SELENE - CAPTAINS LOG

RSYC Bembridge Rally 1-2 September 2007

We motored round to the fuel pontoon and topped up following the trip to Honfleur. Then motor-sailed over to Bembridge as there was no wind. It was already busy when we got there and we were fourth out outside Keith and Audrey. Once tied up, drinks were provided by Keith and Audrey, and we all sat in their cockpit including Rex, Joyce, Bob & Jackie.

Julia and I then had lunch and went up to St. Helens. Got some supplies from the village stores (at vast expense) had a pint in the Vine, and then settled into the book shop for a while. I bought two more Gibbings books and another. Came back and had a chat with Peter and then had a snooze before getting ready for dinner. As ever, the Duver was very busy.

We got the taxi over to Bembridge Sailing Club, which is a fantastic place, and we had a great meal. Afterwards, we all piled into Prop Rider and discovered that Lance has the largest drinks cabinet aboard a vessel I have ever seen. He and Kay were great and generous hosts for the after dinner drinks.

Next day, Julia picked blackberries whilst I replaced the stern light bulb and changed the shackle arrangement on the traveller. Julia didn’t win the blackberry competition, but then we didn’t have a need for too many of them.

Here’s the “Official” Blackberry weighing!

We all then went down to the BBQ area and had a RSYC BBQ “burn-your-own” lunch.

Bob also ran the prize-giving ceremony.

We then had to go about 1400 as the boats inside us needed to get all the way up the Itchen. So we headed off, and had a cracking sail all the way from St. Helens Fort right into Portsmouth. 17-21 knots WSW pretty much all the way. Held off a Jeanneau 34 and because of the direction we didn’t drop the main until Haslar Lake.

It was a great weekend in very good company.

RSYC Spit Bank Fort Rally 15-16 September 2007

We didn’t have to sail for this rally, as it was at Haslar. The long weekend began on Thursday when I went to Gins for my first committee meeting, and Julia came down by car later for the Indian Summer supper. I enjoyed my first committee and I have volunteered to run a Summer Ball on Saturday June 21 2008. Full black tie job, so everyone should make their bookings early, as it’s already becoming popular.

Next day we were at the Southampton Boat Show, and had lunch with Keith and Lorna. We liked the Island Packets (for the future) but couldn’t see a 36 - 40 footer as a step up that we really liked.

Saturday, the weather continued as an Indian Summer and as planned, we did jobs in the morning, with me doing Y10 all round the hull. At lunchtime, Steve and Liz from Kite came over and we had a beer, and then we relaxed until the drinks party on Avalon at 1830. After that it was dinner in the Mary Mouse which was a great evening let down by poor food.

Sunday morning was relaxing and then off in the ticky tours boat to Spit Bank Fort and Sunday Lunch. We have sailed past it so many times, it was interesting to actually see inside and to see the view from there.

Folly and Gins - no Rally - just Solent pottering 22-23 September 2007

We recently met Steve and Liz from “Kite” on G pontoon and they kindly invited us to dinner aboard with them on Friday night. We loaded the boat up ready for sailing to Cowes on Saturday, and enjoyed a superb evening with Steve and Liz. Thanks for a great meal!

Next morning, we pottered around Gosport market and I bought one of those wind up lanterns, so that we could have an all round light when in the tender at night.

We then motored over to the Folly in no wind, and rafted outside a Jeanneau of similar size to us. As ever, there were loads of rallies, and we watched the place fill up as Bembridge does.

We spent a lazy afternoon there and went over early to the Folly to get a table ahead of all the rallies, which turned out to be a great plan. We had to give up our table at 1945, but that wasn’t a problem, and we weren’t really up for the table dancing anyway. Steve and Liz had decided to bring their friends up the Medina and as we left, we phoned and they’d just finished eating, so we went over in the tender for drinks, before retiring early with a DVD.

The weekend plan had been to go to Gins for lunch and then back to Haslar afterwards as the tides worked well for that, but the Inshore Weather forecast, and my assessment was that there was some foul weather and probably loads of wind later in the afternoon, so we though hell, we’ll put the boat straight into Haslar and drive.

Of course, this meant we ate some tide, and put ourselves under a bit of time pressure, but it all worked out. We had a cracking sail from Cowes to Gilkicker mainly under cruising chute in a steady F4. Dodged many racers and as the wind headed towards F5 dropped the kite and made the same speed under Main & Jib. Had a problem dropping the main as the top batten jammed in the lazy jack, and for a while the sail wouldn’t go up or down! We had to wait for a gap in the racers to go head to which allowed me to sort the problem out.

We made it to Gins and had a great lazy lunch, and as we left, it was raining and miserable, so we got that right, although the wind didn’t really pick up until much later, but it did come!

Weekend in Alderney 5,6,7,8 October 2007

I got to Selene and prepared the boat for the trip, and cooked Julia supper when she arrived at 1900. We then motored down to Yarmouth and picked up a buoy next to George in Seven Stars - we were the only two boats there. I spoke to George on the phone, and he decided to stay this side of the Channel, so it was just us going.

After a pleasant night, we set off at 0650 and motored out past the Needles, The forecast was 3-4 E, 5 later. We were soon motor sailing, and then sailing. Julia was very tired again and had a few hours sleep.

We put a reef in as the wind built and Otto was being over-powered. It then kept building, with a big quartering sea. It wasn’t more than seven miles off Alderney, so I too the helm aiming to dinghy sail it to three or four miles out and then drop the main and sail / motor sail in on the jib.

I duly dropped the main, and we put the engine on to help Julia point us toward the wind, as there was a big sea coming through us. As I bore away, the engine sounded completely different, and within seconds the temperature gauge was going through the roof and I turned the engine off as the alarm went. I took a brief look at the engine, but it was obviously a lack of sea-water cooling and as there was a big seaway, and we were close enough to harbour to sort it out there, I decided not to try stripping it down at sea.

We then sailed under jib, still doing 6 knots on a broad reach and then turned and ran into the harbour. By now I was registering 21 knots apparent and running at 4.5 knots straight into Braye and going down-tide. We swung onto a mooring buoy and I had led a line back so that we could pick up from the shrouds to make life easier, and at the last minute, I gave the helm to Julia and did the pick up - taking the line through the loop of the hawser and then pulled that back to the bow as the way came off. We had to risk putting the engine on as backup for a few seconds, and had to use it to put the safety mooring warp on, as there was so much wind and tide, I couldn’t haul the buoy close enough to put the safety warp on. It again overheated very quickly, and was shut down.

We had arrived as planned before dark, and wanted to get ashore and get the lie of the land in the light, so we left the engine for the morning and went ashore.

The dinghy pontoon was out for repair so we had to land on a very bumpy and wet slipway and then haul the dinghy up the slope. We were welcomed by the members of the Alderney Sailing Club who offered advice on the boat and gave a fantastic recommendation for dinner - the “Braye Chippy”. This is a BYO place of great character, and although it is primarily a fish and chip shop, it was much more than that, and not at all greasy spoon. They are a great bunch of people at the Sailing Club, and indeed everyone we met on the Island was very friendly. We bought our wine at the bar to take with us and then had a great meal.

We then had a hell of a ride back in the dinghy as the wind and tide were ripping into the harbour. The pilot books are right, Braye is no place to be in a NE breeze, and we spent a night effectively “at sea” - it was just like sailing in a breeze on passage. Very noisy too! However, we were determined to see Alderney, and weren’t up for heading for Cherbourg.

It had calmed down a bit by morning but was still very rolly. Julia and I then traced the seawater cooling system, and discovered that the “new” impeller at the last service 40 hours ago, had broken, and wasn’t going round. We carry a spare, and fitted that and ran the engine for an hour to check it was OK and get enough hot water for a shower. Job done.

We then went ashore, met Roland and Anne (Roland had Mainbrace Chandlery for 27 years) and is a very nice man, and bought another spare impeller. We then booked the Braye Beach Hotel for Dinner and had a pint of Pride in the Divers Inn.

We then went up the hill to Victoria Street and had some Ringwood Best in the Georgian House and booked Sunday lunch for the next day. We then set off and walked all round the Western end of the Island, and got back to the boat to discover that England had somehow beaten Australia in the RWC quarter final!

We went back to the boat, getting soaked this time, as we hadn’t got full waterproofs on, and the wind just hadn’t eased as we thought. We then packed clothes for dinner and changed when we came ashore, leaving our kit at the Alderney Sailing Club, where again we had a few beers with the locals before having a superb dinner at the Braye Beach Hotel. My PDA was on, and I realised that France were about to beat New Zealand, and we managed to sneak into the office with the Chef to watch the last few minutes of the match!

We had another rough ride back to the boat but stayed dry this time.

Sunday, it had eased and we went ashore and read the Sunday Papers and had lunch at the Georgian where we were well looked after by Helen. We then walked the Eastern end of the Island and met Neil and Helen on the road. Helen is one of two Vets on the Island. We ended up having a few beers with them in the Divers before we came back to the boat for a quiet evening in. Cue, champagne and smoked salmon!!  We had a pleasant evening and after watching some DVDs retired as we had an early start.

We left at 0600 in darkness and no wind, but no fog as had been thought. The day blossomed into a beautiful sunny day with no breeze. We motored and sunbathed home, and although it was very misty through the Solent, the viz was OK. We got into Haslar just after dark at 1945, and said Hi to Steve and Liz sat in their cockpit in Kite as we came in.

We packed up and came home after a splendid and eventful weekend.

RSYC Rally to Lymington with Malcolm & Mave 13,14 October 2007

I went down to Selene on the Friday evening to do a few jobs like mounting the new electronic barometer, adjusting the compass light and filling up with diesel, as Julia was out on a girls’ night out. I bumped into Liz on the pontoon and was invited round for drinks, and didn’t leave Kite until 0115! Thanks to Steve & Liz for their company.

Julia, Malcolm and Mave all turned up on Saturday morning. It was grey and misty and no wind, so we motored down to Lymington, and after a splendid lunch in the cockpit, whilst Julia and Mave went shopping, Malcolm and I drank HSB in the Kings Head.

Drinks were aboard Heidi hosted by John and Ann, and then we had supper at the Royal Lymington. It was their Laying Up Supper, so there was a band, and we did some after dinner dancing. During the evening, England beat France at the rugby to go into the World Cup Final!

Sunday defied the weather forecast and was sunny with a light Easterly, so we had a very leisurely beat up to Cowes, and then as part of the prep for my forthcoming Yachtmaster exam, I sailed us into Osborne Bay and anchored under sail.

We then had another splendid lunch at anchor, and it was idyllic. Just as we were leaving Kite appeared and anchored also, so we all waved. I swung the compass on the way back, as I have been meaning to do that for ages, and can now produce a deviation card.

Back at Haslar we all parted and Julia and I rounded off the weekend BBQ-ing some steak back home.

RSYC Gins Laying Up Supper and Lunch at the Royal Solent, Yarmouth 20,21 October

Julia and I got down to Selene on Friday evening and had a few glasses of wine aboard Kite with Steve and Liz, and Neil turned up at 0900 Saturday morning, so that we could take the tide West. There was enough wind for us to fly the cruising chute virtually all the way to Gins, and it was a glorious sail.

We then had a swift drink and took a cab into Lymington, where after some shopping at the market, we met Aly & Graham in the Kings Head. They were looking at boats. Then back to Selene for a sleep and then the Laying Up Supper with the Rugby World Cup Final on the big screen. Shame that England lost! Anyway it was still a great night out.

Sunday dawned bright cold and sunny, and we headed off to Yarmouth for lunch. We motored all the way in the lovely weather and Peter and Wendy Whatley followed us into Yarmouth as we had agreed to have lunch together. They met some friends and we had a swift pint and read the papers in the Bugle and then settled down for a great lunch at the Royal Solent. The Royal Solent  really is a splendid place for lunch and we really enjoyed it.

Jerry and Wendy and their friends Tom and Ann had also come down from Hythe by RIB.

We were last to leave and it was almost dark as we motored back into Haslar. On the way we listened to yet another British nearly, as Lewis Hamilton failed to become World Champion.

Island Sailing Club for lunch 24 October

Ed was down for a couple of days at half term, and so we picked up Richard & Helen and had a nice sail over to Cowes. The sunshine and good weather of the past few days hung on until lunchtime, and then it got grey.

We moored on the ISC pontoon but as the wind was NE, I went inside so as the boat wasn’t smashed against the pontoon. Instead it just jangled on the ropes. On the way over, Richard had been in touch with Dick & Alice, so they also joined us for lunch, coming up by bus from Yarmouth, where they were holed up.

We had a great lunch and some retail therapy and when we went to leave discovered that it really gets shallow on the inside, and had to wait an hour for the tide! We had a cracking sail back and it was just getting dark as we got in. We then all met up with Julia for a meal at the Jolly Drover in the evening.

Yachtmaster Training 1 / 2November

Gordon Agnew came down and after lunch at Haslar, he set off with Richard and I for my training just as it got dark. We went through the Inner Passage, did three MOBs under sail at night, picked up a buoy in Langstone Harbour, went up to the entrance to Southsea Marina and span around. We then went and contour sailed into Wootton Creek, and then went into Cowes and picked up a buoy for the night. Wind generally NW ¾. Next day was sunny, but no wind, so we did everything under engine. We went into Newtown River and picked up a buoy for breakfast, and then I contour sailed us from the Bramble Bank to Gilkicker. We then went into Camber Dock and span round, into the Royal Clarence and checked out the Port Solent channel. Gordon is an excellent tutor.

Yachtmaster Exam 8 /9 November

The examiner was due at 1600, but was delayed until 1800 and then later rang to say he was worried about the weather, and in the end didn’t arrive until 1900. The squalls had gone through and we all expected the wind to ease back to F5. It had been NW 7/8.

The examiner went through my passage plan and was happy without asking me any questions and talked about my experience. Because of the wind, we weren’t going to be too ambitious and we were aiming for a buoy in Newtown River via a co-ordinate he gave me,  where we would sit the tide out, and then get him back to Haslar for about 8 am.

He wouldn’t allow the laptop, so I only used the paper charts and we only had depth and log in the cockpit. The wind did not ease, and stayed 7/8 for the rest of the night. We made poor progress to weather although I was able to know where I was all the time as required. The jib sheet was let loose by accident and took a riding turn, so I had to go for’d to sort that out, then I decided it was too windy for the main, but the last of the sail wouldn’t bag, and I had to get some rope to tie it all down. One big wave knocked us badly and the dinghy came off the back “sugar scoop” and dangled from the davits, so I had to sort that out too.

Everything was crashing around below, and I hadn’t turned off the heads inlet enough as I usually do, and the movement of the boat was so violent, that the heads backfired and filled the floor with sewage, which I also went below and sorted out. All the while, I kept a note of our position and was advising where we were to the examiner as well as offering the latest compass course to Richard on the helm.

We were quite close to the first position I needed to get to, when I felt we should tack away from a lee shore, and as we did that I advised the examiner that we were more or less at the first position. He said “What now then skipper?” and I said “Well to be honest, it’s so windy and we are too pressed to windward, I think we should turn back and seek a port of refuge”.

At this point I expected to fail, but he said “No that’s a wise decision”. So I then helmed the boat back to Haslar whilst Richard made us coffee. The coffee was welcome, but poor Richard was having a tough time below in the seaway, and I had to clean up  a lot of coffee later too! On the way back across, of course it felt less windy downwind, and I was grilled on colregs and lights etc. We decided against an MOB in light of the conditions, and it was as well that he knew that I had covered everything in the training with Gordon, and was satisfied that I could do the set tasks.

The examiner was surprised as we approached Haslar that we weren’t getting fenders out and I explained about the dock fenders one side, the rib the other and how I just sprang in on the mid ships cleat. I managed to execute this to perfection, and he said “I’ll give you that”. At this point Richard was hiding down the pontoon tying the bow lines on, and the examiner had been quiet for quite a while, so I feared the worst - thinking he might say you should re-take because of the conditions or you’ve failed or something like that, but he quietly said “we’ll call that a pass then”, and that was that. What relief.

We then had some more food and some whisky, and went to sleep. I made breakfast for us all in the morning, and the examiner left about 8 am. Richard and I drank some champagne, slept a bit more, tidied up and had lunch in the Square Brewery and later celebrated with Helen and Julia in the new Italian restaurant next door.

Cruisers Dinner - Ocean Village 10/11 November

It was a delight to forget about Yachtmaster-ing which has pre-occupied me for weeks and get back into the joys of sailing. Sadly, we had to motor round into the teeth of a strong NW, but had a fantastic downwind sail back in glorious sunshine on the Sunday.

We had champagne with Gordon and Christine when we arrived at Ocean Village, and the dinner was a good night out.

Chichester YC Black Tie Dinner 17/19 November

We were excited to be going back to Chichester Harbour, but we awoke in Haslar (after eating at Café Rouge in Gunwharf) to find the sunshine had already gone, and the bad weather was coming earlier than forecast. As we got to West Pole we were already seeing F5/6, and as we tucked into Ham egg and chips at Chichester YC the rain started.

We enjoyed the dinner with Keith and Lorna, and it was a noisy night. The barometer plummeted, and the average wind speed on the bar all Sunday morning was 30+ knots with gusts of 36/37, so we left Selene in Chichester Marina and took the train & ferry back to Haslar.

Stopped in the Square Brewery for a pint on the way home and ran into Richard, Helen and Brenda, and Richard agreed to crew me back Monday.

It was still blowing F5/6 from the South so timing was everything. The waves on the Winner were scarey, but we had a cracking sail.

We left the lock at 1530, after taking the train and taxi down, and endured a massive rainstorm until the Thorney Channel, where we put the double reefed main up. We were able to lay West Pole by motor-sailing and got there at 1630 when the water was slack and starting to go West.

We turned the motor off and had a cracking sail across some big waves going through us. Dropped the main off Langstone as we weren’t really getting any drive, and carried on at the same pace under jib but less pressed. We were seeing gusts of 27/28. It was now dark and we creamed through main passage and into Portsmouth on the last of the flood (0.3 of tide still with us) and fetched up into Haslar bang on HW at 1800. Great trip!

Helen came and picked us up from Gunwharf after we’d sunk a couple of pints in the Old Customs House.

Gentlemans Sailing Weekend 1/2 December (& then Monday 3^rd!)

Richard and I arrived on Friday evening in very wet and windy weather at Haslar, had a beer in the Castle (yuk) and a chinese in the Great Wall. Terry Caister joined us on Saturday morning and we sailed over to Cowes for lunch in F7/8 upwind against a foul tide. We enjoyed the sail, and put into Shepards, had a swift one in the Duke of York and then lunch at the Island Sailing Club.

It was a bit rough coming into Cowes!

We then motored over to Gins across a rough old Solent, abandoning our plans for Yarmouth. We enjoyed a few beers and a great dinner, and were invited for drinks aboard Ower Flower until the small hours.

Sadly a big storm came along the South Coast on the Sunday, and with reluctance I decided we should leave the boat at Gins. We enjoyed an excellent Sunday Lunch which had always been part of the plan, and Rex and Joyce very kindly gave us a lift to Hythe, where we took the ferry and then the train back to Haslar.

On the Monday, there appeared to be a weather slot, so unable to find crew, I decided to bring her back solo. I got a bit more wind than expected but F6 downwind isn’t too bad, and with tide I averaged 8 knots over the ground and did the trip in 2 hours. The sun shone too!

Looking at the wind speeds and the strength of the gusts, some up to 70mph, I am glad we didn’t try it Sunday afternoon - although the logistics on Monday were a nightmare!

New Years Eve Cruise 30/31 December & 1st January 2008

A “no wind” few days saw us motor to Yarmouth on Sunday 30^th December. Shortly after we moored, we were greeted by our Legend Mini Adventure friends Paul, Colin & Julie. It turned out that we had stumbled into a mini get together, and that there were five other Legends there already.

We went and had a beer in the Bugle and then joined the drinks party on board Suzie Too (David and Suzanne) and the others there were Paul & Kath (Ghostly Goose), Terry and Jean (Iona), Colin & Julie (Skoolie Too), and Mike and Sue (Scallywag). The meal was at the Wheatsheaf and drinks aboard Iona afterwards.

Monday, we motored over to Gins, and rested. We really enjoyed the New Years Eve Party and sat with Mel and Mark and Paul and Jenni, along with Dudley and Pauline.

We motored home on Tuesday leaving a very tranquil Gins behind.

Arriving at Haslar, we had to get warps and fenders ready, as we were moving to our NEW BERTH - A20 - Hoorah!

It’s so much quieter down that end and we now have a much shorter walk. (It was 480 paces from the ramp to J36, and it’s only 80 to A20) We then spent the afternoon moving the dock fenders and fitted warps from our old berth onto the new one.

On the way in, we had seen Steve and Liz, so we invited them over for drinks on our new berth, and then packed up and cam home.