Sailing at last!

Since moving the boat up to Saltfleet, for one reason or another, I've not been able to get out on the water at all. Having a sailing friend over from Sweden for a week gave me the excuse to drop everything and go sailing!

Jens lives in Stockholm and sails a Hurley Alacrity in some very different waters to mine, no tides but lots of islands. He wanted a taste of tidal sailing.

The plan was to have been a trip to Wells-Next-The-Sea and back, unfortunately the weather had other ideas - when the forecast mentions "possible F8" and "very rough" it's time to think again.

Plan "B" was slightly less ambitious, go out as soon as there was enough water, sail around a bit to give Jens an idea of how the junk rig works, then get back in before the water has all gone.

We met at Saltfleet the evening before the planned trip, Jens having been subterfugically visiting York the previous day.

On seeing the angle the boat sat in the mud, the decision was made to sleep on the clubhouse floor!

A meal and a couple of pints later, we decided to change pubs before the excitement of the bingo overcame us!

The following morning was mainly filled with waiting, the tide seemed to be having a lazy day in the sun, with no hint of urgency in it to help us on our way...

Eventually we pushed the boat off the mud into the deep(er) channel and we were off.

Lovely blue sky and a nice breeze, but the previous week's northwesterlies had produced an impressive swell which crashed onto the bar each side of the channel entrance, although passing between the sandbanks was relatively calm.

Seals swimming everywhere were a novelty for Jens, he's heard rumours of them in the Swedish Archipelago, but never seen one in the wild. Donna Nook has them, lots of them!

We spent an hour or so tacking north against a northerly wind, with a 2 knot south-going tide under us - we did make way north, but very slowly!

Jens took the helm for a while, thus becoming a proper North Sea sailor, then it was time to head back in. With the nose pointed at the channel marker buoys we were being pushed so far south that we would probably have ended up on the beach at Mablethorpe! Aiming about 30 degrees north of our destination put us back on course.

We sailed in over the bar, with surfing waves each side of us, then decided to forgo the engine altogether and see if we could sail all the way upriver onto the mooring, during the final part of the creek we were being overtaken by last night's bingo players, but we didn't care.

With the sail almost completely reefed, we edged up to the mooring gently, anyone watching would have thought us well-practised experts. Of course, nobody was watching....

A short trip, but as far as I'm concerned a great success. Perfect weather, great company, and no problems - what more could you ask for?

Maybe a longer trip.... Watch this space, Jens is coming back soon.

The wreck of the "Try".

I mentioned the wreck which is now sat in the middle of the entrance to Saltfleet haven, the story of the boat is a sad one, involving the loss of the captain's wife, three children and the captain's young brother.
The boat was salvaged after the tragedy, but was lost again some years later in almost the same place, where it now remains.

The tale is told on the Saltfleet boat club website.

http://www.saltfleethaven.co.uk/history.html

Moving home.....

Not me, the boat!

The mooring at Saltfleet has had a couple more visits, and was as ready as we could make it without having the boat there to measure up, so it was time to move. A break in the northeasterlies we'd been getting for a while was all I needed. It came!

Left Boston about 4pm on Sunday afternoon with the intention of taking my time and heading for the anchorage outside Wainfleet haven for the night.

As soon as we turned the corner near the docks we were confronted by a ship which almost filled the river, Ali was keen to give the tiller back to me! No choice but to turn round and head back upriver until he'd got into the dock lock. Half an hour later we tried again, after another mile we had to keep well in to the bank to let another big boy head for the docks - I thought it would be quiet on a Sunday afternoon!

Nothing else to hold us up, we headed out of the river after getting the sail up.
Uneventful trip to Wainfleet, the only interruptions were a seal which popped up very close to the boat while Ali was helming and made her jump, and a shortcut through the Wainfleet bombing range, just for the fun of it!
Dropped the hook about 9pm, in a very calm and sheltered spot.

Tried to watch "The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus" on the laptop, much hyped film which didn't manage to hold our interest....

Woke around 3am to a very rolly boat. Tide was coming in and the wind was going out. Neither was particularly fierce, but enough to set the boat off rocking!
Finally gave up trying to sleep around 5am, by 5.30 I was sailing.

Still almost dark, a fishing boat lit up like a Christmas tree was trawling for shrimp between me and Skegness, I headed a bit further offshore as they normally stay fairly close in to the beach. An hour or so later he was behind me.

I thought that now was as good a time as any to try the self-steering again. I'd been modifying it since I got it and was fairly sure it was close to being "right" now.
There was a bit of trepidation as I dropped the chain onto the tiller pin, but short-lived as the boat carried on in the right direction!

The course varied about 10 degrees each way from my chosen course before being pulled back by "Lee" as I have now named the S/S. Lee is my eldest son, the steering is a vane system. Anyone who knows Lee will understand. Vane, Vain, near enough for me!



The steering was left to it's own devices for a couple of hours with just a need for a tweak now and again. I made myself a cup of tea, had a snack, had a stroll around the deck and one or two other odd jobs, all with a grin on my face due to the new found freedom!

The forecast S/W wind had gradually become a N/W forcing me to head offshore more, before tacking back in, losing half a mile of northwards travel each time. As I neared Saltfleet the tide had also turned against me, on the last tack I lost a mile!

Battling on against wind and tide (COO, DRAMATIC!) I could just make out the wreck of the "Try". The haven entrance has moved south during the winter and the wreck has largely been uncovered and sits mid-channel and marked by buoys.
Making almost no headway towards the haven I finally gave in and started the engine and dropped the sail.

I carried on following the 5m contour north, until I saw the Inner mark buoy a little further out. I headed a little further out towards it in order to line up with the channel properly.
From the inner mark I turned west and headed for the wreck, hoping not to add to it!

The previous week I'd walked to the end of the channel to take a look at the wreck and at half tide there was water over the sandbar and about 4 feet of wreck showing above the water.

As I closed the wreck there was about a foot still showing, so there should be plenty of water as long as I stayed in the channel. The tide was doing it's best to push me south of it....

100m, then at 50m from the wreck, I was still trying to see the creek heading up the beach, and still seeing what looked like an unbroken beach stretching across in front of me!
Having seen the channel the week before, I knew it turned to starboard shortly after the wreck, and as I reached it I could see the pleasant and calm waters of Saltfleet haven.

I knew that at 3 hours before high water, I wouldn't be able to get up the creek to the moorings, so gently poked my way upriver until I felt the keels touch sand. I dropped the anchor out with a little chain and took the chance to tidy up the boat for half an hour.

After the water had risen a couple of feet I pulled the anchor up and nudged my way further up the creek, touched bottom once more before tying up to a boat on the visitor's mooring. We still had to wait another hour before we could get near the new mooring, but eventually managed to get tied up.



A couple of phone calls later and I'd managed to get a lift from a club member (Thanks Pete) to Mablethorpe, where we could start the mind-numbing 3 hour bus journey back to Boston and my car.

Work has started....

....on the new mooring.

As I said earlier, there is a stretch of bank, nothing else, so lots to do before I can leave the boat there.
Different setup to what I've been used to at Boston, here the creek is pretty shallow, so the idea is to keep the boats out towards the middle and make best use of the available water.
This means, of course, that I've got to build something to hold the boat where I want it, then something I can walk on to get there - about 20ft from the bank!

The first part of the "platform" is now in place, soon it's going to be extended another 12ft or so, then the usual method is to have a lifting "drawbridge" section which leaves the boat secure when it's unattended.
Most make use of scaffold poles to hold the boat out in from the bank, so I've done the same...

A few pics to show progress so far.

The beginnings....



The scaffold "arms" in place.



The view from the opposite bank, crap phone camera... the mooring is in the middle of there somewhere!

Winter, great if you like sitting at home.....

Only news to report is that I'm moving Yuan Hang to a new mooring. I liked my visit to Saltfleet so much I'm moving there.

To say that I've got a mooring there is a bit of an exaggeration, I've got a small stretch of riverbank! I'll be building a mooring over the next few weeks, and with a bit of luck will be moved and sailing from there very soon.

I've been at Boston for around 6 years, I've enjoyed it and made some great friends and learnt a massive amount (4 years ago I'd never sailed a boat), but it's time for a change. No more 5 mile trips on the engine just to get to the sea, no more dodging sandbanks and sticking to channels.

The run from the new mooring to the open sea is about 1.5 miles, from there I can head anywhere I like as long as it's not into the Donna Nook bombing range while they are firing!

Saltfleet is a peaceful spot, unlike the middle of Boston. Two pubs in the village, a couple of shops and a caravan site is just about all there is. Just the job!

On the "maintenance" side of things, I've done bugger all for weeks, more health problems have kept me pinned down for a while.

I've managed to "acquire" a Rutland wind generator, so there's another job added to the list...