Summer Lift Out - Day 3

Although we had an earlier night it was still quite a late start this morning. The Bosun elected to spring for breakfast in the Club House rather than put the bacon on which suited me fine

With a full English and a couple of coffees inside me I was sufficiently fortified to crack on with masking the boottop line and then getting the first coat of hard antifoul on

By the time I'd then put another coat of antifoul on the prop, the first coat of boottop was dry and on went the second coat.

Glen sorted out moving the cockpit tidy bag up a bit so that the grating can be removed for cleaning and by the time that was done the boottop was dry enough to remove the masking tape



All that remained was to pack away and tidy up leaving us free to get away by early afternoon. That made for a swift run home in light traffic.

Erbas will be back in the water next week and we'll be back aboard in a fortnight. Here's hoping the weather is still good!

Summer Lift Out - Day 1 & 2

Yesterday, I picked up the Bosun just before five and we hit the road for Essex. It was a slow run down but by eight we were in the pub and blowing the froth off the first of several pints of Maldon Gold

I usually drink IPA but it'd been replaced with another golden beer making three out of three. Mutter grumble.

A late night led to a late start this morning but once we'd consumed coffee and bacon butties we got stuck in to scrubbing and scraping the hull. The lads do an excellent job when they lift out and pressure wash so it didn't take long to clean the last few bits



Then it was paint mixing time. I'd got half a tin of blue Jotun Seaqueen and a bit under half a tin of red. Mixing them together with a bent coathanger in the cordless drill produced... a nearly full tin of blue Jotun Seaqueen!



Nope, I don't know how that works either!

Anyway, on it went nicely and then whilst that coat dried we popped up to Marinestore in Maldon to get a new shaft anode. The old one had largely departed the boat leaving one small piece hanging on.

We also nipped into Wickes for some fresh rollers and brushes then it was back to the boat for lunch.

We fitted the new anode and gave the prop a coat of hard antifoul then set about applying a second coat of Jotun to the hull. The heat was sapping to work in but allowed us to get two coats on in the day.

With such excellent progress, we stuck our heads around the door of the office to let Toby know that we can go back in the water on Monday.

Then it was on with the work. We gave the topsides a polish and touched up the scratches and dings in the paintwork and by the end she was looking quite smart



Theres just the boottop (the white stripe along the waterline) to do tomorrow which should leave time for some jobs off the to do list

It was off to the pub again for food and beer and I was delighted to find that the IPA had staged a comeback!

Earlier night tonight methinks

The life of a raft

Is about four years between services and our liferaft is about seven years old.

To be honest, it'd been offloaded into the lock store to make space for the inflatable dinghy which I decided was much the more useful thing to carry

However, our friends Ian and Jo are taking their Sabre 27 Apogee over to France for a fortnight and for cross-channel and offshore sailing a liferaft is definitely a good idea

So three weeks ago it was packed up and shipped off for a service which has been completed, after chasing it up several times, in the nick of time

Meanwhile, the tragic event of the loss of a Moody 31 and the death of one of her crew after a collision off Harwich has me rethinking my decision not to routinely carry the raft

On its return from foreign parts we shall have to have a look at revising the stowage plan



It's a potentially dangerous world out there

Summer Weekend Day 4

We both slept very well and it was definitely a two mug start to the day - that's two mugs of coffee to get me moving, not two mugs as in me and Jane!
Jane set about packing the bags and tidying up whilst I headed up to the marina to check whether we needed to remove the genoa as we're coming out of the water for the weekend

Caught up with Toby and the lads in the yacht station yard as it happens and the answer was "yes , please" which is what I expected

On the other hand, as they're going to fetch her out tomorrow Toby said not to bother putting her back on her buoy.

So it was back to the boat with a trolley, fetch off our bags and then all hands to removing and stowing the genoa.

All that remained to be done was to choose what needed to be closed, open what needed to be left open and to lock up.

Then I paddled the RIB up to the hammerhead. After dropping the outboard onto the pontoon I decided to leave the RIB in the water with the other larger dinghys for now. We were getting pushed for time so I'll remove the old tender from its temporary home next weekend

The journey home ended up being via St. Ives of all places after we baled off the A14 south of Cambridge due to nearly stationary traffic. We were still home in under two and a half hours though

Next weekend is next weekend and we'll be scraping and painting the bottom maroon. Well I think it'll be maroon, that's what I'm expecting to get when I mix half a tin of blue antifouling with half a tin of red!

Oh and it looks like we'll be lifted out round at the marina cos the yacht station tractor is poorly. Not that it's a problem



A tender behind from yesterday

Summer Weekend Day 3

Log:



Today was a funny old day.

The forecast was northerly or Nor'easterly 4 or 5 occasionally 6 in the South of the area so I clipped in the first reef on the main before we started up and let go.

With the big spring tides this weekend we had to wait until the flood had made a coupe of foot so our departure wasn't particularly early. The timings though were nice for putting us over the Raysand around half tide with plenty of flood left for the run upriver

I had her sailing straight away beating out of the Blackwater against the tide in a solid F4 with occasional gusts up to 20 knots. With her weedy bottom Erbas needed all the breeze she could get!

Unlike yesterday however, this time I was able to get her nicely settled into the groove. Initially close hauled, and having to put in a couple of tacks to stay off the lee shore, and then reaching with a reef in the genoa as well as the main, she cracked along nicely.

However, once we cleared Start Point and turned downwind we lost boat speed drastically. Of course, we were now heading away from the wind thus reducing the apparent wind across the deck but the breeze had also dropped and there just wasn't enough power in the sails to make good headway. And, of course, we were towing the new (to us) tender which tows nicely but obviously adds drag

I briefly toyed with the idea of deploying Scary Sail but Jane was feeling queasy in the, it has to be admitted, rather unpleasant choppy sea so it was on with the engine and get a move on

There were a surprising number of boats in the Ray'sn. About a dozen yachts followed us down and a couple more headed north.

None of them had read my blog or forum posts though and we were the only boat to cut across to the Outer Crouch No.3 (actually, I think we were inside that too). Once again we never saw less than about 3m all the way across and the sands appear to be pretty flat and only just drying. Must get down there on a calm day and have a proper look sometime.

Once in the river and out of the chop, Jane made us some toast which improved her mood to the point where she force fed me the rest of the bacon from the fridge (she did very kindly cook it first)

To my utter disbelief, the North wind had now become a Nor'wester and I really couldn't be doing with mucking about so it was motor on upriver

Tied up on the pontoon back at base we crashed out for a couple of hours before eating on board and then heading to the pub for a couple of drinks

A typical day of East Coast sailing really!

Summer Weekend Day 2

Blog App output :




What a frustrating day!

All the way downriver we had the wind pretty much on the nose. For short spells we got some life out of the sails but never for long

We were passed by a long procession of motor boats in the outer reaches of the river. Must have been a dozen or more in line astern. The motor boat crowd often get a bad press from us raggies (as they fondly refer to sailors) so just for the record the whole fleet were impeccably well mannered, left as wide a berth as practically possible to other vessels and created no more wash than necessary

As we cleared Holliwell Point, I cut across the sands close in to get on the wind at last and we were able to shut off the engine.

Not for long though. The wind suddenly shifted from Nor'easterly into the North heading us and forcing a tack to avoid going inside the old range beacons on the Ray Sand.

It also took the opportunity to cut up uncomfortably choppy and with our lack of boat speed, which I'll come to in a minute, we were getting all but stopped dead at times.

Enough, frankly, was quite enough of that and it was back on with the engine and motor round into Bradwell Marina

That lack of boat speed thing. I felt we'd lost the edge off her performance under both sail and motor on the Norfolk trip. Today it was clear the problem had become a lot worse.

Under power she's gutless. Even at full chat, which used to pull the cockpit drain and water and give well over six knots of boat speed, she now behaves like a bored teenager

Under sail, she just doesn't want to settle down. Try add I might I could not get her into any sort of groove.

Matters were not helped by the lack of luff tension on the main. Grind as I might, the head of the sail was up as far as the black band on the mast and stubbornly refused to go an inch further. The solution to that problem was simple - drop the boom gooseneck a couple of inches lower on the mast (right to where there's a taped band marking the mast. Odd that. Odder too that we didn't have, or perhaps didn't notice, this problem before)

However, the real problem is the explosion of weed growth on the hull in the three weeks since we got back from Norfolk. I suspected the bottom was foul, now it's a clearly visible fact

The weed is almost certainly accompanied by a nasty case of the barnacles, particularly on the prop

Happily, I've already booked a lift and pressure wash for next week and a weekend ashore to refresh the antifouling
On another note, I mentioned we were down -65A/H on arrival yesterday. We plugged in overnight but only recovered half of the charge by this morning. The monitor was still indicating -36A/H but the mains charger was putting a paltry 0.7A into the domestic battery bank (and nothing at all into the engine battery)

On the have of it, that would suggest the batteries were close to being fully charged. However, by the time we got to Bradwell, the engine alternator had fully charged the batteries and the monitor was reading 0A/H

That now suggests a problem with the Sterling mains charger. That I could do without

Oh and the autopilot has gone doolally too. George is going to have to be given a severe talking to (also known as a factory reset) cos he's over steering and too slow to respond. Somehow the settings seem to have got messed up

Anyway, upon arrival in Bradwell we berthed alongside Apogee and meet up with Ian and Jo. I tested out the new addition to our fleet which Ian had brought over for our perusal. It's a small Avon RIB which will be an immeasurably superior tender for use on the moorings and consigns the evil GRP dinghy to garden ornament status

After that, beer flowed, wine was partaken, an excellent meal was eaten in the clubhouse and much talk of sailing ensued. Twas a lovely evening in great company and we both throughly enjoyed ourselves.

Then we went to sleep!

A Summer Weekend - Day 1

Y'know, it's really hard trying to think up snappy, witty titles for these posts. As you can no doubt tell, I gave up on it this time!

It was the usual turgid Friday afternoon drive down however the compensation was arriving at Fambridge on a gorgeous warm summer's evening

Rowing out to Erbas on her mooring was easy, so unlike the last occasion and she was soon alongside the pontoon

I'm curious, to say the least, as to what is eating power as she was down to -65A on the monitor. That's a fair bit in barely three weeks. It's going to need investigation.

It didn't take long to pop our bags aboard, make up the bed and sort everything out and we were pub bound by seven. A decent meal and a few drinks were followed by a fairly early night for Jane and I won't be far behind

Tomorrow we're off to Bradwell. With an afternoon high tide there's no great rush to get away in the morning. The weather forecast isn't bad either. F3 or 4 from the North East isn't ideal but it'll go

2014 Spring Cruise - Tracks, Stats and Summary

I debated re-editing the individual day posts with the corrected and updated info from analysing the logs and decided against it. So this is going to be quite a long post!

While I think of it, I'm aware that the day numbering went a bit awry in the second week, I think I lost the plot somewhere!

Anyway, here we go with the full report ...

Note that all distances are in nautical miles (1.15 land miles, 1.852Km)
All times are British Summertime (UTC+1) unless otherwise stated

Day 1 Friday 9th May 2014 - Arrival (skipper only)

I arrived and after a slightly dodgy dinghy ride moved Erbas onto the river pontoon for the night.

Engine hours on arrival 454.5, after moving onto the pontoon hours up to 454.8

Also of note is that on arrival the battery monitor was indicating -033 amps. Not sure what is using power when we're not on board, might be the auto bilge pump running, might even just be all the blasted LEDs that are lit up like a Christmas tree when the power is on! I elected not to plug in for the night as there'd be ample opportunity to do so at Burnham over the weekend

Day 2 Saturday 10th May 2014 - North Fambridge to Burnham Yacht Harbour

Departed North Fambridge 11:52, arrived Burnham Yacht Harbour 13:15
5 miles in 1:23 under motor

F6 gusting F7/8 and rather rough conditions on the river coupled with being single handed on a relatively unfamiliar boat dictated a quick dash downriver under power and no heroics

(Note: I hadn't set up the technology to record track logs at this stage so there isn't one for this day)

I attended the East Coast Forum Fitting Up Supper at the Crouch Yacht Club in the evening

Day 3 Sunday 11th May 2014 - In port (Burnham Yacht Harbour), Arrival (First Mate)

Rik had delayed his arrival by a couple of days to give himself more time to recover from a nasty throat infection. Arriving by car, he unloaded his gear onto the boat and then drove to North Fambridge before catching the train back to Burnham

Potentially, this could have been a lost day however given the weather (both forecast and actual) it's unlikely we would have departed anyway.

Day 4 Monday 12th May 2014 - Burnham Yacht Harbour to Harwich

Water topped up and batteries fully charged prior to departure

Departed Burnham 10:47
Arrived Harwich 18:37

A mixed day of sailing in variable conditions and then motoring for more than half the passage










Day 5 Tuesday 13th May 2014 - In port (Harwich)

Rik was still recovering and I wasn't at my scintillating best either so, given a less than enticing weather forecast we spent the day resting and looking around the historical attractions of Harwich (of which there are more than you might realise at a casual glance) Oh and getting rained upon fairly thoroughly

Day 6 Wednesday 14th May 2014 - Harwich to Southwold

Departed Harwich 07:20
Arrived Southwold 19:29

The passage plan stated "towards Lowestoft" and in more favourable conditions we would doubtless have made that destination

However, this was one of the best days sailing yet as far as the skipper was concerned (the mate wasn't enjoying it anything like as much)

Despite a stiff head wind and fairly choppy conditions, we sailed virtually the entire passage making good speed despite problems with the genoa furler and the mainsail reefing

Worthy of note is that since disconnecting the shore power at Burnham on Monday morning, the battery monitor was registering -027 amps on arrival

Day 7 Thursday 15th May 2014 - In port (Southwold)

Starting to establish a pattern here! Sail a day, stop a day. Actually, it's an excellent cruising strategy. Low energy levels were at work again, Rik in particular needed rest and I wasn't in a rush to do anything energetic.

Oh and we exhausted the port forward water tank (15 gallons) late morning which as lasted us since Monday morning. Only another 26 gallons to go!

Day 8 Friday 16th May 2014 - Southwold to Wells-next-the-Sea

It suddenly occurred to me, as I was looking at a provisional passage plan from Lowestoft to Wells for Saturday that departing Southwold on the tide around lunchtime on Friday and sailing through the night would make for a near perfect arrival for the morning high water at Wells on Saturday

Departed Southwold 12:31 Friday
Arrived Wells Harbour 07:36 Saturday
(including just over an hour anchored off waiting for the tide)

Prior to cooking the evening meal, we had to refill the l/h cooker burner. Not ideal at sea (should have been done before we departed, mea culpa). We'd filled the r/h burner just before departure.

Despite rather variable conditions - everything from 23 to 25 knots across the deck to flat calm - we executed the passage plan perfectly. It did look awfully reminiscent of our previous attempt to sail up the Norfolk coast at night when in the early hours I started to think we needed a second reef in!

However, that rise in wind speed was a last flourish of whatever weather system had brought a fresh breeze to get us sailing again and we ended the passage under motor in flat calm conditions.

Day 9 Saturday 17th May 2014 - arrival Wells-next-the-Sea

We grabbed a few hours rest after our overnight endeavours then made a run ashore for basic supplies. The evening was spent watching a very good rock/pop covers band aboard the Albatros, a former Baltic trading sailing ship which despite being used as a bar and eatery is still capable of going to sea.

Day 10 Sunday 18th May 2014 - In port (Wells Harbour)

Another day in port however this one was always the plan. It would be daft to go to all the trouble of getting this far and not stay around long enough for some sightseeing.

We did some sightseeing and then we did a lot more drinking of the beer aboard the Albatros!

Oh and we picked up some spare nav light bulbs although the problem with the bow light had turned out to be bad connections (which came as no surprise)

Day 11 Monday 19th May 2014 - Wells Harbour to Lowestoft

We would have liked to spend more time in Norfolk, Blakeney Harbour definitely begs a visit, but the delayed departure and the leisurely run Northwards meant it was time to head South again

Departed Wells Harbour 08:22
Arrived Lowestoft 22:26

This passage was an interesting counterpoint to the sail from Harwich to Southwold which I enjoyed and Rik didn't. Today it was my turn to be out of sorts. I hadn't slept very well and I was definitely struggling with mild sea sickness. The conditions weren't great either with rather too much wind from entirely the wrong direction.

Our entry into Lowestoft in the dark was rather exciting and it was annoying to find everything at the Royal Norfolk in darkness so we didn't even get a pint!

A day that goes into my personal log as "job done, nuff said"
Day 12 Tuesday 20th May 2014 - In port (Lowestoft)
Sleeping in late made another day in port a no-brainer. It wasn't a wasted day with various tasks tackled off the "to do" list.

The spare 10l diesel can went into the main tank and then it was refilled at Asda as was the snack locker (the most important stowage space on the boat!)

We scrubbed up and donned smart casual attire for dinner in the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club.

Day 13 Wednesday 21st May 2014 - Lowestoft to Woodbridge

Departed Lowestoft 07:08
Arrived Woodbridge 18:11

Switched to port water tank mid-afternoon. The starboard tank has lasted six days

The decision to have a run up the Deben was partly in the interests of research for future reference and partly dictated by a poor forecast for the following day sending us scuttling for a safe haven

Apart from our first attempt at flying the spinnaker, which passed off without any disasters, it wasn't a particularly exciting day



Day 14 Thursday 22nd May 2014 - In port (Woodbridge)

A day so forgettable that it didn't even feature in the blog. I'd hurt my knee and elbow tripping on a doorstep on the way back from the pub the previous night (and I wasn't even drunk enough for it not to hurt), neither of us felt too great and the weather was not great either.

So we stayed put and did very little although I did rouse myself for a look around the Tide Mill which I thoroughly recommend

Day 15 Friday 23rd May 2014 - Woodbridge to Ipswich (Fox's Marina)

Departed Woodbridge 07:17
Arrived Ipswich (Fox's Marina) 13:40

A short day mainly aimed at getting a new float switch for the grey water sump pump which I hoped Fox's would have someting suitable in stock. Unfortunately they didn't.

Another 12l of diesel into the main tank today. It's far from full but there's plenty for our needs

Day 16 Saturday 24th May 2014 - Ipswich (Fox's Marina) to Brightlingsea

Departed Ipswich 10:35
Arrived Brightlingsea 17:39
A whole raft of factors came into play with my skippery decision making on this one. Rik levelled the accusation that had it not been for meeting up with friends we would have stayed in the Orwell given the weather but this was only partially justified

Our sister boat "Apogee" was setting out from Tollesbury with a view to heading up the Wallet (the passage inshore between Clacton and The Naze) but the conditions were not to their liking and I could see on the AIS app on my phone that they'd turned back for Brightlingsea

I very much had in mind a desire to push my limits. I've every confidence that "Erbas" can handle pretty well anything the weather could throw at her but I'm not so sure about me. Especially not after feeling distinctly queasy already on this trip

Although our departure was delayed by heavy rain, it mattered not time wise. What did matter was that, with the rig well reefed down, "Erbas" handled the conditions superbly and so did the crew. It was a bit lumpy to say the least as we motored out of the Orwell but once we were sailing in the Wallet, not famed for being a nice stretch of water in a blow, we actually started to enjoy ourselves.

Brightlingsea is not one of my favourite ports of call. However, I can't complain about the curry or the company although having to curtail the evening before 23:00 to catch the ferry back to the pontoon was annoying.

Day 17 Sunday 25th May 2014 - Brightlingsea to North Fambridge

Departed Brightlingsea 07:50
Arrived North Fambridge 14:08

A foul wind made motoring as far as the Crouch the only viable option. Once in the outer river we were able to make sail and had an excellent sail too

It was pretty brisk sailing and normally we'd have been running with at least one reef in both the main and the genoa in those conditions but in the shelter of the river I was happy to push the boat and the rig a bit and find out how she went. She went well but it would be hard work sailing that hard all day long!

Arriving back at Fambridge we completed the cruise with 495.0 hours on the engine hours meter, put another 18 litres of diesel into the tank (it's by no means full but it's probably somewhere near where it was before we set out - as the gauge was stuck on full we can't be certain of exactly how close) and topped up all the water tanks using the bottom fill point under the cabin sole

Day 18 Monday 26th May 2014 - Departure Day

Offloading gear, putting gear that had been offloaded back on board, cleaning everything and then off homewards. Rik was on his way by lunchtime, I was away by late afternoon

Summary

Total engine hours: 40.2

We motored for 39 hours and 28 minutes covering 157.03 miles at an average speed of 3.98 knots
We sailed for 44 hours 20 minutes covering 177.39 miles at an average speed of 4.00 knots

In total we covered 334.43 miles in 83 hours 48 minutes

We used somewhat more than 40 litres of diesel (but our consumption was not excessive)

Once the decision had been taken to spend the first weekend in Burnham any realistic prospect of reaching Yorkshire went by the board. With Rik being decidely under the weather for the first few days after his delayed arrival it was clear he needed as much rest as possible

Effectively, the first week was virtually single handed with help, and despite my lack of energy (something I need to look at, lack of physical fitness probably) we acheived our primary goal of reaching the North Norfolk coast and actually making it into port this time!

The two key highlights for me were the sail from Harwich to Southwold and the overnight passage from Lowestoft to Wells (although I was shattered by the time we anchored off Wells Harbour)

Towards the end of the fortnight I began to feel I was getting to grips with sailing "Erbas". She's a different proposition to "Brigantia", bigger, heavier and more physically demanding and I don't think I'm even close to getting the best out of her. It's early days with a new, to us, boat so I'm reasonably pleased with the stats

One thing that is niggling me though is that we seem to have lost performance under power compared to last autumn. I suspect fouling of the prop, and of the bottom too probably, is robbing us of some speed under power and sail alike. That's the drawback of not coming out of the water last winter

I had hoped for an opportunity to dry out during the cruise but it didn't pan out like that.

The "hop and stop" strategy that Jane prefers (a short day at sea followed by a long day in port) translates well into longer days at sea too. Whilst it doesn't lend itself to racking up the miles it is a very relaxed way to go cruising. Given the circumstances it was absolutely the right approach and the fact that both Rik and I felt we'd have been happy to carry on for another week or longer (unlike last year when we were knackered by the time we got back) speaks volumes

Overall, a very satisfactory and largely enjoyable fortnight