilot. Was so easy to fit to this boat. Now for somewhere to go. How about the Vale Earth Fair in Guernsey? Sounds like a plan...

(*"Thought twice, bought local" for most of these items except the solar panel.
Trinity tyres is the best place for a leisure battery, and Marine Electronics' Steve Bottomley supplied the Raymarine/Autohelm fittings)

Sailing with the Fosters

2009-08-22T17:45:00.006+01:00

Another trip out with friends. This time Martin and Kathryn from Leeds (now residing in Silsden), our oldest friends.

Incident-free as I recall. A very neat pick up from the South pier of St Aubin harbour at high water followed by a pleasant sail around the bay.

Managed to catch a few mackerel on the way. Arrived back with just 10 minutes of water to spare, so had a very short row back to the shore.

Had the mackerel for dinner...yum.

Motor log: 15 mins
Miles: 2
Wind: Light F2/3
Weather: Fair

Autopilot #2

2009-08-18T21:05:00.003+01:00

I took the Autohelm down to Kamala to day. The fittings I thought were for an autopilot clearly aren't. On the plus side, the design of the cockpit means that the seat-backs and the tiller are at the same height, and the distance between the seat backs and the tiller is within 10mm of being perfect. I see an easy installation ahead.

The other problem is electricty, as I have none on board at present. Will get it sorted in time for .... well, watch this space.

Autopilot #1

2009-08-17T23:19:00.002+01:00

The autopilot I got for free from the stripping of the other Seawych seems to work perfectly. I bought a socket to plug it into and connected it to a battery in my garage, and it goes in and out just like it should. Its an Autohelm 800, and all the manuals are online. I love the internet.

Need to work out if the fittings that look like they are for an AP on Kamala really are. If not there's some work to be done.

Excited at the prospect of another crew member on board, even if its electronic.

Splicing Fender Lines

2009-08-11T23:23:00.001+01:00

I haven't got any photos of this work but suffice to say I am really pleased with the way they look, with eyesplices and backsplices.

I got the hang of it from

www.animatedknots.com

It actually pretty easy and having done 4 I can do it without looking at the instructions now.

Sleepover

2009-08-08T22:48:00.004+01:00

Wind:1-2 NW
Weather: Fair
LW:0400??
Miles: <1
motor: 20 mins

Last night my two boys and I went down to Kamala at about 8pm with the intention of sleeping over and fishing. I had loads of stuff to carry out and because we were staying out I needed the little inflatable tender. It's only 1.8m so doesn't hold much so it was a bit like the Fox, Chicken and Corn conundrum deciding whether to leave the kids on the shore alone while I ferried the gear out or take them first and leave them on the boat. Decided they were safer on the shore and I could see them from the boat.

We sailed very slowly in the light wind towards Belcroute. A few people were fishing in the channel between the rocks and the fort and having great success, but by the time we had got our lines out we had drifted past the hot spot and the current and wind were carrying us out too quickly to turn round.

We had several goes at picking up moorings in Belcroute. It took us so long that it was virtually dark by the time we found one we could grab. I had to put the motor on as the wind had died to nothing.

The boys were eager to sleep for once and went off before the hot chocolate was ready. Just before they turned in they notice lights moving in the sky and thought they were satellites. The number of them soon made it clear they were Chinese lanterns. Coincidentally we had seen them last time Toby slept on the boat with me a few months ago.

Around this time I got a phone call from teh owners of 'OG', the other St Aubin's Seawych. They'd been trying to call me on teh VHF, but uncharacteristically, mine was off. They were also having a sleepover, but on their normal St Aubin outer mooring. As an aside, The Chinese lanterns prompted OG to contact the coastguard, thinking them to possibly be flares. This later prompted an news item a few days later on BBC Radio Jersey about the lantern/flare issue.

I tried to rig up a paraffin lamp as an anchor light on the new flag halyard. Too swingy. Eventually hooked it onto the clew of the furled genoa. Perfect. Burned all night but not very brightly.

I have not been sleeping well on my boat. Apart from the very first night on it months ago, I always am very restless. I think its combined anxiety for the safety of the children and of the boat with them on board, and lack of comfort. I drifted off at about 12, but woke around 4am when the boat started bumping on the bottom;I was surprised being on a mooring such a long way out at Belcroute. Its a very flat bottom out there, because the water's edge was still some distance away. After that I didn't sleep again, so read (Island Race by Sandy Toksvig and John McCarthy) until it was light enough to go on deck . My children on the other hand sleep better on the boat than at home. The sounds of me fishing above didn't stir them at all and they eventually roused around 7:30.

We headed in and had a rendezvous with OG. I really enjoyed seeing the two 'wyches rafted up alongside each other. A race must be imminent! We compared notes and boats then went home our separate ways.

Shopping

2009-08-07T22:40:00.004+01:00

Been an expensive few days.

In the last few days I have bought:

A danbuoy
A lifeline
A radar reflector (was actually cheaper in Jersey than online)
A water carrier
A solar shower (these are so cool every garden should have one)
A beach towel
Guardwires
Fishing bits and bobs
Rope for fenders.

I'm now going to learn how to eye- and back-splice the fender ropes.

A good jobs day

2009-08-07T21:57:00.005+01:00

Kamala in St Helier

Wind: F3/4 NW
Weather: Fair and Sunny
Miles: 4
Motor: 1hr

I set the alarm for 5am and managed not to wake the wife or any of the children. The boat is well stocked with supplied and toothpaste so I only had to get dressed and collect a few things before heading of to the boat.

5:30 was a bit early for the tide. Kamala was just about to float so I couldn't walk the bits out to her, but the dinghy was still aground. Aground and awash. The leak is so bad now that even leaving it on the mooring for an hour or so while I go of sailing sees it with a good few inches of water. I bailed it out into the mud then went for a run while I waited for the tide.

I got back to the dinghy in the harbour about a minute before it floated. Never ceases to amaze me how fast the water rises on springs. On board Kamala around 6:30am.

The jobs on the list were to fit the new guardwires (finshed in two days by Jackson's and at a very reasonable price) and rig a flag halyard up to the spreader. And to have breakfast.

I decided to see if the little harbour at Elizabeth Castle had any suitable berths for reaching across to the spreader, but even from a distance it was clear that this was not the case. Shame, as it would have been a great place for breakfast! I was going to go into the marina but then noticed the berths around the yacht club. There was one little, Kamala-sized space right in front of the Yacht club in St Helier and so that is where all the jobs were done. Including breakfast.

My sturdy new guardwires:

My new flag halyard:

Worth getting up for. A view of Kamala's home port as rosy-fingered dawn turned the streets and houses to gold:

Auction Bargains?

2009-08-06T22:31:00.000+01:00

I went up to the auction at glencoe today to see how my car might fair next week. I promised that I wouldn't spend any money, but....

There was a pallet with a few fenders and some stainless ladders, and the clincher was a hinged outboard bracket which I know will get a good price elsewhere.

Anyway, I got the lot for £33 and sold the stainless ladders to my rival bidder for £5. Turned out to be three serviceable buoyancy aids, one of which is much better than mine so I'll keep it and give th e others away. The real reason for buying was the fenders and I ended up with about a dozen, some of which are brand new. Also a 4kg grapnel anchor with chain and miles of polyprop rope.

Anybody want to buy an outboard bracket?

Sailing with Claire

2009-08-05T23:21:00.002+01:00

We had a good friend from Leeds staying in Jersey with her two children, so it was decided that they should come for a short trip out on the boat.

They had fun and all had a go steering.

It was a significant trip in that I had to pick them up from the end of the North pier in St Aubin. I had not come alongside before and duly fendered up ready. My first attempt was dreadful and I had to go out and try again. There were a couple of fishermen on the pier who helped take lines, but I still managed to bump and scrape a bit on the way out.

Dropping them off was slightly smoother and went to plan.

Safety Kit

2009-08-04T18:41:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I bought a danbouy and Lifeline from Jimmy Green Marine (.com). Looks like they take off the VAT and shipping is the same as for the UK.

There's a campaign on in Jersey, "Think Twice, Buy Local". I try whereever possible to recycle my Jersey pound, but I'm boating on a very tight budget.

I still need to buy a radar reflector as the last piece in my SOLAS V jigsaw but hopefully they are the same price over here as in the UK.

New Guardwires #1 - taking off the old

2009-08-02T23:23:00.003+01:00

I popped down tonight as the tide was going out to remove the rusted, saggy old guardwires currently maintaining safety aboard Kamala.

She was still floating when I got down but she only draws 0.7m. As soon as she was touching bottom I knew I could wade out there without getting too wet. Had a nice hot chocolate.

I have about 14m of 6mm stainless rigging wire that I picked up at the auctions for a few quid years ago. Been looking for a use for it all this time. Turn out it is actually worth something after all.

Jackson's are going to cut it and add eyes for me to use as guard wire.

I picked up a laser sail at the same auction for £5 and sold it on ebay for £12o. It paid for everything else I bought that day and then some!

Sailing to the Reefs

2009-08-02T00:07:00.011+01:00

Yesterday Kamala sailed to Les Minquiers, a reef 11 miles south of Jersey. Perfect day, perfect weather, perfect company.

Wind F2-3, SE, sea slight, weather fair and sunny.
HT 1429 BST, 7.9m
Miles: 32
Motor runtime: 6 hrs, 4-5 litres fuel.

My friend Pete and his future brother-in-law Simon came along as crew.

The video on youtube tells most of the story

Sailing to the Les Minquiers - a youtube link.

To summarise, we left La colletewe motored out for an hour, then put the sails up, heading south. We fished and caught five mackerel, while Pete went below for a lie down with the mal de mer.

Pete recovered in time to spot the dolphins that swam around the boat for a few minutes. A first for Kamala and myself.

We motored through the passage in and then just short of mooring area at Maîtresse Île the engine broke; still running but the propeller wasn't turning. Luckily, Kamala is only 19ft and can easily be paddled so, using the dinghy oars, we glided up to the one vacant states mooring bouy to take stock of the situation.

A few minutes of pondering revealed the shear pin had gone on the outboard for no apparent reason. It was quickly fixed and then we ate lunch and swam and rowed the dinghy accross to the island. We had a little time to explore before the tide called, and visited the famous toilet.

The return journey was straight forward, but with little wind we motored all the way. Plenty of ferry traffic to avoid and lobster pots. We caught just one more mackerel. Approaching St. Helier we noticed what looked to all of us like the pall of smoke from an orange distress flare, over the horizon to the south. We called the coastguard to have it checked out but they drew a blank.

We arrived back at La Collette as expected around 1800BST

Below is a pic of Kamala at the 'Minkies'. She's the little boat on the right.

.

A Lovely Sail in Poor Weather

2009-05-12T22:07:00.003+01:00

Tonight lots of things came together and it was good.

I took my new oars (and lock!) down to the dinghy at 6:45pm to row out to Kamala. Wind was a F4 easterly and the tide was gushing strongly into the harbour. Nearly gave up when I couldn't stem the tide to get out of the harbour. However nipping along the edge of the harbour wall I just made it out. Was quite choppy with the wind, as the fetch across the bay was pretty significant.

Made it to Kamala and tide the dinghy to the mooring and jumped aboard. Was aprehensive with the wind but the pierhead auto wind on CH18 said it was only gusting to 15kts. I'm sure it under-reads in anything except a southerly.

Because of the number of other boats nearby I set sail under second reef with the motor running in neutral, and had to use it to get going, but quickly turned it off. The tide was so strong there was no way I could head east to Elizabeth castle into the wind so I went out towards Belcroute with the tide and on a close reach. Felt very comfortable. Hardly heeling at all and making and acceptable speed through the water.

The wind died off fairly quickly and after 10 mins I decided to shake out all the reefs in the main and the jib. Despite the massively increased sail area, all we seemed to do was heel a bit more and not go much faster (this was still to windward).

The light was clearly diminishing by now (8pm overcast and drizzly) so I headed home. Sailed a bit faster slighly off the wind. Approached mooring on a run under main only, then close reached up to it. Just about managed to miss the dinghy and catch the mooring.

Was enough light to finish drilling the boom for the 1st reef fittings, so now all reef fittings are completed. I figure I won't make a permanent 3rd reefing system on the boom. I can either lash the 3rd eye to the second reef line or just strap it down.

I rowed back in the twighlight at 9:10pm.

Miles sailed: probably about 1.5
Hours Sailed: about 1

New Home #1

2009-05-06T13:14:00.003+01:00

Last night I moved Kamala from her illegal parking space to what I think is her outer mooring. It was blowing up to F5 after work (the pics are from a different day later on) but it was the only time I had.

Disappointingly, the oar I'd left in my dinghy had been stolen, so I had to 'borrow' one from another, which I did return after use.

A good chance to try out the new second reef system and the overhauled engine. Both worked perfectly. The latter was burbling away at low revs in neutral as we sailed out of the harbour. A few gust caught us by surprise but the boat was more than up to it. Despite towing the dinghy we were sailing along merrily.

Wasn't confident enough to try sailing onto the mooring in the gusty westerly, and even under motor it would have been nice to have crew.

So now Kamala is on mooring L4 in St Aubins outer harbour. She seemed to be swinging around a lot more than the other boats around there, perhaps due to wind eddies, being so close to the harbour walls. Sadly, the lovely new white mooring buoy I'd decorated with Kamala's name and my phone number had disappeared from the mooring. Either worked loose, stolen, or moved by someone who thinks mooring L4 is theirs.

I reckon she floats at about 6m of tide. HT was 4:49pm BST last night and at 7:40 she was just aground. I'll do the calcs later.

On returning to dry land the first thing I did was to buy new oars. Not sure the decrepit dinghy is up to it though. Gunwales are almost off.

Mooring Joys and Woes

2009-04-09T22:47:00.004+01:00

I finally got 'legal' with my Seawych and registered her with Jersey Harbours. I pleaded to be allowed to keep my mooring, and was told that I was 38th on the waiting list or around 3 years, so there was no way. So I booked a swinging mooring outside the harbour, of which there are several spare.

So far, I've been down to have a look for the ground works of this mooring but there's nothing there above the sand. Next time I'll have to go down with a spade.

I was concerned about what to do in the winter, as the mooring outside the harbour can only be used between 1st May and the end of Sept.

Then, the weekend just gone, I joined with other SOBOA (St Aubins Boat Owners Assoc.) members to clean up the harbour:

http://saboa.webs.com/index.htm

I was there on the Saturday morning and helped move surprising quantities of old chain, rope, matting, wood etc.

Then, out of the blue on the Sunday, I got a call from Harbours saying I was 1st on the waiting list, would I like a mooring?

Possible reasons:

1) The harbour clear-up team checked the harbour for vacant/unused moorings. So many became available that there was enough even for no. 38 on the list.
2) The some angel, human or otherwise, looked favourably on my hard work on Saturday morning and granted my wishes by way of reward.
3) It's a total coincidence, unrelated to the harbour clear-up, and in keeping with the seemingly random nature of allocation of mooring berths. (A friend of mine was told she was first on the waiting list. When she rang a week later, she was 7th)

I'll leave you to ponder that one. I haven't moved my boat to its new berth yet, as there is less water under it and I was told I could keep it where it is until the end of April. All the lines are there ready though. Once the harbour has been dredged later this year there should be less difference between mooring depths.

Recycling a Seawych

2009-03-25T22:34:00.000Z

In the course of the last few weeks I have got to know a local family, through teaching guitar to the eldest son. By chance this family also sail, and by even more freakish chance, they too have bought a seawych. ('OG' - see pic from an earlier post). So there has been a lot of seawych chat in between guitar sessions. A friend of theirs also owns a 'wych, which had been rolled on its mooring on the east of the island. Having been moved to the car park near by, it was to be scrapped.

Not ones to miss such an opportunity, the owners of OG and myself spent a happy few hours stripping anything that wasn't bolted down, and many things that were. The haul includes:

Kettle, crockery, boom, anchor and chain, mooring rope, winches, main mooring cleat, wooden locker covers, rudder, autohelm, megaphone, compass, and plenty more.

No doubt there are 'wych owners who read this who wish we'd taken off the metal pupit and the stern rails,and probably lots more besides but time was limited and it was raining and getting dark.

2009-03-22T22:00:00.003Z

I've been trying to get down to the boat for an hour or so after work on a Friday. Most of the time has been spent cleaning up the topsides. I used cif and a green pan scrubber for the worst bits. The wooden grab rails were covered in lichen, which scrubbed off easily with the pan scrubber. The whole lot looks a bit more loved now, with a shiny white top and a clean blue bottom. The red hull paint is really poor quality though. Suspect it is a one coat and the preparation was poor.

I managed to get out for a very short sail this weekend with my two boys. We didn't have long as there wasn't much water under the keels and we were more or less at HW. As we set off we ran aground on the sand bard at the harbour mouth. (This has since been dredged). The motor pulled it off without problem.

After about a minute the motor cut and stuck in gear so wouldn't restart. We resorted to the genoa and sailed pretty well, even slightly to windward under genoa alone. I lifted the motor and it decided to go into neutral so we were safe to get back.

Turning back, the sailing was still good. An attempt to sail onto the mooring narrowly failed but the motor was in the water ready.

Since last writing I have purchased a hard dinghy to leave at the harbour pontoon. You can just see it in the pic. Now I don't have to take my inflatable each time I go down to the boat. Only cost £100 but does have a small leak in the bow. I will add a pic.

Finsihed the Antifoul

2009-02-22T22:51:00.007Z

Yesterday I finished the antifouling, and today was the first day that the tide was high enough to lift her off.

I took my son, aged 7, with me today. We managed to get her off the blocks just 20 minutes before high tide, so it was a close thing, and we bumped sideways along the blocks to get free. Good job I had the ship's boy as we could balance up the boat to keep it flat as it came off. It was a fantastic feeling as it floated free and smoothly motored out of the harbour for a brief run out into the bay. Sailing rig not ready yet so it was just motor, but my son enjoyed steering.

Mooring up back in the harbour went more smoothly than ever before, as without several pounds of barnacles underneath, the boat drifts forwards quite a long way once the engine is off. (I did manage to drop the boat hook in the water, but only after catching the pickup bouy).

Cant wait to go sailing, but there is a lot still to do on the inside of the cabin. Yesterday I had a major clearout from inside the boat, and threw out a lot of junk. Found the missing keel shoe, and some spray dodgers with the name 'Bewyched' on them. The boats previous ID I presume. Also found a vast array of cleaning products. Should be able to get the topsides looking nice again quite soon. Still covered in harbour mud at the moment from the painting project.

Painting the Bottom - Part I

2009-02-17T16:56:00.017Z

As you can see from the photo opposite, there is quite an accumulation on the bottom of my boat. Not surprising as the boat hasn't been treated for at least 3 years. I'd scraped the many barnacles off the bits I could reach a few months ago, but the weed had returned. There were still plenty of barnacles between the keels I just couldn't get to.

So, half-term seemed the ideal time to start on Project Anti-foul. Tides were good, HT mid morning, and the weather was looking great.

Saturday and Sunday low tide afternoons were spent scrubbing, sanding and scraping, with my small band of 'helpers' in the form of my three eldest children, aged 4-7, who actually spent much more time flinging black harbour mud at each other.

On Sunday I decided to have a go between the keels, so attached a rope to the mast halyard and pulled hard from behind canting the boat back on it heels, while my children slid a plank under the keels. Worked quite well but still couldn't get to all the barnacles and the boat was sitting in its own little puddle so lying down under it wasn't an option.

I was trying to avoid using the drying pad that I'd book for the day on Monday, as a) I didn't think there would be enough water on it at HT and b) because I was really anxious about moving the boat around in a crowded harbour with an engine that doesn't want to run at slow speeds and a boat I'm not used to handling.

Monday was a great day! I rowed over the drying pad at 10:15am with the dinghy and 'sounded'. Didn't look that deep and HT was only 20 mins away. Also tried the same at the blocks further round where there appeared to be a bit more. (Showing 0.8m on the scale next to the blocks).

If anybody ever wonders whether you can tow a Seawych with a dinghy and oars, I can say 'yes' but I wouldn't recommend it! I'd rigged up the rudder and tried the engine just in case I got into trouble (how much trouble can you get into going THAT slow!). The Seawych slewed all over the place behind the dinghy but I eventually gained control.

I floated her over the blocks and appeared to have about 1ocm clearance on a falling tide. I quickly jumped up the ladder, tied the boat up, every movement on the boat gently bumping the blocks. Tying a rope to either end I pulled it into position. Sadly the blocks are too far apart and the keels don't sit quite right, but what I saw when the water had gone was better than I imagined.

I spent the next couple of hours tending to those regions that never otherwise get accessed. Finally removed all the barnacles, sanded and scrubbed between the keels and the inside surfaces. The freshwater was provided by a stream running down through the harbour at low tide, which needed a tramp through deep harbour-bottom mud for each and every bucketfull.

A pleasant break in the almost-warm sunshine while it dried, and then the painting began. I have to confess at this point that the overriding philosophy this year is to get the boat operational as quickly as possible with as little effort and cost as possible. So, the 'prepared' finish was still pretty rough, but sound. Even so the painted surfaces look pretty good from a distance of about 10 yards.

I still have the bow and stern sections to do. Watch this space. I'm now stuck on the blocks until Sunday at 5pm, due to tides.

Second Window Fitted - Oops!

2009-02-17T16:42:00.005Z

You can see the full story about the windows at the old blog site:

http://kamala.blog.com/

The second window (port front) was fitted in conditions similar to the first, i.e. freezing cold, easterly wind howling through the harbour entrance straight onto the nose of Kamala.

Everything went really smoothly and seemed to go a lot quicker second time around...a little too quickly. The first time I must have held the window curved to the shape of the boat as I fitted the screws. This time I left it to the screws a little too much as I added them and a tiny crack appeared in the window, which quickly grew. When I left the boat it was about 10cm. Next time I went to the boat it was right the way across the window.

Kamala's Blog Moved to Blogger

2009-01-05T21:31:00.001Z

Kamala is a Seawych 19 sailboat.

I have moved the kamala blog to blogger.

You can see the first posts here:

http://kamala.blog.com/

but was a bit clunky to work on. I may move the old posts over here. One Day.

Jason
SW614
Kamala