Playing with the new GPS and found the trip computer page ...
In the two and a bit days we were under way we covered 86.37NM in 26 hrs 3 minutes at an average speed (over the ground) of 3.3Kts.
Max speed was a whopping 8.6kts (again, over the ground) which is pretty impressive for a wee little boat with a max hull speed of 5.9kts! Even with a fair tide we must have been sailing well at least for a brief moment :)
Checking back in the deck log, we were motoring or motor sailing (more motor than sail though to be honest) for 6 hours and 23 minutes so we were sailing for 19 hours and 37 minutes. That's a ratio of getting on for 3 to 1 which I'm not too unhappy with especially given the circumstances under which we found ourselves resorting to the smelly noise machine.
Looking at the track log, I'm annoyed to discover that whilst the active log time stamps the saved points, when you save a track into the GPS memory it only stores the position. Memo to self - download the active log each day to the laptop in future!
Never the less, it makes for some interesting analysis. Apart from two areas we pretty much nailed the nav to my satisfaction - there's a major squiggle coming back into the Crouch when we shook out the reef in the main due to several minutes mucking about when the sail refused to hoist fully but otherwise our tracks were pretty much straight lines. I especially like the almost ruler straight track all the way from Medusa to the Wallet Spitway!
However, there is, it has to be admitted, the failed attempt to sail across the Spitway! This is the second time I've utterly failed to make any appreciable headway to windward when reefed and fighting a wind over tide chop. The first time we even had an appreciable fair tide, this time it was cross-tide.
Although we seemed to be tacking through around 100 to 105 degrees, looking at the track our effective tacking angle was actually about 160 degrees! Now Brigantia may be a little old twin keeler but no WAY does she make THAT much leeway! I'm left pondering several imponderables ...
Were we actually tacking through 100 to 105 degrees? I wasn't paying particularly close attention to the compass at the time and now I wonder whether, with the reefed down genoa, our tacking angle was a good deal worse than I thought it was. Without a foam filled luff it would seem unlikely that she'd tack through as tight an angle reefed as she will with full sail but the genoa seemed to be setting OK.
Just how much leeway does she make? My impression, and I'm naturally good at judging angles and relative motions, is that in (relatively) flat water under full sail in a decent breeze she doesn't make excessive leeway. In fact, although I'm a little reluctant to claim it, I can't say as I really notice her making any appreciable leeway at all (and I certainly notice PDQ when we're being set off course by the tide). Certainly, looking at our outbound track, where we put in two tacks as we worked our way up the coast past Clacton, she clearly can sail well to windward in the right circumstances.
Could we have carried the full genoa? Would it have made a significant difference? Perhaps I'm overly cautious but I'm reluctant to put the rig under severe strain. A lot of the running rigging is well worn and starting to show signs of wear and tear (although the genoa sheets look pretty new), the sheet winches are ancient and definitely need replacing and I have no idea when the standing rigging was last replaced. The shrouds and stays look OK but what horrors are lurking where they can't be seen? Especially inside the roller reefing spar, for all I know the forestay may be hanging on by a thread!
Finally, I suspect that to a significant extent the critical problem is that with a small, relatively light and relatively shoal draft hull we're just getting smashed backwards by the power of the waves when trying to fight our way to windward in the face of a short steep choppy sea. In fact, it would be hard to come up with a situation less suited to a boat like Brigantia! She just doesn't have the grip on the water or the power to cope with such conditions. We might well be able to improve matters but I suspect in such circumstances we'll frequently be reaching for the engine starter cord!
Friday, 23 September 2011
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Autumn Cruise - conclusions
All in all it was a good week.
It would have been nice to get in more sailing but we made good use of the time spent weatherbound and we've now got a fully fitted out bridge deck, the batterys moved, shelves in the cupboard above the nav table and the starboard quarter berth reinforced so it doesn't sag when you sit on it any more!
We've also got a working float switch on the bilge pump, the bilges have been cleaned out thoroughly and much space created in the cockpit lockers (no doubt that will fill up PDQ though).
Flogging the tide and chop out of the Crouch up the Whitaker on Thursday morning wasn't a barrel of laughs but once across the Spitway we had a good sail up to Stone Point. Not perfect but not bad. Given that we nearly bailed out and turned back at the Wallet Spitway buoy given how long it had taken to get there it was satisfying to drop the hook at our originally planned destination just as the light faded into darkness. A close run thing though as I wouldn't have fancied getting in there for the first time in darkness.
Having to promptly come back the next day was a nuisance but, after another fairly unpleasant thrash under power to get out to Medusa, we had a stonking sail back down the Wallet, into the Crouch and up to Fambridge. Without a doubt, the best sailing so far and furthermore the first time my passage plan has worked to near perfection. The only flaw was a pilotage error in holding on all the way down to the Wallet Spitway buoy which meant we were being carried onto the Buxey by the combined effects of tide, leeway and wave action. I'll know better next time and cut across much sooner.
On the down side, the engine simply has to go. It drank an entire 23 litres of petroil in not much over 6 hours of running, that's not far short of 4 litres an hour. What's more, I'm not convinced it's delivering as much power as it was earlier in the year and it still has a habit of cutting out when its hot and its throttled back.
To make matters worse, whilst I can tolerate the noise and smell, Rik finds it all but unbearable. All three owners are in agreement - it's time for a new engine as soon as we can raise the cash and find a suitable unit. My strong inclination is to go the whole nine yards and fit a brand new single cylinder 6hp unit. I estimate we;ll recover around half the cost in fuel savings over 3 to 4 years which coincidentally is how long I anticipate we'll keep Brigantia. At the end of that time, the engine will be worth at least half of what it cost new so we should break even on costs (although there will be servicing costs with a new engine if we want to keep the warranty valid of course).
Ah well, it's only money!
It would have been nice to get in more sailing but we made good use of the time spent weatherbound and we've now got a fully fitted out bridge deck, the batterys moved, shelves in the cupboard above the nav table and the starboard quarter berth reinforced so it doesn't sag when you sit on it any more!
We've also got a working float switch on the bilge pump, the bilges have been cleaned out thoroughly and much space created in the cockpit lockers (no doubt that will fill up PDQ though).
Flogging the tide and chop out of the Crouch up the Whitaker on Thursday morning wasn't a barrel of laughs but once across the Spitway we had a good sail up to Stone Point. Not perfect but not bad. Given that we nearly bailed out and turned back at the Wallet Spitway buoy given how long it had taken to get there it was satisfying to drop the hook at our originally planned destination just as the light faded into darkness. A close run thing though as I wouldn't have fancied getting in there for the first time in darkness.
Having to promptly come back the next day was a nuisance but, after another fairly unpleasant thrash under power to get out to Medusa, we had a stonking sail back down the Wallet, into the Crouch and up to Fambridge. Without a doubt, the best sailing so far and furthermore the first time my passage plan has worked to near perfection. The only flaw was a pilotage error in holding on all the way down to the Wallet Spitway buoy which meant we were being carried onto the Buxey by the combined effects of tide, leeway and wave action. I'll know better next time and cut across much sooner.
On the down side, the engine simply has to go. It drank an entire 23 litres of petroil in not much over 6 hours of running, that's not far short of 4 litres an hour. What's more, I'm not convinced it's delivering as much power as it was earlier in the year and it still has a habit of cutting out when its hot and its throttled back.
To make matters worse, whilst I can tolerate the noise and smell, Rik finds it all but unbearable. All three owners are in agreement - it's time for a new engine as soon as we can raise the cash and find a suitable unit. My strong inclination is to go the whole nine yards and fit a brand new single cylinder 6hp unit. I estimate we;ll recover around half the cost in fuel savings over 3 to 4 years which coincidentally is how long I anticipate we'll keep Brigantia. At the end of that time, the engine will be worth at least half of what it cost new so we should break even on costs (although there will be servicing costs with a new engine if we want to keep the warranty valid of course).
Ah well, it's only money!
Autumn Cruise - Days 8 & 9
Not much to say about Saturday. Very breezy from the South West, definitely made the right decision to head back from the Walton Backwaters on Friday! Lazy day lounging around doing nothing much before heading pub-wards for beer and food and some not bad live music.
Today, I spent much of the morning sorting out the wiring to the mast in a vain effort to get the steaming and anchor lights working. The anchor light is definitely dead and I need a new 3 pin waterproof connector to get the steaming light working again.
This afternoon we offloaded kit, tidied and cleaned the boat (memo to self, change out of deck shoes into wellies before swabbing the decks!) and put her back on her buoy before catching a ferry ride back to the pontoon and heading home about 16:00.
Today, I spent much of the morning sorting out the wiring to the mast in a vain effort to get the steaming and anchor lights working. The anchor light is definitely dead and I need a new 3 pin waterproof connector to get the steaming light working again.
This afternoon we offloaded kit, tidied and cleaned the boat (memo to self, change out of deck shoes into wellies before swabbing the decks!) and put her back on her buoy before catching a ferry ride back to the pontoon and heading home about 16:00.
Friday, 16 September 2011
Autumn Cruise - Day 7
02:30 Anchor watch "on deck" (Bru). Very breezy from SE, quite uncomfortable on board.
02:50 Lying OK after the tide turned but beam on to channel due to strong wind. Back to bed!
Plan this morning is for Rik to have a lie in whilst the skipper gets her under way. I can then have a watch below later on (good plan in theory!). Hit the deck at 06:00, under way at 06:40 on the engine.
Very choppy out of the backwaters and into the Medusa channel. By 08:00 the watch below had given up and become the watch on deck! Hoisted the main and motor sailed which helped to steady the motion a bit but still very rock and roll. Passed Stone Bank at 08:07 making 3.5 knots.
At 08:41 abeam Medusa buoy we turned South and five minutes later we were under sail with the engine off making 5 to 6 knots with one reef in the main and about 2/3 of the genoa out! On the wind we fetched the Wallet Spitway buoy without a tack and made to cut across the Spitway.
My inexperience as a navigator and local pilot caught us out here - everybody behind us (and yes, for once, we were not being overtaken by all and sundry!) cut across much sooner as soon as they were clear of the Gunfleet windfarm and now we found out why as the tide swept us down towards the Buxey Sands and we could hardly make any progress beating across the Spitway.
Nothing else for it, on with the noise machine, in with the genoa and 20 minutes of motoring got us back where we should be at the Swin Spitway buoy which we rounded at 11:30.
Now it was off with the engine and out with the full genoa blasting up the Whitaker at up to 6 knots still with a fair tide.By 13:05 we were passed the Inner Crouch and luffed up to shake out the reef in the main. Struggled to get the bullets to run up the luff groove but after a couple of minutes faffing about we got her all the way up and were back on course.
After a brief look at the Brankfleet we decided, for once, that it didn't look too comfortable so pressed on up the Crouch with the wind from the East. Considered dropping the hook at Cliff Reach but it was such nice sailing, for once, we carried on going until we picked up our own mooring buoy at 15:20.
After a couple of hours rest, we decided to move up onto the pontoon for the night as the water in the moorings was getting a bit choppy. Discovered that the main tank was all but dry and transfered the contents of the jerry can into it before motoring the 100 yards or so up to the pontoon at 17:40.
Spent the evening on board, hit our bunks by not much after 9:00pm
02:50 Lying OK after the tide turned but beam on to channel due to strong wind. Back to bed!
Very choppy out of the backwaters and into the Medusa channel. By 08:00 the watch below had given up and become the watch on deck! Hoisted the main and motor sailed which helped to steady the motion a bit but still very rock and roll. Passed Stone Bank at 08:07 making 3.5 knots.
At 08:41 abeam Medusa buoy we turned South and five minutes later we were under sail with the engine off making 5 to 6 knots with one reef in the main and about 2/3 of the genoa out! On the wind we fetched the Wallet Spitway buoy without a tack and made to cut across the Spitway.
My inexperience as a navigator and local pilot caught us out here - everybody behind us (and yes, for once, we were not being overtaken by all and sundry!) cut across much sooner as soon as they were clear of the Gunfleet windfarm and now we found out why as the tide swept us down towards the Buxey Sands and we could hardly make any progress beating across the Spitway.Nothing else for it, on with the noise machine, in with the genoa and 20 minutes of motoring got us back where we should be at the Swin Spitway buoy which we rounded at 11:30.
Now it was off with the engine and out with the full genoa blasting up the Whitaker at up to 6 knots still with a fair tide.By 13:05 we were passed the Inner Crouch and luffed up to shake out the reef in the main. Struggled to get the bullets to run up the luff groove but after a couple of minutes faffing about we got her all the way up and were back on course.
After a brief look at the Brankfleet we decided, for once, that it didn't look too comfortable so pressed on up the Crouch with the wind from the East. Considered dropping the hook at Cliff Reach but it was such nice sailing, for once, we carried on going until we picked up our own mooring buoy at 15:20.After a couple of hours rest, we decided to move up onto the pontoon for the night as the water in the moorings was getting a bit choppy. Discovered that the main tank was all but dry and transfered the contents of the jerry can into it before motoring the 100 yards or so up to the pontoon at 17:40.
Spent the evening on board, hit our bunks by not much after 9:00pm
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Autumn Cruise - Day 6
Plan was to get under way at first light however I misjudged how much before sunrise first light would be and we were maybe half an hour later away than we could have been.
Under way at 06:30 under sail with a very light breeze from the West. By 07:30 the wind had dropped even further and swung round to come from about East North East leaving us creeping along at 1 to 1.6 knots towards the Inner Crouch buoy which we reached at 07:56.
It took another half an hour to reach the Crouch buoy then the same again to get to Outer Crouch No.3. An hour after that, with the tide having turned against us, it was engine on, furl the genoa and get going motor sailing (in truth, mostly motor and not a lot of sailing) at 10:00
By 10:44 we only reached Outer Crouch No.2 making just 1.6 knots at nearly full throttle against a very strong tide. Progress not helped by the steep chop we were having to bash through, conditions that Brigantia isn't overly fond of at the best of times.
We took a short cut over the top end of the Buxey sands to cut off the corner and by 12:50 we were, at last, under sail up the Wallet making 2 knots over the ground.
By 14:00 we were off Clacton close hauled making 4.4 knots. Two tacks towards the Gunfleet saw us past Frinton and making 6.2 knots with the help of the tide and a stiffening breeze.
A check on the chart and the tide tables suggested we would have enough water to cut across the corner and head straight for Walton No.2 buoy and this we did albeit with a bit of a diversion when it got too shallow for comfort and we cut North to find some deeper water.
At 19:30 in the approached to the Backwaters we fired up the engine and motored in to Stone point where we anchored at 19:50 in the very last dying minutes of daylight. The last mile or so we used the nav lights for the first time ever!
Under way at 06:30 under sail with a very light breeze from the West. By 07:30 the wind had dropped even further and swung round to come from about East North East leaving us creeping along at 1 to 1.6 knots towards the Inner Crouch buoy which we reached at 07:56.
It took another half an hour to reach the Crouch buoy then the same again to get to Outer Crouch No.3. An hour after that, with the tide having turned against us, it was engine on, furl the genoa and get going motor sailing (in truth, mostly motor and not a lot of sailing) at 10:00
By 10:44 we only reached Outer Crouch No.2 making just 1.6 knots at nearly full throttle against a very strong tide. Progress not helped by the steep chop we were having to bash through, conditions that Brigantia isn't overly fond of at the best of times.
We took a short cut over the top end of the Buxey sands to cut off the corner and by 12:50 we were, at last, under sail up the Wallet making 2 knots over the ground.
By 14:00 we were off Clacton close hauled making 4.4 knots. Two tacks towards the Gunfleet saw us past Frinton and making 6.2 knots with the help of the tide and a stiffening breeze.
A check on the chart and the tide tables suggested we would have enough water to cut across the corner and head straight for Walton No.2 buoy and this we did albeit with a bit of a diversion when it got too shallow for comfort and we cut North to find some deeper water.
After a tidy up and a meal, we checked the forecast - it doesn't look good for Saturday with Westerlys up to F7 so unfortunately it looks like an early start in the morning and back the way we came again without any chance to explore the Walton Backwaters.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Autumn Cruise - Day 5
This morning passed quickly enough sorting out ready to go sailing. All the stuff we'd been using for working on the boat needed to be offloaded back into the cars, below decks tidied up and the lockers sorted out ready for sea.
Let go from the pontoon at 14:00 under motor, 20 minutes later we were making 3 knots over the ground on main alone with the engine off and the stiff breeze right up our stern.
Two hours later, we fired up the engine and motor sailed the last mile or so into the Brankfleet. We were hailed by an anchored Trident 24 as we approached the anchorage but couldn't hear a word over the blasted outboard! No idea what the skipper of the yacht wanted to communicate - he may have wanted us to go away or he may be someone I've been in touch with via the web when we were seriously contemplating buying a Trident!
Engine off and lying to anchor at 16:47.
Hoisted the anchor light at 19:30 and let out more scope at 21:40 after the tide had turned before hitting the bunks for an early night in preparation for a long day tomorrow
Let go from the pontoon at 14:00 under motor, 20 minutes later we were making 3 knots over the ground on main alone with the engine off and the stiff breeze right up our stern.
Engine off and lying to anchor at 16:47.
Hoisted the anchor light at 19:30 and let out more scope at 21:40 after the tide had turned before hitting the bunks for an early night in preparation for a long day tomorrow
Autumn Cruise - Day 5/6 Passage Plan
Forecast is for F4-5 gusting 6 from the West decreasing to F2-3 gusting 4 from the West or North West by this evening.
Outlook for tomorrow is F3/4 Westerlys veering North then East later in the day.
HW today is 14:40BST
Plan is to head downriver on the tide this afternoon and anchor for the night in the Brankfleet with a view to departing at first light tomorrow morning to make passage to Walton Backwaters via the Whitaker Channel, Swin Spitway and Wallet.
Outlook for tomorrow is F3/4 Westerlys veering North then East later in the day.
HW today is 14:40BST
Plan is to head downriver on the tide this afternoon and anchor for the night in the Brankfleet with a view to departing at first light tomorrow morning to make passage to Walton Backwaters via the Whitaker Channel, Swin Spitway and Wallet.