Kamala is Sold - but still in Jersey

After only one sail in July, to the Marine Pool at West Park with the kids, I realised that the boat needed to go. Reasons were partly financial, partly family, partly philosophical.

The kids seldom wanted to come sailing so it was nearly always me on my own on the boat. The boat is now too small for a family of 6 to sail comfortably together, although we did do it twice last year.

Time seems ever more precious as the kids get older and busier, and I've been really enjoying cycling this year too. Even a short sail needed 3 hours on average and you can get a lot more cycling than sailing done in three hours.

Money has also become an issue. If my pay had kept pace with the mooring fee increase, my salary would have doubled in the last 5 years. It hasn't, so mooring a boat that is seldom used is no longer viable.

The good news is that the boat went to a bunch of lads, experienced motor-boaters, who want to learn to sail and she now resides in the middle of Gorey harbour.

Absolutely no regrets about owning or selling Kamala.

I kept the wooden dinghy that I built in my conservatory. It's bottom broke from being left full of water and drying out, but its part-way repaired with a stronger bottom.

If anyone has a 12-16ft open motor-boat for less than £600 with a trailer, get in touch. Until we win the lottery, our sailing days are done.

Nearly Empty

Nearly every boat is gone. Only a few weeks until dredging work begins.

posted from Bloggeroid

In which we do our best Jacob Marley

Along with several other boat owners, we chose today to rescue our mooring lines from the forthcoming dredging work. The sight of men draped in chains walking through the mud was memorable.

More memorable still was eldest daughter getting firmly stuck in the mud for a good 15 minutes. Once self-rescue was ruled out, I had to go in after her. Got her out without losing a Welly. Good job, or my name would have been...mud!

I took my chains home but TBH I think they were hardly worth saving. Anyone fancy joining in on a bulk purchase for the spring?

posted from Bloggeroid

Summer Trip 2012 Stage 1

Well this year's summer trip looks like it will be in stages.

Here is stage one, Belcroute to Gorey:

Wind was ENE F3, and we sailed the whole way apart from through the Brett passage. Only one tack, just past Canger Rock buoy. Sun shone, boat and crew happy, 100% success on passage plan!

We caught 9 mackerel just north of the Brett beacon.

Stage 2 is very exciting...

"Nice Piece in the Paper"

If I had a pound for everyone that had said that to me in the last two weeks, I'd have enough money for a bacon butty and a cup of tea.

 

Thanks to Gill Kay at the Jersey Evening Post for the article and if any other Jersey boat owners out there would like a similar write up, please contact her at the JEP.

Mercury 2.5hp 2 Stroke Impeller Replacement - Or Is it?

Well, this was meant to be about replacing the faulty impeller on my Mercury 2.5hp two stroke.

I found where it was located via the excellent boats.net website:

Before Removal

Getting some help

There certainly wasn't any water coming out of what I thought was the drain pipe. I duly purchased a new impeller from Gallichan Marine in St Aubin for around £15. However, when I finally got round to having a look at the engine, guess what...impeller was in perfect condition:

So, it must be a blockage in the tube somewhere. I wasn't sure exactly where the water was meant to come out until I found this video which clearly shows the drain pipe draining, unlike mine:



 I tried squirting water up from the bottom with a syringe and from the top down the drain pipe and it was VERY blocked. However, a few minutes poking around with the end of a safety pin seemed to do the trick:

Then it was time to try the engine out..

No..Properly!

I wish that were the end of the story, however on leaving above beautiful secret beach I managed to bump the prop on the bottom and bust the shear pin. "Not a problem", I thought, "there's spares under the cowling." Mercury ain't Honda. So it was a very long, slow row back, against wind and tide. 

I've since ordered 5 shear pins and 2 splits for £12 from ebay (genuine Mercury), which WILL live under the cowling!

Mystery Seawych

I found this lying on Bonne Nuit Beach...

A 'wych with no name.

Is a new Jersey Seawych or just moved from somewhere else?