New Year's Resolutions - Boxing Day sail

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.