Christmas Sail

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.