More "paperwork" ...

That's another admin job ticked off the list - Brigantia now has a Ships Radio Licence! So we're all legal, proper and correct.

Can't see us using the callsign too often though ... Twoer Echo Quebec Foxtrot Ait (2EQF8) is a bit of a bloody mouthful compared to "This is Brigantia"!

Next job ... don my navigators hat and update the charts. Maybe tomorrow :)

A daft thought for the day ...

If a web log is a blog, is a ships log a slog?

I'll get me coat ...

Harbour Dues

Idly flipping through the pages and pages (and pages and pages) of the "to do" list when I noticed I hadn't got around to paying our harbour dues for rhe year. Oops!

So that's another form to fill out - check
and a cheque to fill out - cheque .. I mean check
Find a stamp - check
And an envelope ... buggrit! Not one to be found anywhere in the house

I shall have to steal one from the office at work tonight.

(Note: If anyone from BP is reading this, I am JOKING alright?!)

£35.00 is not the end of the world and it was budgeted for. And maybe I'm really sad but there's something appealling to the traditionalist in me about paying ones dues.

Wind, wind and more wind

Nope, I haven't been on the beans again - just looking at the wind observations from Shoeburyness and the F3 buoy out in the Southern North Sea

Mean wind speed at Shoeburyness is touching on Force 5 this afternoon and out at F3 it's hitting 7. It'll be gusting much more than that at both locations I suspect.

I reckon the decision to stay home this weekend is vindicated!

The show must ... oh, perhaps not

Forecast for the weekend is still for very gusty conditions both Saturday and Sunday - almost certainly too strong to contemplate carrying out the work up the mast that needs doing

And without the mast works completed, we can't go sailing even if we wanted to.

So, reluctantly, the senior crew have decided to postpone until next weekend - the long range forecast is promising of light airs or gentle breezes and there's the added bonus of it not being a bank holiday

Weekend plans go awry

May Maintenance and Sailing Weekend plans ...

Provisional crew: Bru, Rik, Mark and Carl

Much debate ongoing about this coming weekend. We had planned to go down to the boat tomorrow afternoon for a combined maintenance and sailing weekend but it's not looking great

I'd forgotten it's bank holiday weekend. Neither I nor Rik fancy travelling tomorrow evening. So now it's looking like an early start on Saturday morning.

Snag is the forecast. Rather windy all weekend with F4 gusting 5/6 on Saturday and F4/5 gusting 6 or even 7 on Sunday. Not what we want for sailing.

We're now considering dropping the mast rather than sending Mark up in the bosuns chair. Hoisting him up the mast in blustery conditions could be an iffy excercise anyway and there's quite a few things need doing at some stage so maybe we bite the bullet and deal with them all this weekend ...

The topping lift needs to be retrieved
The spreader boots need fitting
The mast track needs lubricating
The anchor light needs fettling (new bulb? dodgy connections?)
The VHF lead needs routing up the mast instead of up the backstay

They could all be done from the bosuns chair but really it's enough to do to justify the hassle of dropping the mast and it's the safer option especially if the conditons are dodgy.

Other work we plan to tackle is to complete the bridge deck and move the batteries and associated wiring. I'd like to get the nav lights working too - although I've no plans to go night boating at present if something happened and we had to we need them to be serviceable.

One possible snag might be space on the pontoon. If we can't get on the pontoon and/or in reach of power we're a bit screwed for a maintenance weekend! Might be a case of sneaking onto the drying spot on the pier we used when we launched her. Doubt if there'll be any objections and we should be able to reach the power round from the first post on the main pontoon although we'd have to be careful routing the cable.

Plans may change!

Stocking up the galley

£39.03 onto our Asda shopping order for stuff for the boat ...

Stock cubes (beef, veg and chicken)
2 tins Irish Stew
2 tins Minced Beef and Onion
2 tins Chicken Tikka Masala
2 tins Hot Pot
2 tins Chilli Con Carne (well I'll eat 'em!)
2 tins Beef Stew
2 tins Chicken in White Sauce
2 tins Macaroni Cheese
4 tins All Day Breakfast
4 tins Full Monty (like breakfast but more so)
4 tins The Big BBQ (not quite like a breakfast)
Mixed Herbs
Can opener (an expensive one, lets hope it actually works)

I've also ordered myself a Bubba Desk Mug for £4.00 - a plastic insulated mug with a wide base holding about 560ml. I'm hoping it'll be as good as the plastic insulated mugs we used to have on Arcturus 'cos the stainless steel travel mugs don't keep stuff hot for very long and are prone to falling over. If the Bubba mug is any good, we'll have some more of them in due course.

There's already adequate stocks of tinned vegetables and boil in the bag rice etc. that Jane and I left on board last week. Coupled with the above, we should now be reasonably well stocked for "stick it in the pan and warm it up" meals for the rest of the season, replenishing only what we run out of as we go along.

And on that note, it occurs to me that we ought to log what has been used for each meal out of the ships stores - not worried about perishables as they are brought on board by the crew at the start of a trip and removed again at the end. But it might be a good idea to log any tinned or packet stores consumed and the replenishment thereof (including how much it cost to replace consumed stores).

Spend, spend, spend

BOAT : Bring On Another Thousand

Just placed an order with Force4 for some fairly essential bits

Sikaflex - for fitting the log transducer if we get the chance to dry out this coming weekend
Two new deck mushroom vents - one can't be closed, one can't be opened and is broken anyway!
Some white self amalgamating tape for taping up the spreader boots etc.
A set of plastic shroud covers in the hope that they'll help to stop the genoa sheets hanging up on the shrouds
A sail track stop to put an end to the annoying habit of the mainsail luff bullets falling out
A reel of seizing wire - no more lost shackles for us!
A couple of spare shackles just in case the seizing wire doesn't work :-)
A bottle of proper outboard 2 stroke oil
And a 2 stroke measuring jug

That little lot, a mere drop in the ocean compared to what I could spend if the money was in the bank, came to £93.50 including delivery. Oh well, I shall just have to try and get more overtime!

Genoa repair #2

Work got in the way during the week so it was this past weekend before I got back on to the genoa repair.

The hatband patch was stuck on with iron on hemming strip and then stitched all round on both sides through the UV strip avoiding going through the sail proper.

Must say I'm quite chuffed with the end result! How long it will last is another matter, hopefully it will make it through the rest of the season, at worst if the repair patch starts to fray it will give us advance warning before any damage occurs to the sail itself

Genoa repair #1

The obvious damage occurred when the UV strip caught on the starboard spreader and pulled out about 8" of stitching



Less obvious, and hardly visible in the photo, is that the stiching on the next seam in is also fraying and falling apart in way of the spreaders and in several other places around the UV strip. The sail itself seems OK which is a relief.

The edge of the UV strip at this location has frayed away to nothing at all - obviously over a significant period of time, this isn't damage that has occurred quickly in the relatively few hours we've had this sail up so far. This left it very vulnerable to hanging up on the spreader.

In fact, it getting caught and ripped off has done us a favour - the edge of the sail itself is intact and hasn't started to wear away.

Step 1 is to secure the ends of the original stitching where it is still intact and re-sew the areas where it has pulled out completely. This was relatively easy, just sew through the existing holes in the sailcloth and UV strip.

A couple of hours later and hey presto ...

Now the frayed edge that led to the sail catching on the spreaders is all too obvious.

Tomorrow I plan to glue and sew a patch over the edge of the sail using a piece of material cut out of the hat band of a cheap floppy hat. It's the slipperiest piece of hopefully hard wearing polyester cloth I could find.

Then I'll go over all the stiching on the sail mending where necessary.

The entire UV strip really needs to be replaced. This will probably cost around £120 to £150 which is an expense we don't need right now. It's definitely on the essential works list for the coming winter though.

May Cruise - conclusions

Overall, this was a very successful first week aboard and bodes well for the future. There were a number of problems and one or two embarrassing incidents but nobody fell in, no significant damage was done (other than to the genoa) and nobody got hurt.

Sailing

On the positive side, in good conditions she sails very well indeed making excellent progress on all points of sailing. Much of the time she will sail virtually hands off - the helm can dive down below to grab a camera or briefly check the chart and she'll stay pretty much on course for half a minute or more.

She will also heave too quite well as we found in the outer Blackwater estuary when we hove to to empty the loo over the side. Put her through a tack without letting go the genoa sheet and she settles down with the genoa taken aback against the windward shrouds.

However, in light airs tacking is a major nuisance due to the genoa constantly hanging up on the shrouds. Further thought will have to be given to this over the future weeks and months.

In a strong breeze and steep chop she struggles to make significant progress to windward. It can be done but it is very slow going. To some extent, I think practice will improve things but I doubt if it will ever be anything other than an outright slog trying to make progress in conditions such as we faced on Thursday afternoon. It is all very well to be romantic about things and want to do as much as possible under sail but there comes a point where reality intrudes and even the most ardent sailor reaches for the engine starter!

On the final day of sailing, I finally persuaded the main to hoist all the way to the top of the track. A combination of easing up through usage and developing technique also saw genoa furling and unfurling happening a lot cleaner. A track stop in the bottom of the mainsal luff groove is a necessity and will be ordered p.d.q.

Catching the genoa on the spreader was unfortunate. Hopefully I can repair it myself, if not then hopefully a professional repair will not be too expensive - it's a relatively short length of stiching needs redoing that's all.

I have now found both spreader boots and we need to see if we can get them fitted with the mast up at the same time as AB Mark is up the mast retrieving the topping lift. We'll need some white marine or self amalgamating tape to tape them on but once fitted they should prevent the same problem arising again.

Under power

Engine reliabilty is an issue which must be resolved one way or another. I am reasonably confident of a diagnosis of plug fouling as we had similar problems with the 2 stroke o/b on Arcturus many years ago. I shall order up some proper outboard 2stroke oil although we'll have to run through the full tank of existing fuel before we can use it. If that does not resolve the problem we will try hotter spark plugs.

If the problem persists, we will have to consider replacing the engine with a more reliable unit. However, that is out of the question financially this year.

She is not keen to go backwards! Critically, reverse cannot be relied on as an effective brake. She will take off like a rocket if given a big handful of throttle in ahead and then just keep right on going even with full throttle astern. Whilst no surprise (it's to be expected given the outboard setup and underwater shape) it has definite embarrassment potential.

Crew Matters

Jane felt queasy on both Tuesday and Wednesday in relatively benign conditions - we concluded this was due to a combination of feeling cold and doing things down in the cabin (such as rolling cigarettes or reading a magazine). Once she felt queasy taking a Kwells did not help. On the second occasion she climbed into her sleeping bag and dozed off and felt much better later as a result.

Before setting out on Thursday, expecting rougher conditions, we both took a Kwells as a precaution. Neither of us felt queasy or sick all day despite being beaten up later on coming in to the Crouch. Jane had also wrapped up warmer and didn't get cold. Whether the Kwells were necessary or effective we'll never know but better safe than sorry.

Jane struggled to steer at all on the couple of occasions she tried to do so. It later dawned on us that she just cannot see a thing over the sprayhood - it's right in her eyeline! We'll try again next time with the sprayhood folded down.

Navigation

By and large, the navigation went well. In so far as we got to where we wanted to be in one piece and didn't run aground or hit anything it could be said to have gone very well. However there were one or two narrow squeaks.

We nearly hit the Colne Spit buoy due to complacency about the forward lookout. Visibiluty through and over the sprayhood is limited and it is essential to regularly look around the sides and get a clear picture of what is ahead.

We came too close for comfort to running aground on the Swallowtail bank in potentially dangerous conditions due to a combination of poor planning and a lack of situational awareness. Had we not fitted the new depth sounder and instead relied purely on navigation to keep us off the sand and mud we would have been in trouble. We might have scraped over but I'm by no means sure we would have. On the positive side, having realised we had strayed into dangerously shoal water, the correct action, to reverse course and backtrack into the deeper channel, came straight to mind and was successfully executed.

Sail v. Motor

The fact is that there was little point in hanging grimly on to the sails last Thursday once we'd crossed The Spitway. It was worth doing to find out how she'd go but now we know - she won't go well in those conditions. In future, I would be planning on getting the sails in and hitting the motor as soon as we rounded the Swin Spitway buoy. In better conditions, she will likely as not beat up the Whitaker with a fair tide but not with that strong Sou'Westerly and the wind over the tide.

It might have been worth trying to come up channel against the last of the ebb rather than with the flood. It sounds counter-intuitive but although we'd have faced a foul tide the seas would probably have been flatter as the tide would have been running with instead of against the wind. We'd have been fighting an adverse 1knot or so current but potentially might have made a better VMG overall. Could be worth a try faced with the same circunstances in future.

Below Decks
After anchoring, we found that the cabin carpet had a large damp patch extending forward to the heads bulkhead (the resulting stain after it dried can be seen in the later photos of the cabin). We are not sure what caused this - there were no signs of water incursion anyway above cabin sole level that we could find. We suspect there is dirty standing water in the forward bilges (which are covered by carpet and vinyl and not easily accessed) which had come up through the floor when we were pitching heavily in the choppy conditions.

The carpet needs to be replaced with a more durable flooring incorporating easy access to the bilge spaces. As the bilges are separated into several unconnected compartments it is vital that we routinely check them and sponge out any acculating water. Practicalities aside, the carpet is grotty and hard to clean anyway.

After the marathon tidying and organising session on Saturday, life down below was vastly improved. It is now important that we keep it that way. There is, although some further refinements are likely, now a place for everything and everything in its place. In due course, a stowage plan will be produced.

Each crew member has a personal small kit space in the shelf either above or in the front face of their berth. There are two lockers for stowing clothes under the forward berths. Two crew can bring one of our large holdalls (or an equivalent bag) each - because of the ease with which the holdalls can be accessed whilst in the locker I would suggest that they are preferable to rucksacks or other types of bag. Crew can always repack their kit from their travelling bag into a holdall on arrival at the boat.

With three or more aboard (and four is the realistic limit for anything other than a mid-summer overnight pub session at the Ferry Boat, any more aboard would really limit us to a day sail) the kit locker space will have to be shared either with two smaller bags or two crew sharing one holdall. As trips with larger crews are likely to be shorter anyway this should not be an issue.

Sleeping bags are rolled up and stuffed up the end of the berth at all times when not in use. Likewise blankets. Pillows (one per crew member max.) follow them. We will, when funds allow, obtain some cushions for the seats which will also be usable under a pillow for those of us who like two, or in my case three, pillows.

Catering

The stove works very well indeed. Meths consumption is not astronomical - we used less than 5 litres I'd estimate (the tanks are fairly full on completion of the trip) - but at DIY store prices that's still not cheap. I shall look into bulk buying the meths on-line.

Tinned food such as curries, stews, etc. work really well and the boil-in-the-bag rice was excellent. The double skillet has yet to be fully exploited but it made lovely toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch one day!

Tin opening needs to be improved. None of the three tin openers on board was any use at all. Ring pull tins are preferable whenever possible but we need to be able to get the lid off conventional tins so a decent opener that actually works would be nice.

The cool bag we dug out of our loft is perfect in the cool locker. Two bottles of frozen milk kept until mid-week and, although some sausages went off, the bacon stayed good right through until Saturday when we ate the last of it for breakfast. Cheese and margerine likewise stayed cool and nice even though temperatures were well into the 20s at times, especially below decks.

General

There is much to be done improving the boat as and when funds allow.

We have also yet to put together and practice safety drills such as fire drill, man overboard drill, casualty recovery etc.

I would probably not embark on another ambitious excursion to the Blackwater or beyond with Jane as crew for a while. It was worthwhile this time but Jane needs practice at steering and sail trimming which she will not get on long legs on the same course.

I would also be leery, for now at least, about venturing out of the Crouch if there was anything even vaguely hinting at wind force 4 or above in the weather outlook. It can be done and no doubt in the future will be done but for this year we'd be better off keeping it somewhat less adventurous until we've really got our act together ... and until we've got our safety procedures fully in place and kit such as safety lines installed (I really would NOT have liked to have to go on deck without a safety line on Thursday afternoon)

Here's to more sailing ... preferably sooner rather than later!

May Cruise - Day 8

Leaving day.

Unloaded personal kit and some items of boat kit not required on board to car.
Motored back to mooring. Crew missed pick up but skipper was able to grab it on the way past!
Made fast and signalled for ferry ride back to pontoon.
Departed about 11:00

Issues arising:

It may be worth considering making the initial pick up on the mooring buoy from the stern when a lighter crew member is all that is available. It needs some beef to grab a buoy tail, haul it in and get it over the samson post.

It would also be preferable if we could contrive to leave the buoy tails on top of the buoy rather than trailing in the water in future - they get horribly gritty and weedy if not.

May Cruise - Day 7

Meths: 1ltr into each burner

Strong Westerly breeze, otherwise a fine day. Almost decided to head down into the Roach with a view to spending the night at anchor somewhere around Paglesham but reconsidered and decided that with an already damaged genoa it would not be wise.

Maintenance day declared.

Skipper and crew spent entire day having a major and extremely successful tidying and organising session in the cabin. Very much improved conditions below decks as a result.

The carpet is going to have to go though! The stain left behind by the damp patch is all too obvious.

Ate on board then walked around to marina to try out the marina bar. It's OK and offers an alternative if the Ferry Boat is too busy but I doubt we'll often bother with the extra hike - it's a bit plain and also rather noisy. Back to the Ferry Boat for another drink before retiring.

May Cruise - Day 6

03:00 Anchor watch on deck (Bru). Anchor light checked, OK
04:00 Tide turned, anchor holding, anchor light checked, OK, anchor watch below
05:50 Fine morning, light Westerly breeze
06:20 Anchor light and ball taken in
06:25 Engine start
06:35 Under way by motor
--:-- Motor through moorings at Burnham
07:25 Hoist sails, engine off. Breeze promptly died away to nothing!
07:30 Restart engine, motor sailing
07:55 Sailing, stopped engine
09:45 Just short of Fambridge, start engine and lower sails
10:00 Docked at pontoon, stop engine

Total engine hiurs: 1:40

Filled o/b tank and jerry can at Asda: 16.8ltrs
Cumulative engine hours since last fill: 9:25
Appro. fuel consumption: 1.8ltrs per hour

Issues arising

Very difficuly tacking in light airs - the genoa sheet knots catch on the shrouds even after being served with self amalgamating tape and on occasions the genoa would get between the fore shroud and the cap shroud instead of running around the front of the shrouds and refuse to come out again unless I turned almost downwind to get the wind in the back of it. This really clobbered our VMG and we need to either resolve the problem somehow or refine our technique in some way to improve things

May Cruise - Day 5

First reef put in mainsail whilst docked

11:05 Depart Bradwell under motor
11:25 Unfurled genoa, stopped engine
11:55 Hoisted reefed mainsail

12:25 Abeam Bench Head

13:36 Passed NW Knoll

13:20 Rounded Wallet Spitway

13:30 Rounded Swin Spitway

15:40 Struggling to make progress to windward even with a fair tide. Pushed too far to the South onto the Swallowtail bank and forced to run back downwind into deeper water sacrificing much of the ground gained. Steep chop knocking us back in the tacks and we missed stays on several occasions. Twice reduced genoa, first to about 80% then again to around 60%. Wind rising and sea state worsening so started enging, furled genoa, centred main and proceeded under power.

--:-- Passed another small yacht also motoring in under centred main and furled genoa abeam Buxey Sands.
17:25 In Brankfleet in almost calm conditions. Engine died coming in to anchor. Jane let go anchor and it set and held. Restarted engine, tripped anchor and moved position inshore before setting anchor with engine astern. Good holding.

17:40 Anchored in Brankfleet, River Roach, downstream of Jubilee racing mark. 6m of water, 25m of scope.
18:25 Hoisted anchor ball to starboard spreader
21:00 Lit and hoisted anchor light to port spreader

Total engine time: 2:20

Issues arising:

The engine simply cannot be trusted when coming in to dock or anchor if it has been run for any length of time at higher throttle settings. It invariably dies shortly after being throttled back. Suspect this may be due to plug fouling possibly due to the use of motorcycle 2stroke oil. It may also need hotter spark plugs fitting.

May Cruise - Day 4

06:15 Fine morning, decent Westerly breeze as per forecast for once!

Meths: 1ltr into l/h burner

08:50 Start engine
09:00 Depart Brightlingsea
09:10 Off Stone Point
09:30 Making 6kts SoG under motor
09:50 Sails up, stop engine. Close reaching at 2.6kts SoG
--:-- Soon becalmed, no breeze at all!
10:46 Making progress again at 3.6kts SoG
11:00 Abeam Eagle, course West at 2.8kts SoG
14:00 Off Bradwell, r/c to Bradwell Marina for berth - allocated C36
14:15 Engine start, lowered sails
14:20 Under way on motor
14:40 Docked, engine off

Total Engine Hours: 1:25

£15.50 for overnight berth (inclusive of shore power, not used)

Meal and drink in much vaunted Green Man - not greatly impressed with the food or the pub. Not a patch on the Ferry Boat in our opinion. Nightcap in Marina Bar turned into an all evening session with the Stafford Cruising Club (it's a small world - they're affiliated with Stafford Boat Club and one of their number had been talking to another of their party about the Great Internet Gathering earlier that same day!)  - much beer and song etc. Very pleasant.

Issues arising:

Genoa hung up on starboard spreader, ripped about 6" of stitching out on luff tape which is now very vulnerable to further hang ups. Have discovered (too late!) that it pays to ease the sheet slightly before tacking when sailing hard on the wind to let the genoa come clear of the spreader.

Difficulty unfurling the genoa earlier due to too much line on drum. Reduced the number of turns on the drum when the genoa furled to try and resolve this problem.

Mainsail is not hoisting fully to top of mast. It is sticking about 6" short. Constant problems when hoisting and lowering the main with the luff track bullets dropping out of the bottom of the luff groove. This urgently needs a stopper. The gooseneck locking bolt (a bent over screw) also needs looking at - it keeps coming undone and dropping the boom further exacerbating the problem of the sail coming away from the luff groove.

Maintenance Tasks carried out whilst docked

Tightened guard wires all round
Connected engine charge lead
Served and sealed ends of sail ties

May Cruise - Day 3

04:00 Flat calm, no wind, 9°C, mist forming on river margins
06:00 Started engine
06:14 Under way downriver
06:24 Passed Shortpole Reach buoy, SoG 4.3kts
07:00 Abeam Bridgemarsh
07:20 Abeam Burnham Yacht Harbour
07:50 Passing Horse Shoal
08:36 Passing Crouch buoy

09:00 Genoa up - furling line tangled around foil.
09:45 Passed South Buxey making 5kts SoG under sail
11:45 Cleared Wallet Spitway buoy
--:-- Sailed close by Brightlingsea and motored into Brightlingsea Creek
14:10 Alongside at Brightlingsea town pontoon following engine failure on approach to visitors pontoon. Assisted by Brightlingsea Sailing Club safety rib otherwise we would have been aground.
15:30 Moved to visitors berth by harbourmasters launch

Total Engine Running Time: app. 4:00hrs

Issues arising from day:

Furling gear very stiff both ways and leader rotates around allowing the line to wrap around the foil instead of the drum when unfurling the sail. Lashed back leader to opposite stanchion as a temporary measure.

Topping lift shackle departed the boat during the day. Topping lift now at top of mast! Temporary topping lift rigged using anchor light hoist led around starboard cap shroud.

Engine ran fine all morning. On the last leg into Brightlingsea Harbour it began to hunt and surge then died when throttled back on approach to pontoon. Found that upper plug cap had come loose. Pushed home and tested, seems OK.

May Cruise - Day 2

Fine day, no wind to speak of. Declared maintenance day.

New anchor chain and warp fitted, old chain stowed below cabin floor
Water tank filler pipe fitted, water pump wiring reconnected. Tested, OK

Tidied cabin (partially at least) - removed much junk to skip and unwanted gear to car for storage at home.

Filled outboard tank at Asda in S. Woodham with 17ltrs (Jerry can already full)

Ate on board, watched DVD

May Cruise - Day 1

Arrived about 16:30, caught the last ferry ride down to the boat
Motored up and moored on the inside of the pontoon (no issues with engine carb)
Pub meal followed by early night

May Cruise

This will be our first full week aboard the boat and our first chance to sail as a couple without the worries and hassle of additional crew.

The plan is to take it easy, dealing with some outstanding essential maintenance tasks and undertaking some gentle trial sailing within the river system of the Crouch and Roach.