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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The wreck of the "Try".

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

The tale is told on the Saltfleet boat club website.

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

Moving home.....

Not me, the boat!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

Work has started....

....on the new mooring.

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

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

A few pics to show progress so far.

The beginnings....



The scaffold "arms" in place.



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

.....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....