I can't believe we are about to enter October. Where did the season go?
It has been a pretty disappointing season for sailing (and gardening). Not that I haven't had fun but it could have been much better, although, saying that, it could also have been much worse. I have been pretty fortunate in the fact that the days and weekends I have had off have been relatively good compared to most of the times I was not available - luck of the draw, which for once, has worked in my favour.
For our first season of ownership and sailing, we have gained a LOT of experience, far more than I would have imagined.
My biggest boost was the fact that Caroline (my ever suffering wife) has taken to sailing like the proverbial duck to water, having never set foot on a sailing boat prior to us buying Rosally. She really has been a star, without whom, I wouldn't have had a fraction of the enjoyment I have had.
She is quickly becoming a very competent crewmember and the only thing that holds her back is her OWN confidence in her abilities.
For someone who gets travel sick in cars, she was (understandably) unsure about how she would be on the water. One look at her face as she's helming Rosally, in a 10 foot swell, tells another story. A look of utter concentration, yet with a grin from ear to ear, despte the rain, wind and spray.
A major advantage is that our two boys have reached an age, 18 & 14, where they can be trusted to be left alone for a few days (though, more often than not, Carolines brother will stay over "just in case"). This makes life so much easier.
She is already gearing up for a lot more cruising next year and is very enthusiastic about taking a few weeks off to poke around the Bergen/ Stavanger area of Norway next year, as well as trips to Skye and possibly Ireland. Let's hope the weather is a little more helpful next season.
Well, I better go, as I am waiting for my taxi to take me to the airport, as I am heading home to Aberdeen today. Unfortunately the weather forecast for Oban is pretty scary this weekend, so I doubt we'll be sailing much but I still have to head down and do some jobs, as well as double up my mooring warps (and fit some chaffe resistant covers to them) in readiness for the bumpy weather that is coming up.
I plan a fair bit of maintenance work this year and have vowed to document it with decent pics and video, so watch this space
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Great Photos!
Well, the last weekend home before I head off to Norway and it was a washout. Don't know what has been happening weatherwise this year but I am not impressed at all.
Anyway, I managed to get a few jobs done (inside!). Nothing exciting really, just time passing jobs like cleaning out the bilges (I have a thing for clean bilges).
I am having a personal dilema at the moment. Do I keep her in the water longer this year and relaunch earlier, to maximise my sailing time or do I lift her out in October and get ALL the jobs on my list done before she goes back in in March/ April? Answers on a postcard please.......
Actually, I think I will be taking her out/ relaunching her as normal. Too many "little jobs" to be done.
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Kentallen Bay
Just a heads up to anyone considering Kentallen Bay as an anchorage.
Jim Irvine and I anchored there on Sunday night, in calm conditions. Due to the amount of mooring buoys in the bay, getting a clear area to anchor in was pretty difficult, made worse by the fact that in nearly 20 metres, our swinging circle was going to be pretty large.
In the end, we found a spot quite close in on the North side of the bay (nearest the road) which looked promising, in @12 metres. Due to the proximity of the shore (rock) I decided to drop a stern anchor to prevent us swinging onto the shore. We motored, in an arc, toward the Southern side, dropped the Stern Anchor and allowed Rosally to fall back and hang off the Bower (35LB cqr AND 40m 8mm chain), whilst paying out the at the Stern.
All seemed well for a few hours, transits checked out fine and I was fairly happy but no altogether comfortable.
Around midnight, whilst lying in bed, "something didn't seem right". Also, the wind had suddenly got pp. On getting up to check things out, I found that our bow had dragged around and we were laying broadside to 25+ kts of wind howling down the glen at the head of the bay. Not only that but we were @ 10 feet from the bow of a sailing boat moored up down wind of us. I immediately gave Jim a shout, started the engine (after making sure nothing was fouling our prop) and kept us off the other boat until Jim was able to get on deck. By the time I had the engine started we were about 5 feet off the other boat.
Ofcourse, it was chucking it down and blowing a hoolie.
The stern anchor (25 lb CQR and 30m 6mm chain and @ 20m 1" 3 strand) was holding but the bow was still dragging around. All the while we were making progress toward a second yacht down wind of the first. The stern anchor rode was now tight and obviously holding as but we were now right next to the stern of that second yacht. With Jim doing a sterling job keeping us off with the engine, I added to the length of rode on the stern anchor, to allow us to drift clear of the stern of the second yacht. I then went forward to haul in the Bower. Sods Law dictated that my "intermittent" problem with the windlass decided to return and I was forced to haul 40 metres of 8mm chain and the 35lb CQR by hand. (the Emergency Recovery lever for the windlass had a stripped thread! I was probably going to be quicker doing it by hand anyway). This took a while!
I eventually collapsed back in the cockpit, with the Bower anchor safely on deck. We could now recover the stern anchor safely. After that, we motored to a free mooring and picked that up - 1st attempt, thanks once again to Jims spot on helming. Jim was then promoted from Crew to First Mate, with immediate effect.
The Mooring appeared to be in good condition and quite substantial, so I felt happier. The next morning a passing Lobster Boat acknowledged that we were OK on the mooring and that it was in good nick.
Obviously the minute we got tied up safely to the mooring, the rain stopped and the wind died. We were both soaked but glad to have got out of the situation without causing any damage to Rosally or any other boat and most importantly nobody got hurt. The whole escapade lasted a good hour and a half.
One major lesson that came to light during the whole event was that the Emergency Recovery gear should have been tested prior to being needed. My fault entirely and I have no excuses for that at all.
Another GLARING error that was made (and was a factor in not paying out more scope on the bower) was rather more embarrassing.
During the Winter, I hade made the decision to replace the old 8mm chain (2 lengths joined with a joining link!) and to change out the warp. I had the warp made up with a hard eye at either end, shackled to the boat at one end, the chain at the other. The warp was stowed ready in the locker awaiting the arrival of the chain. When that arrived, it was run up over the windlass and lowered into the Anchor Locker, were it was shackled onto the warp before being stowed fully. Great ! ......... Except for the fact that the eye and shackle don't fit through the hole !!!!!!!! :thumbsdown: :roll:
Don't tell anyone about that :wink:
Apart from that event, it was a great sail with Jim, who I had never sailed with, or met, before and he was great company.
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A bit tricky for ME but hopefully someone with experience (and some much needed common sense) will be able to give me a pointer or two..........
CLICK to see animation Opens in new window
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Certainly NOT a definitive guide by any means, though it was fun playing around with some animation.
Click the image to see the animation - opens in a new window
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The trouble with being away is, you get too much time to think about all the jobs you want to get done on the boat.
Here's a small sample of the list I have written up so far;
Investigate the intermitent fault on the Anchor Windlass. It seems to decide for itself when it will work. Possibly a corroded connection in the wiring somewhere along the line.
Remove the Windlass & repaint it: It looks a bit tatty at the moment (previous owners hand painted it). I am thinking of removing it, fairing it smooth and respraying it. Another option I am looking at is "powder coating" which gives a very strong and durable finish. I wasn't sure if it would be possible with an alloy casing but when I think about it, they use this method for motorcycle alloy wheels and frames, so should be OK. It is certainly very resistant to stone chips, so it should be useful for a windlass housing.
I may possibly give my cleats and fairleads a similar treatment.
Deck "Anti Slip" paint:
I need to finish this job. I started it in March! Unfortunately, it was a bit early in the season and an overnight frost tarnished the end result.
Sand my exterior woodwork: Just a light sanding to clean up my rubbing strake, grab rails etc.
Make up Heavy Duty Warps: As I will be looking at keeping Rosally in the water for longer this winter, I need to make up some heavier warps. These will probably be 2" 3 strand with protection at the eyes. While I am at it, I will resplice my existing warps and add protection at the eyes also.
Repace my Furling Line Cam Cleat: Not happy with this at all. I don't trust it and it holds very poorly. I am not sure whether to replace it with another Cam Cleat or just use a standard Cleat. While I am at it, I will look at adding some low friction blocks to lead the Furling Line better. I may even replace the Furling Line - I have 20m of 6mm Double Braid kicking around.
Make up a Kedge Anchor mount: I want to make up a mount for a Fortress (or similar) anchor, that can sit at the stern, on the Pushpit rails. At present, I have a 25lb CQR with 30m x 8mm chain and 30m x 3/4" 3 strand that is used as a Kedge. I will probably keep this as a Secondary Anchor, to be used as a back-up. However, to row out 30m x 8mm chain would be virtually impossible!
So, my plan is to have a 20lb Fortress mounted aft, with @15m x 6mm chain & 40m x 3/4" 3 strand poly rope (in a basket in the cockpit locker). This can be shackled to the Fortress when required. Being on the aft end should also make it much easier for loading into the dinghy should the need arise. On the subject, I will also be making up a "Chum" or "Angel". For anyone unfamiliar with this, it is a weight that can be lowered down the anchor chain/ rode. This then encourages a horizontal loading, which helps greatly in setting the anchor. (see below)
Anchoring with a Chum
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