New Hawk Antenna.

One piece of equipment that I have been meaning to buy for sometime is a Windex type apparent wind indicator. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw this ad on the PBO Forum.

Hawk masthead ariel and wind indicator



This is a combined masthead VHF ariel and wind direction indicator - don't wait for yours to fail - change it now whilst the mast is down


Cost new £70 plus p&p selling for £47 including p&p

 


















As I had managed to snap my antenna against the house wall I thought this would be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and save some money in the process.
Due to the snow and Christmas postage it took a while for it to turn up but when I got home from work on Monday it was sitting in the hall waiting for me. All excited I unwrapped it and put it together. It was as new and still in it's box as you can see but when I assembled it I realised that I had two port indicators :( It's not just the colour of the indicator, the plastic is shaped to give the correct angle according to the locking block selected.


Losely fitted together





showing two port indicators



















I did a quick google search and spoke to Hawk, at Hayling Island, who said that the arms are available seperately for just a couple of quid. Fab.. I'm sure that I could make these ones fit but I will pop in next time I am over there and pick one up. That way I'll know where the wind is coming from.. I still have L&R on my shoes :~P
If the old antenna is still useable I shall repair it with some heat shrink and mount it on the push pit rail as a spare incase the mast ever comes down.

Big bruvva

Not much work going on with Jelly Bean this week; I can't be bothered to clear the snow :)
So I've been scouring the internet for the latest Fantasie 19 related items and came across this advert for a Fantasie 6.3metre. http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/PAA6001

It's a cracking looking boat with full standing head room for £3,800. Would be nice to see what it looks like inside.

This ones not a Robert Tucker design though, John Bulter is responcible for this one; he also designed the Westerly Cirrus, 28 and Tiger. Judging by his website the new deisgns are stunning.

Builders comments (From boat world guide No2.)

The Fantasie 630 is a modern sailing cruiser which offers the accomodation of a far larger craft, but at a far more reasonable price!

This has not been achieved at the expense of the cockpit which is 6 feet long, self draining and is protected by high coamings. The fore-deck is also large with plenty of room for sail changes, nor has the sailing performance suffered, she is fast, responsive and light on the helm. She points high into the wind and performs equally well in light airs or a stiff blow.

So there we go, a fantasie with full standing head room (If you're 5'10" or shorter), 5 berths and still only a 2'9" draft

I'd have to get the coucil to divert the pavement around my front garden before I could concider having a bigger boat  though  :D

Reefing lines part 1

As I have finally finish both dodgers and the temperature has risen to 5 or 6 degrees, I thought it a good idea to get out and tick another job off my ever growing list.

When I had the new main sail made I asked for slab reefing points to be put on. This they did and for the last three years I have been reefing in a very Heath Robinson stylee; using any bits of rope that I could lay my hands on when needed.

I had bought some of the hardware two years ago but never got around to fitting it. This is what happens when you leave getting the boat ready until February :~)
After reading 'A silhouette called Misty' I thought it about time to get on with it.



I positioned the anchor point and the cheak block opposite each other so that when the clew was pulled against the boom the reefing line would be at about 45 degrees.

Both of these were pop riveted onto the boom while the cam cleat for the control line was held on with countersunk machine screws. The boom was simply drilled and tapped to accept these.

The gear for No2 Reef was position on the opposite side of the boom to balance things out.



Full Sail





First reef





Second reef



The reefs seem quick and easy to put in although this was on my front garden with absosutely no breeze blowing :~) The line in the picture is cheap stretchy line from B&Q that I had in the shed and is only to assess how it works; these will be replaced when I know how much line I will need.

Currently the tack still needs manually hooking onto the reefing horns but I will change this as I want to be able to reef the sail without leaving the safety of the cockpit.

Brrrrrrrr

It's been a long time coming but the snow is finally here.

Sail Cover finished... Now for the dodgers.

Not much writing today.. The pictures should be enough :~)
The canvas sail cover is finally finished and I have started on the dodgers. The dodgers are very simple to make but the lettering take blinking ages.
Scaling up the font for the templates and accurately cutting them out took a whole evening. Sewing them on is currently running at three letters per evening... that means it'll take a whole week to make these and it's shaping up to be not very interesting.

New sliders

Just to prove that I have been doing something constructive, rather than just watching sunsets and poking around washed up boats, here are my new sliders.

In the end I made them from the aluminium plate that I had in the garage. It was 10mm thick so, using a hacksaw, I cut some strips a bit wider than required. I then cut the strips to length and then carefully  cut the edges out. A massive amount of filing and fettling followed. It took about five hours to make these four so quite a lot of time for someting that won't be seen but that's just the way it goes. :~))

All I need to do now is drill and tap the screw holes and refit the hatch.

I have an ever growing list of things to do.

• Finish sail cover (Need Zip and fastenings)
• Make dodgers
• Fit rope clutch
• Fit winches (I bought them at a boat jumble about 4 years ago and they are still in the garage).
• Fit downhaul for jib and lead back to cockpit.
• Sort out better Anchor stowage on foredeck.
• Fit access hatch in cockpit to access quarter berths. (Store Warps and fenders)
• Possibly fit boarding ladder (Might just get a step fender)
• Possibly fit work light to mast to aid picking up mooring bouy at night (Saw this on washed up Hurley).
• Find easier way to reef main.
• Make lazy jacks system

Some need to be done, some would be just nice to do and some will never get mentioned again ;~))

The cost of winter moorings

Every now and then while I'm boring non sailors rigid with tales of swashbuckling adventure (Well as non sailors they'll never know the truth ;~P) some one will ask why I don't leave my boat in the water all year.

It's a good question.. I even ask it off myself sometimes. There are always some fantastic winter days when you could put several layers on and go and explore knowing full well that even in Poole and the Solent you'll be able to find lots of peace and quiet... no motor boats, no jet skis no dinghy racing. I'm not being curmudgeonly, everyone has the right to use the water but occasionally it would be nice to get out on the water out of season and enjoy the peace and quiet.
The reasons that I have fall into two areas, Cost and Practicality. It would certainly cost more to keep the boat afloat during the winter. EDSC only have seasonal moorings so I would have to find a suitable alternative in a sheltered part of the harbour, I would then also have to upgrade my insurance adding more cost.
On the practical side is the fact that the boat deteriorates quite quickly over the few months that it is afloat and it seems to take a life time to complete the jobs that need doing.
Jelly Bean will of been out of the water for Four weeks on Sunday and it's difficult to see what I've done since she came out. (The unfinished jobs are the give away).

Another very good reason for taking the boat out over the winter is to avoid potentially writing the boat off during winter storms and high winds. This Hurley 20 was washed up at Shore Road, Sandbanks the other day. looks like it had broken away from it's mooring at Northshore and scooted across the harbour and up onto the beach. The rudder was missing and I don't suppose the landing was gentle or over with quickly. Bad enough for the owner of this boat but also how many craft could it of hit on it's dash for freedom?
I don't intend to rush out a rent a mooring further up the harbour but I am going to double my efforts to get Jelly Bean ready early so I can drag her down on the trailer for a weekends sailing or two, maybe ever somewhere exotic... like Devon or the Norfolk Broads and enjoy the peace, quiet and the stunning scenery and sunsets that are enhanced by the superb light that you only get in the winter.

Sail cover part 1

I have always been envious of those of you who have nice canvas sail covers and dodgers with the name of the boat emblazoned on them. I have had quotes for sail covers to be made but have always shied away as I would prefer to spend that kind of money on a world cruise.

So whilst browsing eBay the other day I came across a local supplier of Canvas. http://www.acorncanvas.com/ . I had some work in that direction the following day so arranged to go and see what he had a see if he could give any advice on how to make such thing.

What a great guy, really helpful, I came a way with Canvas and thread, I'll leave the fixings until I have decided what method will be best for me.

I had been given a rough idea of how to go about making the cover so once at home I fired up the ageing tower PC and designed the pattern on auto cad to make the best use of the material. I then marked this out on the Canvas, I know, a professional would mark the canvas with a purpose bought chalk or some thing but I just laid down some masking tape and mark it up with a biro.

The curves were marked with what ever come to hand, a nice 200mm diameter pan lid for the boot top, I had to free hand the 300mm radius as I could find a 600mm diameter pan in the kitchen :D

Tools of the trade above,auto cad pattern, tape measure, piece of wood for a straight edge, pan lid and masking tape... if it  works don't knock it.

Once I'd cut out one side I used that as a template for the other side to ensure that they were both the same.

Then cut that side out ready to sew.

More high tech machinery.. I picked this up from Freecycle a couple of years back and it is the Bees Knees. Built in Scotland in 1907 it still works perfectly... If only I could sew in a straight line.

Here it is with both sides sewn together along the back bone. A 3/4 inch hem then double sewn  along its length.

First trial fit. Lots of amussing comments from neighbours about weather forcasts etc as I put the mast up and the sail on the boom. I used clothes pegs to hold in place while I measured where the next cuts should be.

Well that's it for now. I think you'll agree it look pretty good even in its unfinished state.

Well the Sail cover is now finished.. Hoorah. I have a zip to close the front and a row of turnbuckles to close the underside.  The back end has a draw string running through it and the boot top has a strap that wraps around and ties tight.

I'm really happy with it and will add some pics later :D

Just need to start on the dodgers now (Lettering is already cut out, that took a while to get right).

New (second hand) rope clutch.

Have been looking out for a second hand double rope clutch for some time. It will be so much nicer to be able to control the halyards from the cockpit. I saw this one on  Boats and outboards for £35... not bad, so I bought it.

Hopefully I'll be able to take the cleats off the bottom of the mast now as the Jib sheets have a habit of getting caught on them.

Slider drawings

These are the drawings for the forward sliders. The rear sliders a 53mm in length but have the same pitch for the screw holes.  I have found a 10mm ali plate in the garage, that I used to repair my mast foot, so I will probably make some out of that. I have included a recess at the end of each screw hole for the nut to fit into but if I am going to use the Ali plate then I will just tap a tread into the plate. I'll let you know how I get on... otherwise I'll go back to Steves plan, which is probably better.

Hatch sliders

During the summer, every time I looked across the companion way hatch the rusty screw heads on the hatch would wind me up. Any fastener on a boat should be stainless as all other metals will just disolve or go furry.Fortunately I had the good sense to leave well alone until the end of the season.


It was a real struggle to get these apart without damaging the fibre glass. The sliders are a mixture of what looks like perspex and Tufnol so have probably been replaced at some time in the past. Also bourne out by the saw marks on the GRP around the screw heads.
What I need to know now is, is there an off the self replacement for these or do I need to fabricate new ones.
And if so what out off? Tufnol, Acetal, Aluminium or something else. The runners are aluminium so I'm assuming they will need to be made of something softer. The bolts will certainly have to be A4 Stainless.

Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Last sail of the year.

Route- EDSC - Wareham - EDSC and home.

Saturday 22nd Oct. This was to be the last chance to get out on Jelly this year. She has to be off the mooring before Nov 1st and I always like to give myself time for a second attempt in case things don’t go as planned.

We were having a new kitchen door fitted on Saturday so I could just disappear. As soon as the door fitter was finished I threw my bag in the car and made my way to the club.

Late start.. I was onboard by 3pm and the tide was flowing out quickly. I want to get off the mooring ASAP and put the sails in deeper water, so I threw my stuff in the cabin; fitted the engine; slipped the mooring and motored away…. Only to slither to a stop after about two foot.

I stopped the engine and decided to tidy the cabin and put the kettle on. While sat out with my cuppa a fella with a wind surfer walked past, he’d hit a sand bank which had knocked him off to land with some force. It seems that since the channel had been dredged last year a sandbank had started to appear. This probably explains the two or three occasions this year where I have not been able to get back to my mooring as the tide falls.

Where shall I go.. As the tide started to rise again I raised the sails with a single reef in the main. As the keels lifted the boat slid forward through the sand before breaking free and off into the harbour. Whilst sat in the cabin I decided to go to Wareham for the night, I was underway by 5:30pm so reckoned on being at Wareham by 9pm…. By which time it would be very dark.

The boat was beautifully balanced, I was able to set a course, then walk to the bow just for the view without upsetting the direction; I’ve never been able to do that before!

I had to beat up the harbour as the wind was blowing from the North. By the time I’d got to Hamworthy there was a distinct lack of light and I was having to thread my way through the myriad of moored yachts. I made my last tack near Rockley park and followed the well lite channel markers up towards the river Frome.

By now the Early wind which had dropped to a breeze had now gone to bed so I started the engine and aimed for the last lit channel markers. Once into the river the channel is marked by stakes, Red on the left and Green on the right,,, Fabulous except that at night I can’t tell them apart. To preserve my night vision I didn’t have any lights on. Unfortunately this meant that I also couldn’t see the Chart. As the river meandered I didn’t see the turn and gentle stopped on the mud in the entrance of a blind alley… I put the lantern on to check the chart and saw the error so put her in reverse and with a little prayer and a few extra revs she freed herself from the mud and I took the correct route up the river.. The African Queen never had this problem!

The Quay Inn

Wareham night life.. I tied up against the quay at Wareham by 9pm, put my glad rags on and headed for the chippy. Chilli Burger and Chip… Haut Cuisine it wasn’t but it definitely filled a gap. I spent the rest of the Evening in the Quay (Pub not water) where a charity Casino was been held. I didn’t win anything but the under 14’s Rugby team might get a pair of socks.

Cormorant

Sunday 23rd Oct: Another beautiful morning, the sun shinning through the mist; with not a breath of wind.  I motored away from Wareham at around 7:30am. Even at this early hour there was plenty of activity around ridge wharf, several boats were being readied for lifting out. I passed two long term moored up Fantasie 19’s. One is Barley 11 but I don’t know anything the other one.

Tidying up

Autumn Cobwebs

Lifting out at Ridge Wharf

Unknown Fantasie 19

Barley 11

The transition from river to harbour starts with reed beds, then wide open shallows before turning the corner to the busy moorings, marinas and other harbour activity.

Roman standard? ... or maybe the Comrmorant I displaced earlier.

Leaving the river Frome

The harbour was very busy, cruiser and dinghy races being held from Hamworthy to Parkstone. I took the less busy route and managed to brew up while under way.

It was time to turn my thoughts to getting the boat out of the water. I would have to get back to the club, drive home; pick up the trailer and push bike; drive back to Baiter park; push bike back to the club; row out to the boat and sail over to Baiter Park… All before the water disappeared.

Too late.. I anchored near the slip way and rowed ashore. I set the trailer up as quick as I could and pushed it down the slip way. I had painted lines on the docking arms to indicate when the trailer was deep enough. They were just covered with the trailer right at the end of the slip. I row back to the boat and motored towards the trailer, the lines where just being lapped by the water as I got there but the boat would not float onto it. I jumped off and tried to get a tiny bit more depth by pushing the trailer further in but the wheels dropped of the end of the slipway. I’d missed the tide so I dropped the anchor again; manhandled the trailer back onto the slipway and went back to the boat. With the tide going out I knew that I had plenty of time to brew up, heat up some beans a de-rig the boat long before the water came back.

She's on.. It was 8pm and pitch black by the time the boat was on the trailer. This was the first time I’d used this trailer at Baiter and hadn’t realised quite how heavy it was and how far down the slipway it would have to be. It’s much heavier and the deck is much higher than my old trailer. I didn’t have enough rope to reach the car to allow me to drag it back up the slipway so I would have to pull it up myself.

She’s in.. My first attempt let on of the wheels drop off the side of the slipway. There was no way I could pull it back onto the ramp and I felt there was a danger losing the trailer until the next low tide, about 2am! I looped a warp through an eye on the trailer and cleated it through the jib fairlead. This did the trick and helped lift the trailer as the tide came in, allowing me to pull it back onto the ramp. I was still about 10 metres short of getting a rope around the tow hitch. I had to draw on all my will to pull the boat and trailer up the ramp.

She’s out.. Eventually I got the rope around the tow bar and dragged her out and onto the car park. I was absolutely shattered and so glad that I’d de-rig while waiting for the tide. I was home with the boat on the garden by 9:30.

It had been a very long day and I was tuckered out. Despite this I had had a great weekend and cannot wait for April when it can all start again.

Sun set over Poole harbour

Arctic Tern migrates West!

It's a long way from Rye to Weymouth... Even on a trailer!

Planning- Some time ago I received an Email through the website from Dean who had just bought 'Arctic Tern' on Ebay and was looking for advice on how to move it from Rye back to his mooring in Weymouth. As a thoroughly helpful sort of a chap I said that he could use my trailer and even went as far as to offer my help for the day.

We decided that the date that best fitted with us was Oct 16th; however that wasn't the best timing for the tides. I like to have two tides available in case we don't get the boat on the first one, unfortunately the first tide that Saturday was about 7am; which would have meant leaving home at 1am and we would be working in the water in the dark... Not happening. The next high tide was late in the afternoon, it was apparent that it was going to be a whole weekends work and not just the one day.

I sent Dean a list of things he would need to bring (Waders, ropes, engine, fuel change of clothes etc) and told him to be at my house by 8:30.

Saturday- Dean turned up bang on time with all the items required so we had a cuppa before heading East.

We arrived at Rye about Noon, the tide was fully out so we went for an exploratory walk around the slipway and then down to where the boat was moored. I was a little surprised to find 'Arctic Tern' lying on her side in the mud. She was on a Trot mooring right on the channel edge and had tipped as the tide went out. I'm not sure how often this had happened but it didn't look ideal. We slopped out through the mud for a better look and she didn't appear to have taken on any water and importantly looked like she would right herself when the tide came back in. It did give us a chance to examine below the water line and besides a bit of weed she looked pretty good. A previous owner has welded angle iron feet to the bottom of the bile plates. I can only assume that this was to try and stop the bilge plates sinking into the mud. I may have been counter productive as if the higher bilge plate had been able to sink then the boat might not have tipped over?

We had time to kill so I suggested a Cuppa in the cafe near the slipway.. The tea looked lonely so I had a pasty as well.

Time to set the trailer up and the problems began. The clamps for the docking poles refused to work so we went on a mission to find some WD40.. I'd brought all the spanner that I'd need but forgot the magic spray, You should never leave home without it! At this point the tide was turning so Dean headed off to the boat to supervise the tide as it came in. I suggested that he kept his weight on the upper keel as the water came back and jumped aboard before his feet got wet.

After about an hour of gentle persuasion the trailer clamps were behaving them selves. With every thing set up I positioned the trailer on the slipway. I always try to keep the car away from the slope, by using long towing rope, as I don't want to run the risk of it being dragged into the water once the weight of the boat is on the trailer. Also as the RNLI use this slipway I left my car keys in the ignition before wondering off to see what was going on with Dean.

As you can see from the photo sequence there was a fair time to wait before we could get her afloat. Once afloat I asked Dean to get the engine running before casting off. He pulled and pulled, choke on, choke off. Eventually I jumped on to have a go, still no joy. I then pressed the stop button to see if it was stuck in and it didn't push... however it did pull and I realised it needed a lanyard. There wasn't one to be found.. We wrapped a bit of string around it and motored of to the slipway.

It was a good job I had left the keys in the car as the RNLI had needed to go out and tow back an engine less fishing boat. Better for them to drive my car than drag it with their substantial tractor.

After a bit more maneuvering we had the boat on the trailer. It took several attempts to get the rig up the slipway as every time we moved her she slipped back on the trailer. I wanted it balanced as I wouldn't be able to move her once her weight was fully on the trailer.

It was a good feeling to have her out, all that was needed now was derigging a strapping down before finding some well deserved food before our long drive home.


Sunday- I was in no rush to get out of bed, it had been a long day yesterday but today would be much easier. As I prepared for the journey one of my long suffering neighbour came out to say hello.. "Have you bought another boat"? I allayed his fears saying that it was going that morning only to let him know that Jelly Bean was coming home next weekend. "Oh, I thought it was a different colour".

I arranged to meet Dean by the ferry terminal in Weymouth as it has a large car park making it easy to manouver the trailer. Dean had had a great stroke of luck, he'd paid for a swinging mooring but the harbour master had put him on a finger berth right by the slipway. This was great. We wouldn't need to go out in a wobbly tender at all and we could do most of the setting up once in the water ;D.

My usually launch strategy in Poole is to kick the trailer and boat down the slipway and go look for the trailer once the boat is afloat. This would not work in Weymouth as there is a sill at the end of the slip and if the trailer went over that I would struggle to get it back. I tied my tow rope to the trailer hitch and looped it around the tow hitch to help control the decent. Unfortunately I had under estimated the weight of the rig and the slope of the slip so when the trailer was released from the car there was little we could do to stop it rolling 'Thunderbirds style' out into the harbour. Fortunately it stopped before going over the sill and I was able to tie it off on a ring to stop it going any further. I had to lasoe the trailer snubber with a spare rope and tie that to the car to drag it back up again. Obviously needs some more thought before I attempt a similar launch!

Arctic Tern is now safely on her winter mooring, Dean has a list of Things to buy, Jobs to do and Skills to acquire before heading out into the blue yonder but I know he's looking forward to all three. As for me, I've got to do this all over again next weekend as it it time for Jelly Bean to come home for the winter. :(

Evening sail

As the season draws to a close I find myself trying to fit in as much time on board as possible, conscious that it maybe sometime before I can get out again. I have taken to keeping a change of clothes in the car so that I can go straight to the boat after work.

Last night was one such night and looked like a perfect evening, blue skies, sun shinning and a good breeze. I put a single reef in, slipped the mooring and set of at a pace across the harbour. I'd decided to tow the dinghy as I wasn't going to be out long, it hardly touched the water; almost being flown like a kite. The wind was from the ESE so I decided to go round Brownsea as it would be the only place I'd be able to find enough shelter to get the kettle on.

I love this anchorage, it's quiet and sheltered, it seems a million miles from the hubbub of the main harbour. Once my thermal mug was filled with tea I paddled ashore and had a stroll around the north end of the island; no red squirrels today, oh well, never mind.

With the light fading and the tide ebbing I decided to make my way back around the south end of the island.

I had to stick rigidly to the markers on the way back as the tide was slipping away. Putting in several tacks to get me down to the harbour mouth. On the way down I saw this magnificent Heron fishing on the waters edge. When he flew it was like a prehistoric scene... maybe the squirrels were hiding from a Velociraptor?

Further down the channel I noticed a group of people climbing the soft and crumbling cliffs of Brownsea. I found this a little bizarre as there are steps just a few hundred yards from where they were climbing. At first I thought they were kids but it was a family group. They had an inflatable on the beach and were wearing life jackets. They had obviously come from a large wooden yacht that was moored in the channel. On closer inspection this yacht had actually grounded.... Just west of an East Cardinal! I could now see why they hadn't found the steps on the island.

Even with plenty of wind and Jelly Bean surging through the water I could not overcome the tidal flow near the harbour entrance. I started the engine and with it going flat out and the wind in the sails I was probably making about 1 knot towards home.

I didn't quite beat the tide back so had to sit it out for a hour or so before getting back to my mooring. Not a problem as it gave me chance to brew up and do a few of the little jobs that were building up. Although I have an electric lamp in the cabin I tend to use a hurricane lamp if I don't need too much light as is conserves battery power and also keeps the cabin warm.