Love Sailing

I made a new battery box for the new 2x110ah battery bank and I am adding the old engine battery 70ha to the old bank making that bank now 210ah.

Those of you sitting in marinas connected to shore power maybe wondering why. Last season we had a lot of problems with battery drain due to never being connected to shore power from our delivery passage in March to the end of the season, the only charge the batteries were getting was from the engine. As we like to sail as much as possible the old banks of 140ah and 70ah engine battery could cope with the power drain.

We like to anchor as much as possible in places “far from the madding crowd” and almost never use a marina.

We are also having fitted a solar panel to keep both battery banks at full charge.

 

The cutlery had been a problem last season with no real safe place to keep it, so I fitted a new draw and cupboard, losing a bunk but as we are only two we found it was a better use of space

After making, fitting and varnishing the new joinery, I have spent the last few days fixing in place. All extra shelving and stowage areas

Getting on with the winter work in readiness for the 2018 sailing season, outwardly nothing much has happened but internally I have been getting on with new woodwork which has now reached the varnishing stage. I have also ordered the new S/S support pole for the new solar panel.

Elektra is now on her winter mooring, here she will only float about 1.5hrs either side of HW of over 5 meters. Now when I have the time I can get on with the winter work.It looks muddy but only 3-4″ on top of stone

We had bought “Elektra” in November 2016 and spent extra money on new standing rigging, new cabin heater and generally getting her how we wanted for sailing this season.

Then came the delivery passage in March, not without its problems with the engine but mainly due to not knowing our new yacht very well at the time. The engine has since proved to be very reliable.

We have lived with the electrics as they are this season but it is clear now we will have to increase the battery power before next season. She had been set up for shore power which is good if you have it but on a swing mooring we do not. She has 2x70ahr batteries for domestic and a 70ahr for engine. I am going to remove the 70ahr for the engine and fit 2x new 110hr batteries instead as a 2nd domestic bank plus fit a fixed solar panel charger. Also changing all the cabin lights to LEDs.

I will also be doing some carpentry, little things really but all of which will make living aboard easier.

We used her lots though March-mid July, delivery in March, Fowey in April and May, Yealm River one weekend in June and The Isles of Scilly over the 1st week of July after that the weather turned poor and we only sailed locally. In the end logging 715nm this season.

Elektra has bilge keels, I have always been told bilge keels yachts don’t point very well, this is not true in the Sadler fleet, our Sadler 29 points very well indeed and fast with it. She will sail in almost no wind, true we do have to reef early as the wind picks up but she will still look after us in a blow. Vicki and I are delighted of how well our Sadler 29 sails, she hasn’t disappointed us.

The numbers are, days aboard in the 2017 season were 70 of which we sailed for 43 of them and logged 716nm, we slept aboard 49 nights and 28 of them were at anchor.

It seems the winter gale have arrived early, there seemed a day I could go sailing before the bad weather arrived so I grabbed a day on the water.

It had been blowing from the east overnight but was forecast to go south today, Gillan Harbour is very sheltered except from the east and Elektra was jumping about on her mooring when I got out to her, making getting aboard a job in itself. Once aboard I went about doing the jobs ready to leave, I decided to motor out and use just the genoa which would make things easier.

Out in Falmouth Bay there was quite a swell running 4-5ft high and about 15-20ft between crests, we were logging about 4kts but I thought a bit more sail would be better so raised the main with one reef in, this speeded us up to 6kts but I found the tiller pilot couldn’t cope so in the end I pulled the main down again.

Once inside the Carrick Roads it was calm and I was heading north for the Fal River, it was LW springs so I kept her to the channel, rounding Turnaware Buoy I started the engine and motored up past the King Harry Ferry up the river to where the Truro River starts, here I turn around and motored back to Turnaware and dropped anchor for lunch, nothing fancy just a Pot Noodle and a Hot Choc drink.

Picking up the anchor was interesting, normally I can clean the anchor and deck while Vicki slowly motors out but being on the bow with nobody else aboard we were soon drifting out so I put things away quicker than I would have liked and headed for the helm. Motoring around the point and south down the channel into a southerly wind and a in coming tide.

Once clear of the point I set the genoa and stopped the engine, there was another yacht tacking south as will, I know I don’t like racing but its always nice to see how well you fare against another yacht. I couldn’t understand how could I be keeping up with a 33-35ft yacht with full sail when I only had the genoa up? After a while I thought he must be doing something wrong so I studied him and in the end decided his topping lift was holding up the boom so his mainsail was flapping.

South of Mylor a ship was getting ready to leave, knowing my next tack I would be sailing across his bow I kept a good eye on him.  Before I got across his bow his port anchor was up but he still wasn’t moving only passing across his bow could I see his starboard anchor was still down, I was over the shallow water again before he got underway, I tacked again at Falmouth Docks which took me across to St Mawes Castle where I tacked again across to the Governor Buoy at which point I decided to motor out past Pendennis Pt.

Once out in Falmouth Bay, the wind from the south and the swell from the east made for a very confused sea which was difficult to make headway in, that with the daylight fading I decided to motor back to Gillan. This looks like being the last sail this season, we had logged 24nm today and 715nm over the season.

 

 

 

This was going to be another solo sail but my friend “James H” who I know though my Hurley days, we both owned a H22, James had long since moved up to a bigger 34ft yacht. James had a friend who was looking at a Sadler 29 in the Helford river and he asked me if it was ok to pass on my contact details so he could talk to me about them. Yes I said that’s ok and if he wants to sail one before he buys, I was going out on Saturday.

That’s how met up with Gareth and Mary on St Anthony beach and took them out for a sail, as it turned out there wasn’t much wind but Sadler yachts don’t need much to sail and we set out into Falmouth Bay at 2-3kts in a southerly 2-3.

After 1.5hrs we were back on the mooring having logged only 5nm, but it was to meet and talk to them over packed lunch and a cup of tea.

 

My wife was taken ill a fortnight ago, spending a week in hospital and another in bed at home, Vicki was feeling a lot better but not able to go sailing, she was happy for me to go out for the day on my own.

Never having sailed on my own other than in dinghies when I was much younger, this was a bit of a first for me, it was clear I would have to be much more ready to drop the mooring than I might have been with crew. I got the hand held VHF in the cockpit and the tiller pilot set up and ready for use. Going though the jobs which need to do before setting off to sea, at last the time had come to let go the mooring (my last thought was as I let go was will I be able to pick it up later on my own?).

Motoring slowly out of the creek I set sail across Helford River, there was not much wind, the forecast had given a Var1-2 but she was logging 2.5kts SOG, it was nice to be out sailing again. Using the tiller pilot I thought I would try a tack, this didn’t go very well, with very little wind the genoa didn’t go across very well but I wasn’t in a hurry and got sorted out in the end. Back across the river again, another tack which went much better, as we got to the centre of the river for the second time the wind died. I decided to motor into the Helford River (always wind in the river) and pick up some wind before sailing out again. This ploy worked and I was soon sailing again, tacking out of the river into an easterly 1-2, slow but sore, once out again to August Rock the wind had picked up a little to a south-easterly 2-3 and we were making 3.3kts SOG. I thought I would turn back before the wind died again and slowly made my way back to Gillan.

Nearing the creek I rolled the genoa turned into wind and let the main down before motoring slowly back into Gillan. It was now over an hour after low water but with spring tides I knew it was going to be shallow, we have had problems with the engine not coming out of gear this season, I was going to take this really slowly. I could see some boats aground in Gillan and decided to turn earlier than I might other wise do with only 0.5m under the keel. I made the turn and moved the gear lever out of gear with three boats lengths still to go into tide, Elektra glided up to the mooring and I ran up to the bow to grab the mooring (all worked fine, what was I worried about?).

Back on the mooring now, we had logged 8.5nm in 3.75hrs, not fast sailing but I had enjoyed it non the less. Time to pack up again and head home to see Vicki and cook tea.

Sunday turned out to be sunny and warm, it was time to try out the wet weather gear, the dinghy had about 6″ of water in it!

The forecast was NE3-4 which would be great for going home but like most forecasts this season not very good!

We picked up the anchor at 1320hrs We tried to sail but no good, it was a S1-2 we were making 2kts and we had to get back by 1700hrs, so we started the engine and motored all the way back to Gillan, mooring up at 1510hrs having logged 8nm