Love Sailing

The weather forecast for Monday was variable 1-3 with a northerly wind set to come in by 1600hrs but Vicki wanted to get back to Gillan and home not to late.

This was a hot summers day even the wind was warm so just the best weather to be out on the water. So it was 1245hrs when we picked up our anchor and motored slowly south from Channels Creek as I pulled up the main sail. Sticking to the channel we motor on into the wind down where the channel turns back to St Just in Roseland before setting sail, wind was light but we were able to log 2.5-3kts SOG. We tacked three or four times before the wind died off Falmouth and we had to motor. After Pendennis Point we sailed again for a bit before the wind died again, back with the motoring again! Then the wind filled in from the north, about F4 and we could sail again but the mainsail was taking the genoa’s wind, after trying different things I rolled the genoa and we sailed the last mile or so just on the main getting into Gillan at 1545 having logged 10.5nm.

In the morning looking over the stern I could see the bottom an hour before low water, the aft had swung around towards the shore, I thought it cant be very deep. Checking with Vicki who was still in bed, I said I thought I could get down in the water and clear the prop but wanted a standby helper, Vicki was ok with it and got out while I dug the keg anchor out of the cockpit locker. Our keg is a folding claw and a bit on the heavy side for lobbing very far! But it did the job and over the stern I went in shorts and a T-shirt, testing the depth with a boat hook I could see it would be at about my waist.

The water was a bit on the cold side (I always say if you see me in the sea in the UK, I have fallen in!) But needs must, getting down and reaching in to the prop I was pulling handfuls of chopped up line from around the prop and rope cutter, when I was happy I had removed all the line I climbed the ladder back aboard and almost straight away started feeling hot, I dried and changed, picked up the keg and pulled “Elektra back out into deeper water using her bow anchor.

As we had to move Elektra anyway before the next low water we decided to motor across the Fal River to Channels Creek before dropping anchor again. the rest of the day I spent sleeping and dozing in the sun, lovely R&R at last!

After 80hrs of work over the last eight days it was time to get out and use “Elektra” again, some sailing and hopefully some R&R which I needed.

With high water not until 1400hrs the tide was not going to be high enough to get “Elektra” out of Carne Creek until 1300hrs, the wind was from the east and we planed to leave our punt on our mooring in Gillan Harbour before sailing across Falmouth Bay. The HW not being very high, I suggested Vicki motor out the south channel with more water under the keel (we normally use the north channel). I was on the bow stowing the anchor when Vicki motored over the submerged mooring line which stopped the engine dead! I quickly dropped the anchor again and jumped over into the dinghy to find out what the problem was.

With the aid of a boat hook, I found “Elektra’s” prop was fouled on a line, pulling on the line it parted and Elektra swung around on her anchor to face the wind, then to get the rest of the line off! I had hold of the end of the line and asked Vicki to start the engine again, started ok, I then said put her in reverse, the line un-fouled itself and I had hold of a big wad of twisted, cut and mangled rope, we were free again! We motored slowly out of Carne Creek and headed for our mooring.

The mooring was another problem, stopping to pick up the buoy in the 3-4ft swell, I quickly moored the punt and let go again before we motored out and set sail across Falmouth Bay. I had thought of setting a reef in the main but the mooring was no place to do that, so we motored out of Gillan and set just the genoa.

As it happened, it was plenty of sail on its own as we crashed off across the bay though the swell at 5-6kts with quite a bit of slamming! At times Elektra was will above 6kts pushing 7kts none of the other yachts out there at the time could catch her (Moody 376, Hallberg Rassy 34 and a She?) or just didn’t want to in the conditions. Arriving off Pendennis Point we could ease out the genoa for a more leisurely sail north up Carrick Roads. As we sailed north I went down in the cabin and could hear a bump, bump from the stern, we must still have some rope on the prop! Putting the engine control lever in to reverse stopped this, looks like we will have to dry out somewhere to clear the prop I said. We continued to sail north slower and slower until the wind died altogether just south of Turnaware Point Buoy, we rolled the genoa and motored in and anchored close to Turnaware beach where I knew I could drop the anchor on a muddy bottom, we had covered the 9.5nm in 2hrs.

The forecast for our return passage on Monday was very little wind again and it was right! We stopped twice to try to sail but where only logging 1.5kts SOG with about 1kt of tide, so we mainly motored leaving at 0830hrs and getting back into Gillan at 1250hrs having logged 23.5nm. Being a nice day we both went to sleep in the sun during the afternoon before packing up and going ashore in the punt at 1730hrs.

 

There had been a change of west country SSOA chairman, unlike last season where I was encouraged to arrange a Fowey weekend, the new chairman didn’t want it and would of stopped it if he could. I was asked by members to arrange another Fowey Rally this season but didn’t want to undermine the new chairman. But it sort of gained a momentum of its own, I thought I would contact the new chairman, to say he wasn’t happy would be understating it, we had lots of heated emails back and forth before I thought I had managed to calm the waters. Only to have the new chairman then contact the Fowey Harbour Master behind my back and tell him it was not a SSOA Sadler Rally, the HM got hold of me to say all still booked but he had changed the name of it to “Carter’s Cruise”

In the end the new chairman excepted it was going to happen but asked me not to advertise the event anywhere on SSOA website or facebook page, the word spread and I am glad to say we were not the only Sadler yacht on the pontoon.

There was a Starlight 39, 3x SL35s, Sadler 34, 2x S29s, S290, S26 and a Moody S31 all members of the SSOA but it wasn’t allowed to be a SSOA Rally. On Saturday evening all 26 of us went ashore to the Gallants SC for a meal. As far as I can tell all members enjoyed the rally.

I am hoping we will be able to make this a yearly event over the spring bank holiday weekend included in the SSOA calendar.

 

 

 

This weekend there was a planned Sadler Rally in Fowey but the wind was looking a little light, the tide stream was with us 1345-1945hrs.

Having waited for the tide to come in to get our punt out we stowed the gear and dropped the mooring at 1250hrs as crossing Falmouth Bay there was no help from the stream. We sailed for over an hour and logged just 5nm before deciding to motor sail as the chart plotter was telling us it would take until 1700hrs to get to the Dodman Pt just 9nm away.

At 1540hrs 2nm short of the Dodman Pt the wind died and I rolled the genoa and motored on a glassy sea towards Fowey, we passed Yaw Rock at 1605hrs and headed for Cannis 5nm away. Just motoring on I thought there was a wake coming in off our starboard side until I looked again, it was a large pod of Common Dolphins in line heading the other way, I dropped the control lever back to idle and Vicki and I watched them, too far away for photos but nice to see just the same.

The yacht which was following us, was now off our port side and I could see it was Chris and Julia Heath in their Starlight 39 “Etoile Filante”, I had seen them first off of Portscatho some hours before but a mile or so to the north of us, we both had to go around the Dodman Pt.  I left Vicki in the cockpit and went to the heads, then there were two VHF shouts for “Elektra” from “Etoile Filante” and “Elly Two” and when I got back to the radio they were talking to each other!

Having past Cannis Cardinal now motoring behind “EF” I had sighted the bridge of a ship heading for Fowey entrance from the harbour (towards us) I turned to starboard and motored towards the cliff, I don’t think Chris saw it but when it came into sight around the point we were both heading for the cliff.

We moored on no1 pontoon in Pont Pill at 1730hrs having logged 24nm.

We would have liked to have sailed a little longer on Sunday but we had to get back to our mooring and into the shore via our dinghy before 1400hrs due to the tide, so we just sailed across Falmouth Bay in a southeast 3, 6.5nm in 1.5hrs.

 

This was the highlight of our day out getting in close for a photo of this classic.

There has been lots of nice sailing weather in May so far but not a lot of wind, another weekend just the same but we were going out anyway. The forecast was var1-3 and when we got out into the bay we found it to be a south-east 2-3 and hard on the wind we were making around 4kts SOG which was nice until we turned down wind and the speed dropped of to 2kts.

We tried out the cruising chute again but it was just folding up in the very light air, in the end I snuffled the sail and motored in and up the Precuil River to anchor for the night having logged 12.5nm in 3.75hrs

The forecast over the weekend had been wet but the weather had turned out to be great. My wife Vicki and I had lots of homework to do and with the wet forecast had stayed home, now kicking ourselves having let a good weekend go, we decided to go sailing on Monday.

The plan had been to sail to Coverack for lunch but motoring out into the bay there was no wind, so I suggested the cruising chute (this we had bought last season with a snuffler) but we didn’t have the weather to fly that season. Our last yacht had a cruising chute but this was the first time I had used a snuffler! It took a bit of working out before I got the sail set well. But once I was happy Elektra was logging 3kts SOG against the tide not towards Coverack.

After logging 9nm in 3hrs I snuffled the chute and we anchored off Portscatho for lunch, after a stop of 2hrs we picked up the anchor again and headed for home, we shot out the bay at 5kts only to get becalmed about 1/2 mile off Portscatho, so we started motoring, then the wind picked up again so we could sail. We sailed for another 5 miles until we were halfway across Falmouth Bay and the wind died again, so we motored back to our mooring in Gillan Harbour. We picked up our punt from the mooring and motored up Carne Creek to anchor (east wind forecasted for next week).

We had logged 18nm over 4.5hrs, it was great to try the cruising chute out for the first time, it had been a lovely day to be out on the water.

I had blown up the roll-up dinghy and tried the engine, which started 2nd pull but the gear selector would not engage so we stayed aboard all the weekend. After a weekend just lounging around and sleeping, we motored Elektra back to her mooring in Gillan Harbour.