Hamble - We have Arrived
10 June 2013 | Hamble Point Marina, UK
Stu & Shar
We've been here a couple of weeks now. Flying around organising stuff for Songbird, but most of it has been sourced and ready to collect and install. There have been a couple of delays in the commissioning as we are waiting on some parts to arrive from Sweden for the spinnaker pole setup before the mast is rigged. She should be in the water by the end of the week and hopefully sea trials will be done by the middle of July.
One thing that's put a bit of a spanner in the works is outboard motors. As the EU have gone 'green', you can't buy a 2 stroke, you have to buy a heavy 4 stroke...not happy Jan... There are a few ways to negate this for commercial operators and possibly if it's being exported, so I'm investigating this.
We were camped in a local pub for the first week and then moved into a 'static' van in a local caravan park for a week as our collection of equipment grew and we needed more space. As things have been delayed on Songbird, we decided to head west and are currently in Cardiff catching up with family. The original plan to sail around to Cardiff before heading South isn't going to happen (that's cruising), we'll head directly south from Hamble, across to the Channel Islands and down the French coast.
Weather here has been typical UK summer. It's been quite wet, pretty cool and a couple of small storms have blown through....It will make the Channel crossing and Bay of Biscay interesting sailing .
Been having a look at a few routes across the channel one in particular over to the Channel Islands has a tidal range of around 6 metres (not too bad) but he current blew me away, as yesterday morning at 8:45 it was running at 9 knots (yes 9 knots), this could be great if it's going with you, but as we all know in sailing that rarely happens even with the best planning so even flat out under motor you would be going backwards at 2 knots. Kim Klaka warned me about this as it's around Cape De La Hague near Alderney Island a rather notorious area for 'Anomalies'. Kim if you are sitting down having a coffee and suddenly think Stuart might like to know this......don't hesitate...share it please......Another thing is the water temp is 12 degrees, which simply says DON'T fall in, It's really not good for you, don't give a stuff what the Bondi Icebergs say.
All interesting stuff ....looking forward to it.
We....well more Stu than Shar because they are food related, have relived forgotten UK delights....... Real Bacon cut thick and salty....... Real Devon Cream ice cream and Devonshire Teas...... Black Pudding and Larva bread.......Crispy Seaweed at the local Chinese........Yum, Yum, Yum....
Anyhow thats all for now, some piccies of Songbird under commission attached