Yuan Hang

I'm still here!

2012-01-17T07:36:00.000Z

It's winter. No need to explain more than that....

Some jobs are progressing, slowly.

The damaged (both by me and the weather) part of the self-steering has been re-made. It'll be bolted back on nearer to the time it might be needed. I'm still thinking about building a replacement windvane steering system, this one is big and bulky, not a pretty thing to look at, and the weather keeps getting into the wood.
If the Doc can stop the pains in my back, I might just attempt it this year.

The upholstery replacement is coming along. The new foam for the V berth has come from a kingsize memory foam mattress, it's been cut to shape and the material to cover it has arrived. Ali now has her orders!
This pic is from the first "trial fitting".

I've got hold of some normal foam for the rest of the cushions, they rarely get sat on, so no need for the memory foam there.

The lining of the hull with carpet is spreading around the boat, might be a couple of days work left, but looking good.

Still plenty of jobs to do. The transducer for the fishfinder is hanging off the transom, so needs a screw or two.
The VHF antenna still has to go up the mast, but the route for the cable has been decided, just have to do it now!
The engine control cables seem very stiff, so they can come off for inspection and possible replacement.

I could go on.....

Progress, a bit....

2011-11-07T22:16:00.000Z

I've managed to make up some bits to clamp the wind generator to the pushpit rail. Plan A was to make a couple of "U" bolts, that turned into plan "B" and a couple of "J" bolts. I figured that they would be plenty strong enough for the job, and a bit less work for me....
The galvanised bits were swapped for stainless at the same time.

The other job I've started to tackle is lining the inside of the hull with carpet. I got a bit fed up with getting a cold arse in the night. The spray glue was "fun" to use, apart from getting high on the fumes, I've now got a pair of trousers which are only suitable for wearing while using spray glue!

That's all folks!

2011-10-25T06:50:00.000+01:00

That's all the sailing for this year anyway.

It's that time of year again, cold, wet and either dark on the way out or on the way back in again. That, plus my health problems have forced the decision. No more until the weather picks up next year.
I'm supposed to be doing this for relaxation.....

I've been to the boat and taken the sail off, it needs a few repairs, and these are much easier at home than on the boat in winter!

Sometime in the next few weeks I'm going to try and stick the VHF antenna up the top of the mast, it's been OK on the pushpit but any extra height will improve the range.

Not sure what to do about the self-steering. Being wooden, it needs work on a regular basis to keep the weather out. I've not used it much at all this year. I'd like an electric autohelm, but the cash isn't available, so it'll probably get a bit of TLC as well.

I've tweaked the mounting for the wind generator, it's a little more solid now but I still need to clamp the main upright to the pushpit rail. I'm going to get some stainless steel bar and make a couple of custom "U" bolts for the job.
The galvanised "U" bolts I'm using on the support struts will be swapped for stainless in a couple of weeks.

I've taken the upholstery back home, plans are to re-cover it, maybe make some cushions for the cockpit. Also on the inside, the cabin walls are to be covered with some thin carpet, which should make things a bit more cosy.

So, no sailing, but plenty to do!

Most problems in one trip?

2011-10-10T10:46:00.004+01:00

Nothing much has been going on lately, my health problems have taken over for a while. At least I managed a long trip this year during the summer and I'm only missing out on the winter sailing.
I dropped in on the boat, just to check things were OK, a couple of weeks ago. Nothing else has happened concerning sailing between that day and the Saltfleet BBQ.
I'd managed to get hold of some stainless steel tubing to use as struts for my wind generator which was still sitting in the shed. My son works in the building trade and told me they use 15mm stainless tube for gas installations, I ended up with two 3m lengths for free!
I cut and made the ends to fit, then the plan was to chuck the lot into the car, drive to Saltfleet and fit it.
Things have a tendency to change.....

I dropped in on my daughter on the way, my 4 year old Grandson, Gregory, heard where I was going and decided to join us!

The fitting went fairly easily, apart from dropping one length of tube into the water. The end was just sticking out and I managed to grab it by hanging over the stern.
The Rutland generator was bolted on the pole, the struts fitted and the rear locker lids just cleared them, only just!

Gregory then wanted to have a ride down the river. That's when things started to go wrong! (apart from dropping bits in the river!)

The tide was still rising, but Grandson was impatient, so I slipped the mooring ropes off a little early. The wind was blowing from the near bank and turned the boat through 90 degrees, but a bit of pushing and pulling got the nose round a bit further, not far enough, but further....

I tried pushing the nose into the opposite bank, hoping the engine would push the stern round. It did, but with the wind "helping" I ended up pinned against the opposite bank. The tide was still rising, so at least I wouldn't get stuck there!
Eventually, after a bit of "forward and reverse" on the engine we shot off the bank backwards - straight towards the club Commodore's boat. I stuck the engine in forward, nothing happened, I got a screaming engine and was still heading for the boat. I cut the engine as I thought it was stuck in reverse and fended off as best I could, the only damage being to my self-steering. That can be sorted easily over the winter.

So, engine restarted, gears seemed to work fine....

We headed off down the river, just to the slipway and back. I stopped for a chat with the Commodore just before the slip, the engine stopping and restarting fine.
As he got in his car and drove away I began to turn the boat to head back to the mooring, that's when I found I'd got no drive!
The engine was running fine, but I'd got no propulsion, forward or reverse.
The big oar was pulled out of the cabin and I paddled it to the visitor's mooring, another member grabbed my rope and helped pull me in.
It only took ten minutes to lift the engine out of the well, where it was soon clear that the shear pin had broken, that's what it's there for I suppose!
It must have been when I was trying to get off the mud a few minutes earlier. There are old mooring chains buried in the banks, amongst other debris....
The more worrying thing was to find that the plastic nut which holds the propeller on was loose, the cotter pin which should prevent it coming off was missing! Could easily have ended up losing the prop.

I had spare shear pin and cotters, so the repair took a couple of minutes.

Coming back onto the mooring Gregory seemed a bit worried I was going to hit the Commodore's boat again, as he was telling me to stop well before we got to the mooring!

The "spares department" on the boat will also contain a prop and nut in future!

Rolling at anchor

2011-09-16T12:22:00.000+01:00

It's a problem I've suffered from more than once, I'd guess anyone using the anchor has had the same. At best it's uncomfortable, at worst it's throwing things off the worktops in the boat and making me feel sick!

In the venerable tome "Cruising under sail" an answer is described, the "Flopper stopper" as it's called in other places....
A triangular piece of wood, weighted to make it sink and at one corner to make it sink faster! Suspended from the end of a boom out abeam of the boat, the idea is that the weight allows it to dive as it's lowered, but it pulls tight as it's pulled back up with the rolling of the boat. The theory is that it dampens the roll...

I've often heard (from experienced sailors) about nights spent rolling uncomfortably at anchor, and have wondered why the flopper stopper has never been mentioned. Gone out of fashion? Been forgotten? Doesn't work?

I've decided to give it a try. I've knocked one together from some scrap plywood and brass I had lying in the shed.

I'll let you know if it makes a difference.

Just a pic.

2011-08-15T08:24:00.000+01:00

Taken by Charles on the trip back from the Skegness YC BBQ. I thought it merited it's own post.

Another BBQ!

2011-08-15T08:21:00.001+01:00

This is a very different post to my last one, another BBQ, but no sailing. This is just a quickie to record the Saltfleet Haven Boat Club BBQ 2011.

As it's my club, I didn't need to sail, just turn up and eat!

I got a few pics of the visiting boats arriving, Alex came on "Runic" from the Skegness Yacht Club and "Will O Wisp" came from Fosdyke marina. "Floozy" was already there, having sailed from Wainfleet the previous day.

The moorings had never looked so busy, boats actually rafted up!

The night went well, the food and entertainment was plentiful, and some new friends made.

I'm already feeling like I want to sail again. Nothing too strenuous, but I really do enjoy being on the water.

Yuan Hang translation.

2011-08-10T07:53:00.000+01:00

I got no response from my appeal here for a translation of "Yuan Hang", so I asked at the Chinese forum at http://www.chinese-tools.com/forum

Their answer was "Sailing far away", pretty close to what I'd found myself. So there it is!

Just to brighten things up, this is a pic of me on the way upriver after the excitement of the return from the Skegness BQQ.

Skegness Yacht Club BBQ and giving up sailing....

2011-08-07T11:23:00.001+01:00

I've left off writing up this trip for almost a week. I know I'm usually a bit slow updating the blog, but this time there's been a reason.
If I'd written it last Saturday evening, while at the BBQ, I'd have been writing a very different story.
And probably putting the boat up for sale.....

I've mentioned my health problems briefly, I suffer from Psoriatic Arthritis. Recently it's been getting worse. After the Tyne trip I was exhausted. This trip almost finished my sailing off altogether.

Feeling rough, it was 50/50 whether I made the BBQ trip, but it was just a short run down to Wainfleet Haven from Saltfleet, 20 - odd miles, in company with 2 boats from my club. The weather forecast was good. In theory it should have been a doddle. So I decided to go.
Three of us spent the night sleeping in the clubhouse, Billy and John would be going on Billy's boat. Tony and Charles would be arriving early and sailing Tony's Seawitch.
After an hour or two of banter, we settled down for the early start, 5am!
John was up early and wouldn't make a move without toast and marmalade. He managed by using the shelf from the oven to hold the bread over the gas ring! I did my best to help him eat....

Billy led the way out of the river, me in the middle, Tony bringing up the rear. A N/E 3/4 giving us an easy but rolly trip down to Ingoldmells where we'd drop anchor to wait for the tide to get into Wainfleet.
It was around 15 miles before the "lunch break" and after about an hour I was aching, badly. After another hour I was cursing every wave that bumped me against the cockpit sides... I really wasn't enjoying it. More than that, I wanted to get off the boat. I'd had enough.
By the time I was halfway to my break I was so tired I kept nodding off, literally dropping off to sleep for a second or two at a time before the bouncing boat woke me.
We all went our separate ways to the anchorage, then met up to drop the hooks. By this time I was so shattered that I just went below and slept.

I was woken by the sound of Billy's shouting, he'd been circling me and trying to rouse me for quite a while!
I called back for him to sail on, saying I'd catch up.

Then I had to get the anchor up. I made my way to the bow before I noticed how hard the tide was running. I tried pulling on the chain, but with what must have been 3 knots of current, I failed miserably to move the boat.
I went back to the cockpit and started the engine, leaving it running just above tickover in gear, then went back to the bow. Even with the help of the engine I had to pull in chain when the bow dropped off the waves, and try to hang on as it rose!
After a while the chain started coming aboard, slowly....
My arms hurt, my back hurt, my hands hurt, but up came the anchor, eventually.

Back in the cockpit I pulled up the sail and knocked off the engine, sat back gasping, and tried to catch my breath. I wanted to go home.

I noticed that we were now four boats, I later found out we'd been joined/passed by "Piper" from the Humber Yawl Club, also on their way to the BBQ.
As we neared the Wainfleet channel entrance I counted another three boats waiting.

When the time came we were led through the tortuous channel, snaking back and forth, boats further back in the queue sometimes being closer to the moorings than the lead boat!
Billy wasn't in the queue, his engine had refused to start, he'd be towed in after we'd cleared the way. Tony was ahead of me until his engine died! With so little room to manoeuvre in the channel I thought it best to leave him to be rescued by the club launch. Soon after I'd passed him his engine started.

That was when I'd started to feel smug, having the only Saltfleet boat without engine trouble (for once!). Karma then bit me in the ass and I ran aground.....
Being stuck in an almost direct line between two starboard markers, I assumed I was stuck on the starboard bank. I tried the engine as hard as I dared, nothing moved. I waited a while as the tide was still rising, then tried again - still nothing.
Tony then came towards me and tried to go to the port side of me, as he assumed that's where the channel was. He ran aground.

I once saw a poster hanging inside the McLaren F1 factory, it simply said "Assume nothing".
I stuck the engine in reverse and backed straight out into the channel. I'd been on the port side of it despite what the marks were telling me!

I chugged on up to the moorings, a few of the Skeggy club were on the bank and told me where to go. I went past the slipway and turned the boat round in the time-honoured local way - turn hard and head for the bank, the nose gently hits the bank and the stern swings round.
I had a bit of help tying up from the locals and sat down for a much-needed rest.

I'd been warned that the bank sloped steeply, and I'd be better off if I let the boat sit six feet or so from the mooring. Ropes rearranged, I headed off to the clubhouse for food.
It must have been all of 200 metres, but felt like a mile. My legs and back hurt and I felt very tired. Not really in the party mood....
The BBQ was extremely well organised, lots of food, drink and seats. I settled for a seat.
I noticed Steve and his son Michael, who had lent me the engine in Bridlington, so had a chat and swapped notes on old engines! He insisted on buying me a beer, I didn't try too hard to stop him.

Not feeling like eating, I took my pint for a walk. The others from Saltfleet hadn't arrived yet, so I went a slow walk down to the moorings to see where they were. I found the boats, but nobody aboard, must have missed them somewhere. I carried on past the Wainfleet visitor centre ( It's a wildlife/birdwatching hotspot), stopping to rest every now and again, as I made my way back to the BBQ.

Back there I treated myself to a plate of food which I struggled to eat. I'd only had John's toast since waking, so knew I had to get it inside me!
A great night was had by most, I sat feeling miserable, contemplating sailing back to Saltfleet in the morning. It didn't appeal.
I did win a bottle of wine on the raffle, so the night wasn't a complete failure!

I headed back to the boat early, probably 10.30pm, to find another problem.
The tide had gone out leaving my boat leaning away from the mooring, too far away even for the short ladder I'd left on the mooring, expecting to need it. The gap must have been around ten feet.
I thought about sleeping on the grass, but in T-shirt and short trousers it might have been a bit chilly....
I'd noticed a pile of timber on the bank nearby and used three lengths of this to build a bridge to my boat.

Once onboard I found the angle it was at was so severe that I was worried I'd be the final straw which tipped it on it's side!
I slept on the cabin sole.

Waking early, the water was just lapping around the lowest parts of the hull. I got off the boat and took a few pics of the boat and the bridge before re-stacking the timber and waiting for the tide to pick the boat up.

I went a walk down to where the other two Saltfleet boats were and agreed a time we'd be leaving.
Billy offered to let John sail back with me as he knew I wasn't well, I felt a little better and said I'd be fine on my own.
Back onboard the now level boat I had a bite to eat before starting the engine.
I motored down to where Billy and Tony were now leaving, bringing up the rear. That was until Tony's engine failed again...
I hadn't got far past him when it started again.

We all made it through the channel without further trouble from engines or grounding, then pulled up sails and headed north. The plan was to sail all the way to Saltfleet before anchoring to wait for the tide to get in.
The wind was now 2-3 S/E, so pleasant, gentle sailing. The forecast was for it to rise to a 4 or 5 butt still from the S/E.

I still felt tired and sore, but some formation sailing brightened the day and lessened my resolve to sell the boat!

As the wind picked up we put a bit of distance between ourselves and made our way to Saltfleet, finally anchoring at around 12.30. High tide wouldn't be until around 7pm. The wind was now F5 and made it an uncomfortable wait ahead. I slept again, to be woken by being thrown across into the mast. Sticking my head out I could see the waves were now around six feet and the wind around an F6.
On the radio Billy and Tony were talking. Tony had lost his anchor and was now sailing around until we could get into the river. He also had no engine and would have to sail into the river, at least the wind was in the right direction, if a bit on the high side.

After another hour or so Billy said he'd go and check the channel for depth, he has the smallest of the three boats and a lift keel. It was more than a bit worrying to see him being thrown around in the channel. Coming back out he said we needed to leave it a while longer. By now I'd got my anchor up, I'd gone to the bow with a line with a large carabiner attached, I clipped this onto the anchor chain and went back to the cockpit. With the engine on I motored forward and pulled the anchor free, then used the line I'd put on to pull it back into the cockpit.

The plan was for Billy to lead the way in, followed by Tony with no engine, me at the back. This worked until Tony got turned around by an extra-large wave, by the time he'd sorted things out he was behind me.
On the radio he asked Billy if he'd got his keel down, reminding him that he had a draft of 2 feet 3 inches. I quietly pondered my draft, 2 feet 10inches!

Billy led us in, surfing on waves of at least 6 feet, just before I reached the bar I saw Tony behind me being turned sideways again, only briefly as he caught it and straightened it up. As I crossed the bar I touched the bottom, bum clenched, the next wave came and lifted me 6 feet before I touched down again. Another wave and I was in!
Ahead of me the channel turned right to run parallel with the beach, the waves were breaking over the bar. A large one hit Billy's boat, knocking it over at least 45 degrees, sending John across the cockpit. The boat soon popped back up and they carried on. The next big wave hit me, but with more freeboard and a heavier boat all I got was a wet top half.

Once in the river the water flattened out and we made our way up, knowing it wouldn't be too far, but far enough to be safe and comfortable.
I soon touched the bottom, closely followed by Tony, Billy simply pulled his keel up and headed for the moorings.
Tony lifted off before me and left me to wait for the tide. I soon joined the convoy.

Back at the moorings I edged around Tony's stern, there still wasn't enough water for him to get on his berth.
As I neared my mooring I was baffled to see Billy being pulled in by someone on the bank. It turned out that his engine had died just before he crossed the bar on the way in. He'd managed to get the jib rolled out quickly enough to save himself!

After tidying the boat and loading the car we all had a chat. It had been a good day - we'd managed to get away with it! Billy had measured the wind at F7 before we came in!

I explained how I'd felt and said I'd have to be a bit more fit before I'd be sailing again, still quietly thinking about selling the boat....

A week later I'm thinking that, on a nice day, I might enjoy a day on the boat.

A very busy morning!

2011-07-18T11:33:00.000+01:00

I probably managed a couple of hours sleep altogether, divided up into half-hour stretches, eventually waking properly as daylight started to creep into the boat.
I first checked I was still in the same place, although I'd been doing that all night by GPS. I wouldn't have been too popular if I'd dragged onto the gas pipes coming ashore at Easington!
Happily I hadn't moved, even better, the wind had piped up from the west. This was about F3/4 and, if it continued, would get me safely across the Humber.

I got ready, not difficult as I was still fully dressed, and pulled up the anchor. The tide was in my favour, and with the wind being helpful I was soon heading towards the very busy mouth of the Humber.
Without an engine I'd have to judge it carefully, if things were going wrong I'd be able to head north again, but changing direction in that sort of way isn't recommended in front of a few thousand tons of tanker...

I'd put plenty of waypoints in the GPS, many of them were buoys marking the ship channels, so at least I knew where I was!
The river was as busy as usual as I made my approach, ships heading both into and out of the river, pilot boats, windfarm boats, fishing boats. The bum cheeks were firmly clenched...

As I neared the channel the flow of traffic out of the river eased, it was obvious that not much went against the river current. This made the job a little easier.
There was still plenty of metal heading into the river.
I had to sail around a while waiting for my gap to cross, by the time it came the wind had got up to F5, which would help.

I headed across the channel with bum cheeks still clenched, keeping an eye on the one ship heading in which, if it was going particularly quickly, could spoil my day.
About halfway across the channel (so out of the inbound lane) it became clear that it was going particularly quickly! I was halfway across the outbound channel as it passed astern. Closer than I would have liked, but I don't think I upset anyone as the VHF stayed quiet!
I was soon across and clear of the shipping channel, bum relaxed...

The only thing now between me and Saltfleet was the Donna Nook bombing range. This meant heading out to sea for about 4 miles, before coming back in just south of it. If the range was closed I could sail straight down the beach to Saltfleet. Then the VHF came to life. One of the windfarm boats was asking if the range was open. It wasn't. He headed out around it, I followed.
I did sneak inside the buoys marking the furthest corners of the range, I didn't expect bombs to rain down there, and it would save me a few minutes.

The problems began when I turned back to reach Saltfleet from near DZ4 buoy. The wind was still F5 from the west, which wasn't too much of a problem, but the tide was running strongly south. On the port tack I was making a little progress north, a little west. On starboard tack I was going south!
I tried for an hour, and made my way slowly to a point around halfway between DZ4 and DZ5, about half a mile. I had another 3 miles to go. At that rate I'd not make the channel at Saltfleet until after high tide if I made it at all.
I phoned Billy, Commodore at Saltfleet to see if there was anyone around who could give me a tow. He said to give him a few minutes to see what he could do.

After a while I had a call on the VHF from the Coastguard. Billy had been in touch with them to explain my situation, he'd not been able to find me a tow without coming out in the RIB, which wouldn't have been a good plan in the current conditions.
The Coastguard had tasked the Mablethorpe lifeboat, which was already on it's way to me. They were soon in touch by VHF and astern of me within 15 minutes.
A crewman was put onto my boat and the tow was soon set up. Being towed at 6 knots through 4ft seas, I got wet. Very wet, but relaxed and very happy to have the help.

The lifeboat cox was having trouble finding the tidal height at Saltfleet and asked my advice. I'd been planning on heading into the river at around 11.00, and said that anything before 10.30 would be pushing our luck, so we waited for a while. Around 10.30 I rang Billy again, he said it would be OK to head in, and he'd meet us in the RIB, so our little convoy headed upriver, Billy in the RIB, the inshore lifeboat, then me on the end of a rope!
The lifeboat dropped me at the visitor's mooring, then left after a few laughs and many thanks. Billy took the engine off the RIB, I swapped it for the little Yamaha and headed up to my mooring, three weeks and a day since I'd left.

I was exhausted. The last couple of days had taken all I'd got left.
In the clubhouse, Billy made the tea and we had a chat for a while before he drove me back to his place where I'd left my car. He said he'd got jump leads if it wouldn't start after being sat for so long. After all the engine trouble I'd had I wouldn't have been surprised to have more....
It started as though I'd only been gone an hour!

Scarborough to Saltfleet. Almost....

2011-07-16T11:09:00.002+01:00

After a few days of rest at Scarborough, the weather looked like it was going to let us do the final leg back to Saltfleet. The plan was to sail as far as possible towards the Humber and anchor somewhere there, before heading into Saltfleet the next morning. Much like I'd done on the way up three weeks earlier.
Bridlington was going to be avoided for two reasons. Firstly, I felt like I'd been away from home for long enough, I was aching and tired - I needed a proper rest. Secondly, Brid isn't yacht-friendly. The walls are tall and the ladders are vertical and dirty. At the moment they've got a dredger and barge working which takes up a lot of room, this means visiting boats are forced into a distant corner, sometimes rafted 3 deep.
Ali has never been keen on ladders, and with her not feeling too well since we left the Tyne, I thought it best to miss brid and head straight for Saltfleet.

So, early on Sunday morning we left Scarborough and headed south with a nice F4 N/E to carry us along, the downside of this was it would be a "rolly" day with seas having hundreds of miles of the North Sea to build up behind us....
Quite early on it was clear that Ali wasn't enjoying it much.

With Filey Bay behind us, Flamborough Head was the next landmark and a big milestone in the journey home. I was a bit worried that the seas off the head would be rough as the N/Easterly was still blowing F4/5 as we approached. I decided to stay at least a mile off to avoid the worst of it.
A mile off turned out to be too close!
The seas were being reflected off the cliffs north of Flamborough, making it quite an "interesting" passage. Confused seas with the odd 8ft wave coming from any direction, the boat felt very small and was being thrown about like a cork.
A headed a bit further out to sea with little difference, a mile and a half away from the cliffs was still unpleasant. I knew that we would be in the lee of the cliffs soon, so gave up on trying to avoid the worst of it and headed back closer to the cliffs as we were now almost due east of Flamborough head. Half an hour of being thrown around, collecting a few bruises and a few more aches, and we started to get in the lee of the cliffs.
It was like being picked up and dropped into a different sea!
5-6ft seas (with the occasional big one!) suddenly became 1-2ft. Time to relax at last.

The last few hours had left me very tired, even after a few days in Scarborough I had little spare energy. I was aching all over and needed a rest.
The wind eased as I headed down the coast, gradually making my way inshore, until I reached Ulrome. The tide was now against us and progress had slowed. Ulrome looked like a couple of houses surrounded with caravans. I did't mind. I dropped the hook, dropped into the cabin and dropped off!

Not sure how long I slept, maybe 30 minutes.
I woke to find Ali looking green and extremely unhappy. The boat had been rolling badly in the swell coming from the N/E as I'd slept.
I pulled up the hook and started sailing again, I knew the motion of the boat would be much better under sail, although it didn't seem to help Ali...
With the wind now down to F2-3 and the tide running against us, we were making very little progress. I'd decided to carry on as the tide would be changing soon, and I wanted to make as much progress south as I could before dark.
Then the weather forecast came over the VHF. Tonight would be F4-5, and still from the N/E.
With Ali looking worse all the time, I was worried she could be seriously ill if we spent the night rolling badly at anchor. The only choice then would be to call out the lifeboat.
I turned the boat round, started the engine, and headed back for Bridlington.

After a while Ali poked her head out of the hatch and looked confused, although ill, she still knew the coast was on the wrong side of the boat!
I explained my decision and she went back below clutching the bucket.

The engine seemed to be coughing a bit more than normal as we approached Brid, I'd been used to the odd moment of spluttering, but it was now every couple of minutes.
I called Brid harbour on the VHF, but got no reply, so headed in.
As we rounded the first of the fishing boats inside the harbour I was directed to tie up to the dredger until the tide was high enough to reach "Yacht corner".
I'd stopped the engine to hear the directions, it took a good few pulls before it reluctantly fired. It pushed us towards the dredger and stopped again. We waited there for a while, then were told to move further into the harbour. The engine didn't want to play again. A couple of aborted starts got us towards where we were going. I was getting too tired to keep pulling on the starter, so got out the big oar and paddled us up to the side of the extremely tall fishing boat I'd been told to tie up to.
This boat was so tall all I could reach to tie to was a ladder set into it's side. Ali was getting worried that she wouldn't be able to get off at all!
I guessed that with all the comings and goings, we'd be able to move to somewhere more suitable soon. Eventually we were rafted on the outside of two fishing boats of a more reasonable scale. Ali wasn't really comfortable, It would still mean climbing across two boats and then tackling the vertical ladder, but there was no alternative.

We decided it would be best for Ali to go home by road, and she called her sister. The next day she would drive down from Newcastle, pick Ali up, then take her home before driving back up to Newcastle!

I then set to trying to sort out the engine. It was now refusing to start at all.
I stripped out most of the ignition system (again....), cleaned plugs and points, checked all the wiring. Still no sparks...
I then got some help from a boat moored nearby, "Sunshine" turned out to be from the Humber, crewed by Steve and son Michael who were long-time friends of a good friend of mine - Ted, another Humber sailor and almost a neighbour!
It turned out that Steve was a motorcycle mechanic. He came aboard and went through my electrics, coming to the same conclusion as me - the condenser was on it's last legs.

He offered me the use of his dinghy engine, a tiny 2hp Yamaha. After some work to get it running (it had lain unused for over a year) it ran well and seemed to move the boat around the harbour OK when we had to move to allow a long keeled yacht to lean against the wall.
So, with my engine lying on the cabin sole, the plan was to set off the next day using Yamaha power!

The weather forecast in the morning wasn't so good. F6 mentioned. I decided it might be a poor plan to set off into that with only 2hp to get me out of trouble if I'd needed it crossing the Humber.
I got on the phone and ordered a new condenser from Bill Higham in Manchester, he couldn't get hold of the right part, but told me he'd send one that would do the job although it would have to be mounted differently.
I pulled the big engine back up into the cockpit and fitted it back in the well ready for the new part...

It turned up the next day and I spent an hour or so bolting it on and wiring it in.
It still wouldn't start.
I'd now really had enough. Yesterday's forecast had been wildly wrong, I could have been back at Saltfleet by now.
I decided to swap engines yet again, then set off as soon as possible with 2hp behind me!
I'd got everything ready to go, so went to start the engine. It wouldn't!!!!
I'd been bought up on old 2 strokes, so guessed a new spark plug would help. I found a motorcycle shop in the town, replaced the plug, then tried again. It started first pull!

There was quite a bit of chop in the harbour entrance as I edged slowly out, the little Yamaha screaming away, but I was soon out and pulled up the sail and stopped the little Yam.
An hour or so after leaving I could see the clouds building over Brid. Big and black. As they edged out from the coast I was reminded of the squall I'd met just before reaching the Tyne. I pulled on all my wet weather gear and got ready for the deluge.
It didn't happen!
The cloud rolled over me, hiding Bridlington from view altogether, but although the wind picked up considerably, there was no rain. Just thunder and lightning! Lots of it.
The weather eventually blew over and I continued south, trying to get as far as Easington where I could drop the hook for the night.

As the light started to fade I started to make my way inshore, the wind had now gone S/W - better for a night at anchor, but on the nose for getting close enough to the beach to drop it!
I started the little Yam, pleased as it fired up and ran like a little sewing machine. Making a couple of knots I gradually got closer to the cliffs. Then it stopped! Suddenly. In a "seized up" sort of way.
Pulling on the starter said different, it wasn't seized but did feel very tight. It would fire, but no way was it going to run.

I thought of dropping the hook, then remembered that the tide was still going the right way!
The wind had almost died now, but the little bit there was helped get me further south. Very slowly.
As it began to get dark I was passing Easington gas terminal, then the wind died altogether.
The tide and my planned course just happened to coincide, so I drifted slowly past. I watched the GPS and decided to drop the hook once I'd stopped going south.
I just made it past the gas terminal when it stopped. I dropped the hook and gradually let out chain as I started to drift back north.
Too stressed to sleep properly, I crashed out on top of the gear in the cabin. I knew that if the wind didn't co-operate in the morning I'd be getting a tow from the lifeboat...

Runswick Bay to Scarborough.

2011-07-14T17:19:00.001+01:00

After all the excitement of yesterday, with big seas and dragging (floating!) anchors, I was hoping for something a little easier today.
It's about 20 miles from Runswick Bay to Scarborough, passing Whitby on the way. Although a pleasant spot, I'd decided against going into Whitby and getting as far south as possible as Ali was still feeling under the weather.

We left the bay under sail, but very slowly, and, with the tide ebbing against us, the pot markers along the route were keeping up with us! Engine on again...
The wind picked up a little later, and the foul tide eased, so we could do some sailing.
Whitby was soon behind us, the destination for a Dutch boat that gave a friendly wave, a welcome sight on a fairly boat-free stretch of coast.

I was still having to tack as we passed Robin Hood's Bay and progress was slow.
As we neared Scarborough the wind had changed and we were pushing along at 4knts, aiming to reach the harbour around high water.
The last couple of miles flew by as the wind increased to a good F5 and the tide got behind us, at one point I saw 7knts on the GPS!

Near the castle I radioed in to let Neil at the marina know I was back, then dropped the sail. As we motored in Ali made her first appearance in the cockpit, still feeling very "green".
She was just in time to see a porpoise ahead of us, then a little later a group of 3, it looked to be 2 adults and their offspring. Ali loves dolphins, but this was close enough to make her day!
All that was left was to beat the daytrip boat into the harbour and tie up.
I'd remembered that Scarborough Yacht Club bar opens on a Wednesday evening, you'd be forgiven thinking I'd planned to arrive on a Wednesday.....

The usual friendliness of Scarborough showed itself again when I asked someone where I could buy petrol, almost without thinking he offered to take me in his car, so this time that job was done early!
Eddie made us welcome in the club in the evening, giving me use of their computer to check the weather forecast. It didn't look too clever, and with Ali still needing a break, I decided we'd have a few days "holiday".
The plan was to do the chip shop, beach, rock and all the tourist bit before leaving on Sunday.
To be honest, after the last few days of sailing solo, I needed a break as well!

Engine update.

2011-07-12T16:10:00.002+01:00

I got the head gasket yesterday, decided to take my time with the rebuild, so spread it over 2 days.
Just finished bolting it back together, dropped it onto the test tank (big blue bin!) and connected the fuel.
5 pulls and it started.
Runs better than it ever has, starts really easily now, usually first pull.
Left it running in the tank for a while for things to settle in....

Happy chappie!

Heading south.

2011-07-12T10:24:00.002+01:00

After a weekend ashore, which helped to recharge my batteries, it was time to start the return journey. Ali was going to be coming with me, so I was hoping for an easier trip as she was good on the helm.
The plan was to go down the Tyne with the tide, it's 7 miles and seems a lot longer! The snag was that the ebb started in the afternoon, which didn't leave much time to get anywhere after the run down the river. I decided to drop down to the mouth of the Tyne in the afternoon, then drop the hook off Herd Sand, South Shields, for the night. We could then set off south early the next morning.

So, extra gear loaded, I said my goodbyes to the excellent staff at St.Peter's marina and we headed off downriver.
The engine still had the occasional miss-fire, but nothing unusual....
The wind was behind us, so I had the sail up as soon as possible, sailing is what I was there for! With the tide ebbing, we were soon at South Shields and dropping the anchor.

The pilot book had warned of the chance of the anchor fouling on the bottom there, so I buoyed it just to be on the safe side, we were only in about 2-3 metres of water, but I didn't fancy having to jump in to free the anchor if it got stuck!
The wind and tide were conspiring to cause the boat to shear about, so I tied a line onto the chain, let a few more metres out, then took the other end of the line back to the cockpit. With this pulled in, the boat sat at a better angle to the wind and the shearing stopped.
We eventually settled down to a peaceful night's sleep, but I wanted to be up early as Runswick Bay was the target, and in a straight line it was 35 miles away...

Up at around 5am, I got the boat ready to go, then went forward to pull the anchor back up, half-expecting to have problems. Despite the pilot 's warnings it came straight up, so the chain, anchor and still-attached buoy were dropped into the anchor locker. Something I'd regret later....
Out between the piers and the sailing was perfect, the wind was from the west and about F3. Marsden Grotto, Souter lighthouse, then Sunderland were soon behind us.

As Seaham came abeam the tide was against us, and it seemed to take forever before Hartlepool came into view. The wind wasn't helping much either, having gradually backed and increased all morning until I was hard on the wind with the seas building to 3-4ft. Uncomfortable.
Due to the early start, Ali had still been asleep when I left the Tyne, and as the bouncing and slamming increased she was reluctant to sit in the cockpit, so stayed below, reading.
A while after passing Hartlepool the wind backed more, and was now a S/E F5 with some stronger gusts. Tacking with the tide against us didn't seem to be getting far, I worked out that it would be dark long before we reached Runswick Bay, somewhere I didn't fancy entering without some daylight.

I made the decision and started the engine. A little later I dropped the sail as it wasn't helping a great deal!
After an hour or so the wind was up to F6 and the seas were getting bigger. I thought about a change of plan and consulted the pilot book. Hartlepool would have been easy to reach, dead downwind, but the pilot strongly advised against entering in a strong S/E....
I hoped that if I stayed well inshore, once we'd passed Middlesborough we'd get a bit of shelter from the coast until we reached Runswick Bay. So on we went.
For the next few hours the wind stayed at F6 and S/E, this meant that we were pushing into 6-8ft seas by the time we reached the shipping channel into the Tees. There was a fair amount of traffic here, so it meant a bit of hanging around for a good gap before I could cross. As soon as I started I could see a couple of large tugs on their way out, but guessed correctly that I'd be across the narrow channel safely before they reached my position. A bit of added stress I didn't really need though!
As we approached Redcar and the coast, I realised the shelter from it was going to be minimal, at least the seas were down to 4-5ft...
This didn't seem to help Ali much, she was suffering from seasickness and I couldn't persuade her to come out of the cabin.

Anchored off Redcar, right where I wanted to sail, was some sort of floating platform, enormous - oil rig scale. A bit of research tells me it was the "Tog Mor" http://www.allseas.com/uk/59/equipment/tog-mor.html This meant I had to get a little closer to the beach than I'd planned, it gets a bit shallow here. At one point the depth showed less than 1m below the keel, with the wave height still at 3-4ft I was more than a little nervous!
Salt Scar is a long reef off Redcar, and I had to head out to sea to make sure I cleared it, but once past that, the way was clear to Runswick Bay, still another 12 miles away.
We passed Skinningrove, a place I'd like to visit in better weather, then were amazed to see half a dozen or so swimmers off Staithes! In wetsuits, probably surfers, they seemed to be having fun as I shivered, wet and tired past them....
Port Mulgrave, or what's left of it after being blown up to prevent the Germans invading North Yorkshire, still held a few small fishing boats. I've no idea how they manage in any northerly gales!
Eventually, after 7 hours on the engine, bouncing around the cockpit, being drenched in saltwater, aching all over, I could see into Runswick Bay. Relief!

I motored into the S/E corner to get as much shelter as possible, then, in about 4m of water I cut the engine and went forward to drop the anchor. I dropped it overboard along with the buoy I'd tied on at South Shields. I let out some chain, no idea how much really, I was absolutely shattered. We'd left the Tyne around 6am, it was now about 9.30pm. I'd had nothing to eat or drink all day, and felt like I'd been on the wrong side of Mike Tyson...
Ali was still ill, so I ate something - no idea what, a lot of this evening is a bit of a blur.
I'd been keeping an eye open on our position until I dropped off to sleep, we seemed pretty much static, so the anchor must be fine I thought.

Around 4am I woke up and had a look around. The cliffs that had been fairly close last time I'd looked were different somehow, more distant. Out of the other side, the village wasn't there at all.
I jumped out into the cockpit to discover we were drifting gently out to sea!!!
It was fairly calm and we were still in the middle of the bay, so luckily in no immediate danger. I went forward and pulled up the anchor. There was a lot of chain out and I couldn't work out why we'd dragged. That was until I realised the buoy I'd tied on at South Shields was the problem. It was on about 5m of line, plenty for where we had been when I needed it, but as the tide had risen at Runswick it had lifted the anchor out!
I untied it, then went back to motor us back into the bay.
I dropped the anchor (without buoy!) and went back to bed, although I couldn't sleep after that scare.

Engine problems.

2011-07-08T09:56:00.001+01:00

Since getting home, I've had the chance to sort out my outboard once and for all. I hope...

The problem has been ignition-based. During the trip various "repairs" had made a difference. Cleaning up and setting the points, insulating the cracked wire to the condensor, new spark plugs, etc.

At home I'd got an almost complete engine for spares, the snag was that it had electronic (CDI) ignition where mine was the old points and condensor setup.
So I thought it would be better to upgrade the one I was using with the CDI setup from the old one. Couldn't use the other engine, it had a cracked engine block.

A quick look and things appeared fairly simple, the extra bits bolted onto the block, the pulser coil fitted where the points went, etc.

I might have been a bit wrong again!

Pulled off the camshaft pulley to swap the points out. The pulser coil didn't fit - the casting on the cylinder head was different, only slightly, but different.
So that'll be a change of cylinder head as well then!

The donor engine had a cracked block, this had been due to a seized and broken stud in the cylinder head. That meant I first had to drill out the broken stud, another job on the list...
While doing that I worked out why the previous owner had been trying to remove the head. The internal water passages were blocked with salt/calcium deposits, this had probably caused overheating and failed head gasket.
So cleaning the passages out was added to the list!
A couple of days later and I had a usable head.

I didn't have a head gasket for a rebuild (still waiting for that) so decided to leave what was left of mine in place and bolt the thing together temporarily so I could at least get the electronic ignition together and working.

So, head back on, pulser coil fitted, cam pulley bolted on.

The flywheel had to come off next, so I could change the ignition coil under there.
It actually came off easily and the parts swapped without a problem!

Then there were a couple more bits to fit. The CDI unit bolted onto the inlet manifold. Mine didn't have the casting to bolt to, so had to swap that with the one from the other engine...

Then there was the reverse switch. Of course, mine didn't use one at all. Fitting that included swapping the gearchange linkage and pivot arm!

Minor one, the stop switch connector was different, so chopped off mine and fitted a bullet connector to match.

Eventually the wiring matched the diagram I had, so I fitted the spark plugs into the leads, held them against the engine and pulled on the starter cord.

It sparks!!!

Good big sparks, for the first time since I've had the engine.

So yes, you can convert an old Honda 10hp 4 stroke to electronic ignition.
But you need the cylinder head, cam pulley, inlet manifold and gearchange linkage as well as the complete CDI setup and wiring loom to do it...

Now I need that head gasket....

Running out of petrol.

2011-07-07T18:19:00.000+01:00

I mentioned it in my last "trip" post, but only briefly. The whole story is a bit more interesting!

Since I'd fixed the engine in Scarborough (or thought I had....) I'd still had the occasional misfire, it would run rough for a couple of seconds before picking up again. This happened every half an hour or so. Looking back, it's something that has happened since I got the engine.
So, when it coughed and spluttered going up the Tyne I though at first that it was the same old thing. That was until it stopped!
I was near some moored fishing boats, some looked derelict, others were in better shape, not that it mattered much. I pushed the tiller over and hoped to grab hold of one...
The tide was ebbing, so I didn't quite make it. I was a few feet short of even attempting to grab anything, so I scrambled to the bow and dropped the anchor before I ended up back out at sea (or bouncing off a ferry!).
The anchor held and I tried starting the engine. It fired up, but not for long. This was when petrol crossed my mind...
After checking the tank I realised I wasn't going anywhere tonight.
I made a plan, which is an unusual thing for me to do. I'd start the engine, hoping for enough power to get me to the fishing boat which was about 10 metres ahead of me and a couple of metres nearer the riverbank, get a line onto it before the tide took me back, then relax.
I tied a line onto my boat ready for use, fired up the engine (after pumping the priming bulb for a minute or so) and aimed it at the fishing boat!
As expected, the engine died before I got there, but there was enough momentum to carry me up to a tyre hanging off the side of the fishing boat. If I could just get a line through it...
Leaning out of the cockpit, left leg through the companionway into the cabin, I just managed to grab the tyre by my fingertips as my boat came to a halt. Then the tide took over!
As the pressure of the river Tyne pushed the boat back my arms stretched, my leg stretched from the cabin and I realised I was onto a loser. I let go, the boat settled back onto the anchor.
Plan B was the same as Plan A, I just hoped that I could get a bit closer this time.
Pumped the priming bulb again, fired up the engine again, this time I opened the throttle wide and hoped for the best.
This time I managed to get a line through the tyre!
I tied it off and slumped into the cockpit, knackered.
After 10 mins rest I readied a couple more lines and climbed onto the fishing boat. Stepping over holes in the deck, I pulled Yuan Hang up level with it and tied up for the night.
I sat back in the cockpit for another rest...

It was about 11pm, so the chances of getting any petrol tonight were slim, but I thought I might as well go and explore a bit, at least find out where I was.
I climbed over the fishing boat (actually, the derelict ex-fishing boat) and onto some dodgy floating pontoons made from sleepers and plywood, then up a ladder into what turned out to be a scrapyard, locked. I thought the best plan would be to get some sleep, then surprise the scrapyard workers in the morning!

After an uncomfortable night, half-expecting the derelict I was moored to was going to sink and take me with it, I did the assault-course trip back up to the scrapyard. There was a guy working on a forklift truck who, as I explained I'd run out of petrol in a boat, didn't bat an eyelid.
He gave me directions to the, luckily nearby, petrol station, and I went for essential supplies.

Once the tank was topped up, the engine started easily and I made my way up to St. Peters Marina.
I couldn't have been made more welcome, tied up in the visitor's berth, my battery on charge in the marina offices, I had a shower before being picked up by Ali and her sister for a weekend on dry land.

Just a quickie!

2011-07-05T07:49:00.001+01:00

I'm home.

Since I've got back I've needed to rest, a lot!
Stiff and aching from 3 weeks on a small boat, tired from being short of sleep.
The arthritis has been coming on strongly for a while now, which has made the whole trip much harder.

Still have engine trouble to resolve, but working at home and at my own pace is much easier than working on a rolling boat under pressure....

I'll be posting the rest of the trip soon, including 8ft seas, seasickness, 2 failed engines and ending with a tow for the last 2 miles into Saltfleet.

I'm on the Tyne!

2011-06-10T11:11:00.000+01:00

No sign of fog anywhere....

After all the excitement of Scarborough, I headed for Runswick Bay. Sailed all the way there, then dropped the hook with the bay to myself. Beautiful, peaceful spot.
Next day was to be 35 miles to Tynemouth, then another 7 upriver to St Peters marina, just a mile from the city centre.

Started well, with enough wind to have to reef a little, but after sailing along the coast to have a look at Staithes, I headed straight across Tees bay to the Tyne. An hour later the wind decided not to co-operate and dropped to almost nothing.
Doing 1 - 1.5knts wasn't going to get me there until the next day, but the forecast had been F3-4 with 5 at times, so I hung on....
It did eventually pick up, and with 2.5knts showing I was happy enough.

That was until the squall hit.....

I saw it coming for half an hour, had time to get the waterproofs on, stow anything that wouldn't like getting wet, and reef the sail. Then it hit.
From F2-3 it went to F6 and started to hail. After 15 mins it eased and I was a quarter of a mile further out to sea than I had been. Another 15 mins and it was back to F3 and sunny.

It was a long day, but passing close to Souter lighthouse meant I was almost there.
About a mile short of Tynemouth the wind died away, so engine started and off up the Tyne I went.

Halfway up the Tyne anyway.....

I ran out of petrol. Due to all the engine problems, I'd forgotten to top up in Scarborough.
Spent the night tied up at the back of a scrapyard, which could have been worse, as the petrol station was just a 10 min walk away!

Tank topped up, I headed up to St Peters marina and a weekend off!

An enforced break.

2011-06-06T10:37:00.002+01:00

Getting to Scarborough was easy, no wind, so engine all the way. A bit of mist off the cliffs north of Flamborough added a bit of atmosphere!
Having had a bee stay onboard most of the way to Brid, today's visitor was a young gull. It flew ahead of me, then waited until I went past before flying ahead again. Stayed for a couple of hours, then probably got bored with my conversation.... I tried to identify it using the book I'd got with me, bloody useless and now 75ft below sea level!
Dropped the hook outside Scarborough in the early afternoon in baking sunshine.
Got a call on VHF later to come in, that's when the fun started!
Started engine, pulled up anchor, got back to cockpit to find engine stopped. Started engine, engine stopped....
Dropped anchor again....
Started engine, stopped again.
Let harbour know I was having problems, then swapped spark plugs for new ones, as spark was weak.
Made no difference.
On VHF again to keep them informed.
Got a call from a fishing boat offering to tow me in.
"Predator" tied me alongside and deposited me neatly on the visitors pontoon.

Predator...

Friday evening and Saturday was spent trying to track down the problem. It would start and tick over, but died as soon as the throttle was opened. Sounded like fuel starvation. Ended up with the fuel tank lifted above the engine and connected straight to the carb, no difference!
Going back to the weak spark....
Changed the ignition coil, no diff... You get the idea..
By the time I'd found the points were a bit pitted I was getting tired and stressed. Cleaned them up and put it back together. No difference!
Steve, moored next to me suggested the condenser could be the problem, and a few of the Scarb Yacht Club told me where I could possibly find a replacement, but not until Monday.

So, early Mon morning I strip the engine again so I can take the condenser for a comparison and swap. As soon as I unscrewed it, I could see cracks in the insulation in 2 places! Wrapped in stretchy self-amalgamating tape and screwed back together I sat down. I hardly dared to try it and find "no difference" again....
Anyway, I did and it worked!!!
Running better than ever, I know now what's been causing the odd splutter since I've had the engine!
So, it's heading north again early tomorrow.
Today I'm relaxing....

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Bridlington

2011-06-03T10:07:00.002+01:00

Rafted to Phun, a Parker 31 built in Boston.

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I'm off!

2011-06-03T10:04:00.001+01:00

On the phone, so short and sweet...
Left Saltfleet 18.00 on Wed.
Crossed the Humber with no wind, dropped the hook for the night north of Easington.
Yesterday, same wind.... Sailed to within 4 miles of Bridlington, then got the engine on.
Had food onboard Phun, a Parker 31, thanks to Pat and Pam.
Left Brid at 05.00. Wind F2 N/W, no use!
Engine on all morning, now crossing Filey bay on my way to Scarborough.

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Short update.

2011-05-15T08:10:00.001+01:00

Not a lot of action lately, but I've been busy...

No sailing, just getting things sorted for the "big trip". Plan A is to head out of Saltfleet in about 2 weeks time and turn left. Main target is the River Tyne, but my plans have been known to go wrong - that's why I rarely make plans!

I'll be single-handed on the way up, that means both the windvane steering and the electric autopilot have to be working.
Electric one was easy, only problem was the plug/socket connector was on it's last legs and occasionally got stroppy and wouldn't let the electrickery go through. Found an identical one at Seamark Nunn, plug is fitted to the A/P, socket will be screwed on at the next visit to the boat.
Windvane frame has been bolted back on, although I lost a couple of bolts over the winter and I'll need to replace the replacements as they're not stainless...
The windvane has had a major makeover through the winter, with bits of it being dismantled, rebuilt, painted and fitted with "proper" bearings. Let's hope it works!

I've yet to fit the new "galley", a piece of plywood with a hole cut out for the Origo Heatpal to sit in. It'll make a change to cook without it sitting on the cabin sole! It'll go where the gas cooker was sat, and I'll be able to lift it out and sit it as low as possible when using it to heat me instead of my food...

Then there's the Rutland 503 windcharger. Still have to fit that and wire it in.

I'ts going to get even busier if I'm going to be done in 2 weeks.

Just to make it look pretty, here's a pic of the shiny new mooring!

Asking for a little help.

2011-04-18T09:17:00.000+01:00

I've been digging around in the "technical" bits of the blog and noticed some strange things.

Firstly, a lot of people have been reading it. that's a bit of a surprise in itself as I only really started to keep a blog for my own use. It was just to be a record I could look back on when I start to go senile.
Some people that know me best think that started a while back...

The other thing is the number of different countries it has been read in, I've had to turn to Google to find out where one or two of them are!
Hands up, who could instantly point to Moldova on a map? (Moldovan readers are excluded!).

This brings me to the point of this short entry.

There have been quite a few readers who are based in China. This puzzled me for a while, which just goes to show that the senility might just be setting in.
The name of the boat might just be something to do with it. Doh!

So, to any Chinese visitors, I'm making an appeal for help.

Yuan Hang. The name of my boat. What does it mean?
I've tried online to get a translation, the closest thing I can find is something like "Sail Far" or "Long Voyage".
If I'm way off with my translation please let me know. The name came with the boat and I'm not going to be changing it. To know for sure it doesn't mean "Son of Titanic" would be great!

Second thing that's been a puzzle is the Chinese symbol on the sail, this one....

After looking at enough Chinese characters to almost get me speaking the language, I've asked elsewhere and have been told that it's the symbol for "Water", but that someone has made a cockup and it's a mirror image!
It seems that someone had the transfers made up wrongly, and it's been there for the best part of 30 years unquestioned!

So, Chinese speakers attracted by my Chinese named boat, I ask for your comments.

2011-04-12T22:59:00.002+01:00

6/7/april/2011

I've made my mind up that I'm going to be doing some sailing this year, having spent most of the last year trying to remember what it's like. But I've probably said that every year....
Anyway, the weather looked OK, so I made a decision (I do that now and again!) and threw as much gear into the car as I thought I'd need and headed for Saltfleet. I'd sleep on the boat, then finish off connecting up the outboard cables in the morning (I'd dropped the engine back into the boat on a previous visit) before heading into the North Sea for the day.

It was dark before I reached the moorings, so most of the gear was left in the car, just took the food and sleeping bag with me onboard - there was enough junk lying around in the cabin from previous visits anyway.
Too early to sleep yet, I settled down with a book for an hour or so before turning in early, I wanted an early start as the plan was to be off the mooring by 7am.
I dropped off pretty quickly as I usually do, but not for long.....
At midnight I was jumping up, banging my head on things and generally trying to work out where the hell I was and what the **** that noise was! I remembered wasn't at home, so gave up trying to turn the bedside lamp on.
I eventually worked out I was on the boat, and that the noise was an alarm clock. But I hadn't set one. And it was pitch black outside!
I found the clock and fumbled with the buttons until the shrieking stopped.
It was the clock which lives permanently onboard, and had been set for midnight - obviously by accident. The thing is, it must have been going off at midnight every night for months! Good job it's very rare anyone else sleeps onboard at Saltfleet... I could have been public enemy No1 by now.
It took me a while in half-asleep mode to work out how to switch the alarm off completely, but having done so I settled back down to sleep. At least I tried to.
Dozing and waking for the next couple of hours wasn't what I'd planned. It even got chilly enough that I had to find some extra clothes and wriggle into them before eventually dropping off until daylight disturbed the already disturbed slumber.
At least it was over !

The outboard cables connected, the gear from the car collected (almost poetry there!), I was ready to go.
I set up the netbook, and plugged in the GPS mouse. I wanted to get a track of the channel on the way out. By the time I'd set it up the "Low Battery" signal was flashing at me, 10 minutes power remaining. So that got put away...... New battery on the shopping list.

I'd seen Commodore Billy getting the inflatable out and had a quick word, he was going to be putting some channel markers out. With a bit of luck I'd be able to find my way back in...

With the mooring lines let go, the boat turned around easily in the channel with a gentle push (unlike the last epic adventure!), but as I put the engine in gear it gave a "Swoosh" and a cloud of steam surrounded it! It cleared as quickly as it appeared, and after checking the tell-tale was OK all seemed well and I was off. Probably a bit of crap in the system causing a temporary blockage, I nervously checked the stream of water coming out of the engine every few seconds.
The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze from the N/W and I pulled the sail up for the first time this year. Due to an unforseen meeting with the beach last year, I didn't dare try to sail out and the engine was left running until I was well out over the bar...
A quick word with Billy, still busy with an inflatable full of marker buoys, and I realised I'd have to make up my mind which direction to head in.

Directly to the north of the Saltfleet channel is Donna Nook bombing range, this is a good place not to be. The RAF and the USA forces use real bombs and bullets there. I decided to skirt the range, hoping for some close-up (but not too close) action. The VHF broke into life a little later and the range was declared "Open" at around 9.30am.
I carried on, mercifully without any need for the engine, towards the far corner of the range. The wind had picked up enough for me to reef the sail a little, just enough to stop the gusts from causing my chart to slide off the cockpit seat...
I reached No4, the buoy marking the corner of the range, but hadn't seen any military hardware, the only pic I got was this one!

From here I headed a little further south and away from land, I thought I'd pay a visit to another Buoy - "Protector" which marks the Protector overfalls, something like 7 miles offshore and less than 3 metres deep at low water.
It was a leg of a little over 4 miles, and during the hour I'd expected to take, the wind dropped, then dropped some more. By the time I'd reached the buoy it was down to a gentle breeze, it had taken almost 2 hours, partly because the tide was starting to ebb northwards.
As it was the second highlight of the trip, I took another pic....

From here I set course back towards the coast, now barely visible. I set a waypoint on the fixed GPS to take me to Theddlethorpe, south of Saltfleet, and set course.
The wind had dropped even more now, with barely enough to sail. The sloppy sea was rolling the boat as it was coming beam-on, and the sail swung about and the boom regularly hit the mast harder than I liked. I dug out a spare line and rigged a preventer which ran from the end of the boom, forward around the pulpit stanchion, then back to the cockpit. It did the job and held the sail square to the line of the boat, meaning I didn't have to keep ducking to save myself from strangulation from the sheet as it kept crossing the cockpit!

As I gently eased towards the coast I noticed that the compass heading and the GPS track didn't quite agree, they differed by around 90 degrees! I was making about 1 knot forwards, but the tide was taking me sideways at a faster rate than that. It soon became clear that I'd be visiting Theddlethorpe another day.
After a couple of hours, trying to sail as far south as possible, I was heading for the bombing range to the north of Saltfleet! As I'd heard them close the range earlier on the VHF I wasn't too worried. However far north I ended up, I'd be pushed back south once the tide turned - all I had to do was to keep heading for the beach.
As I entered the bombing range there was a splash behind the boat, not a bomb, but probably a seal I thought. A little later I saw a small black shape break the surface for a second, but not quite seal-like. As I watched it did it again, and this time I could see a fin on it's back - it was a Porpoise! Half an hour later I had the same sight again, this time in front of the boat, could have been the same one, could have been another, but great to see either way.
After getting as close to the beach as I felt comfortable with, I tacked and headed back out to sea. The wind had picked up bit by now, and the preventer had been removed.
I could make out the wreck which marked the entrance to the Saltfleet channel, and with the binoculars could pick out a couple of "Billy's buoys".
I'd planned to head back in around 7pm, it was still only 5.30 as I reached the channel entrance after tacking again. As the conditions were fairly benign, I decided to "feel" my way in, after all, I was only going to find out the limits of the channel by pushing them!
As I neared the wreck I felt the "bump, bump, bump" then came to a halt....
I dropped the anchor to hold my position until the rising tide did it's work, and dropped the sail. Within a few minutes the bumping had stopped. A few minutes later I started the engine and pulled the anchor up.
I headed back out a little in order to line up properly with the channel markers before gently edging in past the wreck, not getting much further before the "bump, bump, bump, stop"!
I spent the next hour "bumping and stopping" my way up the channel, taking the chance to do a bit of cleaning and tidying around the boat.
Eventually the bumping stopped altogether and I started the engine, gently cruising up the channel to the moorings, tying up with an unusual lack of drama at around 7pm - the time I'd planned in the first place!
At least I now know the height of tide I need to get into the river....

After all of that mooring building......

2011-03-20T09:47:00.003Z

I'm moving the boat!

After doing just less than bugger all sailing last year, I've had to make a change. We all know the problems, getting the right weather with the right tide, hoping that coincides with free time. On top of that my body is slowly falling to bits, which limits things further.

The mooring I'm on dries out every day, and gets wet most days....

On neap tides I can't get off the mud.

Long story short, I hardly got the boat out on the water last year at all.

Not a great deal I can do about my health, and the weather and tides do as they will, the only thing I could change was either to dig a hole for the boat to sit in, or to move onto a better mooring.

I couldn't find any navvies to do the digging, so I moved!

Saltfleet boat club (I'm still not in a "Yacht" club ;-) ) is very small, but very hardworking. Towards the end of last year, as well as building a clubhouse, they hired a digger to dredge a stretch of riverbank, this done they built some new moorings. I was offered one and didn't hesitate to accept. Not only will I be able to sail on every tide, it's just 50 yards from the clubhouse where I can put my feet up and make a cuppa when the weather is iffy.

So plans were in place, the move was on.

Of course, I still had to pick a big enough tide to get off the old mooring, but health and weather were not quite so important for a 200 yard move up the river, or so I thought...

Arriving at the boat on the appointed day, I busied myself getting things ready while I waited for the tide. I'd have the sail ready as the wind was favourable, although very light. I'd also have the big oar, with the "Yuloh" attachment I've made. This was more down to wanting to try it out for the first time than actually expecting to need it. I've been wrong before though.

Eventually there was enough water to try the engine. It hadn't run since October, so I was amazed when it fired up first pull!

I was less amazed when there was no water coming from the tell-tale. Bugger!

Without the time to sort out whatever was bunging up the waterways, I would be engineless.

No problem, thought I, the wind was still just enough to do the job, and I still had the Yuloh to try out.

As high water came I cast off the bow mooring rope and pushed the nose of the boat out into the river so I could turn it around. That was the plan anyway, unfortunately the tide still wasn't high enough and the keels were still sat in their holes in the mud!

A bit more waiting, a bit more levering with the big oar over the side into the mud, and she started to swing out.

This was when I discovered another idiosyncrasy of Saltfleet Haven. Despite it still being an hour before high water, the river seemed to be going the wrong way! It was flowing out to sea and taking my bows with it.

I've puzzled over this since, and the only thing I can put it down to is a sort of "rebound" from the end of the river. 50 yards upriver from the new mooring is the sluice. The other side of this is Lincolnshire's famous "below sea level" farmland, at low tide water is allowed to flow out to sea in order to keep the land drained. When there's a lot of rain it has to be pumped out....

Now, to the incoming tide, this sluice is simply a concrete wall - the end of the river - and there's not much else it can do (I'm assuming here) other than head back down the river on top of itself.

I might be wrong, and I'd be happy for a proper explanation if you have one, but for now it'll do.

What I had was a rising tide, which I wanted, but the river flowing the wrong way.

Back to the move....

Once I'd pushed the bow round far enough I'd be able to use the sail, so I got this ready to hoist. Using the oar, I pushed the bow round using the river bed, once I'd got it far enough I dropped the oar on the coachroof and got back to the cockpit to hoist the sail.

By the time I got there the current had swung the bow back downriver, double bugger!!!

Back to the bow again then, big oar over the side and start pushing, got the bow well round, and a bit further than last time, before getting back to the cockpit a bit sharpish to pull the sail up.

Treble bugger, not sharpish enough, obviously! The bow was already facing the opposite bank as I started to pull the halyard......

Right, this time I'd hoist the sail, push the bow round, then nip back to the cockpit and cast off the stern rope. Easy.

No.

All went to plan until I got to the cockpit to find the wind had disappeared while I wasn't looking. The bow swung back.....

At least there was nobody watching!

I sat in the cockpit, sweating, shaking a little from the exertion, and made another plan....

Push the bow round, get back to the cockpit, then start the bloody engine! Cooling water or no cooling water, I'd only need it for a few seconds.

It worked. I was moving.

Stopped the engine as soon as I'd gathered enough speed to send me upriver. The sail was still up as I was too knackered to deal with it, so I pushed the boom out hoping there might be enough wind to keep me moving. I was wrong. Not unusual that.

I was drifting towards the boats moored on the bank and, being such a small river, they weren't far away to start with.

This gave me the chance to drop the yuloh over the stern and glide gracefully up the river under my own power. Guess what? Wrong again.

The yuloh consisted of a 9ft oar, with a 3ft extension joined by an offset bracket, it turned out that the bracket wasn't quite up to the job and once there was enough pressure on it, the oar could turn inside it. Quadruple bugger!

So I started the engine again. A few seconds and then off again.

This got me another 50 yards or so, clear of the boats and to where the high sea defence banks were lower. There was a bit of wind, I was sailing!

OK, I was sailing so slowly it was difficult to tell, but I could steer, so that would do for me and I relaxed for 10 minutes.

As I neared the new mooring my "crew" was ready. Ali had been waiting with a rope to throw to me, in case I needed a pull in to the bank. About 20 yards before the mooring (and about 18 yards too early) I dropped the sail. The boat stopped. How many "buggers"? I've lost count...

I made the last 18 yards kneeling on the bow using the big oar (downgraded from Yuloh again) to hear Ali singing "Just one Cornetto"!!!!

I got the nose in and tied up the bow mooring rope, went back to the cockpit and found out that the boat wasn't going to fit between the mooring "arms"! Most of the boats at Saltfleet are smaller than mine, and I've only got a little one.....

With the mooring lines lengthened, the boat sat outside the mooring arms. Job done.

Well, almost.

The engine had to come off and go home with me. It's heavy, I was already knackered.

Anyway, I disconnected the control cables, wrestled it into submission in the cockpit and made a plan to lift it off the boat. Then I noticed......

The platform on the mooring was being covered by the still-rising tide. A few more buggers!

Already six inches deep, I took my shoes and socks off.... It was bloody cold!

The engine finally wrestled into the back of the car, the boat tied up, I went home.

I need a smaller engine..... and a way to stop the oar twisting in that bracket..... and....

It never ends with a boat does it?

Sailing at last!

2010-06-26T19:31:00.006+01:00

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".

2010-05-14T18:26:00.003+01:00

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.....

2010-05-01T12:56:00.008+01:00

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....

2010-02-17T12:41:00.006Z

....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!

2010-01-19T20:42:00.002Z

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...

I know I'm sometimes a bit slow to catch on....

2009-10-04T11:26:00.002+01:00

.....but I've only just realised that if you click on the pics on my blog they open up to full-size versions!

No more sailing to report on yet, but hopefully soon.

The self-steering has had another alteration and will be tested next chance I get, it almost worked on the trip back from Saltfleet....

Saltfleet to Boston. (With pics!)

2009-09-12T18:29:00.009+01:00

As usual, on the trip up I'd forgotten to take any pics even though I'd got the camera in my pocket and the phone takes reasonable pics and video. Seems to be the norm for me!
The return trip is unusual, I took loads!

Alison decided to let me do the trip solo, she had been onboard for almost every trip lately and she knows how I need to get out on my own now and again. So no pics of Ali.....

We'd left Saltfleet on Monday, it was Wednesday evening when I drove back there, tide was already up so I tidied the boat ready for leaving on the morning tide.
Wind was still a gentle S/W which held the boat nicely off the mooring staging, lines were left long enough for the boat to sit on the slightly flatter mud further out. As it got dark, the tide began to fall and I started to settle in for the night.

Then it changed!

First thing I noticed was the wind picking up, enough to rock the boat and I stuck my head out for a look. It was now blowing from the N/W and had pushed the boat down the channel and towards the bank. As the tide dropped the boat began to list, the more it dropped the more it listed....
Half an hour later I was beginning to wonder if it would fall over!
A look outside confirmed that the bow had gone well up the bank and wouldn't be moving until the morning.

I decided on a more comfortable night, so after fixing a rope around the base of the mast (just in case!) I pitched my tent in front of the car and moved in for the night.

The pic is a bit grainy as it was only just getting light, but this is how the boat looked as the tide came up in the morning!

High tide was due at around 9am, so getting away at 8 seemed reasonable. I heard noises at around 6.30 to find Chris and Pete ready to go fishing! They were using a small motorboat and were already afloat. I was on my way by 7am.
After a gentle potter down the short and well-marked channel, one that seems to have an undeserved fearsome reputation, I headed out to where the lads were fishing to shout goodbye and thanks before pointing south, the tide would still be with me for at least 3 hours and the wind was an F3 from the north - I started to fly.

A last look back...

Speaking to Chris later he told me that within half an hour they had lost sight of my sail!

First plan was to have a go at setting up the windvane steering, this was a partial success. The system worked, the vane turned the pendulum which worked the lines to the tiller. Still a bit of tweaking to do yet, the chain which sits across the tiller is too short, but the biggest snag is that the arm from the vane down to the pendulum was catching in the mechanism. The builder has used a piece of aluminium angle, which means that I will have to shave a little off one edge to clear the woodwork. If it had been wood, as per the plans, I could have modified it while I was sailing.

On with the sailing then....

The landmarks I'd passed on the way up looked a little more familiar now, but were passing at a surprising rate, speed was over 5kts all morning, as the tide slowed, eventually turning against me near Skegness, the wind picked up to the top end of F5. A bit of reefing was called for, which made little difference to boat speed, but eased the strain on tiller, rigging and helmsman!
The waves coming past me from astern kept things interesting, never been surfing before!

I reached the comparative shelter of the entrance to Wainfleet Haven at around 2pm, it would make no sense leaving here before 4pm as I wouldn't be able to get on my mooring until 8pm.
Anchor dropped and kettle on, I ate my lunch before a good hour of sleep.

The entrance to Wainfleet Haven. If you look very carefully there are small bouys on the beach!

Around 4 I started the engine and pulled the anchor aboard, not a massive job being anchored in about 5 feet of water!
I would have sailed off the anchor, but had tucked in very close to the shore for shelter and there is a LOT of sand and little water there....
Turning to head out into deeper water I knocked the horseshoe lifebouy off it's bracket and into the water while getting the sail up. I took the opportunity to do a MOB practice, managed to pick it up on the second attempt under sail.

The tide was now in my favour again, the wind still behind me, so I reefed down and had a gentle sail through The Wash, speed was still 4 - 5 kts.

I drifted across towards the sandbanks to get a closer look at the seals, dozens of them sunning themselves and a few decided to swim out to see me.

As I neared Tabs head the wind eased, but still had plenty to sail into the river. The intention was to sail as far as possible, leaving the engine until I absolutely had to use it. It turned out to be about 15 minutes later! The wind seemed to switch off, I tried a bit of Dylan Winter style drifting sideways but there were bends approaching which have rock-lined banks....

Sail tidied away, I motored up the river to moor up around 8pm. A cup of tea followed by pie and chips left me tired and happy.....

P.S. Due to popular demand, a pic of my crew Ali!

Heading north

2009-09-12T11:16:00.002+01:00

Saltfleet Haven hasn't a big entry in the pilot books, although historically important to Lincolnshire it has mellowed in old age into a peaceful spot for the yachtsman who has the nerve for a narrow channel over a sandbar backed by a landscape not overly endowed with any distinguishing features!

I'd been talking about going for a while, quite a while in fact, and with settled weather and a forecast for F4/5 Southwesterlies I had run out of excuses.....

After dragging ourselves out of bed at 5am and, after a 70 mile drive, Alison and me left the mooring in Boston at around 7.30. I kept the engine on until we were past Tab's Head as it is a fairly long passage and I wanted some early progress...
It was clear, after a couple of hours, that we were getting just that. The speed on the GPS rarely dropped below 5kts and often went over 6! The tide really does make a difference in The Wash.

We took the inshore route past the entrance to Wainfleet Haven, situated on the northern corner of The Wash and out into the North sea proper.
The speed stayed high as the wind increased to an F5 and the tide slowed. Heading a couple of miles off the coast we could still hear the noise from Skegness, it's best seen from the boat, although 2 miles might still be a bit close....

As the day went on I ticked off the landmarks, Skegness, Butlins, Ingoldmells, Chapel St Leonards.... Mablethorpe is marked by a massive new red brick building - I assume flats to house the retirees who seem to congregate on the coast of Lincolnshire!
Theddlethorpe gas terminal (slightly inland and unobtrusive) chimneys marked the last inhabitation before Saltfleet, from here the coast is low dunes backed by clumps of trees.

By now the speed had dropped due to the tide running against us at about 2kts, the wind had also dropped to a calm F3, once or twice the GPS indicated 1kt!

A very unusual thing (at least it is where I sail!) then happened, the VHF came to life, I was called up by Billy, the commodore of Saltfleet boat club. He'd come out to meet me at the channel entrance and could see me clearly, sat low in a 12ft rib he was just about visible with the binoculars.
With the light beginning to fade and the temperature dropping, I did the gentlemanly thing and started the engine in order to shorten Billy's wait, it would have been another hour by sail.

Greeted at the inner bouy by Billy and Pete, I followed them in over the bar, watched by seals on either side, halfway along the short channel a Porpoise surfaced between us!

Turning the boat in the river (creek? It's hardly big enough to be a river!) was "interesting", only accomplished with help from the bank, there is probably less than 30ft of width where I was turning.
Moored up, we headed to the New Inn for a meal (very good) and a pint (nothing to write home about), we had to make a quick move to The Crown (Speckled Hen, mmmmmm) after they got the bingo machine ready at the New Inn!!! I did mention the retired often head for this coast.....

The night on the boat was eventful. The visitor's mooring is newly built and the bank still slopes steeply, this meant that as the tide went out the boat sat at such an angle that the "uphill" side berth was unusable, only having 2 berths left us with a problem!
We arranged ourselves to sleep across the boat, me squeezed in front of the mast where the beam is probably about 4ft... We didn't sleep a lot!

As the morning's tide lifted us a couple of hours sleep was grabbed before it was time to get up.

Plan was to leave the boat there for a couple of days until the wind was forecast to go north, ideal for the return trip.

Monday's adventure was to be a journey back to Boston by bus to pick up the car, 40 miles - about an hour by car - this took 3.5 hours. Enough said....

First channel crossing....

2009-08-25T20:37:00.004+01:00

......second, third and fourth. A busy weekend!

Work has slowly progressed on the self-steering, it's almost ready for a sea trial (that makes it sound professional!). Problem is that getting any sailing done has been a problem lately due to various reasons.

So when I got the chance to run away to sea for the weekend on someone else's boat(s!) I jumped at the chance.

James had a Hunter 26 which he was swapping for the "Andrea Gail" - George Clooney's boat from the movie "Perfect Storm" which has benefited from the addition of a mast and sails.

Sorry James! But you can see the resemblance.....

James keeps his boat in Calais, the other boat lives somewhere in The Solent, this made arranging a swap slightly more complicated.

Plan was to nip over on Thursday evening ferry, catch the last lock out of Calais and run straight across to Dover. Friday would be a run from Dover to Eastbourne where the swap would take place. This was changed when we saw F5/F6 on the way over....

Due to a bet between James and Phil, a fine meal was enjoyed by all, the bill was "enjoyed" by Phil all on his own! One or maybe even two drinks went down before we tried to maim each other on the dodgems.....

Plan B was to leave on Friday morning and run straight to Eastbourne, a day of good sailing and failing winds later meant we motored into the marina at midnight.

Saturday was a day off, problem being that there is bugger all to do at Eastbourne marina....and it rained.
Boat swap went without a hitch, although nobody could understand how James packed so much gear into a 26ft boat!

Sunday morning we left on the Andrea Gail for Boulogne for a night before the short trip round to Calais on Monday morning. I couldn't resist the chance to use the mast steps for a photo.

Another good meal and wine in Boulogne, Phil only paid for his own this time!

The sail to Calais in the morning was great, at times, with the engine on tickover just to help things along, we were touching 8kts.

After another French pavement cafe meal (egg and chips!) it was time to get the ferry home, finally got in my own bed at 2am, not bad considering that morning I'd sailed from Boulogne to Calais!

Thanks again to James for the experience, great company, great weather (apart from Eastbourne) and some great sailing.

Some progress!

2009-07-17T15:28:00.003+01:00

Toe had healed enough to get the boots on, so I got them on!

Managed to get out twice over the last 2 weekends.

First trip was just a quiet Saturday out on my own. Red hot sunshine and hardly (but just) enough wind to sail in the morning, blowing F5 on the nose on the way back!
Managed to drift as far as Scullridge before the tide changed and I headed back.
Nice to be back on the water.....

Second weekend was the first meeting of the East Coast Forum, organised by Dave (T25/Sixpence/Trevera/etc....) and held at Fosdyke marina.

Took Ali with me this time.
Had to keep the engine on as far as Black Bouy, not a lot of wind and in the wrong direction.....
Light winds all day, enough sun to get burnt (again!).
Sailed past Scullridge to the N/E end of Long Sand to look at the seals, then back to the end of the Palour Channel to drop anchor and have a break for an hour, tucked behind Roger Sand for a bit of shelter as the wind (and rain) had got up a little.
Sailed as far as the stone jetty on the Welland, then started the engine as I was getting hungry and the food was in the pub!
Loads of seals in the river on the way up, made Ali's day.
Reached Fosdyke and turned in the narrow channel then had the engine flat out just to be able to stem the tide and get onto the pontoon (with help from gathering crowd). It does flow past Fosdyke!

So, 10 hours of sailing and I was now 6 miles south of where I'd started, could have walked it quicker, but not as much fun.
Good night in the pub, a few familiar faces and a few new ones. Beer and food both good. Looks like this could be a regular event...

Left early next morning as the tide was coming in (quickly!), this would let me get to Tab's Head for high water, then back to Boston while I could still get on the mooring. Got there too late once and had to raft up to the fishing fleet.
Motorsailing for about 3 hours. Passed what must have been every fishing boat in the area on their way out, never seen so many boats on the Witham!
Mooring was slighty easier than Fosdyke, drifted in at almost 0 mph as the tide was gently going out!

Bloody good weekend!

Been a bit quiet here lately.....

2009-07-03T16:11:00.002+01:00

.....mainly due to chopping the end off my big toe with the lawn mower. Ouch!!!
Just over 3 weeks since it happened and healing well, just need a plaster over the end to keep the dirt out now.

Chances are that sailing might be back on the agenda very soon.

Not been completely idle, spent the last couple of trips to the boat sorting out the newly-acquired self-steering gear. It's a home-built job, but done nicely from a book by Bill Belcher.
I wasn't keen on how the windvane pivoted on the stainless pin, it ran straight through the drilled ply and looked to be an obvious place for wear to set in. I've made bushes for the pin to run through from stainless tube which should last forever!

Second job will to make the pendulum blade hinge up. It's a one-piece job and solidly fixed to the framework, if it were to hit bottom, or get a rope around it something would have to break!
Looking at kick-up rudders on dinghies and catamarans for ideas....

The boat that shouldn't sail!

2009-05-18T20:59:00.005+01:00

I'm a bit of a latecomer to sailing, I only took it up as a replacement for mountain walking/climbing after the arthritis set in. This means I haven't been indoctrinated with some of the long-held beliefs that seem to exist throughout the sailing community.

One of these beliefs is that bilge-keelers are the work of the devil, and of no use to "proper" sailors.

I know Roger Taylor (http://thesimplesailor.com/), amongst others, has a different opinion!

The second of these beliefs is that the junk rig is of even less use to windward than bilge keels.

Now, as I said, I've not been sailing very long and cant claim to be any sort of an expert sailor. My boat was rigged by myself from drawings I gleaned from the internet and books, it's still not perfect, but it works......

So know you've got an idea of the setup, a novice sailor using a badly set up junk rig on a bilge-keeled boat (Newbridge Coromandel). According to the "experts" I'd probably be lucky to sail with a force 10 blowing from right behind me!

So now, what I've actually found on the water is a bit different, quite a bit actually....

I was sailing a couple of weeks ago with a more experienced sailor on board, he commented that I was sailing closer to the wind than he would have been able to with his Hurley 22!

I've tried, just out of interest, to see what sort of angle I can tack through. In a F2/F3 I was tacking within 90 degrees. I've offered to take anyone who thinks I'm being less than honest out for a sail, so farI've had no takers!

Right, on to the junk rig itself.

When I decided I wanted my own boat there were a couple of things I had to take into consideration. Firstly, I would mainly be sailing single-handed, secondly my arthritis means that clambering on the coachroof or hanking on foresails wasn't an option. After much reading and suggestions I started to look seriously at the junk rig. A single sail, all lines easily handled from the cockpit, reefing being an almost one-handed job. It looked ideal.
Being new to sailing, and having no interest in fitting in with the "Yacht Club" types it even looked odd enough to attract me!

For the uninitiated, I'll just give you an idea of sail handling.
Being heavier than a "normal" sail due to the wooden battens, the halyard has a 4-1 purchase using blocks, which makes hoisting the sail easy. I've added a winch to my coachroof to help with the job as the arthritis gets worse, but rarely use it yet.

The sheet "zig-zags" from the pushpit anchor point up to each batten and back, in use it gets treated as a single sheet.

The only other lines are the yard hauling parrel, this simply pulls the centre of the yard up and in towards the mast, and the luff parrel which moves the whole sail backwards or forwards in relation to the mast in order to balance the boat.

Hoisting the sail is just a matter of letting all the lines go and hauling the sail up! No need to point the boat into the wind, but better if the wind is forward of abeam as the sail will then "weathercock". Once it's hoisted the sheet is taken in and you're sailing! The other control lines can be altered to suit whenever you're ready......
There's no need to haul the sheet in with the sort of force normally used on a "Bermudan" rig, in fact if the sheet starts to feel heavy it's probably better to ease it back off! The stresses and strains on a junk sail are far less than on most other types.

It's often been mentioned how quiet and relaxed sailing a junk rig is, I couldn't agree more!

Now, a few lessons.

1) Tacking.

Push the helm over. Sail on new tack.

2) Gybing.

Push the helm over. Because part of the sail is in front of the mast (much like a balanced rudder) , gybing is a gentle affair and is a quite normal part of junk sailing.

3) Reefing.

Let the halyard go until the sail drops to the required position, make the halyard fast. Adjust yard hauling and luff parrels.

As an example of how useful the ease of reefing is, a little tale....

I'd been heading back to my home port in strong winds and with the tide, I'd been sailing as slowly as possible for 4 or 5 hours as I couldn't return to my mooring too early on the tide. I'd reefed right down, with just the top "triangle" of sail still working. In this way I'd kept the speed down below 3 knots in an F5.
As I neared the entrance to the river I decided I'd be happier with a little more power "just in case" as it's a nasty spot to get things wrong.
In a few seconds I hauled 2 panels of sail back up and shot into the river at 6 knots!
Once inside the safety of the banks I dropped the sail once more..... back down to 3 knots.
Further upriver I hauled up some more sail as the wind dropped, eventually dropping it altogether and starting the engine.

I can't imagine being a happy chap if I'd had to do that single-handed on anything other than a junk-rigged boat!

The benefits are not just confined to heavy weather or changeable conditions. Earlier the same day I'd been drifting along with barely enough wind to sail. Although it was, at least, right behind me! With the sail fully up and the sheet tied off I barely had to touch the tiller for an hour. the sail just sat there waiting for little gusts, no flapping, no filling and emptying..... my girlfriend dropped off to sleep, I almost did the same!
Half a mile or so closer inland was a friend in a slightly bigger boat, with 2 crew, vastly more experience and a big spinnaker. Over the course of an hour or so he pulled slightly ahead of me, often having to "play" with his big sail to keep it under control. After a while he gave up and dropped the headsail, within a few minutes I'd caught him up and, after a couple of pics, left him behind!
He told me afterwards that he had to suffer "stick" from his crew all day about it!

So upwind, downwind, ease of use, lack of stress, I'm still trying to discover the drawbacks.....

Ken.

The crew.....

2009-05-18T20:41:00.002+01:00

I mentioned in a previous post that Ali was completely new to sailing, an hour on the river was all she'd had so far.
I was a bit worried to be setting off on a long trip without knowing if seasickness would be a problem, only way off the boat would be by heading back to Boston after all day onboard!

To say I was impressed is an understatement, not only no sickness, but she actually had a bigger appetite while sailing!

She helmed the boat for long periods, and soon picked up the "feel" for what was happening in less than perfect conditions.

She even managed to pretend not to be bored when I was explaining tides, winds, depths and bouyage, in fact I think she really was interested. Lol! She seemed to be taking it in and understanding what was going on. She was impresssed that the sea state calmed after the tide turned as I predicted. I was impressed that she understood why!

The only downside to this is that I might not get to sail single-handed as often as I like to, but that's a small price to pay!

Wells to Boston.....

2009-05-16T09:26:00.000+01:00

After a couple of beers and an Indian (due to early closing chip shop!) we were soon in the "Land of Nod", not the one near Whitby, just the contented, knackered one you get after a great, but long, day!

I woke in the early hours and could tell that the boat was sat on the bottom, but nice and level, so soon dropped off again. I eventually crawled out around 5am to be met by a beautiful sunrise and flat calm conditions. I had a stroll around taking a few pics.....

A little later I heard the unmistakable sound of a fishing boat chugging out of the east towards us, this turned out to be Max heading out for an early start!

After some breakfast, and use of the excellent facilities above the Harbour Master's office, we said our goodbyes and, with a little help to turn the boat around to face the ebbing tide, made our way back out to sea.

Some of the locals were already on the beach!

Once out of the channel the wind was very light, but from the east, so ideal for us. With the sail up we were making something like 2 knots through the water, it was, however, slightly annoying to see the coast moving the wrong way! We would have a foul tide for an hour or so, but the conditions were so pleasant we were more than happy to put our feet up and relax. As the tide turned we gradually picked up a little more speed and were soon past Burnham (which actually still had water in the channel!) and Brancaster.

Alex, on his Macwester, heading back for Wainfleet, had been closer inshore. Over the course of an hour or so he eased ahead, until he dropped his unruly headsail, I then caught him quickly, took a pic or 2 then left him to take stick from his crew!

As we got closer to "The Bays" the wind had increased to F4 and I'd reefed a little as we had plenty of time in hand. Back into The Wash and I was trying to decide whether the dot on the horizon was Boston Stump or Roaring Middle bouy, both these would be on a similar bearing so I headed towards the dot....
After about 15 minutes I could see "the dot" was actually a fishing boat, so looked at the compass instead. Back on course, I'd been about 20 degrees further south than I wanted, not a problem, as there was plenty of room to spare, but lesson learnt!

Once out into The Wash, the wind picked up a little more and the sail came down a little to match. With 1.5m seas rolling in from astern and gusty winds it became a full-time job to keep a straight course, but not unpleasant. The tide was on the last of the ebb, I was hoping that once it turned in our favour that the seas might flatten out a bit. As we got closer to the Freeman channel, where we would have to take the waves more on the beam, it did just that! I still got an earful of water now and again....

The only problem I had now was that I would be back in Boston too early, this would make it difficult to get onto my mooring, so it was more reefing and actually trying to sail it badly and keep the speed down! Spring tides meant that towards the western end of the Freeman I was still doing 4 - 5 knots over the ground with just 2 panels of sail up. I dropped the sail to almost nothing and while heading towards Black Bouy I was sailing as badly as possible, but now down to 2.5 knots, just keeping enough way on for steering!
I pulled the sail back up a little and got some drive as I neared Tab's Head, I wanted some power here as it's not a good place to get things wrong! Entered the river at just over 6 knots!
Once inside I dropped the sail again for a gentle sail upriver until I finally gave in and started the engine, the first time since leaving the channel at Wells.

We were still a little early to the mooring, 2 hours before high water, so the tide still tried to push me past, but got in first time and without hitting anything!

I have a new problem now, sailing single-handed (something I really do enjoy) might not be possible, as Ali can't wait to go sailing again!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The lifeboat I mentioned on Sat turned out to be heading to help a good mate of mine! Unknown to me, he'd sailed from Fosdyke a little later than I'd left Boston. In tricky conditions he'd grounded near Black Bouy. Thankfully, it ended safely, no damage to boat or crew.....

2009-05-14T14:44:00.000+01:00

First "real" trip of the year.

First "real" trip ever actually!

Two weeks earlier we'd (Me and Mac) been out as far as the Roaring Middle bouy on a day sail, this had been the first trip of any sort this year. That went well, a bit of bumpy stuff at the eastern end of the Freeman channel was the only excitement.
Mac enjoyed the rest of it, which was the main point of the day out, a bit of a confidence-builder for him.

So this was going to be the first "big" trip. Out of The Wash and into a strange harbour, Wells-Next-The-Sea, which is in Norfolk, so obviously a little bit strange!

Biggest worry was that Ali would be coming along. Now she's a rough tough Geordie and happy to have a go at anything (anything but stairs with gaps between the steps.....) but she'd sailed just once before, that was for half an hour and not leaving the river! I'd got no idea how she would cope with a full day at sea.

After piling all the gear onboard, we cast off shortly before 8am on 9th May, a day that might be remembered by a few others for very different reasons (which would include Hunstanton RNLI!).

With the tide already ebbing, the river was behind us fairly quickly, as we left Tab's Head the winds were light S/W and visibility was so good that my stress levels soon went down to zero.

I decided to keep Ali occupied and put her on the helm, she took to it quickly and seemed to be enjoying being "in charge"!
An uneventful couple of hours saw us through the Freeman, where we were passed by the ketch "Cariad" and out into the deep stuff, where depths often get into double figures!!!
Somewhere after the Roaring Middle light had been passed, and closer to the cliffs of Hunstanton, we saw a RIB speeding past, it looked from a distance to be the RNLI. I thought at the time that they might be out training on such a pleasant day. I was wrong, but more of that later....

Approaching "The Bays", the anchorage north of Hunstanton and the eastern corner of The Wash, I turned the laptop on to make certain of my position, plotter program said I was where I expected to be, nice to be able to confirm it though....
Picked up the deeper water of the channel through to The Bays and headed towards Brancaster. We were somewhere near low water now and the wreck on Scolt Head was high and dry on the beach.
Wind had slowly picked up all morning and was now F4 gusting F5 and I dropped the sail a little which made things more manageable and enjoyable.

Past Scolt Head and the entrance to Burnham appeared, a couple of small boats were anchored outside, the only way in at low tide would have been a walk up the beach!

All that was between us and Wells now was Holkham Bay, so I headed a bit further out and straight for the Wells Fairway bouy. It was now blowing a steady F5, but Ali still seemed to be fine with it, although after our early start she'd gone below for a kip.

I reached the Fairway bouy a little early for entry to Wells, a couple of hours early, and the outer part of the channel had moved to face N/E rather than N as shown on the chart and the Wells Harbour website. I had a half-hearted look at going straight in, but the breaking waves near the first 2 bouys did nothing for my confidence and I chickened out!
Back round and dropped the anchor near the Fairway bouy. I found out later that this was probably the worst place I could have stopped! The boat pitched and rolled horribly as I tidied the sail away.
After 10 minutes of this I watched the "Cariad" head up the channel and into Wells, closely followed by 2 fishing boats, I didn't need any more encouragement and pulled up the anchor to follow them in!

As soon as we were in the lee of the beach things got a lot more pleasant again, not a lot of water in the channel, but that was what I've been used to after a few years of sailing in The Wash, and a lot better than being on the anchor outside!

Arrived at the quay and promptly ran aground as I went to turn to the pontoon, quickly backed off and turned again. I could see the water flowing quickly past the pontoon and thought it would make a nice ending to the day to ferry-glide into the berth. What I didn't know was that for about 15-20 mins on each flood the current runs around the back of the pontoon and out underneath it just where I was trying to get in! This was that 15-20 mins....
First attempt was going well unil I got into this sneaky bit of current and I was pushed back out, narrowly missing the rudder of a nice catamaran whose owner was doing his best to help me moor up...

I had to back off and wait while a fishing boat went past and the much larger "Goosander" which had come up the channel behind me turned and fired itself at the pontoon, hitting it at maybe 4 knots. At least he got in!

Next attempt was at a steeper angle (after shouted instructions from the Harbourmaster) which got my nose in against the current, grabbed and manhandled towards the pontoon by said Harbourmaster, Bill - owner of the cat I almost hit and, as I found out later, someone I'd known in the "internet world" for a while but never met, Max, better known as ggt.

Tied up, introductions made, we headed off for a look around, followed by a pint on the "Albatross".
Later we met up with Max, who took us for a stroll around and a visit to "ggt" herself, then a couple of drinks in the company of Max, joined by Bill and Sandra for an hour or so until the music was turned up and we headed for some food and bed.

One tip for visitors to Wells, which isn't in the website or pilot book, the chip shop shuts at 9pm! The Indian isn't far away though......

2009-05-08T07:45:00.000+01:00

All I need......

2009-05-08T07:25:00.000+01:00

.... is a place to keep a record of the things I get up to in my Coromandel, well, the things I'd mention in public anyway!

Bought, kitted out and used on a budget of just less than bugger all, I've been extremely lucky to have a very capable little boat and I'm extremely grateful to have had lots of complete strangers (most of whom are now friends) help me along the way.
I might do a bit about the main ones later just to give you an idea of how I got to know what I'm talking about when I talk sailing......

Maybe this blog can help to pay them back in some small way.

It's not going to be updated regularly, I'm far too disorganised for that, but it might just be worth having a look once in a while, when you get really bored, to see if I've made any progress!