Well what a difference a good nights sleep and a flat sea can do for ones spirits.

Yesterday in the middle of Lyme bay, tired and irritable, I was almost ready to give up sailing and buy a motorhome. Today, such a different story. The sun was out, the sea was flat, the wind was just right and we found ourselves in a race. As all sailors know if there are two boats going to the same destination, then it’s a race.. One which I’m pleased to say we won, even with our worn out sails.

Today we travelled from Exmouth to Dartmouth, with no problems. With no wind we motored up to Teignmouth, and did a quick reconnoitre in case we might need to go in there sometime in the future. Busy place but might be worth a visit sometime. The wind started to pick up just outside Teignmouth so we sailed, tacking all the way to Dartmouth.

On the way we passed Dawlish Warren where in 2014 you may remember the main line railway was damaged by a huge storm.

Torbay is full of cruise liners,

Including the 95000 ton Queen Victoria. Interestingly the average depth in Tor bay is only 11 metres which means these cruise liners whose drafts are 8 to 9 metres are only 2 metres off the bottom.

Now the next picture will seem a little underwhelming but it is the fin of a sunfish, a small one as they go but fairly rare in British waters but happily flapping away off Berry Head.

We knew we would be beating across Lyme Bay and the weather forecast said SW F4/5.

As we motored toward Portland the windicator was nudging 20kts apparent so I decided to put the main up with one reef in.

Just as well. because as the day went on, so the wind strength increased. 37 kts appearing for a considerable length of time. With both of us feeling the worse for wear from the bad night at Lulworth. and our best course taking us straight to Exmouth. We decided to overnight here instead.

You will see from the screenshot and the passage plan that we are leaving at precisely the wrong moment. It’s near springs, wind and tide against us. but we want to make a start and get to Portland ready for the passage across Lyme Bay to Dartmouth on Friday.

Passage. 10/06/21 Swanage to Weymouth/Portland Martin and Louise

Weather. Wind SW f3/4 Sea slight vis good

Tide HW Swanage 2100

Waypoints 50° 30 07 N, 002° 01 17 W

Hazards St alheims Race, The firing ranges Kimmeridge Ledges.

Departure notes Leave@ 16.30

Passage Plan. We should catch the last of the outgoing tide as far as maybe dancing ledge. Then tack out to Waypoint off end of St Aldheim ledges to go round the races. At waypoint tack back into Weymouth Bay as best we can. Enter Portland Harbour and anchor or pick up bouy in region of Castle Cove.

Well I the wind wasn’t as forecast, Sw or ssw which meant the original Waypoint was unreachable and the dying wind and spring tide meant we ended up in the St Aldham Races……in 50 yd visability so ended up in Lulworth..

The swell was awful So a very bad nights sleep. Not the best start to our holiday.

	trip miles	trip hrs	sail miles	sail hrs	motor miles	motor hrs
Passage
Cumulative

What to do

Places to visit.

We were pontificating on our return to Swanage, and decided to come home on Sunday. With possible bad weather Tuesday and Wednesday, necessitating a move to Shell Bay, We thought it would be less of a rush and hassle to organise if we were starting in Swanage Bay to begin with. We could get all the gear off the boat more simply and monitor the situation.

Light winds and an adverse tide meant slow progress down the Solent. Indeed it look 4 hrs to reach the Needles. then the wind all but died, so on with the motor for an uncomfortable ride in big following swell back to Swanage.

After so many episodes of ‘The Crown’ we thought we’d visit Osbourne House. This involved a water taxi to cowes. Then a 45 minute walk to the entrance. The house only had the ground floor open to the public, but quite spectacular in its own way. Then a trek down to the beach where we had a picnic. Rested and fed we next went to the walled garden, developed by Prince Albert. As with most setups these days to get out you’re channelled through the shop but we resisted and managed to come out with only an ice cream each.

A long walk back to Cowes. My feet were hurting by then. With 2 hours to kill We crossed to West Cowes and did more preambulating before returning to the boat on the water taxi.

17000 steps May not seem that much to some people but it was quite enough for me in one day.

First Sail holiday of the season, a mini break to the Isle of Wight. Marina’s seem pretty full but as the weather is fairly light and settled we can always anchor.

The weather shows light Easterly for the the next few days. Then getting stronger Tuesday to Wednesday.

Tide. L W 0520 Swanage and Cowes Hw 1301

Navvy suggests heading out to sea, presumably to make best use of the flood tide. If we leave by 07:30 We should make it to Cowes before the tide turns foul.

I think that the default values Savvy uses for tacking angles+ boat speed are a bit wishful thinking. With my 15 year old saggy sails she no longer points nor sprints very well. I can see the old cast iron sail being used if we’re behind schedule.

Well, we were a little late getting away but only by 10 minutes. A bit murky, but the wind was slightly more than forecast and we were soon speeding along at 7-8 knots under main and genoa. There wasn’t a lot of traffic about, at least not in the mile radius around the boat which was roughly the visability. Following the Savvy Navvy course recommendation we made good time up to the needles.

Arriving here by 10:00. Reaching Hurst 50 mins later, we were caught napping when hit by a wind shift of 90° followed rapidly by a dead calm Right in the swirling waters off Hurst Castle. We started the engine and quickly dropped the sails before continuing on our course.

Coming past the Yarmouth – Lymington ferry the engine began to falter. Contaminated fuel again. A quick filter change whilst piroetting in the main channel and we were back on course. Got to Cowes entrance 10 mirs after the tide turned, motored up to the Folly Inn to berth at 1300.

Time for a Cream Tea

Well yesterdays delivery trip was a bit of a shakedown and threw up a few minor problems. Some were easy to solve, rope wrongly threaded, etc. However the steering was a little stiff with the drive leg down, which is a bit of a worry but I know for certain that the leg is free to move as it has had a full strip down this year, and it’s smooth and light with the leg raised.

The second thing is not so much a fault with the boat, rather a wish list kind of item. The problem with picking up a bouy is that you cannot see where the bouy is from the helm position once you are closer than 10 metres. So theres a crucial period ‘when it all comes down to skill, experience and a bit of luck.

I think the answer would be to have a camera on the bow. So thats the project. Now the front of a boat is a pretty unforgiving place for an electrical item. So I thought maybe a wireless car reversing camera and a bespoke bracket. so that it need only be in place whilst mooring up. Anyone have any experience or suggestions?

Lastly there’s the outboard which ran but wouldn’t idle. It was OK to get to share but a quick clear out of the carburetor needed I think.

After the really high winds of the past two days, today couldn’t be more different. We got to Ridge at 0900 and soon had everything ready to go. With a hint of rain in the air we slipped our lines and made off down river, soon to be overtaken by 2 enthusiastic kayakers. I wonder if they know about the 4 knot limit in this part of the river?

As soon as we were in the Wareham Channel we got the sails up, and had the engine off. With very light winds it took a while to get to the ferry at Sandbanks. However after that it slowly got better, passing Old Harry Rock We passed “Bugs Bunny” , another Gemini, going the other way.

Tacking into Swanage Bay, we had a bit of hassle getting past a survey vessel that seemed to be intent on getting in our way. We were a bit out of practice picking up the mooring. Took 3 go’s to get it. Must think about fitting a camera at the front of the boat. to be able to see that blind spot from the helm.

By 1400 we were walking up the hill.

Swanage bay is fairly flat but as soon as you go past peveril point it becomes wild. Watanga is several miles inland in a small river pinned to a pontoon by the wind. I’ve just been to check she’s OK, which she is and whilst there, I switched on the instruments just out of interest.

That’s the highest number I’ve seen on this gauge . Glad she’s sitting where she is and not out at sea

So she’s back in the water. Gave me a chance to test the engine. I did re-seal the exhaust water cooler unit using Hylomar paste and with the modifications /repairs to the Engine cover, everything seems a little quieter. I suppose I could be a little more deaf. Either way I am pleased.

Hope to move on Thursday.

Last year on a trip . from St Vaast to Lymington I saw a 7bft in the forecast, it was short lived lasting only the one three hour period. Well despite setting off in dead calm 5 hrs later, mid channel, Winds between 35-42 Kts and rough seas kicked in and it was survival time. I decided I would never set out again, if there was a 7 or above in the forecast.

The plan was to move Watanga on Thursday but as you can see from the forecast it’s a bit fiesty.

trip cancelled rescheduled for Saturday

	trip miles	trip hrs	sail miles	sail hrs	motor miles	motor hrs
Passage
Cumulative

The boatyard have kindly lifted the boat in the hoist for the weekend. but the weather is quite wet with prolonged showers forecast Saturday followed by the same on Sunday. I got there early, having consulted the raintoday website. The rain had just stopped as I arrived so quickly set up the grinder and set to work.

Well theres the split. It’s pretty much the whole of the trailing edge. First job was to remove the antifoul in the region I was going to fibreglass.

In order to keep the gap closed while I glassed up I first drilled and tapped for three screws, then did my best to fill the gap with resin before tightening up the stainless screws. Two layers of 25 mm wide glass tape followed by 3 more of 100 mm wide tape later all nicely smoothed out and that was about it as shown in the next picture.

At this stage it was time for a coffee while everything hardened off. With the temperature at around 10°C, I had to give it a couple of hours to cure. Then as the rain clouds started gathering, on with a couple of coats of antifoul.

Should be afloat on Monday

So there she was all ready to go. Up she went and they left me to antifoul my Centreboards. Then I found a split down the back edge of the port side blade. This was the one repaired by ridge a few years back but to be fair The split was in the front edge that time and it did drop down onto the concrete last year when in the slings which may have weakened it.

Anyway with all tools and materials cleared away at home there was nothing to do but drop her back down and postpone launch till after the weekend. Hopefully she will be in the slings again tomorrow afternoon so I can use the weekend to make repairs and do the antifouling.

I’d even blown up the dinghy in anticipation

Spent today on stripping down the outboard carburetor as I had neglected to winterize it at the end of last season. It started first time out of the cupboard, but wouldn’t idle, The petrol was amazingly, in good condition in that it hadn’t evaporated off.

On removing the carburetor resevoir bowl it soon became apparent what was wrong. I’ve never seen this type of problem before. There was a clear jelly like substance in the bowl. about the consistency of jam. and of course it was in the jets and everywhere. Every part had to be taken apart cleared and put back. It could really have done with a spell in an ultrasonic cleaning tank but I don’t have one of those.

Anyway, my efforts had the desired effect, and it’s now running smoothly.

Some last fitting jobs down at the boatyard and then emptying all none essentials from the cabin ready for launch in the morning.

The two items from U.S.A. arrived yesterday by separate postal systems Hermes and Parcel Force. so today I set about fitting. The toilet pump was a bit fiddly because of the location of the nuts & bolts but that aside it all went OK.

The gas detector was just two screws and a plug fitting so pretty easy and quick .

I put back launch until Thursday to give a little more time for finishing touches.

Tomorrow’s jobs include getting a refill Propane bottle, try to get generator running. get dinghy and engine to boatyard. fitting of the shower door latches.

After sleeping on the leaking water /air problem, (See previous post) I reasoned that.as the valve was in too good a condition to be leaking, so it must be coming from the connections. The clear plastic water pipes tend to degrade over time and become hard and brittle. Any attempt to tighten the jubilee clips tends not to work.

Now a bit of heat will re soften the tube and a new connection can be made by chopping off the old deformed end and re- attaching the now virgin pipe end.

Small trick of the trade here. Put a spot of Lubricant on the jubilee clip thread, it will help it tighten up smoothly and easily.

I also removed the hose barb adaptors and refitted with ptfe plumbers tape.

And the result is an airtight and watertight system. 😃👍

Just when the end is in sight something else crops up. Apart from some gunge clogging up the tap and shower nozzles there was a lot of air in the pipes, that wasn’t clearing as it usually does. Investigations led back to the Tank transfer valve. The lines from both tanks contained no bubbles of air but from the valve on great gulps of air coming into the system.

I’ve had the valve apart and it doesn’t look bad so now looking at pipe connections. The old pipe is getting somewhat stiff and brittle so may have to replace that. Ho Hum, nothings straight forward is it.

On the plus side The new love seat has arrived and is fitted,

Only four more days before we’re back in the water. The snag list is getting shorter and slowly the stuff that was ordered is arriving. I may well be doing some of the final jobs on the water. Larger Jobs left to do are renew the toilet pump (arriving soon from U.S.) Sterilize the water systems. Refit new gas sensor, (again arriving from U.S.) Service Outboard. and of course – Polishing

The rest is putting away stores and generally tidying up.

The weather for the week ahead is full of wet bits so despite a strong wind blowing we went for the antifouling today. On the plus side there are very little fumes, on the downside drips fly all over the place so you have to be well covered and have the safety gear on.

With both of us on the job, it only took an hour.

At last Watanga is starting to look half decent again. Lou has spent 2 days cleaning the interior and we’ve reattached the sails. Lot of fibreglass to polish yet but we’ll have a good jet wash today get rid of all the dirt and seagull poo.

Never ending job having a boat.

The list of jobs is at last getting shorter, It seemed for a while that every time I completed a job I found a couple more things to do. Now we have a deadline She goes in the water on May 12th.

After years of having to get under the aft bunks to view the levels in the tanks, I thought I’d treat myself to some gauges.. To be fair they are only cheap Chinese stuff and only read full three quarter, half, quarter and empty, but there again do you need more.

As all boaters try to keep their batteries as charged as possible all of the time and as the gauges are just another drain on the battery, I have put a switch in the circuit. This means if we need to know what the water capacity is at any time its just a flick of the switch. All the rest of the time there’s no drain on the battery.

There was a small debate as to where to site the gauges. It was decided to place them where I could see them when filling the tanks, so they ended up in the cockpit.

This worked out nicely as the other conundrum was where to get the power from. In this case I was able to hook on to the permanent power to the ignition. This means if the battery is on, I have power to the gauge switch. During installation of the wiring I managed a momentary short, which because we have taken the feed from the engine circuit popped the circuit breaker on the engine. Took a wee while to find that!

Now have new job on list to modify circuit so that only gauges fuse if there is a problem or that feed from elsewhere

Hmm. must also clean that shelf!