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.

Low, Low Tide

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

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

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.