It ends for us at Brighton
30 August 2014 | Brighton, UK
John / F8 Gale
Jumbuck motor sailing, dinghy on deck, through the Swedish Archipeligo
Allan and I awoke Thursday pinned by a SW wind to the dock in Brighton Marina, with a F8 gale warning and spray booming up over the marina wall to pepper the water behind us. I'm sure we would be ok to sail once out in open seas, but with the current conditions it would be scary to exit Brightons narrow entry, so a call home saw Sue pick us up by car early arvo, and we are now home. Our rally cruise is over.
We will return for Jumbuck next Tuesday when the winds are predicted to turn easterly and moderate.
So that's our summer 2014.
It was a good one. A super way to spend the season and meet some lovely people and despite the either too little, or at times too much, weather - we enjoyed some super sailing, saw some great new places - and in sailing into Russia at least knocked that achievement off our bucket list.
What worked well for us?
The rally participants did. A really really nice group of gals and guys. Great company and hopefully we've made friends we will see again.
The rally team. All three tema members were exceptional having to adapt and improvise as they found the challenges during this inaugural event. Well done Hans, the team leader, and Joel and Cecilia from the World Cruising Club.
The boat worked well too. With 2980 miles logged and no issues apart from minor wear and tear, she was perfect charging along right up there, either with or ahead of the big boys. Even the minimal tankage for fuel and water were never an issue as the boat consumed so little. The tiny Raymarine E70 plotter had more than enough detail for navigation, but its bulkhead mounting in the cockpit did mean it was too far away for me to see from the wheel. The Navionics iPad charts worked well for route planning, but we should have equipped the ipad with a SIM so it could track our location also.
Going only two up worked for us also. As we had learned on previous rallies, even good pals can become old pals when you are confined on a boat and people get tired or the going gets tricky. It goes without saying that Sue was exceptional. So was Allan, flying up and helping me get Jumbuck back. Great company, ever reliable, a super bloke to sail with.
What didn't work so well?
The deck fitting for our cockpit table. Brand new, but fractured when we had to remove the table leg before departing Kalmar. Absolute rubbish so no thanks to Force 4 Chandlers for selling such tosh. Trouble is I will have to buy a new one to plug the hole its left in the deck!
The £200 ebay Yamaha Malta outboard failed us. Despite checking water flow before we departed, it was overheating after 10 minutes real use on the dinghy. Fortunately, it wasn't called into action as much as I expected, and I can now look forward to a winter morning taking it apart to fix it up.
The old cruising Kevlar sails with our improvised lazy jacks never let us down. Good shape despite their age and the strong weather we put them through towards the end. The No 2 headsail took a lot of bashing down the leach, and will now need some professional TLC.
The autopilot pins - holding up the stainless shaft that attached the pilot to the boat fractured twice. But as we worked the pilot mercilessly being short handed, I was happy the pins sheared rather than the pilot breaking. Plus suspect it was the workload that led to the brushes needing that sanding in St Petersburg.....
High spots? Meeting lots of nice people. Sailing into Russia. Blast reaching up the Baltic under Code 0 and sunny skys. Breakfast pontoon party when we docked in Tallinn. The Bolshoi Ballet in the Hermitage. Blasting through the lightening storms (well for me, anyway). The fun blokey blokes sail home with Allan.
Low spots? Well, not many.
Being caught out smoking by Sue (twice).
Ending the rally.
The Brighton Marina set up.
What we should have carried that we didn't?
Our cameras. All left lined up ready at home. Dahh.
Smaller sails for that heavier weather.
Detailed charts or a SIM card in the iPad.
Fewer clothing.
More sound deadening for the engine when motorsailing - might have allowed us more sleep!
Overall a great experience which I'm sure will only grow in the telling as months pass by. Thanks to everyone who helped make it such fun, and thanks too for friends and family support via the blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it - I certainly enjoyed trapping the memories.
On. On.