Overseas friends

One of the amazing things about the Internet is that you sometimes end up making overseas friends; people who you have never met but who share common interests. Wayne is one such person. He has a great navigator and blog. He is a great craftsman and sailor; a cool dad as well with a lovely family.  And what's more he is one of life's kind people. He took the trouble to post photos of how he set up his mizzen sheet and posted them on his blog at http://donumvitae.wordpress.com/ 
And all in response to some musings I'd made. 

I am lucky to be able to call on good people like Wayne and Joel. 
Wayne thanks for helping me out ......really appreciated

Steve

Using a jib and mizzen

Somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, I remember John and Osbert offering some advice about what to do when faced with a situation where I would have to sail under just jib  and mizzen. I think Robin suggested that I move my mizzen sheet more centrally othe rear deck so it would be more accessible irrespective of whatever side I was happening to be sat on.  I didn't act on that advice  at the time but Tuesday's  experiences have shown me that I should have done and so one of the first things I will be doing in the next few weeks is to mount a bulls eye on the rudder stock head so that the mizzen can come centrally through the tiller stock. I'll also take a close look at how I might mount a cam cleat for it on the actual tiller itself. I have cleats for the up haul, down haul and the tiller tamer so here isn't much room!
John and Osbert suggested that I should learn to sail by adjusting sails. I missed that opportunity on Tuesday. I should have lashed the tiller centrally using the tiller tamer and then let out or pull in the mizzen sheet. In this way I wouldn't have lost speed. Letting the mizzen  go slightly would have meant that it would have caught the wind less and so would have steered away from the wind slightly........I think!
Wayne contacted me via the comments box and made several well considered points as always. They are worth reading and can be found on the bottom of the previous post. He raised the question "would I have been better off sailing under Double reefed main instead?" Good question, don't know but next time I will certainly give it all a try. In the meantime I will adjust jib, main and mizzen sheets so that they will all fall better in the rear aft cock pit area.

Steve 

Sailing under jib and mizzen

Is not something I've had to do before (once I can recall, a couple of years ago). So I basically found yesterday a steep learning curve. Certainly I found it difficult neigh impossible to tack. Consequently there was plenty of gybing to change direction! I was able to do broad reaches easily; I could just about go upwind. We were averaging 4.5 kts; faster in the big gusts and there were some really  savage 25 kt+ gusts.

What do you do with the mizzen? As we went into the tack the mizzen would immediately hold us head to wind and we stalled.  If I slackened the mizzen it seemed to make no difference other than we lost speed.

And then there was the issue of steering. It seemed to be a constant battle with lots of tiller adjustments. To keep the course I wanted the tiller would often be at an angle. Now I did try steering by releasing and sheeting in the jib but it didn't seem to work that well.

Basically it was a frustrating sail which got curtailed because the gusts became so big that I started  to feel rather uneasy.  Sometimes you have to make a call; knowing when conditions have outstripped your experience levels. Yesterday afternoon was one such occasion.

If anyone can offer advice on how to sail using jib and mizzen then I'd really appreciate some tips via my comments box. Meanwhile is some film of my awful sailing attempts under jib and mizzen. Forgive me please.

Steve

A New Year Year day sail.........well sort of!

The day didn't start as expected that was sure. A 10.00am launch plan was somewhat delayed by the flat battery on the car! Fortunately AA home start came to the rescue and from call to driving away with new battery took 35 minutes; which I feel is pretty impressive......so Happy New Year to the AA man Steve (THANK YOU Steve!).

Then poor old Arwen jammed on her trailer at the launch ramp. It took 15 minutes to get her moving (as opposed to the normal 60 seconds launch). That was when I also discovered a leak in my yacht boots; yes that's right; boots plural........now what are the odds on that eh?

The swans seemed pretty calm and unfazed by it all; and Arwen did float very nicely at her pontoon mooring. It is the first time she's been in the water since August 2012!
Anyway the forecast did say wind speed around 11 knots and gusts around 20 kts.
Below is a little taster of  the afternoon. Suffice to say it was a wee bit above 20 knots!

Steve 

Don't hold your breath but.........

It is still looking good. And good news too QAB are allowing me to use the north slipway as there is no lifting out tomorrow. This means that I can come off the water at any point during the day.
Fingers crossed.......

Steve

Sshhhh!

Ssshhhh! There is just a glimmer, the merest of glimmers; a chance break in the awful weather when maybe, just maybe, Arwen and I might be able to shake off the Christmas slumbers tomorrow with a New Year's Day sail.

Ssshhhhh! Don't speak about it too loudly or the nasty weather gremlins will hear and put the carbouche on whispered plans.  The tide is a massive spring 5.45m at around 8.30 ish. The winds will be 12 - 15 knots with gusts of 26 knots possible so reefing will be they order of the day. The rain, well it may just hold off long enough.

Ssshhhhh! It's the kind of thing dreams are made of................ssshhhhh! Don't let the bad weather gremlins hear us

Happy New Year everyone
Steve and Arwen

Captain Roch part 2

I believe we left the adventuring Captain Roch at Cowes on the Isle of Wight on the 25th July 1677. You will remember that he was sailing a small open boat from Plymouth to London via the south coast and up along the Thames estuary.

Anyway on the 26th with fair west by north winds, they left Cowes, but this time with an additional passenger, a Frenchman. The brisk winds reaching almost gale force at times from the west pushed them along some 20 leagues until they were off beachy head. However, sailing all through the it saw the good Captain off Rye where a severe thunderstorm soaked them all to the skin. Improving conditions saw a change of heart and so they made for Dover arriving at 4 pm.

On the 28th they departed Dover pier and on gale force winds hey reached the north foreland at midday; her the shifting winds forced them to anchor off Reculver.

I have to say that he article from which this information is derived in the dinghy cruising association  winter 2012 journal is quite illuminating. It is well written by Keith Muscott.  I haven't been able to work out exactly what length boat Roch sailed; details seem to be scant. There was some mention, somewhere, I recollect, that the length was 18" but I suspect I am wrong on that. Irrespective of that, the distances he achieved in a small open boat do seem to be genuinely quite impressive, especially given the weather conditions that seemed to prevail.

Sunday 29th an attempt to get over the flats on a flood with south west winds failed; the tide fell sooner than expected and so Roch was forced to anchor. On the first of the return flood with the wind blowing hard from the SW and the seas rough, Roch managed to make the Isle of Sheppey just before nightfall. He then made into the small port of Hope just before midnight.

The following morning at break of day he made for Gravesend but the increasing WNW winds forced him to anchor two miles below the port entrance where they lay uneasy for many an hour; unable to land due to the steep muddy banks either side. Eventually under reefer sail he was able to reach Barking creek. It wasn't until noon on the 31st that Roch could depart the creek into the main river and on the ninety hour he reached London Bridge.

Captain Roch departed Plymouth on Friday 20th and he arrived in London on 31st some 11 days later. He had sailed much of the south coast, around the Kent peninsula and up he Thames.

This sounds to me like a really worthwhile effort for Arwen. Well perhaps a trip to Weymouth?
Everyone have a very happy, merry Christmas and new year

Steve

"Stacey" returns with a vengeance

Although this blog is about Arwen, "Stacey"  my son's 1971 motovespa restoration gets a look in.

"Stacey" is finally finished. Yes you did read right.......she's finished.

The throttle now works; it has spring in it returning to its zero position when released.
The speedo works. Originally the end wasn't seated properly and so the cable kept coming loose.
 The gears now work and select correctly and actually go in the right order and in the right direction. Remember the saga of them being in wrong way round?
The engine rattle has gone and the sticky throttle cable is no more! We had missed one or two top hats on the cables and it made all the difference.
The brake lights work correctly.
The engine sounds sweet.

And so she's finished.

 Two years and many heart breaks on the way; we have gone from this to the last photo

remember this... the first photo of "Stacey" outside her new home

 

into the garage she went and so the strip down began

 

some things took a little fathoming out

 

her engine went from this to .......this

 

 

a new paint job was next

 

 

 

and then it was back to the reassembly process

 

 

and finally she took shape

 

 

 

I'd like to say we have managed to do this all ourselves but that would be untrue. the people on the smallframes forum have been saviours so many times. They know who they are.........thanks guys!

Our school caretaker, who is a vespa fan and such a source of inspiration....cheers bud! To my design tech colleague who rescued us at the start - thank you!

 

And finally, well here is a Christmas story. We were demoralised; baffled; no idea where to turn. we had reached the end. the scooter had beaten us; gears were wrong way round; the speedo didn't work and......and.....and........well you get the picture. We'd been to garages who charged us lots of money and yet did things wrong. Who can forget the kill switch sounding the horn and the horn switch killing the engine?

 

And just as we were giving up and losing the faith......there came a whisper out of the west. Of a wise man; a man who knew vespas; a magician who could fix things. And lo it came to pass that we journeyed to find this wise man whose star setted over the west of the city.

 

And he did look at 'Stacey'  and his eyebrows did raiseth....several times....but it was a measure of this wise man that he merely murmured 'well done and remember you don't know what you don't know'. We explained our plight and did make him understand that we could wait for eternity until he had time to look at our motovespa but he merely said he'd look and get back to us.

 

Time passeth and we heard little; a whisper on the wind that the cables were too long. And then a phone call, all had been put right; 'Stacey' was ready.

 

To our guardian angel from the west of our fair city; you know who you are......thank you for rescuing us; for giving up so much time to put so many fiddly things right; for taking time away from your young family to help us. Our wise man has turned out to be the Jedi of the scooter kingdom...our 'Yoda'! We cannot begin to put into words sufficient thanks to him.

 

Stacey is finished and now we have to do our CBT's. We'll let you know how we get on in the new year. In the meantime, everyone have a very merry Christmas and a lovely start to the new year.

 

Steve, Arwen, Stacey and number one son.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Jeremy Roch and his small boat voyage from Plymouth to London

Some time ago I promised that I would give an update on my post about the voyage of the Neptune by captain Jeremy  Roch You will remember that this was the gentleman who sailed a small boat from Plymouth along the coast and up the channel and into the Thames estuary and then on up to London. This was done in 1677. Now I only learnt about this gentleman as a result of reading something in the dinghy cruising association magazine; which I have repeated recommended to anyone interested in small boats and dinghy cruising.  Anyway I do not intend to divulge all the article that has just appeared on Jeremy Roch in the most recent edition. People will have to join the DCA and get the copy. But I thought I might share a little of what he did!
Well it would appear that Captain Roch decided to save money having been called to London by deciding to go by sea!  Having fitted his boat with all that he required for such a voyage he was dismayed to discover that those who originally had agreed to sail with him withdrew. So resolved to go single handed, he must have been somewhat pleased to have been asked by a young boy if he could seek passage and help crew the boat.
Thus on 20th July 1677, with one boy and a dog, Roch set sail on a southerly wind from Plymouth sound for bigbury bay where he anchored for the night. Next day he set sail for Salcombe where he became becalmed but sought out friends and had a good meal!
Sunday 22nd saw Roch sail on a NE wind towards Dartmouth where once again he became becalmed just outside the river mouth. However, by nightfall he'd been carried along the coast towards Torbay where they anchored for the night. With an early departure on the Monday, the crew sails towards Portland, stopping to shoot seabirds for a while. They anchored at sunset three leagues west of Portland. Another early start  saw them beat the notorious Portland races and crept around into Weymouth, calling in for a few hours for ale and a meal! Leaving Weymouth almost in the dark they made for the bay of swanage where they anchored for the night.

So let me see.......Plymouth to the bay of swanage on a small boat just a little larger than Arwen in four days?  I guess so...........I made Salcombe in a day a few years ago.

On the 25th, they passed the needles on the Isle of Wight around 3pm due to a brisk WNW wind; sheltering in Cowes overnight and on land too in a boarding house. Roch picked a good room since according to his log a jolly crew of French ladies arrived in the next chamber and lulled him into a sweet sleep with music, dancing and singing!   On the 26th Roch took on board a Frenchman seeking passage; who it would appear did little except devour the captain's meat and wine. Sailing over 20 leagues on gale force WSW winds, he passed beachy head. I am unclear where he anchored if at all.............but his log says he was off Rye at sunrise and with improving weather he made for Dover arriving at 4pm.

I am of course only giving a precise here. Roch's log is written in old English and actually describes more of his journey; making references to shoals, sandbanks etc on his way. What fascinates me is that he made Plymouth to Dover in a week in a small open boat.
I'll finish the summary of his journey over the weekend. In the meantime I marvel at his seamanship and ambition and wonder, just wonder, whether me and Arwen could manage, perhaps, this summer a trip from Plymouth to let's say Weymouth?

Now let me see. Day one to Salcombe; day two to Torquay;  day three to Exmouth and day four around Portland to Weymouth?
Now how would I get Arwen back to Plymouth then?

Steve

Playing with the iPad

I've been playing with the iPad. I will do a blog over Christmas about apps for sailors but in the meantime I have been playing with some simple educational apps. One I like is 'Popplet'. it's a simple mind mapping program which allows you to combine text and images. I've just spent 10 minutes putting this simple popplet together. It is very intuitive to use and I could some of my younger students really liking it.

Over the next weeks I will trawl the apps for sailors and see what they are like. In the meantime the popplet should be below as a jpeg

Steve