Sneaked out for a sail!

I did have the intention of sailing around into Whitsand Bay. The weather forecasts leading up to yesterday had been getting favourable.....winds from NW light force 3 or 4 maximum. Outgoing tide - HT at 0830........could sail around Rame Head and then sail back.

Sadly it wasn't to be........the weather once again was changeable and whilst the wind was a constant force 4; there were times when it was gusting force 5/6 and experience has taught me that you need to be careful along our coastline in these conditions. Arwen is a boat designed to easily cope with that...but sadly her Skipper's experience doesn't quite match her capabilities....yet!

The day started well - flat, glassy calm seas and no wind. Motoring out on the out going tide was pleasant. people were fishing the falling tide off the mountbatten breakwater point. Casting into deep water can get bass, thornback rays and pollack; float fishing or spinning gets mackerel and pollack. Big ballan wrasse cruise between the boulders. at night you can get conger eels as well. I've caught mullet off there before now.......but sadly I think the place is now overfished because of its easy accessibility.

I've done some minor modifications on Arwen since the Salcombe trip.  I've installed some elastic between black plastic eyes - across the front starboard thwart. Now I can secure charts underneath it and when not needing them - the front thwart cushion goes over the top.  I discovered I could alter the position of the cam cleat on the mainsheet block (which attaches to the rear deck on a huge mahogany block of wood). Now the mainsheet doesn't jam - its free running BUT I can lock off the mainsheet if needbe in the cam cleat; basically I moved it up to its top position. I tend to now trap the mainsheet between the wooden tiller extension and the tiller which can be done one handed and that serves nicely!

As I motored out to my normal 'pull up the sails' position just south of the mountbatten breakwater, the coastguard broadcast the updated weather forecast.....NW winds, slight to moderate seas and rising from force 4 to force 5/6. That sort of settled it really....with an outgoing tide; wind against tide situation and worsening weather - rounding Rame Head in a 14' open boat isn't for the inexperienced. There are some nasty tidal overfalls off that headland unless you go 3 miles offshore.
Getting up the Tamar wasn't to be an option unless I motored - outgoing spring tide rushing through the devil point's narrows and then because much of the river runs north to south - constant tacking across the channel to make any headway.....um......not really that appealing.

 

Plan B....the safer option!

And so to plan B........I'd just mess about in the sound and just on the southern side of the breakwater. So it was I headed across to Cawsand.....following some of the bigger boats out through the wide western entrance. Plenty of bigger boats were hightailing it down to Looe and Fowey......the north west winds and orientation of the coast would mean that they would be on a broad or close reach most of the way....perfect sailing conditions for them.  I played 'chase' with some of them and actually overtook a few too.......Arwen has an impressive turn of speed when she needs to....but I needed to be careful........I'd managed to leave the four ballast sacks I carry on the driveway - doh! Without ballast and in rising winds - she can prove to be a mite skittish for a newbie sailor! 

Western end Plymouth breakwater lighthouse

After passing the breakwater lighthouse - I headed on down to the draystone buoy....I was in too minds......should I attempt the sail around Rame?  But then the wind began to rise and common sense took over..........I turned head to wind facing Penlee chapel and whilst heaved to....put in a reef in the mainsail. I have a slab reefing system which is easy to use - you unhook the the downhaul tackle and clip it to the next eye up the sail; then you pull on the slab reef sheet and finally work your way along the boom - tying the loose sail with the reef strings. It was whilst doing this that I remembered something from the bigbury bay incident reported a few posts ago .......a) I needed a snap shackle already in the next reef eye cringle up - it would make it easier adjusting the downhaul; and secondly....b) on the front edge of the sail - there was a reef tie missing so that it left a bit of the sail flapping. You'll see this in the video that goes with this post. Must remember to sort these out for next sail.

Arwen is really well behaved under a reef.......the ride became more comfortable; she didn't heel as much and weather helm became more manageable. I'm beginning to get the hang of her sail configuration now. when tacking, I allow the jib to back until Arwen has swung her bow right through 70 degrees before releasing the jib sheet so it can blow to the other side..........under this method........she doesn't stall head to wind and rarely loses any speed in the tack.  I've stopped being lazy and now move forward as and when to adjust the sprit boom rig tackle.  I keep more attention on sail trim and am getting better at sailing just on the wind edge; making constant small adjustments when I see the leading edge of the sail beginning to billow inwards. The jib tell tales have been a great help. I think methodically about setting sails and I'm getting a handle for using the mizzen.......slackening it off when needed. Before I just left it tensioned.

I managed to alter the homemade outboard bracket, extending it slightly....with the result that the rudder now clears the prop.......since the Salcombe sail - I now tie the outboard so it can't turn and I steer by tiller - a much more comfortable experience although great care is needed entering and exiting the QAB marina lanes - Arwen now has a far larger 'turning circle'.

Anyway, we played about reaching between Penlee point and Bovisand for an hour or so......watching bigger boats head out to sea. Arwen rode the waves well. I hove to to watch boats and have a bite to eat.....Arwen obediently drifted forward and downwind - very well mannered. I even remembered to hove to on starboard tack!

And then..it was time to head back in.  I managed to pick a right line which put me on a close reach across the outer sound and so into the eastern entrance. A short tack across the entrance put me on a line to clear Bovisand point and head close hauled down the Jennycliffe bay side of the sound. This was with one hour to go before low water and so the ebb had faltered and the wind against tide chop didn't arise. We'd keep an average speed of 3.8 kts for most of the trip; the fastest speed was 5.2kts....surfing on a broad reach across the waves towards Bovisand!

Of course - it couldn't last!  I arrived back at the QAB slip to find it was low tide and there was no water alongside the mooring pontoons. I tied up alongside a small motorboat for an hour...cleared the boat and dozed in the sun. When I thought the tide had risen sufficiently, I warped Arwen alongside the pontoon - a difficult manoeuvre since the wind was trying to blow her off it!  Fetched the car, reversed the trailer down into the water; got Arwen on the trailer with considerable difficulty as she wanted to be blown off it. A kind dinghy sailor who had just arrived back on the over slip kept a stern line on Arwen to minimise the drift. 

The left hand ramp at half tide.......at low tide I was about to discover some new issues!

Went to drive the car up the ramp - nothing!  Trailer was well and truly stuck; tide was racing in - water up to the exhaust.......nothing - wheels spinning; front wheels in water...calamity!  Tried to push Arwen off trailer to lighten it - nothing ...she jammed. Water now over back wheels; over exhaust and up front wheels........I was about to lose the lot - called for the tractor - down they came a racing!  Just when I thought car boat and trailer were goners - Arwen floated free.....I jumped in and car started and it actually gripped - slowly inch by inch she moved out of the briny............thank God............I would have really hated explaining that one to the Missus!  Blinding panic and fear of how I would explain the car submerged at the bottom of the slip..........it will be the stuff of my nightmares for the next few weeks! Lessons learned?
1. don't try and get the boat out at low tide
2. there is a lip and a drop at the end of the ramp that catches the trailers of the unwary and stupid!!!
3. there is no front towing point on my car! You have to flip a panel out and screw in a towing eye....which is under the boot floor......in the boot...where the boot hatch can't be opened because its blocked by the trailer.......doh!!!!!!!

This sailing business......boy is it one big learning curve!!

Steve

A short video of our outing can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUkwbtHbhes

Enjoy!