GPS to VHF and a surprise trip to Studland

I have not been able to get my GPS to talk to the VHF which is a bit of a blow because it could be a real life saver,. I was never sure if it was the GPS or the Radio that was to blame.  My brother has a Garmin GPS60 like mine so when he came down the other weekend I asked him if I could borrow it to try to deduce which one was to blame.  I connect Steve's to the radio and it still didn't work.  Then I remembered I needed to change some settings so went through the menus, selected NMEA on the interface and there on the VHF display was the co-ordinates. Superb, I just need a new GPS now.

Happy with this result, I started to tidy up ready to go home when Paul (Lapwing) paddled past asking where I was going, hmmm the seed was set; lets go to Studland, to which he replied 'what, to the 'Bank's Arm'
I was ready to go before Paul and as his Corribee is faster than Jelly Bean I said I'd get going and see him on the way.  I had a great sail over, the wind was only about a F2 but it was enough, I took a long starboard tack out of the harbour; Paul didn't see me way out to the left and I saw him roll away his jib, I didn't want to motor so he got there a fair while before me.

On the way I spent a bit of time tacking with this fella, I'm not sure what it is but looked nice on the water. I picked up a mooring in the bay and Paul paddled over in his dinghy to pick me up. We had an enjoyable pint in the pub and then back to Jelly Bean for another tinny.  The wind had died completely now so we motored the whole way back.

N.B the motor performed perfectly sounding and feeling stronger than ever before... It's still going to get replaced. :~)

Swanage in the fog

By the end of June I was going stir crazy.. I needed to get out for a sail.  The forecast was good so I went down to the boat about midnight and stayed aboard so that I could get a good start in the morning.  The tides made sense for heading West so I thought it would be nice to aim for Lulworth.

I set the alarm for 5am and went to sleep dreaming of sunshine, calm seas and perfect wind.. I woke up, rubbed the mist from my eyes and realised it wasn't my eyes that were misty. I crawled back into my sleeping bag and peered out of the window periodically. At 8am I decided that I'd have to get out of bed and at least have breakfast. 

The fog didn't look like it was going to clear in a hurry but at least I had this fella to keep a look out for me.  I think it a young pied wagtail but don't hold me to that... I'm no bill Oddie.   The visibility was 1 or 2 hundred yards.  I put short sail up and went for a potter to see what it was like elsewhere.  There were plenty of boats heading out through the entrance so I headed out as well.  Lights on, fog horn handy, fish finder and GPS turned on VHF on, position logged ever 15 mins. I was as preparred as I could be, as for life jacket, I always wear one regardless of the weather.

I took the decision to go to Swanage,  after consulting the chart I decided that if I kept 3m of water under the boat that would give me plenty of clearance from any obstructions. I motor sailed along the small boat channel as I didn't want to venture into the main channel, I noticed that the tell tail from the outboard was very slow and at some points none existent.  I hove to in Studland bay and pulled the engine out (This is not the same engine that got dunked in the previous blog). The inlets seemed clear and I flushed it with Scottish spring water.  I dropped it back in, It was better but not great. I was half way to Swanage with the tide in my favour so pressed on with the intention of stripping the impeller when I got there.

As the day progressed the wind dropped to a breeze, the visibility didn't really improve until I got to Swanage.  I was greeted by the sound of bagpipes... Could I really have overshot Swanage and ended up in the Clyde?? No it was Armed forces day, great to hear the marching bands on the prom. They'll be the guys in the red coats below.



I pulled the engine out again and started to strip the leg.  I hit a hurdle when I didn't have a 10mm socket to release the gear linkage. I waded ashore and bought a cheap socket set which should have been all I'd need.

Unfortunately cheap sockets are cheap for a reason.. There was too much of a chamfer in the socket so it couldn't grip the low profile bolt head. I was b@66ered.  I put it back together and turned for home. There was absolutely no wind in the bay and the engine was now not pumping any water. I ran it for a minute at a time to try to get me out of the shelter of the headland but once there I could see that there was still no discernible wind.  I turned back to Swanage in the hope of picking up a visitors mooring. I phoned Julie and asked her to come and pick me up from Swanage.  I won't elaborate on the conversation.

I couldn't raise anyone from Swanage on the VHF to enquire about visitors mooring but I did see a fella hooning about on a flat bottomed bout with an enormous engine. I waved him over to see if he could help... my luck had changed, this fella was the local RNLI chief engineer.  He offered me a tow to the RNLI mooring which he let me use for free (A donation went in the tin), he then gave me and my kit a lift back to shore.  What a Savior

Here's Jelly Bean safe on the RNLI mooring. 

Julie picked me up and I planned the recovery, The next day I took some decent tools back to Swanage in my car, I then paddled out and spend the next two hours stripping and rebuilding the leg while being tossed around all over the place. As it happens the impellor was fine,  there was and bit of dirt or grit in the pick up tube from the pump to the engine head. I don't know what it was or how it got there but the engine runs sweetly now with a good show from the tell tale.  It's days are numbered though, I'm on the look out for a replacement. Any recommendations for a 4 / 5hp long shaft gratefully accepted.

I then motored back to Poole and caught the open top bus back to Swanage where I pick up my car and headed home for a kip.

Dunked Engine

I had planned to have a long weekend in the Solent in the Middle of June and hopefully meet up with Arran and Steve while I was at it... The weather turned out to be appauling so was cancelled.  I made the mistake of going down to the club with the intention of at least going over to Jelly Bean just to be on her and maybe do some of those small jobs that always need doing.
I had just plonked my ouboard on the transom of my tender when a large wave came in and bounced it off the back before I could get the clamps tightened.
It dissappeared beneath the waves then suddenly popped back up, The air in the cowling gave it some buoyancy, I tried to grab it but couldn't get a grip and down it went again.
I stripped of to my undie on the jetty and jumped in to get it, It was only in about 4 foot of water but still required me to be fully submerged in what can only be described as 'chilly' water.
Once recovered I put it on the barrel that we use to flush through the impeller before going in the get dry and put the kettle on.
I then pulled out the plugs, and pulled the starter to pump out any water, I don't think it had taken any into the cylinder but I thought it best to drain it rather than bend to crank or worse by having it fire with water in the cylinder.
I checked for a spark then gave it a few pulls... It fired up and ran for a few seconds then wouldn't run again. One of the member recommended soaking a rag in fuel and holding it inn front of the carb.  A great technique, the engine fired and ran as before but kept cutting out. I had to repeat this several times before it would run on its own.  The Jets in the carb had obviously got wet and needed a good clean, I didn't have any carb cleaner so this technique eventually cleared it.  I libral spray with fresh water and then WD40 and then it was put back on the rack. 4 hours, knackered and half drowned and I hadn't even left the pontoon... What fun :)

Various nonsense

First I must apologise for my long absence from the keyboard... Work and other commitments have taken their toll on my sailing this year. However I have been out a few times and tried to get out one other, so here we go with some catch up blogs.
May:  EDSC Cruise to Studland.
Back in May I wondered down to the club with no real intention of doing anything but on arrival I realised that some of the members were heading off to Studland, as the weather was tip top I decided to join them.

The harbour was a bit choppy and fairly busy but plenty of room for Jelly Bean to keep well away from the big boys.I can't remember the wind speed but  I had two reefs in and the jib up which gave me a nice stable sail with plenty of speed.



I fancy having a go in one of these, they always look pretty exhilarating.

Plenty of room to anchor at Studland even if there are no buoys free.  It takes me less than 5mins to inflate my rubber coracal so no need to tow a tender.  The Bank's Arms is a short walk from the beach with great views from the garden, a fab selection of Ales and a huge Ploughman's lunch.

A selection of EDSC boats, Paul and Marie in the rubber dingy rowing out to their Corribee 'Lapwing'.

One wee stain on this perfect day occurred on the way home.  I decided it was far too early to head straight home so I had a Potter about the bay, practising maneuvers and just generally having a nice time when I suddenly heard people shouting 'Diver Down!' I was mortified, how could I have missed their flag?.... Oh that's how, they didn't have one!I pointed out their error and they duly appeared from the depths of their boat with a flag. I took that as my cue to head home.