Oostende for a beer

This was the trip that he had been planning since becoming my owner. I couldn't wait. A trip from the river Crouch to Belgium. All of the planning and preparation seemed to stop about two months ago, apparently it had been busy at work. So all I got was a quick clean, bottom scrub and the addition of his latest ideas; a self steering system. For more details on this see the projects page.

So with hull clean, starter motor refitted (and working!!!), crew on board, we set off on Tuesday evening for the Roach for a night at anchor and an early start on the high tide. A brilliant sail down to the Roach and a peaceful evening. We were off at 4AM, back in the Crouch, sails up and a force 3 Northerly wind with the sun out. We started 3 on, 3 off watches and when off watch tried to get some sleep. We sailed up to the north end of the Whitaker Channel and then round East Barrow and across Sunk Sand bank. Unfortunately he'd misjudged the state of the tide and the depth reduced to a point where crossing the sand bank became impossible so we turned round and went up to the North end of Sunk and then round Black Deep against the tide. Now it was clear through to Belgium using waypoints off the C30 Imray chart. We sailed down the TSS until we reached the bottom of the N/S TSS from Felixstowe to Thames Estuary. The wind had come round to East North East so we started the engine and crossed the TSS without any need to avoid ships and then we crossed to the Main TSS into Belgium waters. As evening fell we approached the TSS  West Hinder TSS leading towards Zebrugge and Oostende. Crossing this TSS was tricky as there was a steady stream of ships going east and west along the TSS. At night it was quite easy to see what was going on but the chart showed an area of fish farms around the MOW7 buoy. These caused some concern but we never actually saw them.

Once across the TSS we sailed East towards Oostende. Keeping south of the North Cardinal marks so that we were outside the TSS seemed a bit weird but we felt safer than being in the shipping. Towards dawn the wind picked up from the North and we sailed towards Oostende. When we contacted Oostende Port control they advised us that a Ferry was due to so we turned round to wait for it. Within a couple of minutes of turning we were facing a fast moving ferry from Ramsgate. No problem but impressed by the Oostende Port Control. We followed the Ferry in and as we made our way up to Royal Yacht Club Oostende was reached the ferry as cars and lorries were already rolling off the ramp. By the time we had made it to the marina and tied up the ferry was on its way out again. Mooring was bit tricky, going astern resulted in an uncontrolled slew to port as the self steering gear contrived to put the helm hard over. We ended up on the adjacent finger!

After a shower and few hours sleep we took the tram into Oostende and had a look round, while the town was not our cup of tea we had a good look round the Sail Training Ship, Mercator.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_(ship) , fascinating look at how Cadets lived in the days of proper training. An evening meal on board then a few beers in the RYCO, this was what the excuse for the trip had been about. Belgium beer, like Belgium, is probably best sampled outside of Oostende. The RYCO was a strange mix of old surrounded by new. The club house is the best appointed club house I have ever been in but with the petrol station and tram line outside and the sand and gravel docks to one side it felt a bit out of place.

We got up and left on the morning tide at about 5AM. As soon as we untied the STOP light showing that the port had a large ship manoeuvring came on so we had a quiet 10 minutes to practice going astern and turning around. Going astern worked better with the self steering gear locked in position but was still very difficult.
When the STOP light cleared we were given a very quick permission to transit the port, they must have seen us going round in circles on their radar. We sailed back along a slightly different route keeping further south which worked well except for getting stuck against the tide going across the TSS North of Foxtrot 3 roundabout. Three hours battling the tide, heading North and making West when we wanted North West was frustrating. I know what the col regs say! With a knot and a half of tide and 20 knots of wind I probably have about 30 degrees of leeway. After making it across the TSS we were shadowed by a family of dolphins, if we'd known they were going to follow us for 15 minutes we'd of looked for the cameras. As it was we only expected it to be for a couple of minutes so we spent all of the time watching them. There seemed to be four of them, two larger dark coloured and two mottled lighter coloured dolphins. I am not that much into wildlife but this was very special. Surrounded by wind farms and just out of sight of the Kent coast and we have beautiful dark turquoise seas and a group of Dolphins to keep us company.

To pass Thanet wind farm seemed to take ages, about 5 hours, then Kent Knock and then on to Fisherman's Gat. The weather was great.

By the time we were entering Fisherman's Gat the bouys were all lit up, we made it through to Black Deep in three hours with tide and wind against us. Heavy rain and lightening made the run through Black Deep and across Sunk Sand Bank a bit more nerve wracking than. Once across the Sunk Bank it was west into the Whitaker channel and back down the Crouch. The new buoyage caused a couple of problems, while the lights were great when close up, they proved a bit difficult to spot in the gloom and differentiate from each other. We had the tide with us all the way to Bridgemarsh.

A great trip, 250 miles, 54 hours, 32 hours engine time with 18 hours at night and back safe. Not bad for a  39 year old.

How not to do it

As you may have realised if you've read my previous blogs, the recurring theme has been running aground. This story happened towards the end of the 2009 season and features the most significant grounding under my current owner. He had planned to sail round to The Blackwater and pick up a couple of friends and spend the week visiting new spots then return to the Crouch. To get round the Spitway with the tide meant a very early start, to soften this he decided to anchor in the Roach entrance and set off at first light. The engine had been playing up a bit so we anchored under sail, no dramas. The night at anchor was wet but uneventful.

When it came to weighing anchor the weather was very overcast and still dark. The engine started OK but halfway through weighing anchor it stalled. He got the anchor up and lashed and the jib unfurled in record time. So off up the Roach to the Crouch in the dark. The engine started again but stalled after about 5 minutes. The very first light was coming up but it was still dark. For some reason the echo sounder was stuck on 7m. With a southerly wind the trip out of the Crouch should have been simple. It wasn't! My owner let me drift towards the North lee bank and with the tide in full flow out of the river it was neigh on impossible to tack me round to make ground up to wind. Rather than gybe all the way round he kept trying to head-up but continually lost ground down wind. It was obvious that he wasn't going to make it. Next thing we knew my steering was getting heavier and then the inevitable happened, we stopped.

It was getting lighter now, the situation was becoming clearer. The fool had let several situations conspire to create a serious grounding at half tide. The best we could hope for was 6 hours on a lee shore and that the wind wouldn't increase. We took the ground gently and he managed to get the boat to lie leaning towards the shore. As the water dropped and the waves reduced things settled down. It was a lovely morning

The sun rise was excellent and the clouds made a dramatic view towards the North Sea.

 
Looking back from where we'd come there was obvious signs of ploughing the mud.

As soon as things settled down he put up the anchor ball and then tried to swing the anchor out as far as possible towards the fast retreating water. So he was going to pretend that he'd anchored here, unbelievable. About an hour later the Foulness Range Safety vessel Anna Maria, I think she's called, came over for a look. Owner stayed below! As the tide started to come back in he got the outboard onto the bracket and then tried laying an anchor astern. The wind was still blowing us onto the bank and the flood tide was pushing us backwards but was we came upright the outboard helped pull the stern into wind and out into the river. The stern anchor was retrieved and then the main anchor was weighed as the chain became more vertical. Then it was back to Bridgemarsh as we'd missed the tide for getting to the Blackwater.

I was completely covered in mud, it took a couple of hours with a mop and hose to clear this off.

What was wrong with the engine? Almost definitely the fool had put too much oil in as when some oil was sucked out it ran without a problem. Just hope there was no long term damage. The echo sounder started reading properly again when the batteries were changed-over. Probably a case of low volts. This was finally proved when the the wiring to the echo sounder was replaced after several instances of intermittent behaviour. Why the problem with tacking, well everyone told him this but the fool wouldn't listen. Having a large 4 stroke outboard onboard upset the trim and made tacking difficult. This has since been resolved.

Lessons learnt but some were so obvious that they didn't need learning.

Blackwater and back

After the delivery trip from Woodbridge in April 2009 life settled down for a while. Living on the Crouch was OK to start with, the would be ship wright cum bodger spent time tinkering with various bits trying to make me easier to handle singlehanded. A couple of trips down the Crouch then the first big one. My Owner brought a friend of his over for a weekend away at the end of May 2009. We set off from Althorne a little late for the tide so getting up to the Spitway was tight but we went for it as the wind was from the South and ideal for the run round to Bradwell. The tide turned on the way into the Blackwater so getting into Bradwell was later than expected but all went well.

A couple of beers in the Green Man, not sure they'd ever seen an oriental gentleman from Persia before judging by the looks we got. Still, he chatted up the bar maids which wound the locals up nicely.

Plan for the way back was to get up early, catch the falling tide out of Bradwell and the Blackwater then an hour or two against it to the Spitway and through to The Crouch on the rising tide. What could go wrong. You've guessed it, something did go wrong. On the way out of Bradwell my muppet of an owner ran aground in Bradwell Creek on a falling tide. So change of plan, when we did leave he decided to go for the Ray Sand Channel. Now if any of you have heard of this channel you will know that it is a myth and legend. At some point in the past it probably was a navigable channel. Now it is just the bit of mud that joins Buxey Sand to Ray Sand and the Dengie Flats, for sand read mud. Anyway, off we set, four hours later than planned, deadline detirmined by my owner's friend who had a flight booked back home, so no pressure.

Nothing broke and I kept my side of the bargain. I went where I was pointed, my engine behaved and my sails went up and down when they wanted them to. I know the mud through Ray Sand Channel is soft but I didn't really want to sit in it for too long and the plan they concocted would indicate that this might be about 2 hours. I could tell that my owner was anxious, nervous and bascially scared. The depth was getting less and less and time was against us. Luckily there is little water flow in the Ray Sand Channel so we weren't pushed backwards. The reason there's no flow is because there water can't get through. I draw 1m, I know this after we hit the sill leaving the Tidemill Marina in Woodbridge. The echo sounder was showing 1m! Then it was showing 0.9m and I could feel the slime. We weren't even up to the shallowest part yet. For a very brief period, maybe a minute or so, the sounder showed 0.8m and it felt like motoring through warm treacle. Then it started to get deeper, phew. I was all set for a gentle rest in the mud but my owner seemed to loose several stone in nervous energy.

Then is was plain sailing back to Bridgemarsh. Kind of a typical trip really. Ran aground twice, missing the tide and almost my owner's friend's flight. There are photos but I won't put them up just yet to protect the innocent.
     

Exhausted

So what did he do with the broken exhaust?

You guessed it; jubilee clips, exhaust putty and a home made stainless steel sleeve then baked for 4 hours at 100C. A home brew repair!  Will it work, find out later when he fits it.

Luckily he took measurements and the photos might help someone work out what they are supposed to be. If he ever gets some money he might spend it on a proper engine but I won't hold my seacocks.

A mixed weekend

So his plan was to sail me down to the Roach on Friday evening, anchor in Brankfleet then motor / sail round the islands south of the Roach the next day and back to Bridgemarsh before the low water on Saturday afternoon. My predictions were several groundings, get stuck in the racing boats on the Crouch and finally miss the tide. I am not saying that I have little confidence in my owner but history does have something to do with my pesimistic view of his abilities.

As it turned out I couldn't have been more wrong. We had a very gentle sail down on Friday evening passing Baltic Terminal

and the Stella yacht Polaris of Burnham

Anchored south of Branklet Spit, echo sounder wasn't working so he chucked 15m of chain over the side and it seemed to hold. Spent a pleasant hour re-wiring the sounder and VHF which now work fine. Then he had a beer and slept reasonably well until the wind got up. At 8AM on Saturday we set off down the Roach against the wind and then via Yorkfleet Creek and Narrow Cuts to Havengore bridge. Although the fool seemed worried about depth and the sounder and almost everything else the trip was fine, only managed about 2 knots into the wind which was force 4. At Havengore Bridge he turned round the end of Rushey Island and headed for Suttons Boatyard. Then sailed back up past Potton Island along Yorkfleet back into the Roach. This was one of those creek exploring trips that can go one way or the other. It went really well, although it took about 2 hours to get to Havengore from where we'd anchored, it only took 30 minutes to get back into the Crouch.

From there it was head into wind again and motor back to Bridgemarsh through the racing yachts etc. Things were going very well so just off Baltic Terminal I decided to throw a spanner into the works. My exhaust broke in two just by the cooling water injector!!

To his credit the fool didn't panic, he checked to see how much water was coming in and then sailed back up Cliff Reach and into Althorne Creek. Some idiot had anchored in the entrance which made things a bit tricky. Back on engine for the final approach so plenty of pumping the bilges and low revs and we made it back in.

Alround, a good trip but I guess it will take him a while to sort out the exhaust problem.

I suspect that he'll try some sort of home brew fix but I doubt if it will work for long!!

Back stay chain plates

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my back stay chain plates or lack of them was a problem. What had happened was that a previous owner had drilled through the upper molding and fitted 8M eye bolts without backing plates or chain plates. The result was that the eye bolts pulled through the coaming and the gel coat had disintegrated in the area.

To get round this my new owner tried several methods of reinforcing the fabric to mixed effect. The fool tried fibre-glassing through the inspection hatch. Dripped resin all over the stern sheets, made the wood doubler too big for the hole, lost a fibre glass matt into the engine area and generally made things worse. Next attempt was to put in stainless plates inside and out to spread the stress. Unfortunately the only sensible place to locate the eye bolts meant that the triangular plates had to mounted upsidedown. Hardly a good outcome.

Final attempt, at least the last one to date, was to fit 9" plates through the rubbing strake and into the lower moulding. This seemed to do the trick.

 So far so good, much stronger and I can now apply some tension to the back stays when sailing upwind.

Next job is to try and sound proof the engine room. Photos might be a bit more difficult as The Fool doesn't seem too good with a camera.

First voyage

Delivery, concerns from will the owner be able to steer to will I stay afloat ran through my mind as we set off. It was a very poor start, the idiot ran aground in one way or another four times within the first hour! First off the tender he was using to reach my was stuck on the bank of the river, then he tried to leave the buoy whilst I was still on the mud, next came the mud bank near the quay which I saw him looking at from the quay earlier and he still got stuck on it, finally he put me on the mud by the quay. If this was a sign of things to come then we had a problem.

Luckily his mates seemed to agree with me, get a grip new boy! I gave him the benefit of the doubt and to my delight he and his mates took me down the Deben for the first sail I had done for a couple of years. At least we didn't run aground again and he seemed to have some basic ideas about how to sail. It was brilliant, we reached 5 knots and although under genoa the whole time it felt great. We made it back into the Tidemill marina without too much drama but someone was a bit too eager with my gear selector so I stopped it from working. That would teach them!

The next day the plan was to leave on the tide and reach Felixstow Ferry at high tide then sail round to Shotley Marina. Good plan, unfortunatley it meant leaving at 3pm and again we touched the bottom. This time it was the sill at the Tidemill. No major scares except that they tried to use this oversized outboard engine to manoeuvre me out of the marina. Not too clever, they forgot to lock the engine in place!!

At Shotley one of the crew had to operate the gear selector with a line and the boat hook! We got there in time to see them rush off to the bar. A really pleasant sail down the coast so things were looking good.

The next day we sailed from Shotley to Althorne where I now live. Again a long day but at least we didn't end up on the mud again. It was good to be out on the water again and things were looking good for the future.