Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Day sail
Saturday, 28 July 2012
The Non Poole Cruise
Thursday 12th July 2012
The objective was to cruise with a group of other Drascombes to Poole Harbour and enjoy a few days in the harbour before returning to the Solent. This objective was thwarted by a lack of suitable weather. The pattern seemed to be for a succession of depressions to come in from the Atlantic and so setting up a persistent pattern of westerly prevailing winds of F4 to F7 with heavy rain.
Anyway we arrived the previous day on Wednesday 11th July and launched our boats at Ashlett Sailing Club with a view to catching an early tide at 07:15 hours the following day. The next day a group of 5 boats were assembled and ready to go. The wind was about F3-4 from the West and so we decided to head down the Western Solent towards Keyhaven. The plan was to go to Newtown Creek for lunch.
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
The trip to Newtown was a beat to windward and was achieved in about 5 or 6 tacks. I found it was easier to keep to the island side as the sea was calmer and a little more sheltered. The sea was smoother and it was easier to achieve a more upwind distance. If the sea was rougher you had to bear away to keep up a speed to force your way through the waves. The wind strength was such that I was able to set full main, foresail and mizzen. I arrived at about 1400 hours and joined the rest of the group in a raft in the Shalfleet arm of the creek. The weather had been dry and occasional sunshine.
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
The agreed plan was to wait for the tide to turn to the East so that any wind against tide would be minimized and make for Keyhaven where we knew that other Drascombers were moored. As we waited for the tide it started to rain heavily and the wind strength increased. I was glad of my spray hood and I was able to boil a kettle and make some soup. I later got my head down in my berth partly dressed in my waterproofs. At about 1700 hours there was movement above and my compatriots were getting ready to go to Keyhaven. It became quickly apparent that we were not going to sail and that it was going to be wise to get there as soon as possible. A group of us which consisted of two Coasters, Longboat Cruiser, Drifter 22 and a Gig motored to Keyhaven initally keeping close to the island to get as much as shelter as possible. The wind speed had increased to about 35 knots F7, heavy rain and visibility of about a mile. The sea state was not too bad and the waves must have been about 1 metre. The coaster took sea in its stride and did not slam down. Observing another Coaster the fine bow cut through the sea. I did establich later the Drifter 22 with a flatter and wider bottom did slam a little into the sea. My 5HP Honda proved more that adequate and was not backed by the seaway. I was able to keep up with everybody else who had larger motors.
I have now found out that the Honda BF5 does not have the option of a finer pitched prop which would give more grip in the water and be able to push through heavier seas. The BF5 is supplied with a standard prop suitable for multi purpose use. A saildrive prop is only available on the Honda 8HP upwards. If I was looking for a new engine I would certainly consider this option. But I do not have any cause to critisce the performance of the BF5 yet.
We passed Yarmouth on the port bow and was tempted to take a left turn. But I was not going to make a unilateral decision. We pressed on to our objective of Keyhaven. I had never been out in such wet and windy conditions before on my Drascombe. The boat gave me confidence. The rain and spray soaked me and I watched the spray blowing over the bow and sprayhood on "Gadfly". A Longboat Cruiser came close to colliding with me as the lone helmsman reached down into his cockpit to retrieve something. I caught sight of the boat in the corner of my eye. My view was restricted due to the hood of my waterproof. I quickly did a 360 degree turn which put some distance between him and me.
We turned to starboard to cross to Keyhaven and for a few minutes we got the full force of the wind as we passed into the wind blowing through the narrows. We entered the entrance of Keyhaven and although the sea did smooth out a little the wind strength increased. In the river as we turned to port and the wind blew onto my beam the boat leaned over at a slight angle although we were under bare poles. I increased the throttle slightly to maintain steerage through the trot moorings. We entered an area of shelter behind the harbour wall. We circled the small sheltered area as we waited in turn to moor against the harbour wall. I moored against a Longboat cruiser with the bow into the wind.
As somebody joked "That was character building"
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
Friday 13th July
It was agreed that it would be unwise to cross Chistchurch Bay to Poole with the westerly F5-7. The prospect of motoring into a heavy sea was just out of the question. we therefore decided to sail to Cowes which would have been with the wind and the tide.
We left at about 0900hours and it was a run on foresail alone. I averaged about 5-6 knots and we reached Cowes at about 1400hours.We sailed up the Medina River in sunshine, past the Folly Inn and into new waters for me. The river became quite shallow and we eventually moored on the pontoons at Newport which is close to the centre of town.
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
The objective was to cruise with a group of other Drascombes to Poole Harbour and enjoy a few days in the harbour before returning to the Solent. This objective was thwarted by a lack of suitable weather. The pattern seemed to be for a succession of depressions to come in from the Atlantic and so setting up a persistent pattern of westerly prevailing winds of F4 to F7 with heavy rain.
Anyway we arrived the previous day on Wednesday 11th July and launched our boats at Ashlett Sailing Club with a view to catching an early tide at 07:15 hours the following day. The next day a group of 5 boats were assembled and ready to go. The wind was about F3-4 from the West and so we decided to head down the Western Solent towards Keyhaven. The plan was to go to Newtown Creek for lunch.
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
The trip to Newtown was a beat to windward and was achieved in about 5 or 6 tacks. I found it was easier to keep to the island side as the sea was calmer and a little more sheltered. The sea was smoother and it was easier to achieve a more upwind distance. If the sea was rougher you had to bear away to keep up a speed to force your way through the waves. The wind strength was such that I was able to set full main, foresail and mizzen. I arrived at about 1400 hours and joined the rest of the group in a raft in the Shalfleet arm of the creek. The weather had been dry and occasional sunshine.
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
The agreed plan was to wait for the tide to turn to the East so that any wind against tide would be minimized and make for Keyhaven where we knew that other Drascombers were moored. As we waited for the tide it started to rain heavily and the wind strength increased. I was glad of my spray hood and I was able to boil a kettle and make some soup. I later got my head down in my berth partly dressed in my waterproofs. At about 1700 hours there was movement above and my compatriots were getting ready to go to Keyhaven. It became quickly apparent that we were not going to sail and that it was going to be wise to get there as soon as possible. A group of us which consisted of two Coasters, Longboat Cruiser, Drifter 22 and a Gig motored to Keyhaven initally keeping close to the island to get as much as shelter as possible. The wind speed had increased to about 35 knots F7, heavy rain and visibility of about a mile. The sea state was not too bad and the waves must have been about 1 metre. The coaster took sea in its stride and did not slam down. Observing another Coaster the fine bow cut through the sea. I did establich later the Drifter 22 with a flatter and wider bottom did slam a little into the sea. My 5HP Honda proved more that adequate and was not backed by the seaway. I was able to keep up with everybody else who had larger motors.
I have now found out that the Honda BF5 does not have the option of a finer pitched prop which would give more grip in the water and be able to push through heavier seas. The BF5 is supplied with a standard prop suitable for multi purpose use. A saildrive prop is only available on the Honda 8HP upwards. If I was looking for a new engine I would certainly consider this option. But I do not have any cause to critisce the performance of the BF5 yet.
We passed Yarmouth on the port bow and was tempted to take a left turn. But I was not going to make a unilateral decision. We pressed on to our objective of Keyhaven. I had never been out in such wet and windy conditions before on my Drascombe. The boat gave me confidence. The rain and spray soaked me and I watched the spray blowing over the bow and sprayhood on "Gadfly". A Longboat Cruiser came close to colliding with me as the lone helmsman reached down into his cockpit to retrieve something. I caught sight of the boat in the corner of my eye. My view was restricted due to the hood of my waterproof. I quickly did a 360 degree turn which put some distance between him and me.
We turned to starboard to cross to Keyhaven and for a few minutes we got the full force of the wind as we passed into the wind blowing through the narrows. We entered the entrance of Keyhaven and although the sea did smooth out a little the wind strength increased. In the river as we turned to port and the wind blew onto my beam the boat leaned over at a slight angle although we were under bare poles. I increased the throttle slightly to maintain steerage through the trot moorings. We entered an area of shelter behind the harbour wall. We circled the small sheltered area as we waited in turn to moor against the harbour wall. I moored against a Longboat cruiser with the bow into the wind.
As somebody joked "That was character building"
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
Friday 13th July
It was agreed that it would be unwise to cross Chistchurch Bay to Poole with the westerly F5-7. The prospect of motoring into a heavy sea was just out of the question. we therefore decided to sail to Cowes which would have been with the wind and the tide.
We left at about 0900hours and it was a run on foresail alone. I averaged about 5-6 knots and we reached Cowes at about 1400hours.We sailed up the Medina River in sunshine, past the Folly Inn and into new waters for me. The river became quite shallow and we eventually moored on the pontoons at Newport which is close to the centre of town.
Photo courtesy of Andy Cooper
Sunday, 27 May 2012
J Class yacht in the Solent
Whilst sailing to Cowes I came across this beautiful yacht. I have not been able to identify it. It sailed past with such power and beauty.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Chichester Rally 4th – 7th May 2012
Chichester Rally 4th – 7th May 2012
Chichester Rally. Held over the early bank holiday weekend in May and based in Chichester Marina, (1 Drifter 22, 3 original Drifters, 15 Coasters, 1 Gig, 2 Long Boat Cruisers, 1 Long Boat, 5 Luggers, 1 Scaffie and, er… hmm, 1 Cornish Shrimper) - 30 boats, in total, took part with over 50 skippers, crew and visitors attending, with some new faces and new boats.
Passage through the submarine barrier at Portsmouth.
Feeder cruise en route Ashlett
We left Ashlett Creek at 1115 hours on the Thursday 3rd May. We had to get past the last of the west going tide before the tide turned in out favour at about 1400 hours. The wind was predicted to be Force 3-4 variable. When we entered Southampton Water the wind was blowing at about 12 kts from the NE and so we were able to attain a speed of about 5kts. But when we came into the lee of the land the wind speed dropped and so did our speed. We reached about Lee on Solent when one by one we turned our motors on. We congregated at Gilkicker point into a bunch in order to negotiate the busy sea lane outside Portsmouth Harbour. We passed without incident and the only ferry passed us by well astern. The rest of the journey was plain sailing and we entered Chichester Harbour at the last of the ebb.
we joined the rest of the fleet who arrived over the next 2 days.
Feeder cruise arriving at and in Chichester Marina Lock Photos - Andy Cooper
Friday, itself, was grey, cloudy and cold, with a few showers but undeterred boats were launched and tents erected, not only on boats but also in a field adjacent to the marina.
A welcome dinner was held in Chichester Yacht Club and Roger and Anita Whiffen shared their Golden Wedding celebrations with us, providing a lovely cake.
Saturday’s weather was more of the same and the original plan for a shakedown sail followed by a rendezvous in Bosham were amended once out on the water with many of the fleet taking up the offer of food, drink and, most of all, warm shelter at Dell Quay Sailing Club.
It remained cloudy and grey, but largely dry for the remainder of the day and in spite of the
elements the evening saw the barbeque in full swing, using the now familiar ladder rack system.
Stewart Brown presented the Churchouse Boats trophy to Roger and Anita Whiffen in recognition of their long association, over 30 years, and boundless enthusiasm for Drascombing exemplifying the spirit of the Association.
The Ladder Rack BBQ Photo – Andy Cooper
Roger and Anita with Stewart Brown presenting the Churchouse Boats Trophy Photo – Andy CooperHappy Anniversary – Roger and Anita Photo – Andy Cooper
John Christie, who had travelled down for the day, then made a speech and presentation of the Hans Vandersmissen award to Jim Hopwood.
The band played on and the singing and merriment went on until the barbeques finally stopped giving out any heat. Several different parties started on various boats and the carousing continued until the early hours. Indeed I was quite surprised to see some faces at the briefing the next morning...
Sunday was also grey, cloudy and cold, but many boats went out, including the Southampton fleet who headed to Cowes to catch the tide into Ashlett the following day. Once again for those remaining in the harbour, Dell Quay Sailing Club proved a useful stop over. Others took the opportunity to walk in the surrounding countryside.
During the afternoon there was a steady trickle of departures as skippers and crew decided to beat the Bank Holiday traffic.
Monday started with rain but it soon dried up and the sun came out and it was warm with a good breeze, making it the best day of recent weeks. Two stalwart Lugger skippers, Robin Carter and Ross Archer, together with their crews, explored Bosham quay and adjacent roads that were under water due to the height of the tide.
By 6.00 pm all the last of the fleet had departed on the journey home.
The weather had been poor and could easily have put a huge dampener on the whole event, but the people who came along all pulled together to make it a very satisfying and enjoyable event so my thanks to all of them and, next year, I'll book the weather.
Chichester cathedral
Stained glass window by Marc Chagall
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Canvas pockets
An addition to the furniture of the boat. The last winter produced a lot of mold as a result of the poor quality tarpaulin I had over the boat. Mould cover the whole of the deck and in particular the inside of the boat. The previous canvas pockets were black with mold and not really suitable for further use.
My wife and I decided to make a custom made version which would fit on the back of the cabin wall to the left of the hatchway. The inset at the top of the pockets will fit around the back of my Garmin 451 chartplotter. The previous version over and therefore did not hang very well. There is sufficient length for them to finish above the locker entrance under the bridge deck.
These pockets are very useful to keep small things to hand whilst you are in the cockpit or in the cabin.
These pockets are very useful to keep small things to hand whilst you are in the cockpit or in the cabin.
The canvas is uncoated acrylic canvas from PointNorth Fabrics in Anglesy. . http://www.profabrics.co.uk/ The canvas was sewn on an ordinary domestic sewing machine. My wife will take orders if you want a simialer thing made.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Wood restoration
The time had come to restore the woodwork to it's former glory. The previous owner had painted all of the woodwork with an external wood stain which I suspected was something like "Sandolin". This wood stain did provide with a robust finish and was quite resistant to knocks and abrasions. I have known some owners to have used this finish with the argument that Drascombes are working boats and that the finish is not a huge importance.
I had decided against this finish because in places such as the lower gun wall it was pealing off and looking rather unattractive. The problem is that whatever paint finish you use it has difficulty in sticking to the oily surface of the wood. I suspect that the wood parts on my boat are made from Iroko. Teak has long since become too expensive and rare to be used on Drascombes. Speaking to Bob Brown of Honnour Marine even Iroko is becoming difficult to obtain in terms of cost and in sufficient lengths to complete the gunwale in 2 lengths. He was looking for an alternative. My previous boat a 1972 Lugger was finished in teak which did look rather nice.
I decided to use Burges woodstain as alternative as it does have a good performance of actually sticking to the oily wood. It may not have such a resistance to abrasion but it is used by the present day manufactures of Drascombes. The first problem is how to remove the old varnish. I decided to use paint and varnish stripper as previous use of a hot air gun resulted in damage to the timber through abrasion and burning. I used a cheap product and not the strong brands as I did not wish to damage the GRP if there were any splashes. I used masking tape to protest as much of the surrounding area as possible. The stripper worked well but still required a lot of elbow grease in scraping off the coating. I used a furniture scraper. I found that 2 applications of stripper were needed to remove the wood stain. Finally washing off with fresh water. I sanded to remove the last traces of the old varnish and then painted with three coats of Burgess.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Forestay Rigging Repair
At the end of last season I found that the top of the roller reefing spar was in need of repair. The plastic collar in the top of the aluminium spar had become detached and the spar was rattling on the wire forestay. I tried to repair it myself with glue and only succeeded in gluing the fore stay to the plastic collar which had been fixed to the alloy spar. In other words I had made a real mess of the forestay. I managed to drill the plastic collar out of the alloy spar but as result needed to replace the collar.
I came to the opinion that I could not repair this myself as I did not have the tools to swage the terminals. The cheapest swaging tool I could find was £75. So I decided to employ the skills of a professional rigger. I made enquiries in local Chandlers and found that a lot of local riggers had gone out of business. The South Coast where there are a greater number of yachts is well endowed riggers.
A suggestion was made to seek out a rigger who works in the Underfall Yard in the Bristol Docks. I found Dennis Platten and his apprentice Jay running an enterprise called "Traditional Rigging"
http://www.underfallboatyard.co.uk/skills.htm
Underfall Yard is a traditional boatyard which dates back to the time when the River Avon was made into a floating harbour with a system of locks and sluices. Brunel later improved the docks with an underfall sluice system to prevent the docks from silting up. The above website gives a lot more information about the history of the docks. The Underfall Yard is a hive of activity building and restoring traditional boats.
Jay repaired my fore stay and replaced the plastic coller at the top of the spar. I have now installed back on the boat and all works well.
I came to the opinion that I could not repair this myself as I did not have the tools to swage the terminals. The cheapest swaging tool I could find was £75. So I decided to employ the skills of a professional rigger. I made enquiries in local Chandlers and found that a lot of local riggers had gone out of business. The South Coast where there are a greater number of yachts is well endowed riggers.
A suggestion was made to seek out a rigger who works in the Underfall Yard in the Bristol Docks. I found Dennis Platten and his apprentice Jay running an enterprise called "Traditional Rigging"
http://www.underfallboatyard.co.uk/skills.htm
Underfall Yard is a traditional boatyard which dates back to the time when the River Avon was made into a floating harbour with a system of locks and sluices. Brunel later improved the docks with an underfall sluice system to prevent the docks from silting up. The above website gives a lot more information about the history of the docks. The Underfall Yard is a hive of activity building and restoring traditional boats.
Jay repaired my fore stay and replaced the plastic coller at the top of the spar. I have now installed back on the boat and all works well.
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