Weird wind...

It being the long weekend here in the UK, I took the opportunity to capitalise on my sailing time with a quick trip out on the water bank holiday Monday.

Weather turned out to be the best day of the weekend in the end - and they're now forecasting an indian summer here in the UK (but these are the same people who forecast a "barbecue summer" last year in one of what turned out to be the wettest summers in living memory) - but the wind direction remained northerly.. Weird indeed, I can't get used to doing a run down the harbour - just doesn't seem right...

Just a short trip though - had to take the little'uns out for lunch, as littlest little'un in particular was complaining about going stir crazy - though she didn't want to come sailing - some things don't change!

So - 8.31 miles (cumulative total over there to the left), wind was north by north west - practically dead northerly, but it was all over the place to be honest as it was blowing over land... wind was mostly force 2 with an occasional gust of force 3 or force 4, but not enough to worry about on my first time out with no reefs in some time! GPS tells me top speed was 5 knots but that was engine on the way home - average was 2.9 knots and I'd say that was about right for the afternoon...

Just look at those tacks to get back to the top of the harbour - good fun!

Magical day - lovely in the warm sunshine....

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West Pole Beacon

A triumphant days sailing today - first day in almost two weeks where it hasn't rained - in fact the sun came out again in parts. Biggest little'un and I grabbed the opportunity to go sailing on what has been forecast to be the best day of the holiday weekend here in the UK..

It was windy, though - a very solid force 4, gusting force 5 at times... the wind was also WNW, a definite change from the southwesterly's we've been getting up to now.

So with a couple of reefs rolled in we headed off down the harbour - can't remember the last time I sailed without reefs - I wasn't over-reacting though - there were plenty of other boats out who had also done the same!

Big tide today, so little'un and I decided that it was time for something adventurous. I'll be the first to admit that the weather is beginning to get frustrating - Papillon and I are ready for something more exciting (I'm dying to do the IoW trip I tried to do before I went on holiday, for instance) but I don't feel I'm able to while the weather has been as rubbish as it has been.... This afternoon though, with a lot more northerly in the wind, the entrance to the harbour would be considerably more manageable than it was in the last trip, so we decided to go to sea...

See following for our track (or rather part of it - I've cut off the beginning and end as you can see them from any of the other log entries), which for the first time then took me to the West Pole Beacon - chuffed isn't in it, "Papillon" lapped it up, swell and all - just a short trip, but even that was enough to bring the Nab Tower (another "target") seem much closer...



Distance: 13.86 miles (cumulative total over there to the left)
Wind: WNW - Force 4 gusting to force 5 at times.

All in all a brilliant days sailing - little'un and I had a good chat - we swapped music through the afternoon and being ever open to new musical experiences I quite liked these guys (who are her favourites at the moment) - the video made me laugh, but it's not for the faint hearted!!

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Ghosts laid to rest...

With all non-sailing activity coming to an abrupt stop last weekend due to family commitments, I decided to take the morning off on Friday and catch the early morning tide...

It wasn't what I wanted to do, ideally I wanted to take an entire day and take the opportunity to do a double tide, but the weather round here just lately has definitely taken a turn for the worse... Thursday would have been the optimal day but it turned out windy, grey and raining..

As it turned out Friday was just windy and grey..

...from the recent posts you'd think it was always sunny round here - the above is the conclusive proof it isn't..

So a fairly straight forward four hours, the wind had a touch more west in it than it usually has hence the lack of tacks in the track below to HISC (Hayling Island sailing Club) - from memory I only did one...

Once I got to HISC I picked up the last in their long row of mooring buoys for breakfast. Two Tesco's finest Pork and Leek (cooked in Papillon's new frying pan!) later, and with the thought of a mug of tea to wash it down while I decided where next to go, the bloke whose mooring I was on then returned! Bugger...

After offering apologies and explaining why I was there, I swiftly dropped the mooring and carried on, a little earlier than I'd planned. The chap wasn't annoyed though - I suspect it has happened before, those moorings are very handy!

The wind by now was strengthening; we'd started off with a force 3, but I knew the wind was due to get stronger, so I'd put a fairly chunky reef in the main (two sail sliders worth). By the time I dropped the mooring at HISC it was up to a top end four, and gusting...

With the wind direction as it was - a run down to Chichester (east) would have been great but it would have taken me for ever to get back (a beat all the way back, and in a narrow channel) so with my remaining tide I decided to lay some ghosts to rest and go and visit the site of my dis-masting earlier this summer, the Eaststoke buoy...

Happily I wasn't alone as there was another solo-sailer in a small boat out - he was very, very, good though, so I took my tips from him; tacking to stay close into the shore and out of the worst of the swell which was a feature in the main channel (wind against tide is never good in the mouth to Chichester Harbour - see here ). The entrance to the harbour is comparatively shallow, but the tide was going out, and the wind was blowing in the opposite direction - not a good recipe - it was decidedly choppy!

So - with honour restored, I turned and headed back north - once again a lovely run up harbour, with a quick dash at the end to get on the mooring before the water disappeared (neaps at the moment so not much of it). With a quick tidy up, and wash down of the decks, I was at work by 1... nice way to spend a morning!

Track as follows:



Distance: 10.62 miles (cumulative score just over there to the left)
Wind: Force 4 gusting force 5.

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Mooring practice...

Just back from two weeks holiday in the Pelepenissos (Greece), so apologies for the lack of posts - sometimes laying around in the sun and drinking Greek beer has to take priority over sailing!

Brilliant sailing weather while on holiday by the way, a solid two weeks of 34'/36'C and force 3 or 4 - I lost count of the number of yachts I saw pushing along very nicely under just foresail, on turquoise waters.. if I win the lottery then maybe a sailing holiday out there would be a possibility - until then it's strictly dreaming territory

Just before I went away I'd planned to do the trip to the IoW on the 20th, I'd even taken the day off work to do it only to find out that on the day I couldn't get the damn outboard to start - with the wind in the direction it was, and with the distance planned, I simply couldn't go without the engine - it's insurance in the event of problems - so in the end I had to cancel the voyage, take the engine in to the local mechanic, and go to the pub..

Got it back today and the good (and bad) news is that they found nothing wrong - the mechanic tells me they put it in the water tank to test it and it started first time - they left it running for 30 minutes with no problems, so they gave it the once over to be sure, but nothing wrong. Bill has a couple of thoughts, but basically he's thinking a little bit of grit blocking an air inlet which may have been dislodged when I dropped the engine as I was moving it to the well - either way, the fuel's clean...

If anyone needs their o/board looking at by the way I wholeheartedly recommend these guys [click here] The check only cost me £10 which I think is amazing!

So with a return from holiday, and not been on the boat for two weeks, a visit was to Papillon was very much in order but with a whole load of other stuff to do I didn't have much time - no more than a couple of hours of tide - so I decided to try out the o/board, and then go for some mooring practice under sail...

Not much of a track is it! No more than a mile - I'm happy to say however, that the o/board behaved impeccably, and I managed to pick up a mooring perfectly while only under sail - no external assistance - well, third attempt, but the first two attempts were just playing....!😏

B.t.w - is it me or is this a very windy summer????? It was good top end 3 again today??!

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Toe in the water...

The windy weather continues so this was a 'curtailed' trip (and for you fans of Jack Aubrey, you'll know why that makes me smile!)

In the grand scheme of things, Papillon is a little thing, only 19' and light with it, and she gets to be a real handful in the force 5 bracket..

..and thus despite a fairly major reef on the main, it meant there was still too much sail up on a day that Chimet confirms was a solid force 5 gusting 6, and hence the early return to the mooring... a great shame as it was a lovely day.

So - the forecast was proved wrong (it was supposed to die off later in the afternoon) but on the other hand, one I took the right decision to go back, two I made the right decision to reef before leaving (it could have been a lot worse), three I got to wear my new Henry Lloyd waterproof (that my mum and sister bought me for a "significant" birthday earlier this year) as the spray was flying on the return back to the mooring (wind against tide), and last, although the track records only 5.8 knots, I saw a 6.2 for a very brief moment - OK it may have been tide assisted, but Papillon was flying!!

Not a great loss though - a relaxing beer in the cockpit, with a cigar and a good book, and some decent sounds from the stereo, while idly watching the lads and lasses from HYSTS having fun on their Toppers certainly eased the stresses of the week!

I'm still planning my first big trip on Papillon - the weather is conspiring against me though... on my radar is the Isle of Wight, but we need less wind to make it a possible - if I can though, I'm thinking about a day off from work this week - fingers crossed...

Distance: 5.03 miles (cumulative score just over there to the left)
Wind: Force 5 gusting force 6.

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Pootle...

Just a quick trip today as the tide times were such that I missed the first part of my "tidal window" (I can sail from the mooring two hours either side of the hight tide - may be a bit more on a spring tide) due to little'uns horse riding lesson..

So straight down the harbour as far as I could get, before turning back to get back on the mooring before the water disappeared..

Met up with these guys on the way back to the mooring - lovely boat..
Winds were south-south-westerly to start with - hence the beating up the harbour, but about half way down they went round a tad more westerly allowing me to head at the harbour entrance on one tack...

Hayling Island sailing Club - know to all as HISC for obvious reasons.. took this at my furthest point south just as I turned for home
Winds were force 4 gusting 5 - another windy day - very proud of myself as I had the gumption to reef before I went out, saving myself a whole load of effort later.. good move...

This is "Terror" [click here]the last surviving Chichester Harbour oyster boat - she dates from 1880 and has recently had an extensive renovationDistance: 10.67 miles (cumulative score just over there to the left) top speed for the whole track was 4.5 knots which I think was probably while under engine..
Wind: Force 4 gusting force 5.

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Double tider...

This weekend the tides were very early, and late in the afternoon, but seeing as the current Mrs Steve-the-Wargamer was sleeping off the effects of a night shift for the day, I got up early on Sunday to get to the boat just before the end of the first tide at 0630, and sailed down the harbour to take advantage of a full days sailing in those parts of the harbour that don't turn to mud...

At 0630 there was only me and one other guy (with the same plans obviously) about, but it was gloriously sunny and warm - tshirts only at that time of the day and you know it's going to be a good one...! As early as it was my girls declined the opportunity so I was out on my own..

I left everything sail'wise tied up and secure as there wasn't a breath of wind - very very still - and motored down to the entrance to the harbour where I found a spare mooring just of Hayling Island Sailing Club to tie up to while I had breakfast... magical at that time of the morning - very few boats about (because of the time I think). I also spotted my first seal of the season, who typically disappeared under water just as I got the focus!

A lovely breakfast later, and with the start of the wind beginning to make an appearance, I quickly did the washing up and raised the sails.

My plan for today was to explore some of the farther reaches of the harbour - to the top of the Thorney channel which I usually only get to see the bottom of in the normal course of events, Bosham, and if possible as close to Chichester as possible. As it happened the weather conspired to defeat me, as in the space of time it took between raising the sails and getting to the other side of the harbour, the wind was already up to a force 4!

Coming up the Thorney channel it was clear I needed some reefs in soon, so I dived onto another spare mooring (this time owned by Thorney Island sailing club) while I sorted it out....

I then cast off and headed off on a run for the top of the channel - it's quite beautiful up this channel as both ides are undeveloped and open country - very narrow though, and the trip back up the channel was a beat in a strong breeze with a lot of moored boats... which is my excuse for the slight grounding I experienced on the way up the channel! Luckily I managed to pull her off with the engine, and having learned my lesson I completed the trip up the channel on engine before turning it off at the bottom of the channel, and heading out into the main harbour..

I then had a decision to make, as while I was up the Thorney channel the wind had increased even further and was now five gusting six - seriously windy, but still beautifully sunny.... I could carry on, but would face a very stiff beat to get back, even in time for the afternoon tide I had planned on...

Decision made, I decided to head back to the main channel and run for home - it would appear the decision was the right one as the beat back just over the little distance I had travelled down wind took a good hour, but then I had a cracking run down the harbour - running down wind at 5.2 knots was a good indication of how windy it was!

On the way back I saw this guy who doing circuits and bumps from the runway in Thorney Island army base.

I then "borrowed" my third and last mooring of the day to sit and watch the world go by from while I had some lunch and a much needed cup of tea... tidied up, stowed the sails (it was even windier by now!), and contemplated the world... I then cast off for a gentle putter up to Emsworth, before turning around the "Fishermans" mark and heading back to my mooring... spotted the following on my way up - another Fantasie 19 called "Maricel" - nice looking boat...

All in all a brilliant day out - quite gratifying to see how "Papillon" handled some pretty lumpy weather - she's small so tends to react to guty wind in a "lively" fashion, but it never felt out of control, and once the reefs were in she behaved impeccably... the only thing I would change would be the reefing system, which on "Papillon" is a roller furling boom - sailing solo, slab reefing from the cockpit would be infinitely preferable - something I'll think on, and post separately on, another time...

In the meanwhile, here's the track... click on this, or any of the other pictures, for a gratifyingly bigger view....

Distance: 18.24 miles (cumulative score just over there to the left) top speed for the whole track was 5.2 knots which I saw while under sail on that lovely run back up the harbour.. so I was sailing faster than when under the engine!
Wind: Force 4 to 5, occasionally gusting force 6

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