The antepenultimate step has been taken

Aha! I have a copy of the survey report

All is good ... well ish

The first item of some concern is that Toby found very high moisture levels over the whole of the bottom. This is a bit of a puzzler. There are no signs of any structural problems or delamination though which is good.

I've been giving this some thought and doing some research and I've concluded that it's almost certainly a false indication (to some extent at least) due to the unusually thick layer of epoxy on the hull. "Erbas" was professionally peeled (had the gelcoat removed in other words) and dried out for 18 months before having a whopping eleven, yes eleven, coats of epoxy applied below the waterline in 2000 / 2002

It seems unlikely that she'd have been totally dry even after 18 months so doubtless that process sealed some moisture permanently into the hull where it'll do no harm at all if it hasn't done so already but given that even a coat of antifoul can mess up a moisture meters readings, what is eleven layers of epoxy going to do to it?!

So after due consideration, unless the insurers take fright at it, we're going to take note and do nothing!

We've got a couple of items to sort out - slightly surprised to be advised that there appears to be no split pin or securing grub screw on the propeller nut. Surprised because it's a new propeller fitted this year and the current owner over-engineers everything to the highest standards with nothing left to chance (I guess on submarines you don't get to call out the RNLI for a tow home when it goes pear shaped!). So we'll have to have a look at that and do something about it - shouldn't be too much of a problem to drill a hole and fit a split pin.

We knew the fire extinguishers on board were a bit dated so that came as no surprise. I'm also no fan of dry powder and the automatic in the engine bay will get swapped for a halon substitute automatic. The engine and ancillary gear will still be serviceable after that goes off whereas the dry powder jobby might (if we're lucky) put the fire out but it will also ruin anything hot it comes into contact with

The two big AFFF foam extinguishers will be transferred off old Brigantia and they'd be my weapon of choice for most shipboard fires especially involving petrol for example (although that will be less of an issue now of course but we'll still be carrying some for the tender outboard). They're not ideal for alcohol fires though as the alcohol prevents the foam film from forming properly. However, an alcohol fire is very susceptible to simple action with a fire blanket or, if necessary, a bucket of water so I'm not overly concerned.

The one area where I do have a concern is an electrical fire inside equipment such as the Sterling battery management unit or the inverter (acquired from the Bosuns Stores last weekend and to be fitted in due course!). This is the one area where the otherwise utterly useless CO2 extinguisher comes into its own. Or better yet a small Halon but we're not allowed those because so many of them were set off it buggered up the ozone layer. Trouble is, you can't get the little aerosol gas extinguishers any more and the smallest CO2 job is still a pretty big beast. Dry powder is an absolute no-no as far as I'm concerned in this application because it will mullah every piece of hot electrical equipment, faulty or otherwise, it comes into contact with. Worse, it's not that good at dealing with fires inside enclosures because, unlike a gas based extinguisher, the powder isn't great at penetrating through vents and apertures and then flooding the inside of the casing. We're thinking on that one.

The one bone of contention is over the glassing in of plastic skin fittings. It's been recommended as standard practice but I'm not in favour of it at all! In theory, it protects the fitting in the event of something hitting it. In practice, what is going to hit a skin fitting underneath the cabin sole? (It does nothing to protect the fitting from external damage but as the fitting is all but flush with the hull that's unlikely to happen anyway)

What is more, glassing in the fitting renders any inspection or maintenance of the nut and seal all but impossible without totally removing the fitting and replacing it with a new one. I prefer to be able to examine the nut and check it is secure and the fitting is undamaged and, if necessary, to be able to dismantle, re-bed and refit the fitting in the event of any leakage

And the final killer blow is that I strongly suspect that any attempt to glass in a skin fitting in an older hull is doomed to failure anyway. In the unlikely event of the fitting being struck with sufficient force by a heavy enough object to shear it off, I would put a not inconsiderable sum of money on the same circumstance simply removing the fitting AND the lump of mat and resin which for a certainty won't bond well to the existing hull interior surface

Other than that, nothing much to write home about. Need to check and replace if necessary the anode bolts although I suspect they'll be up to snuff given how well maintained she is.

So now I am waiting on the insurers acceptance of the survey and my additonal comments thereon and if all is well we move on to the penultimate step - paying for her!!!

A half step closer

No sooner had I posted that we were awaiting the survey did I get a text from Toby that the survey was done! Just needs to be written up in a report and away we go :-)

There's "a couple of things" apparently, but nothing desperate is my impression (there's bound to be something!). We'll see when the report arrives.

Got an email from Danyal at the marina too today, it's no problem to upgrade our mooring package and the additional cost is pro-rata for the remainder of the mooring agreement which is a bonus. So I think we'll definitely go for it and enjoy the benefits of a marina berth over the winter

All we need now to ice the cake is a buyer for the old boat!

Patience is a virtue

or so they say

Never been one of my strengths though!

We're now just three steps away from completing the purchase of "Erbas" though thanks to the kind computers at Halifax depositing a large sum of money into our bank account (it's a shame we have to pay it back eventually but hey ho!)

The anti-penultimate step is the insurance condition survey which is arranged but yet to happen

That will be followed, all being well, by the penultimate step of arranging insurance

And then the ultimate step of paying over the money and becoming the owners!

At that point, of course, the bills start mounting up - yard storage fees until we get her back in the water, crane in costs, then visitor mooring fees until we depart Tollesbury ... good job I've allowed a "little" extra in the budget to cover it all :)

And of course there is "Anne" still to be sold. Loads of hits on the Apolloduck advert, not a sniff of interest yet though! Interesting to discover another Islander 23 for sale for £3700 with nowhere near the spec of "Anne" for which we're asking just £3995. Either we're under-valuing or they're guilty of wishful thinking - I think the latter

Patience dear boy, patience

The deed, indeed the deeds, is/are done

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork!

Finally, the loan agreement forms arrived in the post and we have written confirmation that we have the money to buy "Erbas". It's only taken seven days to reach us and it's a bitter irony that they enclose a first class reply paid envelope to speed the signed agreement back to them!

Never mind, the money should be in the bank by the end of the week

That settled, we could finally sign the purchase agreement and put it in the post committing us formally (as if we weren't already committed!) to purchase "Erbas" subject to survey within 14 days

Toby will hopefully get the survey done this week (we're not anticipating any surprises there) and "Erbas" should be ours for definite by the beginning of September

After careful consideration, Mark and Heather have (probably wisely) decided not to buy Brigantia and therefore ...

Brigantia is for sale!

The full spec is on Apolloduck at the above link and we're asking £3995 for her in sail away condition. We're very open to sensible offers as we'd rather move her on to new owners than have her hanging around needing to be maintained when we have the new boat to work on

However, she'll be reverting to her former name of "Anne" (or more fully if the new owner wishes "Anne of Arne") prior to sale as we shall be retaining the name Brigantia and transferring the name to "Erbas" before she is re-launched

It's all go innit?!

Summer Cruise 2013 - Summary

It doth suddenly occur to me that I've omitted to "pen" my usual summary. I think I must have been overly excited about something, wonder what it was? :)

Anyway ...

We had made a very definite and conscious decision to keep this cruise relaxed and pressure free and so it proved to be once we arrived on board.

The first step in the chilling out strategy was not to rush to get away from home. Driving down on the Friday afternoon after finishing work at 6:00am is always tiring plus we then have to sort out the tender when we arrive at Fambridge so an unhurried departure on Saturday morning was planned.

The drive down was pants! Oh well, never mind because the trot boat was running so we didn't have to faff about with the tender and soon had Brigantia alongside and making ourselves comfortable. In kicked stage two of our cunning plan to take it easy - we took it so easy we didn't bother going anywhere until Sunday!

When we did get moving a short hop downriver to Burnham Yacht Harbour saw us take up residence there for two nights which allowed for a good explore around the town and the purchase of some bits for the boat toolkit which I've been after for a while, mainly a hand drill which are surprisingly rare items in DIY shops these days

Now it got, briefly, exciting as we voyaged over vast distances and wild seas ... oh all right, we popped around the corner into the Blackwater estuary and fetched up in Tollesbury Marina for another two night stop over! It got mildly choppy around the Spitway though!

The visit to Tollesbury would prove an expensive exercise but it was also once again a very nice place to be although we didn't tick all the planned boxes in that we failed to visit the Sailing Club. Nor did we go for a swim having forgotten our bathers (again). Oh well!

This stressful and manic period of inactivity was followed by one of the best days sailing Jane and I have enjoyed since we bought the boat. It was a very satisfying run from Tollesbury up to Shotley Marina from a technical perspective with the boat going extremely well. It was also very pleasant and enjoyable as we could relax in the cockpit in the warm summers sun in an all too rare spell of T-shirt weather

Worn out by this endeavour, we then spent two nights in Shotley! Very social nights they were too as we met up on both evenings with friends from the East Coast Forum. A visit aboard Ian and Jo's Sabre 27 "Apogee" and some lengthy chats with them helped greatly in making the decision to purchase "Erbas"

A gentle run upriver to Fox's marina on the outskirts of Ipswich led to a further meet with fellow forumites. A good look at their new boat was followed by a meal in the Yacht Club and a rare outing for me in musician mode joining in a session in the bar. As Jane said, we used to greatly enjoy the sessions that were a regular feature of canalside pubs "back in the day" and it was fun to get involved again without too many fluffs

If you're ploughing through this waiting for it to get epic, here it comes ...

Sunday was one of those grin and bear it days. Actually, by the end there wasn't much of a grin even on my face. The forecast was grim, griM I said, not grin and, ironically, we got what was forecast in spades for once. Bashing down the Wallet with a solid F5 on the nose and wind over tide generated chop to boot is never going to be nice and by the time we finally slogged our way into the Crouch I really was wishing there was an "off" button! It had to be done as Monday looked, if anything, worse and we needed to get back as quickly as possible (thus breaking the "no pressure this holiday" rule but for good reason)

And then we went and bought a bigger boat!!!

I won't put words into Janes mouth (she'll kill me if I do!) but my feeling is that this cruise finally hit a pattern that suited us both. From my point of view, it was relaxed, it was enjoyable and we spent a lot of time doing things together as a couple. I also enjoyed seeing Jane start to become more comfortable and familiar with tasks around the deck - I don't have to tell her which fenders to put where now, only which side we're coming in on (although "Port" and "Starboard" are about as much use as "Left" and "Right" it has to be said!) for example.

I also felt that both our own growing experience and conversations with other yachting couples have combined to convince Jane that it's all right to leave me to it when the conditions at sea aren't to her liking. I really don't mind! It perhaps limits the duration of trips we can undertake and the conditions we can take on but planning around those and all the other limitations is part of the challenge of skippering and navigating a small boat. And the challenge is part of the fun!

Domestically, we experimented very successfully with cooking proper meals with fresh ingredients purchased locally. We'd discussed this before we set out and thoroughly enjoyed both the preparation and the eating of the meals in question! Even with the limited facilities aboard "Brigantia" we turned out a couple of delicious meals and reckon much more could be done especially with the addition of the cool box to keep stuff fresh

All in all, a very successful cruise which achieved all its objectives and then some.

A skippers work is never done

Today I have paid the deposit on "Erbas"

Before I did so however, I phoned the bank to query why I'd yet to see any paperwork vis a vis the loan. "It takes 3 to 5 working days". Really? In the 21st century? Ridiculous! The nice young lady (whose name I took note of I might add!) did kindly verbally confirm that the loan is definitely approved and only requires our signatures on the paperwork

That was my point really - I was nervous about paying the deposit, and still am, with nothing whatsoever in writing about the loan definitely being OK. Still, given the missed call from the brokers chasing the deposit and purchase agreement needs must!

We've got to sign the purchase agreement and have it witnessed by a non-relative. Seems a bit much for a £12K purchase but never mind! I suppose it's the standard form.

The Bosun and I have been bandying ideas about options for heating backwards and forwards. Well mostly forwards as I'm still mulling over his research report. For one reason or another I'm not wildly enthusiastic about any of the viable alternatives but we need a user friendly, reliable, effective and reasonably economic solution to heating the boat because we want to make the maximum use out of her by extending the "season" as much as possible. There will be more on this subject I'm sure!

We've also been mulling over possible names and we have a possibility that we're trying on the tongue for a few days. It also needs to meet with the approval of all parties. And you'll have to wait and see 'cos I'm not telling right now!

Then there's budgets and finances. The loan repayments are not eye watering as we've spread the cost over the longest period (although we don't necessarily plan to take that long over paying it off) but it is never the less a hole in our finances that has to be filled from somewhere.

I just want to go and play with our new toy!!!

More on moorings and so on

Oh how the mind boggles!

There's so much to discuss and plan what with the acquisition of the new boat, the "disposal" (horrible word) of the old boat, what the hell to call the new boat (with apologies and respects to her former owners, we're just not finding "Erbas" to our liking despite trying it out in every conversation for nearly a week now) ...

One decision I think we have managed to make today is on the matter of moorings

As the avoid, I'm sorry I'll type that again ... AVID reader will already know we've been considering a move to Tollesbury Marina or Tollesbury Saltings. Financially, the marina is out of reach of our pocket especially with the additional cost of financing the new boat so it would have been the saltings

The vision of gazing out over the saltings with a cold beer in hand and the steaks sizzling on the BBQ is an enticing one it has to be admitted but I fear the reality might not live up to the dream!

Access on and off the stagings, the almost certain lack of shore power and the tidal limitations all conspire to work against the dream.

But more than anything else, if we move the boat to our favourite spot (that we've found so far anyway) on the East Coast where will we go then when we want to head out?

So, for now at least, Tollesbury will remain our destination of choice for short trips and we'll remain at North Fambridge at least until next year

However, we are very taken with the idea of a "Summer Swing" package which will cost us somewhat more than an Annual swinging mooring (about £360 a year more) and means that from October to April we'll be on a very sheltered pontoon berth in the marina. It's still much cheaper than a permanent marina berth!

We can then choose if and when we come out of the water and we can use the boat as a floating cottage in virtually any weather (life on the river pontoon can be miserable in windy conditions especially if, as is often the case in winter particularly, the inside is occupied and we have to tie up on the outside). If we get a nice spell of pleasant weather we can easily nip off downriver to Burnham or a night at anchor

We might get away with a quick between tides scrub and anti-foul in the spring or a 24 hour lift and hold which would save some or all of the additional cost. Even if we still choose to come out for a while later in the year it'll be worth it if we get some extra weekends on board

Out with the old ...

And in with the new

I'm having a bit of a guilt trip this morning! Brigantia has been a great little boat for us and we've had tremendous fun owning her but I've always claimed, and meant, that she was a tool, a means to an end, and that I had no great emotional attachment to her.

I lied!

I've realised this morning that I've become rather fond of the old girl and I'm going to be a little bit sorry to part company with her. Needs must though and the new boat is bigger and better in every way. She's also much more suitable for the patterns of use that are appealing to Jane

One of the many things Brigantia has taught us is that we both like to go somewhere, to a destination. We're simply not inclined to just "go for a sail" and arrive back where we started out from. Frankly, we can't see the point. Once we're out there, I much prefer to get to where we're going by sail but I've no particular hangup about motoring if needs must - and after a couple of hours tacking to and fro clawing slowly up to windward I am pretty much guaranteed to run out of patience and start the engine!

We've also now come to realise that a lot of our cruising is likely to be the sort of "hop and stop" strategy we've developed this past week. A day at sea, and even then keeping passage lengths down as much as possible, followed by two nights in port. At sea, Jane is happy on deck in benign conditions but soon retires to her bunk when it gets a bit lively - and rightly so as there's no point in being miserable and I'm happy to get on with it calling for help if and when I need it.

With some quite short passages it's been a superbly relaxing holiday. What we lack is comfort on board when in harbour or at anchor. Almost anything is possible aboard Brigantia but everything tends to be a bit of an effort because of the lack of space and particularly headroom.

So what of this new boat then?

She's a very early Sabre 27 Mk.II built in 1969/70 by Marcon. As you'd expect, she's 27 feet long (actually an inch more but who cares?) and she's just over 9 feet in the beam - she's quite beamy which makes for a lot of space down below.

She has an unusual layout for a Sabre having been fitted out by shipwrights, ostensibly for the 1970 boat show as a show boat before Marcon changed their minds and decided to fit Mk.II Sabres with a moulded interior

She is in fantastic condition. Her previous owner was an electrical engineer, her current owner is a marine engineer and it shows.

The systems are comprehensive and comprehensively documented - schematics of fresh water systems, salt water systems and so on, wiring diagrams and so on. She's a lot more complicated than her predecessor!

 The hull is a fairly conventional bilge keel design of the era. Like the Islander 23, the keels are encapsulated (moulded as part of the hull) rather than bolt on which is, in my opinion, a very good thing. You don't get the problems with strained hull/keel joints, corroding keel bolts and leaking seams that you get with bolt on keels

It also makes her suitable for a drying mud berth (something I wouldn't inflict on a Centaur for example)

On deck, she's very well sorted with almost everything brought back to the cockpit. I know it's not everybody's up of tea but I'm not as agile as I'd like to be and Jane isn't a sailor (yet) so I'm effectively single handed a lot of the time. Being able to reef from the safety of the cockpit is therefore very much to my liking! She has all the essential gear and then some. The anchor windlass is powered which is luxury on a boat of this size.

She even has storm sails! Not that we ever plan to use them. Nor do we ever plan to use the four man liferaft not included in the original inventory but which is staying aboard by negotiation. It needs a service but otherwise appears sound. Also included by separate agreement is the spinnaker and brand new suffer and the roller stands and gear for lowering and stowing the mast on deck

Apart from the storm jib, storm trysail and spinnaker already mentioned, she comes with a recent mainsail and genoa, a number two jib and the current owner has offered us free gratis the two previous mainsail and genoas out of his loft which are old but serviceable

There's loads more, I could go on and on just about the deck gear!

The essential bits ...

The engine. Yes, I know she's a sailing boat and we'll sail whenever we can but I simply refuse to get hung up about hitting the button and starting the engine when the sailing ceases to be fun and becomes a tiresome chore!

So a Beta Marine 20hp diesel fitted new in 2009 with around 400 hours on it gets a huge massive whopping great thumbs up from me!

(Jane shrugged and said "it's an engine, so what?"!)

On the other hand ...

The galley really floated Jane's boat (see what I did there?)!

It's really very clever and one of the best small(ish) boat galley arrangements I've seen. You tuck yourself into a standing space to port of the engine box where you can wedge yourself in at sea and be out of the way of people coming in and out. You can sit down on the engine box too (and the current owner showed us the trick of stealing a small filler cushion from the starboard L-settee for extra comfort!)

There's a decent sized fridge under the deceptively small lift up panel aft of the taps with a sophisticated control system, hot and cold running water, loads of storage and, which gets my full approval, the current owner ditched the tired gas cooker in favour of a spirit stove

The only downside being the lack of an oven. You can get an Origo with an oven although they're not easy to track down as few chandlers stock them. That's because they are the best part of a grand which is a huge amount of money for some pressed stainless steel and a few fiddly bits. After a minor domestic (!) it was agreed that we would stick with the two burner and purchase a Cobb charcoal oven. Jane did totally agree that avoiding gas was much to be preferred (although the gas pipework from the aft end of the cockpit to the cooker space is in situ and in good condition so the option is there)


Turning to starboard we find my bit! The navigation area.

Now I'll hold my hands up and admit that this is the one aspect of the fit out that is a little disappointing because there's nowhere to sit at the nav table and it's a little awkward to work at standing up too.

I'm also yet to be convinced by the somewhat intrusive swinging clamp arrangement for the chart plotter (just visible in the top right hand corner of the picture)

It's going to take me a while to figure out all the electrics. There's lots of switches! They are all nicely old fashioned which I like but spread about in several different locations which I don't like so much

There's DSC VHF (Icom, might get swapped for the Standard Horizon on Brigantia if I can be bothered with the faff of changing the MMSI numbers over), NASA AIS receiver, Raymarine chart plotter, the full set of Autohelm instruments including a fluxgate compass, two tiller pilots (!), the lot

I have experimented already with removing the cushion and locker lid underneath the chart table and it does provide a usable sized footwell making sitting at the table possible. However, that comes at the loss of a significantly large locker so we'll have to see.

The nav table is removable too to make way for the quarter berth. I doubt we'll use it very often though as it'll surely be easier to use the saloon settee berths and we're not likely to want a fifth berth very often!

Comfort on board ...

Let's start with the cockpit (of which we are lacking slightly in the photo department) - it's spacious, and has lockers all over the place. There's a huge locker to port, a fairly big one to starboard, a simply ginormous on under the floor and some small ones in the coamings! There's a cockpit table, cockpit cushions and, best of all, a proper cockpit tent! It's a whole extra room out there! 

Entering the cabin, we've already looked at the galley to port and the nav station / quarter berth to starboard and ahead of us is the main selling point of the boat ... the saloon!

It deserves a big picture, it's a fabulous space for a 27 footer. There's a single settee to port with lockers behind and under with a trotter box into the aft cupboard in the heads compartment to make a full length berth - we anticipate that with the use of a lee cloth (already on board in a locker somewhere!) this will be the usual "sea berth" than Jane retires to when we're about to cross the Spitway!

To starboard there's an 'L' shaped settee which is longer and therefore makes a single berth without needing a trotter box. There's a substantial freestanding table which can be secured in various positions although we're not totally convinced by it as yet! We're going to live with it for a while and then decide whether to keep it or make a new more suitable table for our needs - it isn't, for example, really large enough to seat four people for dinner but if it was it would be too big the rest of the time. A simple answer might just be to fit a drop leaf extension to one side of the existing table.

There is the shell of a Victory paraffin heater on the forward bulkhead. Unfortunately, it contains a paraffin wick lamp rather than the proper pressurised heater unit. Whilst this will give out some heat it's not as effective. It is, however, a good deal easier to use! Again, we shall see whether it suffices as an occasional heater (we have thoughts on heating anyway which I'll come to later)

The Victory looks nice and appropriate but it's in the way of one of my key improvement ideas so it might yet be removed or possibly mounted on a removable or swing-away back board. This is because I plan (at some point) to make up a filler board and cushion to allow the starboard settee to be turned into an occasional double.

There's fixed and movable oil lamps all over the place, fresh clean upholstery, enough wood to be woody with enough cream on the cabin sides and deckhead to prevent the space being dark. We loved it! Oh and there's plenty of storage too

Moving forward we arrive at the necessarium a.k.a. the heads or to put it another way ... the bog!

There's a couple of cupboard above and below the port berth trotter box with a narrow hanging cupboard forward and a shelf above

To starboard is the necessary item itself with a drop down sink behind - like the galley there is hot and cold running water (sheer luxury!)


She does not have a shower and fitting one would be tricky. However I had an idea on that score but it turns out the current owner has beaten me to it and there's the connectors, hose and fittings for a cockpit shower already installed! That'll do me

The "V" berth is a "V" berth, what more can one say? It is reasonably generous at 7' long and the foot end isn't as narrow as some so it should be quite comfortable for Jane and I. We'll probably spend the money on shaped sheets and duvets in due course but we'll manage with Tescos Value finest for now!

There's much discussion ongoing about moorings and the future of Brigantia. Not to mention the name of the new boat (it's very unlikely she'll be called "Erbas" for much longer). Watch this space!

Not The Summer Cruise - part 1

Today, of course, should be day 10 of our gentle ramble around the fleshpots of Essex and Suffolk. However, we're back at Fambridge early with things to do that need to be done

First job today is phoning the insurance windscreen hotline to arrange for a nice man in his van to come and put a new windscreen in the car, I don't fancy driving anywhere with a huge crack across half the width of the screen

Then I need a list. So here's a list ...

• Phone boat insurers, check insurance on proposed new boat
• Check with Yacht Havens that we can transfer the mooring
• Phone brokers and tell them we definitely want to go ahead with the purchase
• Arrange to meet seller on Tuesday if possible
• Strip as much unnecessary gear off Brigantia as we can squeeze into the car

What else?

I'm sure I've forgotten something?

Oh yes, did I mention that we've decided to sell Brigantia and buy a bigger boat?

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 9

Given the needed to get the car windscreen repaired before we can get on with other plans, we really wanted to get back to Fambridge today

 

The forecast wasn't great - south or south westerly F4 gusting F5. Oh well, at least there wasn't a strong wind warning to go with it

 

Heading out from Fox's at 6 in the morning, there was no wind at all. A bit of breeze finally kicked in as we approached Felixstowe and I hosted the main with a reef in it as a precaution against the forecast

 

Good job too as by the time we cleared Harwich Shelf the forecast F4 was solidly in place. Reaching across towards the Gunfleet was fine but as we started to tack into the Wallet the breeze worked up to at least an F5 and the seas got up to match

 

It all started to get a bit too exciting plus progress was becoming very slow so there was nothing for it but to took away the genoa, start the engine and point the boat where we wanted to go

Whilst we were, I think, the first to bottle it, the other half dozen or so yachts heading the same way soon followed suit.

 

As I'd hoped though, our timing was spot on to simply hold the course out of the bottom end of the Wallet into the Ray Sand Channel. We slipped across the drying bank into the Crouch just after half tide on the flood with a good half a metre or so to spare

 

We'd had an easier ride for an hour or so between the shore and the sandbanks aided, had we but realised it, by the wind going round from the South West further into the West. Now, oh what a surprise, it was right on our nose again as we flogged our way into the river. It wasn't dangerous by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn't much fun either

 

Even upstream of Burnham the river remained lumpy and unfriendly and it was with considerable relief that we got alongside the pontoon and tucked ourselves up for the night. Of course, within the hour the weather was idyllic and the river a picture of serene calm. We had beer to make ourselves feel better! It worked :)

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 8

As planned we sailed up the Orwell to Fox's Marina. It wasn't an early start do it wasn't an early arrival!

Once there, we had a good nose at our friends Lisa and Mark's new boat "Ocean Lady". It's huge! Very nice too. But huge! Did I mention it's huge?

A window shop around the chandlery (also huge, and expensive) was followed by a quick shower then a meal in the marina yacht club. Very going it was too and at last a pint or several that didn't taste of vinegar or pipe cleaner

Some guitars made an appearance so out came the baby guitar for its first appearance in public. It was fine and created quite a lot of interest

It was well past late-o-clock when we retired!

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 8 plans

A change of mind means we'll be heading up the Orwell to Fox's Marina, Ipswich for the night shortly.

Then we'll blast back south tomorrow

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 7

Sticking to the hop and stop strategy that is working so well this week, and given the forecast for the next few days, we elected to stay put at Shotley today.

Another late start to the day saw a leisurely breakfast of bacon and egg butties followed by a healthy dose of doing nothing much and then a couple of afternoon drinks in the Shipwreck

Actually, there was a whole lot of talking and discussing options and plans, costs and finances and so on and so forth. With some insightful input from our friend Lisa we reached the decision to sell Brigantia and buy the boat we fell in love with at Tollesbury

This is, of course, assuming that the deal can be done and the finance arranged.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch as the saying goes, more friends arrived at Shotley this evening so we repaired on board Laurin and did some respectable damage to their beer and whiskey stocks!

Upshot of conversations whilst drinks and popcorn were consumed was a change of mind about heading back to the Crouch tomorrow. In the morning we need to choose between sticking to our original plan off heading up to Ipswich and the alternative of joining Laurin and co. at anchor off Stone Point for barbecue and booze ashore in the guise of pirates!

We're not really geared up for that having decided to give it a miss before we departed so we'll probably head up to Fox's in the morning

Then it'll be a long blast back on Sunday unless we break it into two by stopping off either in the Stour or the Blackwater. Decisions, decisions!

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 6

A not particularly early start to today saw us pop up into Tollesbury village for some essential supplies and then taking another look at some future possibilities before setting out at spot on midday as planned

Actually, I reckon we could have scraped our way out perhaps twenty minutes earlier but the gauge showed 4 feet over the cill giving us a foot or so in hand.

There was barely a breath of wind at first but we hoisted the main anyway for the show of the thing. As we motored past West Mersea the wind started to kick in and we set the genoa and killed the engine.

Soon enough we were cracking along at a good pace and it just got better and better. We reached all the way up the Wallet at over 6 knots over the ground in grand style even enjoying the afternoon sunshine as we relaxed in the cockpit with barely a tweak of the sails necessary and the tiller pilot doing the work of steering the course

As we approached Harwich we came onto a dead run and intercepted Sirenia falling in astern add they sailed past us under main and spinnaker. They locked up into Shotley ahead of us, Apogee shortly afterwards and we all convened on J pontoon for a drink before eating on board our respective boats and then repairing to the Shipwreck for more drinks and chat

We covered just over 26 miles in 5 hours and 50 minutes which is very respectable indeed. One of our best sailing passages yet and certainly our best run up the Wallet channel

Tomorrow it's up the Orwell to Ipswich

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 5

No cruising today, we spent the day at our leisure in Tollesbury

Actually, it may turn out to have been a very expensive day because we've seen a bigger boat and all but decided to buy it but more of that at the appropriate time!

Tomorrow is another day and despite the distractions we're sticking to the plan and heading for Harwich. Well almost! The one variation is that I'd planned to stop at Halfpenny Pier, Harwich for the night but friends are heading our from Tollesbury at about the same time as us planning to go to Shotley so we'll join them

Not that we're planning a convoy mind you, we haven't got that bigger boat and they're bound to be quicker than us! So we'll try and get a head start and then wave pleasantly whilst gritting our teeth as they sail past!

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 4

It occurs to me that I could be had up under the Trades Descriptions Act and ought to title these particular ramblings as "Summer Idle" or some such.

This extended week was always intended to be "hop and stop" as Jane prefers the being there to the getting there and I've already had my epic adventure this year!

Never the less, today we did actually go sailing. What's more, we set out from Burnham somewhat after dawn but well before sunrise in order to catch the last of the ebb tide towards the Spitway

As soon as we were out of the marina, the sails were up and the engine off. Needless to say, the wind was due Wrong again. Right up the chuff so all the usual faffing about with goosewinged genoa, poled out at times and semi-accidental gybes ensued

Despite these tribulations, we made excellent time to the Swin Spitway buoy before coming hard on the wind and heading across the bottom end if the Wallet towards Clacton in order to get an angle on the wind into the Blackwater proper.

After initially flattering to deceive, progress became increasingly erratic as the wind shifted about, died, picked up and generally frustrated every attempt to get the boat settled into some sort of groove

Jane had already baled out and put her head down for a snooze. The 4:00 am alarm call would have been bad enough without the added charms of the usual Outer Blackwater chop to contend with (I have to confess I wasn't enjoying it all that much either)

With uncanny accuracy I decided enough was enough if we were to make the tide into Tollesbury and started the engine. With George at the helm I dropped the main and lashed it temporarily to the boom - I see no point in leaving it flogging around to no effect just for the pretence.

The uncanny accuracy was that once we'd settled down our ETA at Tollesbury Marina was exactly the time of high water! Approaching the Nass Beacon I called up the marina on the VHF and arranged a berth for the night with the option to stay two

After a bite of lunch, we booked in and had a drink before repairing back on board to put a proper harbour stow on the main, generally tidy up and prepare dinner. Following my culinary efforts yesterday, Jane took a turn and made a delicious chicken chasseure with the other half of the chicken breast and served out up with mixed veg.

After washing up, we headed back to the club for a couple of drinks before settling down for the night. Tomorrow will be another busy day doing very little, Thursday night actually see us heading towards Harwich!

PS photos might be in even shorter supply than usual because the boat camera flew off the cockpit seat and landed in the puddle of water that accumulates in the corner when we're heeled over close hauled.  It didn't bounce nor did it float and now it doesn't work either

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 3

It'll have to be a brief entry tonight for reasons that'll become obvious

Slept like a log, got up very late by any measure let alone mine. Decided forecast was pants, staying put. Full English brunch followed by de-barnacle exercise on outboard. Cursing and swearing at whichever idiot didn't anti-foul the prop at the same time as doing the leg. It was probably me.

Application of generous coating of Propshield purchased at vast expense from marina chandlery was followed by a walk into town in the rain.

Very nice coffee, not much else until we walked up the hill towards the co-op where the adjacent discount shop offered up a hand drill, a selection of drill bits and a cheap multimeter to make up the gaps in the onboard tool kit

Purchased ingredients for a proper evening meal, walked back to boat, cooked meal, ate meal, drank beer.

Discussed plans for tomorrow - both keen to get back on schedule and make it into Tollesbury tomorrow. That means arriving at the Nass beacon by no later than midday and that in turn means a pre-dawn departure. Alarm set for 4:00 am

Nav light check and lo, once again the wiring to the port deck level nav light has failed. Fixed that. Found masthead LED light u/s too. Traced that to corrosion in the deck connector at the mast base. Fixed that.

Tidied up the mess made fixing things. Wrote stupid blog entry so I don't get moaned at about missing blog entries! Going to sleep now.

Brigantia Jambalaya

Otherwise known as "make it up add you go along" chicken and stuff with rice!

A raiding party sacked the local co-op for provisions and didn't come back empty handed. However, the recipe called for spicy sausage and they'd found none were to be had in these parts.

Undaunted, the cook delved into the ship's stores and chopped up a spare pork and onion sausage left over from breakfast, liberally sprinkled it with black pepper, curry powder and olive oil before leaving it to fester ... sorry "marinate" for a while

Using a sharp knife, or in this case a knife that should be sharp and wasn't (memo to skipper - sharpen sharp knife)  cook then roughly chopped up half a large onion, a pepper and four mini chicken breasts (slightly less than 200g at a guess)

The sausage pieces and chicken went into a hot skillet to brown off then the onion and pepper were added. This surprisingly appetizing looking mixture was then cooked over a medium heat for around 20 minutes or in other words until the cook got bored.

A generous pinch of garlic powder was stirred in followed by the "stock" - the contents of a packet chicken casserole sauce made up with cold water. The pan was brought to the boil and then left to simmer with the lid on for a while. Half an hour or so later, a bag of boil in the bag rice went into the pot along with some pineapple chunks (well, why not?). Heat and stir, heat and stir until the rice looked nearly cooked then in with 150g of cooked and peeled prawns.

A final warm through and serve with seawater cooked beer or cider to taste!

P.S. the prawns were under done and needed to go in with the rice if not sooner. Apart from that it were delicious!

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 2, part 2

Very breezy run down downriver under genoa alone - we had the cover off the mainsail just in case but it wasn't needed. That was handy as it saved us the effort of stowing it again, not an easy job with the stiff new sail.

We then took an afternoon stroll down the seawall as far as Rice & Coles yard stopping for a pint at the Anchor on the way back.

Dinner on board was followed by drinks but not at the Swallowtail as planned because it was shut! I swear that business owners around here just don't want my money!

Jane proposed a walk back down into Burnham and I didn't take a lot of persuading. A couple of very decent pints in the Star ensued before we made our way back for coffee on board.

Tomorrow looks like being another breezy day so we might stay put and explore what further delights Burnham has to offer

On the other hand, if the weather stays as it is tonight we'll make tracks for the Blackwater as originally planned

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 2 part 1

The first coffee of the morning is doing the job and the old red blood cells are shuffling off their duvets and making an effort so it's time to start thinking about plans for the day

The maritime weather forecast is the all powerful oracle we must consult to read our fortunes and future ... Oh, I see the Met Office are forecasting SW 4 or 5 occasionally 6 at times with a strong wind warning. Hmmm.

Windguru is forecasting 10 to 12 knots with gusts of 16 or 17 knots whilst Meteo Marine offers up F3/4 with gusts of F5

So it looks like the Met are erring on the side of caution as usual whilst the GFS based forecast from Windguru is under-cooking the wind speed (a known phenomena of the model)

Using the good old sailors forecasting method (stick your head out of the hatch and have a look) we've got no more than F2 out there although the direction is about right. Looks a lovely day!

So I think I shall have a shower whilst the sleeping beauty slumbers on and then potter downriver and see what's what.

Summer Cruise 2013 - Day 1

After a shop at Tesco in Kettering, we had a fairly frustrating drive down to Fambridge constantly being held up by slower motorists who would NOT move over until there wasn't a vehicle to be seen for the next five miles

Frustration levels increased when a stone thrown up by a particularly ignorant Disco driver chipped the windscreen badly. Oh well, thought I, that'll be a job for the chip repair man. Oh no it won't, a pothole near Maldon turned the chip into a foot long crack.

Oh well, never mind. We'll sort that out next week said I as we pulled into the full car park at the moorings. It was blowing a veritable yachtsmans gale from the South West making the river rather lumpy so we were glad when two big yachts departed from the inside of the pontoon and we could get alongside in the more sheltered water.

The decision to stay put for the night did not require a lot of debate or discussion! In fact, it was a no brainer. Then we learnt that workmen had dug through a power cable this morning and blacked out the entire village.

No power on the pontoon to charge the batteries and worse, the pub was shut - no power for the chillers, pumps ovens etc. A surf of the net elicited the information that emergency generators were on their way and power would be restored late evening with any luck

A leisurely sort out of the kit was followed by some engineering works to temporarily hook up the 5W solar panel Bosun Glen gave me ages ago. I also lashed up the wiring to connect the redundant voltmeter to a spare switch so it can be used to check the panel and/or battery voltage

We dined regally on tinned chicken Korma and boil in the bag rice washed down with coffee and rum. Yum! Then we settled down to watch the first episode of The White Queen on i-player and declared it not half bad.

About half way through, the power came on and I whizzed around plugging everything in to the go go juice before watching the rest of the programme

A walk up to the loos might have been followed by a pint but having opened up when the power came on, the staff at the pub decided to close early and go home despite, apparently, there being plenty of custom (two cars pulled up and drove off again as we got close enough to see that the lights were out so that's three lots of trade including us lost at least). I can't claim that we were desperately bothered but it seems a funny way to run a business in a trade where so many businesses are struggling to survive

Anyway, back on board we had a nightcap and settled down for an early night.

The forecast says we should still have F4 to F5 from the SW and that it will continue to be very breezy all day tomorrow. It's a bit marginal especially given Jane's dislike of the outer Blackwater

Needless to say however that we've got nothing of the sort. The breeze had dropped to no more than F2 at the most, the river has calmed down and conditions are, in fact, nearly perfect. What's the betting they won't be by morning?

Plans are necessarily flexible. I'll get up when I get up and sees what's what. Might be round into the Roach for a night at anchor, might be into BYH for better shelter.

Hopefully conditions will permit our intended pan of getting round into the Blackwater tomorrow in which case it could be anchoring in the Pyefleet or duck into Bradwell for shelter.