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.
Sunday, 27 May 2012
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.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Honda BF5 service
This is not a definitive guide to servicing an outboard but only an account of my experiences. If you have any doubts or queries please consult a qualified Honda service engineer. No liability will be accepted for anything contained in this account.
I decided this year to extend my skills and service the outboard myself. I purchased on E-Bay a Honda Service kit without oil at a cost of £28.75 plus postage of £2.70 from a company called Marine Tech based in Norwich. Delivery was prompt and a small brown cardboard box arrived in the Royal Mail post. Marine Tech in their E-Bay ad offered to send an E-Mail with a copy of the workshop manual. This proved to be very useful as it gave simple explanations as to how to carry out the service. No special tools were required and the only spanner I used was a 10mm socket. A large flat tipped screwdriver was also useful to undo the gearbox filler and drainage screws.
I first of all drained the engine oil so that I would not have the problem of engine oil getting into parts of engine whilst tipping the motor about.
The biggest job was the renewal of the water pump which required the dismantling of the gearbox from the outboard leg.The first task was to undo the gear connecting rod which was accessed through a rubber plug in the side of the leg. The gearbox was secured by two bolts which came undone easily and the gearbox dropped easily off the outboard leg. I think I was lucky in that the motor had previously been well maintained and the bolts were lubricated and not seized. The next task was to dismantle the water pump housing and pull off the gearbox drive shaft. The shaft was loose and slightly spring loaded so that it would connect with the drive shaft in the leg. I removed the rubber pump vane which appeared to be in good condition after two seasons although the rubber vanes had adopted the shape of the pump housing and some of the arms were permanently bent.. I have been told that lack of use can also be a disadvantage to the life of pump impellers. The received thinking is that they should be replaced at the annual service. I then reassembled the impeller and the housing ensuring that the impeller vanes are pointing away from the direction of rotation. I replaced the gaskets with ones from the service kit. The manual gives torque settings for all the bolts and I took care to make sure they were tightened correctly.
Whilst I had the gearbox off the motor I took the opportunity to remove the propeller and take off some the worst burrs with a file. Grease the shaft and replace the prop and renew with the supplied split pin. I then drained the gearbox oil and refilled.
I apolgise for the lack of photographs but the next task was the most difficult. I laid the motor on it's side on the work bench with the aim of refitting the gearbox onto leg. There are three items which you need to connect all at once and they are the water feed pipe to the engine, the drive shaft and the gearbox connecting rod. The first thing to do is to ensure that the square drive shaft is aligned with the square socket of the drive shaft. I became concerned when the drive shaft dropped out of the leg. The upper end is a splined shaft which mates with motor at the top end of the shaft. I managed to reconnect the shaft with the motor unseen by carefully pushing the shaft up and locating the splined shaft of the motor. After about 15minutes of fiddling the gearbox and the 3 components slid together. Turning the prop rotated the flywheel and so they were properly connected. The sealing ring of the water feed pipe was properly in place. I tightened the gearbox linkage and ensured that the correct amount of travel was in place using a micrometer.
The next task was to move to the top of the engine and check the valve gap settings. Removed the spark plug. In line with the manual the valve gaps were in tolerance. I had removed the cover taking care not to break the gasket as no replacement was in the kit.
Replaced the spark plug wit a new one from the kit.
A gasket for the thermostat housing was included in the kit but no thermostat. There was little explanation as to why it needed to be checked other that how to check that it was operating properly. I removed the cover and got a bit of a shock. The exterior of the engine was in good condition as you can see. The removal of the cover revealed a corroded thermostat with accumulation of sale, corrosion and weed. The thermostat itself was in the open position and so was defective. I had not noticed that the engine was slow to warm up. This exercise did emphasize the value of flushing the motor at every opportunity with fresh water. A new thermostat cost £23.40 from a local chandlery.
I then greased the points as described in the manual.
Tested the motor today. good healthy flow from the tell tale, forward and reverse work. All in order. I have gained a greater understanding of the workings of the motor.
I decided this year to extend my skills and service the outboard myself. I purchased on E-Bay a Honda Service kit without oil at a cost of £28.75 plus postage of £2.70 from a company called Marine Tech based in Norwich. Delivery was prompt and a small brown cardboard box arrived in the Royal Mail post. Marine Tech in their E-Bay ad offered to send an E-Mail with a copy of the workshop manual. This proved to be very useful as it gave simple explanations as to how to carry out the service. No special tools were required and the only spanner I used was a 10mm socket. A large flat tipped screwdriver was also useful to undo the gearbox filler and drainage screws.
I first of all drained the engine oil so that I would not have the problem of engine oil getting into parts of engine whilst tipping the motor about.
The biggest job was the renewal of the water pump which required the dismantling of the gearbox from the outboard leg.The first task was to undo the gear connecting rod which was accessed through a rubber plug in the side of the leg. The gearbox was secured by two bolts which came undone easily and the gearbox dropped easily off the outboard leg. I think I was lucky in that the motor had previously been well maintained and the bolts were lubricated and not seized. The next task was to dismantle the water pump housing and pull off the gearbox drive shaft. The shaft was loose and slightly spring loaded so that it would connect with the drive shaft in the leg. I removed the rubber pump vane which appeared to be in good condition after two seasons although the rubber vanes had adopted the shape of the pump housing and some of the arms were permanently bent.. I have been told that lack of use can also be a disadvantage to the life of pump impellers. The received thinking is that they should be replaced at the annual service. I then reassembled the impeller and the housing ensuring that the impeller vanes are pointing away from the direction of rotation. I replaced the gaskets with ones from the service kit. The manual gives torque settings for all the bolts and I took care to make sure they were tightened correctly.
Whilst I had the gearbox off the motor I took the opportunity to remove the propeller and take off some the worst burrs with a file. Grease the shaft and replace the prop and renew with the supplied split pin. I then drained the gearbox oil and refilled.
I apolgise for the lack of photographs but the next task was the most difficult. I laid the motor on it's side on the work bench with the aim of refitting the gearbox onto leg. There are three items which you need to connect all at once and they are the water feed pipe to the engine, the drive shaft and the gearbox connecting rod. The first thing to do is to ensure that the square drive shaft is aligned with the square socket of the drive shaft. I became concerned when the drive shaft dropped out of the leg. The upper end is a splined shaft which mates with motor at the top end of the shaft. I managed to reconnect the shaft with the motor unseen by carefully pushing the shaft up and locating the splined shaft of the motor. After about 15minutes of fiddling the gearbox and the 3 components slid together. Turning the prop rotated the flywheel and so they were properly connected. The sealing ring of the water feed pipe was properly in place. I tightened the gearbox linkage and ensured that the correct amount of travel was in place using a micrometer.
The next task was to move to the top of the engine and check the valve gap settings. Removed the spark plug. In line with the manual the valve gaps were in tolerance. I had removed the cover taking care not to break the gasket as no replacement was in the kit.
Replaced the spark plug wit a new one from the kit.
A gasket for the thermostat housing was included in the kit but no thermostat. There was little explanation as to why it needed to be checked other that how to check that it was operating properly. I removed the cover and got a bit of a shock. The exterior of the engine was in good condition as you can see. The removal of the cover revealed a corroded thermostat with accumulation of sale, corrosion and weed. The thermostat itself was in the open position and so was defective. I had not noticed that the engine was slow to warm up. This exercise did emphasize the value of flushing the motor at every opportunity with fresh water. A new thermostat cost £23.40 from a local chandlery.
I then greased the points as described in the manual.
Tested the motor today. good healthy flow from the tell tale, forward and reverse work. All in order. I have gained a greater understanding of the workings of the motor.
Friday, 2 March 2012
Update on the jib sheet track
After much head scratching and an attempt to fill the holes with epoxy filler with a view to re drilling and then screwing the fixings back in with a hope that a new thread would be cut. The problem with that solution was that you would never be able to fill the void with epoxy. The screw fixings were only fixed to the thickness of GRP and not for the full length of the machine screws. I then explored a suggestion made by Stewart Brown of Churchouse Boats to use a plug fixing. A search of the racks at B&Q failed to find a suitable plastic plug. I then made a search of my own stock and found a rawplug type fixing made by Fischer.
I found that these would accept the 5mm machine screw and that they would need a 6mm hole. So the existing 5mm hole needed to be drilled out by 1mm. This I felt was not too a drastic alteration. When the plugs were fitted they were a nice tight fit as I did not want the plug to rotate in the hole.
I used epoxy with filler to glue the track down and the machine screws tightened up well. The track now feels quite firm and I hope is now secure. I will let you know if there are any problems.
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