I have to say I do have a lot of very expensive bottles of marine products “especially made” to be used on boats. We all know that if you see the word marine on a product you can be sure of paying way over the odds for it. But we still buy them.

This article popped up recently in my google feed and makes interesting reading :- Homemade boat cleaners. There is a link in that article for cleaning the boat below the waterline ( please bear in mind they are in warmer climes);-

Cleaning Below the waterline

Thought it was time for a rethink in the maintenance cupboard  First, a new shelf to level things up. Then new boxes, which are a good fit ,especially on height, but need modifying with finger holes or handles   so I’m able to pull them out easily.

Plenty of work has been going on since my last post. I have purchased a new “mifi” unit. A Netgear Nighthawk. I have run cables for a mast aerial to connect to this. As the mast is derigged at the moment. I was only able to test the unit with the aerial on the deck but even this modest height gain gave me 2 bars extra on signal strength.

As we have been bemoaning the inefficiency of our oven for maybe the last 5 years, I have upgraded to the latest model. It features a spark ignition, different size gas rings,and hopefully an oven that works!

more later.

I visited the boat on Thursday to find Sam hard at work on my electrics, he was just about to cut a hole in the floor for access. I’m glad I didn’t do this myself, not that I’m not capable, but I think I would have done myself a mischief in the process.

I’ll post some photos later.

Update Saturday 30th All back together now and looking good.

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All looking good. Back together. I’ll wait until monday and check with the electrician before I try it out. Meanwhile Louise and I worked on the mast running in two new coaxial cables for the VHF and Wifi aerials, just need to put terminal ends on.

I am a little disappointed that the yard hasn’t started electrical work yet on the boat. There is other electrical stuff to be checked over, which would be a whole lot easier if I could connect the batteries. However I’m plugging away in the garage and refurbishment of the drive leg is nearing completion.

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I drained the oil out of the drive leg the other day and it came out a sort of coffee colour. Definitely not the runny honey colour it went in. This is usually a sign that water is getting unto the oil. I remember during the season we caught some fishing lines in our propeller. There was quite a lot of it, and took a while to untangle and thought that I had got it all. Having taken the prop off I discovered that the line had made it’s way down the shaft as far as the seals. As the leg was suffering from quite a few patches of corrosion I decided it was time for a refurbishment, so it has been removed from the boat

I have removed the seal housing and the seals. Despite looking ok, they are 17 years old so we’ll replace them anyway.

After a lot of scraping and sanding the leg is ready for the primer.

The Easterlies were worsening, and there were several yachts in Swanage bay that had to move. The extent of the damage to watanga was unknown, It was time to put her to bed for the season. So with no electrics, and no engine I had to plan a journey from Swanage to Ridge Wharf. The first part was easy, we could still sail, but even if the wind direction was favourable enough to get up the river, there would be no room for error, and picking up a for and aft mooring, pretty well impossible. We enrolled a couple of friends to follow us with a rib that would become our engine in an alongside tow for the final part of our journey.

That’s when the fun began!!!

Although it was only blowing a F5 the sea had built and the waves were about a metre. We met Russell and Nicola at the beach, I was going to get them out to their boat before coming back for Louise. We had a plan, in hindsight not a good one, and before we had made 10 feet off the shore we were swamped twice. Amazingly I was still dry, Nicola had taken the brunt of the waves and was decidedly wet.

Plan B. I launched myself, got beyond the breakers and then motored over to the fishermans jetty where we successfully got Russell and Nicola aboard and subsequently on board “Penguin”.

Greg and Mark turned up and we agreed that they could probably leave about an hour later allowing time for us to sail to poole.

Lou and I are more practiced at getting off the beach and we’re soon on watanga and both pretty dry. And off we set, checking comms with Mark and Greg.on the handheld radios.

It was a fiesty sail with only a couple of tacks necessary to take us past Old Harry rocks, but strongly no sign of the others. We radioed in our position and Mark confirmed they were just about to leave the beach. All going to plan I thought.

Meanwhile back at the beach things were not so good.

There was a minor problem of the tender sinking under the weight of two, not small, gentleman, with kit, anchor, fuel, extra fuel. Second attempt was successful and achieved ith much the same manner as our own second attempt.

We were at the Sandbanks Ferry, by the time they turned up, with salt encrusted hair sticking up like Jedwood..

After that, everything went to plan. The rib tied on the rear quarter drove us very well and I was able to steer almost as normal whilst calling the engine commands to Mark. in the rib..

We were soon tied up on the mooring and the Rib left. for home. Lou and I took the sails down, and removed the boom before heading home ourselves in the car.

Many thanks to Mark and Greg.

You’ve got to laugh though.

It’s been an eventful month. Immediately after the last post the weather turned foul and the boat had to be moved from the bay a couple of times. On the last trip we took Watanga into Poole Harbour for a couple of days, dropping in at the marina to fill up with water in preparation for our September trip.

We were nearly back on the mooring when everything went wild. Alarms going off, instruments went haywire. We immediately shut down the engine and switched off the batteries, finding 2 small fires in the process. Fortunately they were very small and could literally be blown out.

Dead in the water and being pushed by wind and a metre swell toward the beach we had to act quickly. Drop the anchor was the first thought. but with no power I would need the spanner to loosen the windlass clutch, but I didn’t know where it was. Sails of course were an option, but time to raise them and with the conditions it was iffy whether there was enough room.

Getting some help seemed the way to go at this point. With that done we could then try to resolve this ourselves and if someone turns up, all well and good.

Friends Andrew and Hilary had just gone by in their motor boat so I gave them a call. They arrived so quickly that all thoughts of anchoring or sailing went out of the window, and within a couple minute we were being towed to our mooring.

Lesson learnt

Not being able to drop the anchor immediately, was a minor panic moment, and the answer to that is that the spanner for the windlass will now be kept m a prominent position, ready for any future emergency.

With unknown amounts of damage to the electrical system the season was declared over and the boat is now out of the water.

Getting her to the boatyard is another story.

Its been a while since the Grandkids have been to visit, 18 months in fact. There’s alway a wish list, Go to the beach, Swim in the sea, Go on Grandpa’s boat.

Saturday was looking good for Sun and light winds. So with sandwiches made we were ready to go by 10.30 . Now last time we all went on the boat 10 mins in and Ethan and Eleanor were bored within 10 mins. How they have changed in such a short time.

After our first night at home we were back on the boat for a final clean up and pick up forgotten personal items. There were a few clothes, Russells paddle, and one or two food items. but that was it. Russell arrived on his paddleboard (with spare paddle).

With three of us on the job, the cleaning was soon done.

The only thing left to do was move the boat out of Swanage bay to protect her from the forecast Easterly winds.

Looking at the forecast for the coming days showed easterly wind rising in strength to a maximum of F 6-8 on Friday night. We decided that if we made good time to Portland Bill, we would push on to Swanage. This would give us time on Thursday to clean the boat up and take her to a sheltered mooring in Poole while the easterly blows through.

At 0545 we slipped lines at Dartmouth and headed out into the sunrise.

It was a long and uneventful passage, the most difficult part of which was trying to stay cool. There again I guess most of the country would have felt the same.

We could hear the ” Crump ” sound of the tanks firing even before we reached Portland. I telephoned Lulworth Range Control as we rounded the Bill for advice on our course. We were told to stay South of 50.31.5 N which we did until we heard on the radio just after 1600 hours that firing had stopped for the day, and then resumed a more direct course for home

We tied up on Swanage Mooring exactly 12 hours after leaving Dartmouth.

A late start today on a day promising little or no wind. Having left at 0930 and made good progress to Salcombe. We decided to sail even though it meant a longer journey. Well we had an hour or so until just past Start Point where the wind dwindled to nothing.

By this time it was getting hot even with the light wind from the boat moving along. 90 min’s later We were berthed safely in the middle of the river at Dartmouth.

Tomorrow we set off early 0600, which should see us reach Portland at 1500. We’ll decide at that point whether to push on to Swanage or overnight in Portland..

Just a short trip of 8 miles today, leaving the quiet and tranquil Helford river to go to the hustle and bustle of Falmouth. We arrived around 1pm and just chilled for the rest of the day. A leisurely cream tea in the afternoon and a takeaway in the evening before watching the sun go down.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Nicola this evening who is jumping ship at some unearthly hour in the morning to do something called “work”

Newton Ferrars Is our destination tomorrow.

After a bouncy night in St Marys Harbour We departed early for a new anchorage south of the Island of St Martins. This is a large area of drying sand. at L.A.T. on the chart but only just.

After much deliberation, checking and double checking tidal depths, I reckoned we would remain afloat even at low tide, which, hurrah, proved to be the case.

There was an added advantage to this location. It was only a100 yds from the beach, and then only 150 yds away from the Vineyard we had booked to visit and finally another 100yds to where we were having lunch.

A short way down the beach a Seal Colony resides so we gently rowed down to see them. They are used to people and boats and came quite close. although still a little camera shy.