... but it's all right this time it's planned!
Well the weather forecast for the weekend and into next week is frankly pants. More gales, albeit not of quite the same severity as last weekend
Normally, I'd look at that forecast and call off a weekend trip to the boat on the grounds that it just wouldn't be worth it but we won't be entirely happy until we've been and checked her over for ourselves.
The key worry was getting down to Fambridge tomorrow afternoon and finding the river too rough to safely paddle out to Erbas in our not terribly clever little dinghy. So I thought to myself "if you don't ask, you don't get" and after a couple of attempts to ring the yard (I hate answerphones!) I dropped them an email asking if there was any chance somebody could move her onto the pontoon for us
Back came a prompt response in the affirmative - no problem, it would be done this afternoon
I thought to myself "well, in for a penny and all that" so fired back an enquiry as to when we might, perchance, be able to move to a marina berth ...
Yep, it worked! Back came the reply that they'd run out of time this afternoon and hadn't got around to putting Erbas on the river pontoon so they'd move her into the marina and onto her winter berth in the morning!
Result!
Thursday 31 October 2013
Tuesday 29 October 2013
The sigh of relief was probably heard in Outer Mongolia!
I've spoken to Adam at the marina this morning and it turns out Erbas took the mooring sinker for a wander. It wasn't the strops that went which is a big relief as there was nothing I could have done to prevent it happening
As far as the marina staff could tell there's no damage although I have let our insurers know that we've had an incident in case we find a problem at the weekend
The marina staff have been wonderful, our forum friends have been marvellous and my social circles have been fantastic!
I'm feeling very very happy so I'm going to bed :D
As far as the marina staff could tell there's no damage although I have let our insurers know that we've had an incident in case we find a problem at the weekend
The marina staff have been wonderful, our forum friends have been marvellous and my social circles have been fantastic!
I'm feeling very very happy so I'm going to bed :D
Send me smoke signals ...
... next time there's a problem!
Although I sincerely hope there isn't a next time.
Isn't it typical that on the one day you really don't want your comms to fail, that's precisely what they do. Crucially, although it was showing a signal and apparently working my mobile had locked out from the network and was neither receiving nor making calls
I only discovered this when I tried to call an internet friend who had kindly offered assistance in finding out whether Erbas was OK or not. As it turned out, she wasn't but she was sort of thing
To cut a long story to a not quite so long story, it turns out it was Erbas that was the boat reported as having gone ashore. I can't thank everyone who offered help enough but I must mention in particular Nathan Whitlock, who I've never actually met, who set out on foot from the marina in the dark, walked all the way down to the swinging moorings and searched as best he could for Erbas
Finding no sign of her where she should be, he then stopped by the Ferry Boat (I'm sure entirely in the interests of further investigation!) and the landlord Mark then got on the case and by phoning around found out that the marina staff had recovered Erbas intact and apparently undamaged and put her on a different trot mooring for safety
Meanwhile, Jim Dew had offered to go out in the dark on Full Circle and search the river, thankfully this wasn't necessary. I did take up his offer to stop by the moorings this morning and check on Erbas although that would prove unnecessary too.
Shortly after I got to work, wishing only that I could just get in the car and drive down to Fambridge (not that I could achieve anything by doing so), Adam from the marina left a comment on this blog with confirmation of the situation and reassurance that all is well with the boat. Outstanding service to be blogging and willing to take calls from customers so late in the evening!
I didn't see the comment until the early hours of the morning due to yet another comms hiccup (my mobile didn't download my emails properly and had to be kicked up the backside yet again and then hey presto suddenly there was this important message now several hours old) so I've yet to speak to the guys at the marina but I'm feeling reasonably cheerful and at least now I'm sick with relief rather than sick with worry! (I suspect only other boat owners will understand just how emotionally attached you become to your boat ... even after only a few weeks ownership. It's more like a pet or child than a car or a caravan. Strange but true).
The only remaining question is ... what happened? I'm really hoping that the answer is that the mooring dragged or the riser failed or something of that nature. Not, I hasten to add, because I want to blame the marina (she's insured against such eventualities and, as they say, sh sh sh stuff happens) but because I'm desperately hoping I haven't been a bit of a clot
When we put Erbas onto the buoy for the first time a couple of weeks ago, we discovered that the mooring strop and line were chafing on the anchor flukes. Removing the anchor would have been a right royal pain in the proverbial so I came up with what I thought was a cunning wheeze and lashed the anchor up to the pulpit rail to raise it clear of the strops
I fear that in the rough conditions on the river yesterday morning she was pitching enough to bring the strops into contact with the anchor flukes and if that happened they wouldn't have lasted long at all. I debated travelling down over the weekend to sort it out properly and decided she'd be alright.
I shall find out whether I am indeed a clot or not later ... actually I do feel that in hindsight I should have made the trip to Essex regardless. If we have got away with no damage at all we're extremely lucky. Several friends haven't been so fortunate
Although I sincerely hope there isn't a next time.
Isn't it typical that on the one day you really don't want your comms to fail, that's precisely what they do. Crucially, although it was showing a signal and apparently working my mobile had locked out from the network and was neither receiving nor making calls
I only discovered this when I tried to call an internet friend who had kindly offered assistance in finding out whether Erbas was OK or not. As it turned out, she wasn't but she was sort of thing
To cut a long story to a not quite so long story, it turns out it was Erbas that was the boat reported as having gone ashore. I can't thank everyone who offered help enough but I must mention in particular Nathan Whitlock, who I've never actually met, who set out on foot from the marina in the dark, walked all the way down to the swinging moorings and searched as best he could for Erbas
Finding no sign of her where she should be, he then stopped by the Ferry Boat (I'm sure entirely in the interests of further investigation!) and the landlord Mark then got on the case and by phoning around found out that the marina staff had recovered Erbas intact and apparently undamaged and put her on a different trot mooring for safety
Meanwhile, Jim Dew had offered to go out in the dark on Full Circle and search the river, thankfully this wasn't necessary. I did take up his offer to stop by the moorings this morning and check on Erbas although that would prove unnecessary too.
Shortly after I got to work, wishing only that I could just get in the car and drive down to Fambridge (not that I could achieve anything by doing so), Adam from the marina left a comment on this blog with confirmation of the situation and reassurance that all is well with the boat. Outstanding service to be blogging and willing to take calls from customers so late in the evening!
I didn't see the comment until the early hours of the morning due to yet another comms hiccup (my mobile didn't download my emails properly and had to be kicked up the backside yet again and then hey presto suddenly there was this important message now several hours old) so I've yet to speak to the guys at the marina but I'm feeling reasonably cheerful and at least now I'm sick with relief rather than sick with worry! (I suspect only other boat owners will understand just how emotionally attached you become to your boat ... even after only a few weeks ownership. It's more like a pet or child than a car or a caravan. Strange but true).
The only remaining question is ... what happened? I'm really hoping that the answer is that the mooring dragged or the riser failed or something of that nature. Not, I hasten to add, because I want to blame the marina (she's insured against such eventualities and, as they say, sh sh sh stuff happens) but because I'm desperately hoping I haven't been a bit of a clot
When we put Erbas onto the buoy for the first time a couple of weeks ago, we discovered that the mooring strop and line were chafing on the anchor flukes. Removing the anchor would have been a right royal pain in the proverbial so I came up with what I thought was a cunning wheeze and lashed the anchor up to the pulpit rail to raise it clear of the strops
I fear that in the rough conditions on the river yesterday morning she was pitching enough to bring the strops into contact with the anchor flukes and if that happened they wouldn't have lasted long at all. I debated travelling down over the weekend to sort it out properly and decided she'd be alright.
I shall find out whether I am indeed a clot or not later ... actually I do feel that in hindsight I should have made the trip to Essex regardless. If we have got away with no damage at all we're extremely lucky. Several friends haven't been so fortunate
Monday 28 October 2013
The Great Storm of October 2013
Well it fairly lived up to expectations judging from the weather station readouts - gusts of up to 70 knots plus in the Thames Estuary area. The live webcam at the yacht station doesn't give a great view of the river but what could be seen looked rough as hell
A friends yacht ashore in the yard was blown over along with two others and, most worryingly, there are vague reports of a blue hulled yacht ashore against the sea wall
We've not heard anything from the marina so we're praying it isn't Erbas ...
A friends yacht ashore in the yard was blown over along with two others and, most worryingly, there are vague reports of a blue hulled yacht ashore against the sea wall
We've not heard anything from the marina so we're praying it isn't Erbas ...
Thursday 10 October 2013
Shake Down Cruise - Conclusions
Well the first and most important conclusion is ... Erbas is a brilliant boat!
She truly is everything we hoped she would be.
She's a joy to steer, light and responsive on the helm, and the engine has power by the bucket load and a prop that has serious bite on the water. This is a boat with brakes! She is very maneuverable under power although we haven't quite yet got the hang of it.
Under sail she is a much better sailing boat than I secretly expected. OK, in light airs she isn't what you'd call quick but with two keels, a fair sized rudder and a 13" prop to drag through the water she was never going to be. She ghosts along passably well though.
Given a decent working breeze, she picks up her skirts and gets a move on nicely and with 16 knots on the wind instrument (more of which anon) and a reef in the main she was having no trouble at all maintaining in excess of 5 knots close reaching and if I'm honest I don't think we were quite getting the best out of the sail trim so there's probably a bit more to be got.
Hard on the wind she's surprisingly good. Even pinching up in a stiff breeze, admittedly near ideal conditions for the purpose, she was making around 4 knots through the water.
The cockpit is ample in size for three or four crew to be on deck at the same time when sailing although you do have to make sure everybody is in the right place! It took us a tack or two to realise that whereas on Brigantia the helm was aft and the crew forward, on Erbas you helm from in front of your crew, Furthermore, any "off watch" crew lounging around in the cockpit need to sit right at the aft end out of the way. Happily, it's all very comfortable wherever you may be (and with some backrests and cushions will be even more so).
With the cockpit tent up, the cockpit seat cushions excavated from the quarter berth and the table quarried out of a locker, the cockpit becomes a super place to sit in port, It also offers a sheltered workspace when maintaining the boat, sorting lockers and so on. Whether we leave the tent up over the winter is debatable - it would have it's advantages to do so but it does mean it'll get more wear and tear. One option might be a tarp to go over the tent and sprayhood when we're not on board to protect them
There are just a couple of "niggles" on deck ...
The borrowed Delta pattern anchor is, unfortunately, a bit too big. We'll have to consider something smaller as the shank length is all but identical to the distance between the roller and the capstan gypsy so it doesn't stow very well.
The anchor stowed on the bow roller also presents a problem when mooring to the buoy on the swinging moorings. Going to have to think about that one and come up with a solution because as things stand the anchor could rapidly chaff through one of the two mooring lines and prevents mooring on a single strop at all.
When broad reaching or running, the mainsheet fouls the back edge of the sprayhood. Not by much but over time it is bound to wear the material and shorten the life of the nearly new hood. I guess this wasn't a problem for the previous owner as I gather he always sailed with the hood down. However, I prefer to sail with the hood up most of the time. A simple solution seems to be a second set of tie down clips forward of the existing ones. That will allow the lower back corner of the hood to be folded back on itself and secured when necessary. Not, perhaps, ideal but a workable solution never the less.
The reefing setup is simply begging to be converted to single line reefing. It's got to be worth a try. If it doesn't work, it's easily put back the way it is and it won't cost a fortune to do either.
No doubt we'll find other things in time! ..
Now to below decks ...
During the day and evening in harbour it's simply fantastic. The space works brilliantly even with four on board.
The galley is just big enough and being tucked out of the way the cook can cook in comfort without being constantly disrupted by the crew moving about. Storage space is adequate and the fridge works very well indeed (and doesn't eat the batteries either).
The nav area is OK but the mounting arrangement for the chart plotter has definitely got to be improved! It's functional but it's ugly and it doesn't half get in the way!
The saloon will be luxurious for two, is comfortable for four but it'd be cosy with more on board! Four people is the realistic limit for cruising anyway. The main cabin sleeping arrangements are not quite as ideal as they could be. Both Rik and Glen found the saloon settees a bit narrow and the cupboards above the settees a bit too deep. Rik transferred his affections to the quarter berth and found it more to his liking although it meant a bit more faffing about morning and evening . Not that it was a problem and on the upside it left space on the Port settee for me to sit whilst supping my first coffee of the day!
The heads, once we realised we hadn't opened the flushing water cock (we'd opened the inlet but hadn't realised there was a further stop cock on the pipe to the heads), work as one would expect them to do. The air vent on the inlet pipe seems a little enthusiastic - putting a finger over it initially seems to help get a better flush.
The v-berth is very comfortable indeed, especially with the inset in place. I had my doubts about using the inset as without it getting into and out of the berths is somewhat easier but it cures a similar problem to the main settees in that without it the berths are a bit narrow
Storage is, overall, very good. However it is compromised in a number of places by tanks and plumbing. I'm not at all sure why it was felt necessary to add a third water tank aft under the starboard settee when there's two big stainless ones forward occupying most of the useful space under the v-berth. The previous owner seemed to be suggesting the stainless tanks were not fit for drinking but we flushed them and filled them and without even treating the water it's perfectly potable.
Elsewhere, it does become a little frustrating after a while to find every locker space compromised by plumbing, The space under the Port settee aft of the battery box is the worst example. The additional seawater intake for use on a mud berth really didn't need to be located slap bang in the middle of the space! It effectively, for the moment, renders an entire useful storage space all but useless. I have a cunning plan :)
In contrast, it is remarkably hard to find any trace of the electrics other than behind the switch panel access over the nav table! Glen spotted some trunking up under the Starboard gunnel and the occasional glimpse of a wire has been seen elsewhere but that's about it. Apart from some long term thoughts about rationalising the switching I've no plans to do much to the wiring for the foreseeable future.
The same can't be said for the pumps. The minor problem is that water pump which is exceptionally noisy but otherwise works OK. It is, however, located in the Port settee aft locker space making its contribution to buggering up the stowage plan. Just the other side of the bulkhead its mounted on is a fairly useless space into which the pump would fit a treat. It shall be moved in due course! The noise we'll have to live with.
The major problem is the (with all due respect to whoever installed it who, I'm sure, thought it was a good idea at the time) crazy waste water arrangements. The galley and heads sinks drain to a pipe which runs more than half the length of the boat to a pump installed right beneath the head of whoever is sleeping in the starboard v-berth (Jane in other words!). To make matters worse, the only way to operate this pump is to reach into the v-berth compartment and hold in a push button on the berth front!
Imagine how much fun that is when you've just done the washing up ... at the other end of the boat. Even more enjoyable is the crew firtling about under your berth when you've gone to bed and they've used the heads later in the evening.
Oh and because someone deemed it a good idea, since they were pumping out the grey water rather than relying on gravity, to install the outlet at a high level virtually under the gunnel the pump merrily spits dirty water over the pontoon when you're starboard side to in a marina!
It simply has to go and it has to go sooner rather than later. Annoyingly, the pump isn't very old but hey ho. The debate is what to replace it with but I'll come to that in a later post.
The table is a nuisance and needs to be replaced with something more practical but we knew that already
The saloon is a lovely place to sit and chat over drinks with the oil lamps gently flickering on the oiled teak woodwork and cream headlining. We only put the heater on once as well!
Overall, a most satisfactory and pleasing beginning to our hopefully long association with Erbas
She truly is everything we hoped she would be.
She's a joy to steer, light and responsive on the helm, and the engine has power by the bucket load and a prop that has serious bite on the water. This is a boat with brakes! She is very maneuverable under power although we haven't quite yet got the hang of it.
Under sail she is a much better sailing boat than I secretly expected. OK, in light airs she isn't what you'd call quick but with two keels, a fair sized rudder and a 13" prop to drag through the water she was never going to be. She ghosts along passably well though.
Given a decent working breeze, she picks up her skirts and gets a move on nicely and with 16 knots on the wind instrument (more of which anon) and a reef in the main she was having no trouble at all maintaining in excess of 5 knots close reaching and if I'm honest I don't think we were quite getting the best out of the sail trim so there's probably a bit more to be got.
Hard on the wind she's surprisingly good. Even pinching up in a stiff breeze, admittedly near ideal conditions for the purpose, she was making around 4 knots through the water.
The cockpit is ample in size for three or four crew to be on deck at the same time when sailing although you do have to make sure everybody is in the right place! It took us a tack or two to realise that whereas on Brigantia the helm was aft and the crew forward, on Erbas you helm from in front of your crew, Furthermore, any "off watch" crew lounging around in the cockpit need to sit right at the aft end out of the way. Happily, it's all very comfortable wherever you may be (and with some backrests and cushions will be even more so).
With the cockpit tent up, the cockpit seat cushions excavated from the quarter berth and the table quarried out of a locker, the cockpit becomes a super place to sit in port, It also offers a sheltered workspace when maintaining the boat, sorting lockers and so on. Whether we leave the tent up over the winter is debatable - it would have it's advantages to do so but it does mean it'll get more wear and tear. One option might be a tarp to go over the tent and sprayhood when we're not on board to protect them
The borrowed Delta pattern anchor is, unfortunately, a bit too big. We'll have to consider something smaller as the shank length is all but identical to the distance between the roller and the capstan gypsy so it doesn't stow very well.
The anchor stowed on the bow roller also presents a problem when mooring to the buoy on the swinging moorings. Going to have to think about that one and come up with a solution because as things stand the anchor could rapidly chaff through one of the two mooring lines and prevents mooring on a single strop at all.
When broad reaching or running, the mainsheet fouls the back edge of the sprayhood. Not by much but over time it is bound to wear the material and shorten the life of the nearly new hood. I guess this wasn't a problem for the previous owner as I gather he always sailed with the hood down. However, I prefer to sail with the hood up most of the time. A simple solution seems to be a second set of tie down clips forward of the existing ones. That will allow the lower back corner of the hood to be folded back on itself and secured when necessary. Not, perhaps, ideal but a workable solution never the less.
The reefing setup is simply begging to be converted to single line reefing. It's got to be worth a try. If it doesn't work, it's easily put back the way it is and it won't cost a fortune to do either.
No doubt we'll find other things in time! ..
Now to below decks ...
During the day and evening in harbour it's simply fantastic. The space works brilliantly even with four on board.
The galley is just big enough and being tucked out of the way the cook can cook in comfort without being constantly disrupted by the crew moving about. Storage space is adequate and the fridge works very well indeed (and doesn't eat the batteries either).
The nav area is OK but the mounting arrangement for the chart plotter has definitely got to be improved! It's functional but it's ugly and it doesn't half get in the way!
The saloon will be luxurious for two, is comfortable for four but it'd be cosy with more on board! Four people is the realistic limit for cruising anyway. The main cabin sleeping arrangements are not quite as ideal as they could be. Both Rik and Glen found the saloon settees a bit narrow and the cupboards above the settees a bit too deep. Rik transferred his affections to the quarter berth and found it more to his liking although it meant a bit more faffing about morning and evening . Not that it was a problem and on the upside it left space on the Port settee for me to sit whilst supping my first coffee of the day!
The heads, once we realised we hadn't opened the flushing water cock (we'd opened the inlet but hadn't realised there was a further stop cock on the pipe to the heads), work as one would expect them to do. The air vent on the inlet pipe seems a little enthusiastic - putting a finger over it initially seems to help get a better flush.
The v-berth is very comfortable indeed, especially with the inset in place. I had my doubts about using the inset as without it getting into and out of the berths is somewhat easier but it cures a similar problem to the main settees in that without it the berths are a bit narrow
Storage is, overall, very good. However it is compromised in a number of places by tanks and plumbing. I'm not at all sure why it was felt necessary to add a third water tank aft under the starboard settee when there's two big stainless ones forward occupying most of the useful space under the v-berth. The previous owner seemed to be suggesting the stainless tanks were not fit for drinking but we flushed them and filled them and without even treating the water it's perfectly potable.
Elsewhere, it does become a little frustrating after a while to find every locker space compromised by plumbing, The space under the Port settee aft of the battery box is the worst example. The additional seawater intake for use on a mud berth really didn't need to be located slap bang in the middle of the space! It effectively, for the moment, renders an entire useful storage space all but useless. I have a cunning plan :)
In contrast, it is remarkably hard to find any trace of the electrics other than behind the switch panel access over the nav table! Glen spotted some trunking up under the Starboard gunnel and the occasional glimpse of a wire has been seen elsewhere but that's about it. Apart from some long term thoughts about rationalising the switching I've no plans to do much to the wiring for the foreseeable future.
The same can't be said for the pumps. The minor problem is that water pump which is exceptionally noisy but otherwise works OK. It is, however, located in the Port settee aft locker space making its contribution to buggering up the stowage plan. Just the other side of the bulkhead its mounted on is a fairly useless space into which the pump would fit a treat. It shall be moved in due course! The noise we'll have to live with.
The major problem is the (with all due respect to whoever installed it who, I'm sure, thought it was a good idea at the time) crazy waste water arrangements. The galley and heads sinks drain to a pipe which runs more than half the length of the boat to a pump installed right beneath the head of whoever is sleeping in the starboard v-berth (Jane in other words!). To make matters worse, the only way to operate this pump is to reach into the v-berth compartment and hold in a push button on the berth front!
Imagine how much fun that is when you've just done the washing up ... at the other end of the boat. Even more enjoyable is the crew firtling about under your berth when you've gone to bed and they've used the heads later in the evening.
Oh and because someone deemed it a good idea, since they were pumping out the grey water rather than relying on gravity, to install the outlet at a high level virtually under the gunnel the pump merrily spits dirty water over the pontoon when you're starboard side to in a marina!
It simply has to go and it has to go sooner rather than later. Annoyingly, the pump isn't very old but hey ho. The debate is what to replace it with but I'll come to that in a later post.
The table is a nuisance and needs to be replaced with something more practical but we knew that already
The saloon is a lovely place to sit and chat over drinks with the oil lamps gently flickering on the oiled teak woodwork and cream headlining. We only put the heater on once as well!
Overall, a most satisfactory and pleasing beginning to our hopefully long association with Erbas
Shake Down Cruise - The Log
Unfortunately, despite my having archived the waypoint, route and (critically) track data from the Raymarine A50 plotter to the spare compact flash card, it appears there is no way (that I've managed to make work at any rate) to access the saved track data
In any case, on perusing the manuel and various web sites, it appears that the Raymarine kit doesn't log the date/time, speed or any other info within the track. It's just a series of points which is a lot less useful than the track files produced by even a fairly cheap hand-held GPS such as a Garmin GPS72!
I'll look at options to solve that problem over the winter as, whilst it's hardly mission critical, I do like my track archive that I've built up over the last three years on Brigantia
Anyway, that aside the log (such as it is) ...
02/10/2013 Assemble on board at Tollesbury
03/10/2013 In port, Tollesbury :- Storing ship etc.
04/10/2013 Friday Tollesbury - Bradwell :- approx. 1hr (no detailed log kept)
05/10/2013 last cruise on board Brigantia, see The Final Voyage
06/10/2013 In port, Bradwell :- Organising stowage etc.
07/10/2013 Bradwell - Pyefleet
- 10:37 UTC Engine Start
- 10:46 UTC Under Way
- engine was stopped and under sail for some time before motoring for last couple of hours
- 18:10 UTC Anchored, Pyefleet 20m scope
08/10/2013 Pyefleet - Burnham Yacht Harbour
- 09:28 UTC Engine Start 449.4hrs
- 09:33 UTC Under Way
- 09:46 UTC Engine Stop
- 13:36 UTC Engine Start
- 14:06 UTC Engine Stop 450.2 hrs
09/10/2013 Burnham Yacht Harbour - Fambridge Yacht Station
- 09:07 UTC Engine Start 450.3hrs
- 10:25 UTC Engine Stop 451.5hrs
We were somewhat cavalier about the upkeep of the log, especially on Monday. Then again, it was our first time sailing the new boat! It is not a matter of any import but if we're going to keep a log it might as well be an accurate one
In any case, on perusing the manuel and various web sites, it appears that the Raymarine kit doesn't log the date/time, speed or any other info within the track. It's just a series of points which is a lot less useful than the track files produced by even a fairly cheap hand-held GPS such as a Garmin GPS72!
I'll look at options to solve that problem over the winter as, whilst it's hardly mission critical, I do like my track archive that I've built up over the last three years on Brigantia
Anyway, that aside the log (such as it is) ...
02/10/2013 Assemble on board at Tollesbury
03/10/2013 In port, Tollesbury :- Storing ship etc.
04/10/2013 Friday Tollesbury - Bradwell :- approx. 1hr (no detailed log kept)
05/10/2013 last cruise on board Brigantia, see The Final Voyage
06/10/2013 In port, Bradwell :- Organising stowage etc.
07/10/2013 Bradwell - Pyefleet
- 10:37 UTC Engine Start
- 10:46 UTC Under Way
- engine was stopped and under sail for some time before motoring for last couple of hours
- 18:10 UTC Anchored, Pyefleet 20m scope
08/10/2013 Pyefleet - Burnham Yacht Harbour
- 09:28 UTC Engine Start 449.4hrs
- 09:33 UTC Under Way
- 09:46 UTC Engine Stop
- 13:36 UTC Engine Start
- 14:06 UTC Engine Stop 450.2 hrs
09/10/2013 Burnham Yacht Harbour - Fambridge Yacht Station
- 09:07 UTC Engine Start 450.3hrs
- 10:25 UTC Engine Stop 451.5hrs
We were somewhat cavalier about the upkeep of the log, especially on Monday. Then again, it was our first time sailing the new boat! It is not a matter of any import but if we're going to keep a log it might as well be an accurate one
Shake Down Cruise - Day 8
Definite signs of a change to more seasonal weather this morning. Cooler, windier and cloudier.
A chandlery raid procured a bow fender and clips to attach it to the pulpit rail when required. Although Erbas has a stainless steel protection strip on the stem I still want some protection up there when coming into marina berths.
Once back aboard, we soon got under way. With the breeze blowing downriver there'd be no sailing today, too much to do to muck about taking hours to tack upriver when it can be done in an hour under motor.
Arriving at Fambridge we tucked Erbas into the one remaining spot inside the pontoon (looks like the usual scenario, the inside is going to be permanently occupied by big boats for the winter).
Glen and Rik headed off to execute the car shuffle whilst Jane sorted out below decks and I set to tidying up up top and scrubbing the decks.
With all our kit offloaded, Rik and I motored the few yards to our mooring. We tried using the cunning mooring line device left on board by the previous owner but it didn't work too well - it would work with a solid ring but the buoys we're on have a soft strop which is too bulky for the device.
No matter, after a bit of a faff we were tied onto the buoy and we set about sorting out the mooring lines. I'd already been head scratching about this. Brigantia was moored to the buoy (by the yard) with a single strop over the bow roller. However, her anchor stowed on deck out of the way. The anchor on Erbas stows on the bow roller and removing and refitting it at the ends of each outing would be a serious hassle.
The obvious solution seemed to be two strops led to the fairleads either side of the bow (which is how Brigantia used to be moored until last year) however a second strop was nowhere to be found and nobody was about so we used the one strop and a mooring line as a temporary measure.
However, we found that the starboard line (the anchor stows on the starboard side of the stem) fouled the anchor and rubbed against the edge of the blade. Chaff city! In the end, we lifted the anchor clear of the roller with a line to the pin rail on the pulpit which improved matters although its only just satisfactory and will be a nagging worry until I inspect the lines for wear next time we're down
All that remained was to shut down, switch off and close up. Then it was a short dinghy excursion to the shore and our first cruise aboard Erbas was over
A chandlery raid procured a bow fender and clips to attach it to the pulpit rail when required. Although Erbas has a stainless steel protection strip on the stem I still want some protection up there when coming into marina berths.
Once back aboard, we soon got under way. With the breeze blowing downriver there'd be no sailing today, too much to do to muck about taking hours to tack upriver when it can be done in an hour under motor.
Arriving at Fambridge we tucked Erbas into the one remaining spot inside the pontoon (looks like the usual scenario, the inside is going to be permanently occupied by big boats for the winter).
Glen and Rik headed off to execute the car shuffle whilst Jane sorted out below decks and I set to tidying up up top and scrubbing the decks.
With all our kit offloaded, Rik and I motored the few yards to our mooring. We tried using the cunning mooring line device left on board by the previous owner but it didn't work too well - it would work with a solid ring but the buoys we're on have a soft strop which is too bulky for the device.
No matter, after a bit of a faff we were tied onto the buoy and we set about sorting out the mooring lines. I'd already been head scratching about this. Brigantia was moored to the buoy (by the yard) with a single strop over the bow roller. However, her anchor stowed on deck out of the way. The anchor on Erbas stows on the bow roller and removing and refitting it at the ends of each outing would be a serious hassle.
The obvious solution seemed to be two strops led to the fairleads either side of the bow (which is how Brigantia used to be moored until last year) however a second strop was nowhere to be found and nobody was about so we used the one strop and a mooring line as a temporary measure.
However, we found that the starboard line (the anchor stows on the starboard side of the stem) fouled the anchor and rubbed against the edge of the blade. Chaff city! In the end, we lifted the anchor clear of the roller with a line to the pin rail on the pulpit which improved matters although its only just satisfactory and will be a nagging worry until I inspect the lines for wear next time we're down
All that remained was to shut down, switch off and close up. Then it was a short dinghy excursion to the shore and our first cruise aboard Erbas was over
Wednesday 9 October 2013
Shake Down Cruise - Day 7
After a quiet night at anchor, disturbed only by the God awful racket I made whilst trying to quietly check the depth and anchor rode in the middle of the night (the crew have requested that in future I should endeavor to make as much noise as possible since this will almost certainly by quieter) we were in no rush this morning.
It sounds lazy but in fact all we'd achieve by rushing would be to be too early for the tide to cross the Ray Sand so we'd have to go the long way round and beat all the way back up the Whitaker
Much the more cunning plan was to have a relaxed breakfast and then catch the flood down the Rays'n so that's what we did!
Whilst setting up the route on the chart plotter I discovered its date and time were wrong. It ought to be picking it up off the GPS and wasn't. After much fiddling, found that a system reset fixed it but that put all the settings and page layouts back to the defaults. Hmmm
Time to set off so we hoisted the anchor only to discover that the voltage drop caused plotter to turn itself off. Once turned back on, well of course the date and time was wrong so we had to reset it again.
Putting that problem to one side for now we motored out past the moored sailing barges and got the sails up. It was fairly breezy and I'd contemplated putting a reef in so applying the golden rule (don't think about reefing, reef) we kept the first reef in the main.
We had a cracking sail close reaching just off the mud flats down to the Raysand North buoy. I'm convinced she's got more to give - the rig tension is floppy, sail trim wasn't perfect etc - but I didn't care as we were romping along in fine style
We slipped across the sands into the outer Crouch and came hard on the wind. A lack of attention put us just the wrong side of the imaginary line that marks the edge of the Shoeburyness Firing Range and we got scared off by the guard boat Sentinel sounding a klaxon at us and then very politely asking us if we could please stay north of the buoy line on the VHF.
That meant shorter tacks but never mind. We need the practice! Erbas is very quick in stays, she spins around on a sixpence in no time at all. The downside is that this leaves the crew with much grinding of winches to sheet in the genoa and this, in turn, leads to much gnashing of teeth
We made good progress into the river disturbed only by the constant dangerous vessel alarms from the AIS. With three of the Hav spoil ships in the river, all within the default danger range and all transmitting an AIS signal every few seconds it got a bit wearing.
Never mind, we got past them without a collision (!) and as we approached the moorings of Burnham started the engine and dropped the sails. A quick call on the radio arranged a berth for the night in the yacht harbour into which we parked very neatly.
Jane and I walked up to the Co-op for some bits and pieces and then nipped into the chandlery to pick up a nice big bow fender.
Back on board, Rik and Glen had discovered that the chart plotter would pick up the date and time off its internal GPS provided the instruments weren't turned on. Rik proposed a theory that the plotter was sending the date and time out on the NMEA before it had got a fix from the satellite and then reading it back in and assuming something else on the bus was providing the date and not bothering.
Presumably, this is why the NMEA input to the plotter had been disconnected. I had a sudden thought and went digging in the settings and found that I could turn off specific NMEA data strings on the output. Killing the date/time string fixed the problem! It also cured the VHF not getting a position off the plotter.
Much fun was had whilst the Purser cooked dinner with the Skipper, Mate and Bosun all in sad b*st*rd mode perusing manuels with occasional cries of "hey look, it can do xxx".
Dinner put a stop to that and afterwards we strolled down the sea wall into Burnham for a couple of pints before staggering back and hitting the sack.
Monday 7 October 2013
Shake Down Cruise - Days 4, 5 & 6
I just didn't get around to blogging last night so its two for the price of one tonight. Well three actually but day 4 was on board Brigantia and blogged thereto
After our final epic voyage upon Brigantia, Rik's car was stuffed full of gear and, well, stuff so we spent Sunday locker diving and generally rearranging things. I wouldn't say it's 100% sorted but we're getting there
Glen and Rik did a car shuffle to get one motor to Fambridge ready for the end of the cruise then we repaired to the Green Men having taken the precaution to book so we wouldn't end up in the family room again. Excellent meal!
A good night's sleep led to a leisurely start to the day. There was, in truth, no particular need to rush. We got under way once the channel into the marina looked like it would go and once clear of the shallows set about hoisting the main for the first time.
Memo to self - remove sail ties before trying to set the sail! With that sorted up it went although I think it needs a bit of lubrication on the track as it was a bit stiff.
The genoa set with no difficulty at all and we set about beating up the Blackwater with a fair tide.
Big grins all round! She sails a treat. And I think we can improve on it too.
We made it all the way to the channel to Heybridge lock but locking in wasn't an option as it works mean a much too late start tomorrow. We put about to head downwind but by now the wind had all but died.
It was, though, a glorious and gloriously warm autumn afternoon so it was no hardship to ghost past Osea Island. Eventually, however, the time started to rear it's ugly head and it was on with the iron tops'l.
We motored downriver and round into the Colne to anchor in the Pyefleet in the dying moments of daylight. Dinner on board was followed by a half hearted attempt to do serious damage to the EU Beer mountain that we retrieved off Brigantia
To bed at last, tomorrow will see us back in the Crouch and nearly home
Oh yes. There was one spooky moment when we overhead the new owner of Brigantia calling Thames CG for a radio check. That was weird!
Friday 4 October 2013
Shake Down Cruise - Day 3
Time and tide, they say, wait for no man. However, man must wait for tide on occasions and today was such a day.
Our first problem was realising that whilst we had the bacon, the sausage and the eggs, the means off frying them, e.g.the frying pan, was on Brigantia. Off we went to the cafe for breakfast!
The First Mate then set about installing the NMEA multiplexer whilst the bosun and I flushed and filled the main water tanks (Erbas has no less than three tanks and the smaller aft tank is the only one that's been used for a while). The tanks were happily clean and the water perfectly potable.
By now, the tide was well up the gauge so we made ready for the short trip across the estuary. Although I had no intention of sailing today, the mainsail cover came off and the halyard was rigged - we'd look pretty stupid if we were unable to hoist the sail in the event of engine failure.
We motored out into the Fleet and, as expected, once clear of the shelter of the salt marshes we had 20 to 24 knots of breeze on the wind readout and moderately lumpy waves on the beam.
Once sufficiently clear of the Nass spit, we made directly for Bradwell which coincidentally put the wind and the waves right on our nose.
We experimented with the engine revs and found that she'll do 6.5 knots at about 3000 RPM but if you try and push it any harder she just digs her stem in and let's you know you're being a pillock by soaking your boots with water coming up the cockpit drain!
We settled down to a more comfortable 5 knots at 2300 RPM although as the wind picked up and the waves got steeper it did slow us down some. Still, on Brigantia we'd have been struggling to make headway in those conditions.
The engine, we agreed is very civilised both on deck and in the cabin. The VHF works well too as we demonstrated by calling up the marina and arranging a visitor's berth.
We got into a bit of a pickle when we overshoot the berth and the wind chose that moment to blow us sideways into the boats opposite. Some quick work with the fenders and careful maneuvering got us neatly parked between a pile and a pontoon end just clear of the fortunately reasonably short boats in those berths!
I took a few moments to collect my thoughts and formulate a plan. Glen, who'd arrived by car, went to the end of the finger we were trying to get onto with instructions to grab a bow line if we got close enough or could heave one to him. Rik took a turn off the bow line round the pile whilst a couple of fellow boaters who'd offered to help stood by to fend us off if needs be.
I then went ahead against the bow line to spring the stem out into the channel before giving Rik the nod to slip the line and giving out the beans in astern. By 'eck does she hold back! Taking the view that it was now or never, I went for it with a hefty lump of forward throttle and the tiller hard over and into the berth we went.
We sorted out fenders and lines and got the kettle on. It looked like rain and we'd be here a day or two so we dug the untried cockpit tent out of the locker. We found it very easy to put up and most excellent once up. With the cockpit cushions hoiked up out of the quarter berth and the table set up its a whole load of extra living space.
I had a firtle with the laptop and the new multiplexer and after some driver issues got it receiving data from the Seatalk instruments and the plotter. The AIS isn't working though which I need to look at further.
Dinner on board was followed by beers at the marina bar then back on board to sort out what Rik and I need for our last outing on Brigantia tomorrow. It's an early start in the morning as we need to make haste to get across the Rays'n and into Tollesbury with enough water to get over the cill
Shake Down Cruise - Day 2
We slept well and woke to a flat calm and a pleasant morning. What we should have woken to, according to every single weather forecast, was a yachtsmans gale!
Oh well, no going back to plan A now. A leisurely start to the day involved coffee and then breakfast at Tollesbury Cafe. This was followed by a raid on Tesco in Maldon to stock up the galley.
By the time we got back to the marina, Rik had arrived and we all repaired on board and put the kettle on. After a stowing session in the galley, activities were somewhat constrained by a band of heavy rain. We spent time going through the systems with Rik instead.
With the rain clearing, I headed out on deck in my wellies and scrubbed all the dust, dirt and bird droppings off the cabin. Ah, a clean boat! I don't suppose it'll last.
We then investigated the inner forestay which led to some head scratching. Put it to one side intending to consult the previous owner add to hire to rig it as nothing seemed to fit. Penny dropped, I think, a little later. We'll try that again!
Jane cooked us a superb sweet and sour chicken for dinner and we even had a glass of champagne courtesy of a half bottle of the stuff Glen had won in a raffle.
After refilling the primary water tank, it was off to the bar for some beer then coffee and rum by the light of the oil lamps before bed.
Rik was struggling with the slightly narrow port settee but the cure seemed to be to rig the lee cloth even though we're in port. I'll see if it worked in the morning.
Tomorrow, we're hoping to move Erbas over to Bradwell so that we're out of the tidal clutches of Woodrolfe Creek. The forecast is horrible but I've no faith in that do it'll be a case of walking out to the sea wall and looking.
Thursday 3 October 2013
Shake Down Cruise - Day 1
The Bosun, the Purser and the Skipper hit the road early afternoon after filling the Bosun's car to near bursting point with kit! We had a good drive down and arrived at Tollesbury mid-afternoon to find Erbas afloat, as expected, on F pontoon.
There then ensued a session of marina barrow rallying, I'm not convinced it'll catch on as a mainstream sport though.
Now we had to start working out the stowage. The first snag became evident when we went to make use of the under berth space forward of the water tanks under the v-berth.
The anchor warp was lying on top of the storage net which it didn't ought to be. I hauled it all out to the point where I reached the chain. Then onto deck to haul all the chain out of the locker. This was inevitably a dirty job with dried mud and rust flakes going everywhere!
At this point, we discovered an item for the "to do" list - the octoplait anchor warp is properly spliced to a very short length of chain which is then shackled to the main chain. No, I couldn't believe it either. I doubt the warp has ever been out of the locker because there is no way that shackle is coming out of the pipe (and in the unlikely event that it did it wouldn't go back again anyway)
We stowed the warp nearly in the locker and then ran the chain back in leaving re-splicing the joint to another day when I've retrieved my rope work kit off Brigantia.
Now Jane and I could get on with stowing our gear whilst Glen claimed the starboard saloon settee berth (first come, first served). We hit a snag in that there isn't a space big enough to store our kit bags so Jane emptied the contents into the generous overhead lockers. That works well enough.
The Bosun and I set about trying the new anchor - a 15kg copy of a Lewmar Delta which I've got on a sort of loan / approval basis from Jim (Full Circle). It's on the limit size wise as the end of the shank is as close as it possibly could be to the windlass gypsy when it's stowed but it does stow nicely thanks to the stainless steel plate that protects the bow.
By now it was well past hungry-crew-o-clock so we decanted the stew Glen had made earlier into two pans and got it warming up. I espoused the belief that there was perhaps a little too much stew but it turned out I was entirely incorrect in this assumption because we are a pair of greedy fat brothers (ha, you thought I was going to be rude there!)
Jane volunteered to wash up and sent Glen and I off with her blessing to have a beer or two in the club. The beer was good so we had three or four!
Back aboard, coffee and rum by the light of an oil lamp rounded off the evening nicely.
Oh and the weather. Yes. We changed our plans on the basis of a forecast South-Easterly F5 gusting 6 or 7. What we've got is a Westerly F2. I don't expect miracles from weather forecasts but you'd think they could at least get it in the ball park!
