Rough Water And Wrong Winds

 Our time in the comfort and relative safety of Mylor Yacht Haven has come to an end.  We have enjoyed our winter berth there but it was never our intention to remain permanently in a marina environment.  We want to explore and stretch our horizons, and live closer to nature than the sanitised marina environments give.  Not that Mylor was devoid of nature and, as far as marinas go, Mylor is a much more relaxed place to spend a winter.  However, now that the sailing ‘season’ has begun, the atmosphere and the financial cost has changed, so it was time to move on.

 

The first task in this next stage was to get rid of our car.  Having owned a car for over thirty-five years this has been a significant mind shift for me.  Those of you who know me personally will know that I have always loved cars and that from the age of about twelve I have tinkered with, broken and fixed a variety of cars, both modern and classic.  But as I have said in my earlier blogs, one of the reasons for our change in lifestyle was to reduce the environmental impact of the way in which we live.  Therefore owning and driving a car had to come to an end.  Apart from that, moving a car as well as a boat in a nomadic way is a logistics challenge.  So the car is gone, and we now use public transport and foot power when we are on land.

 

The next task in hand is the minor issue of sailing Wendy Woo around Land’s End and on to Milford Haven in West Wales.  Bridget and I have poured over the charts and the almanac, and consulted half a dozen different weather forecasts to plan our passage.  We have considered sailing to the Isles of Scilly and on to Milford Haven, rounding Land’s End and anchoring in St Ives Bay before crossing the Bristol Channel, or sailing to Penzance/Newlyn then rounding Land’s End and striking out for the Welsh Coast.  Whichever option we chose we were facing a night passage and about twenty-six hours at sea.  The weather was also a major consideration, and wouldn’t you guess it, a prolonged spell of easterly winds were forecast to bring strong winds to the south west. 

We needed to wait for the winds to pass so we found a mid-river pontoon up the River Fal where we spent four nights alongside.  This gave us protection from the easterly winds and also a taste for what it will be like not being able to leave the boat for a prolonged period of time.  Water and power management loomed large in my mind but we impressed ourselves with how little water and power we used over the four day period and it made us realise how much we have taken for granted easy access to water and electricity.

 

We finally settled on a passage plan to leave Falmouth, head for Newlyn for a night and then round Land’s End and on to Milford Haven in a single leg. 

We booked a berth in Port Pendennis Marina for the night before we left so that we could restock our cupboards, fill our water tanks and charge our batteries.  That was Sunday.  The advice in the almanac was to leave Falmouth (Pendennis) about three hours after high tide to make the most of the ebb tide to take us around The Lizard and into Mount’s Bay.  This meant slipping our lines at around eight in the morning (quite respectable) and heading out of the marina.  The weather forecast for Monday was for Force 5-7 from the East/North-East but set to moderate as the day wore on.  The sea state was set for Moderate/Rough again settling to Moderate as the day progressed.  This wasn’t sounding too good but we decided that we would head out and if we felt that it was too much we would return to the pontoon we had been using for another night.

 

We lifted our sails in the Carrick Roads with a third reef in the mainsail and a reefed headsail and set our course to aim for The Lizard.  Another sailing boat was heading out from St Mawes ahead of us so we felt as though we weren’t the only mad people around.  Once we cleared the mouth of the Fal and were in open water we really started to get bounced around.  We were sailing at about five knots but we were side on to a very choppy and lumpy sea.  This was not very comfortable at all!  We had to compromise on our heading in order to ride the waves with the downside of prolonging our passage.  It was at this point that Bridget started to feel unwell.  We carried on a little longer, with Bridget seeing more of the sea over the side of the boat than the coastline and so we faced a decision – do we carry on or turn back.  We had been out for about two hours on an seven hour passage.  If we turned back we would have been out for four hours and ended up back where we started.  At least by carrying on we were making progress, and the forecast was for improving conditions.  WW was being thrown about a fair bit, but she was coping well (better than us if the truth be known) so we carried on.  I put the engine on to help us push through the water and we were cruising at seven knots.  Bridget was harnessed to the boat so that I could concentrate on helming and we pushed on round The Lizard.  I could now see Newlyn some seventeen miles distant, the sun was out and the sea was starting to calm down so we were through the worst of it.  Bridget started to pick up a bit and took over the helm as I called up Newlyn Harbour on the VHF.  Thankfully they had space for us.

 

Newlyn Harbour is primarily a fishing port and is a stark contrast to yacht marinas.  The available berth was a very tight turn in, and not on our favoured side, so I mucked up the approach a little.  Trying to manoeuvre WW around the large fishing boats was difficult and I was struggling to get close enough to the pontoon for Bridget to step ashore.  Thankfully another yacht had come in just before us and they could see we were having difficulty so they took our lines and secured us to the pontoon.  Coincidentally they were the boat that left St Mawes ahead of us that morning.  A big thank you to Fi and Chris of ‘Pyewacket’ for their assistance.

 

So here we are in Newlyn.  We had planned to stay one night and then continue our journey but after the beating we had taken we felt it prudent to have a rest day.  Also, there were a couple of maintenance jobs to attend to.  The stern gland was leaking a bit too much so needed adjustment and one of the bottle screws on the rigging had come loose so I needed to wire-lock them in place.  Of course now the weather has cheated us again!  We are expecting Force 5-6 Northerly winds through the night which is when we would have been half way across the Bristol Channel, trying to head North, so we have decided to hold up here until that passes.  There are worse places to hide from weather than Newlyn Harbour. 

As I type this we are getting the boat ready to leave in the morning and hopefully we’ll be around Land’s End by early afternoon and heading in the right direction once again.  We'll soon be able to raise our Welsh Flag on the correct side of Wendy Woo for the first time.  Till then, keep safe.

Back On An Even Keel

 

We left Gweek Boatyard (www.gweekquay.co.uk) over a week ago and I thought I would blog about our experience there and what we have learned about keel bolts.  In my previous blog I spoke about the tricky navigation up to the head of the Helford River and our relief of having made the passage safely and having Wendy Woo lifted out of the water.

 

As soon as our boat was safely on the trolley we set about stripping out the internal fittings to give access to the keel bolts.  The saloon floor needed to be removed first, followed by the water tanks, the waste tank and then the lead ballast blocks.  This all sounds straightforward, but nothing ever is!  We have a lot of things to move first, and it reminds me sometimes of those puzzles where you have to move tiles around to make the picture.  Each tile moved is in the way of the next tile and so on.  As soon as you start removing things they get in the way of the next stage.  Cushions were stacked up, the saloon table was lifted up on to the bench seat and the floor boards were stacked to one side.  The more dismantling we did the more we had to climb over or around the things we had moved, but at least the floor came up without a problem.

 

Next out were the water tanks.  Despite having emptied the contents into the bilge on our passage to Gweek there was still a surprising amount of water in the bottom of the tanks.  We pumped this out using a handheld bilge pump to avoid spilling it all over the boat once the pipework was removed.  We also faced the issue of removing floor joists to get the tanks out.  I was a little nervous removing these as I wasn’t sure how ‘structural’ they were, but a quick chat with the shipwright (Andrew Massey (www.masseyboats.com)) reassured me that they could be removed without too much risk of the boat changing shape.  In the end I only had to remove one to get the tanks out.  There were a lot of pipes and wiring to disconnect and then we were able to lift the tanks out.  The freshwater tanks were fine, but lifting the waste tank out was precarious to say the least.  Despite the fact that we don’t use the tank as a rule (shore-side facilities are much more preferable) there was residual ‘matter’ in there that was at risk of dribbling out of the open pipework if we didn’t keep it level.  Gloves were definitely needed! 

 

The final stage was to remove the plywood panels from under the tanks and then we could see the heads of the keel bolts.  But before we handed over to Andrew I wanted to give the bilge a thorough clean.  Years of accumulated dust and who knows what had congealed with water into a thick paste in the bottom of the boat.  I removed two bucket loads of filth including a rusty screwdriver and a pair of mole grips.  It was dirty work but well worth doing.

 

Now for the main work.  Andrew and I worked out that there were six main keel bolts and one additional ‘light weight’ bolt at the forward end.  One of the main bolts is under the engine and I know from Wendy Woo’s records that this was drawn about eight years ago and ‘found to be satisfactory.’  Therefore we agreed that we should leave that one alone – I didn’t fancy trying to remove the engine.  Andrew started on the one in the galley and, surprisingly the nut came free with relative ease AND the bolt started to move when hit with a hammer.  He managed to knock it almost completely out and, from what we could see, it looked in reasonable condition.  He then tried the next one forwards.  When he tried to clean the rust off the nut there was no nut there, just a ball of rust!  Again though, when he hit the bolt with a hammer it moved so at least we had two out of two that could be removed.  The nuts on the third and fourth ones came away easily but again the fifth one was just a ball of rust.  In the end Andrew managed to remove all five bolts with relative ease, but they were all clearly in a very sorry state and would need to be replaced.

Andrew arranged for new keel bolts to be fabricated.  The original bolts looked as though they were made from forged steel, but they may have been wrought iron, it was difficult to tell. 

However, the new ones are made from mild steel so will need to be checked periodically for deterioration.  We would have liked to fit forged steel ones but the lead time on replacement bolts would be too long.  As it was, we were up against time to get the new bolts refitted and the boat rebuilt before the next spring tide.  I have to say that Andrew pulled out all the stops for us.  He turned up on the Saturday morning to fit the new bolts for us even though he thought they wouldn’t be ready until Monday at the earliest.  Service like this is getting increasingly rare these days.

 

Meanwhile Bridget and I cracked on with repainting below the waterline and applying two coats of antifouling.  We also did some minor repairs and, oh yes, I fixed the plumbing leak we had (hopefully!)

 

Wednesday morning was our relaunch date and we were at the yard for 5:30 to watch the yard team swing into action once again.  It was very cold, and still quite dark, but by the time we were floating again the sun had risen and the mist over the river was magical.  We were escorted back down the river by David from the boatyard and, as we bid the team farewell, we saw a deer swimming across the river in front of us – a truly magical moment.

 

We are now planning our forthcoming passage around Land’s End and on to Wales in the next few weeks.  However, before I close this entry I would just like to say a huge thank you to Gweek Classic Boatyard and Andrew Massey for their outstanding support and the efforts they went to for us.  We cannot sing their praises highly enough.  From the moment we first made contact with them they have given us excellent support and their professionalism, team work and enthusiasm have been second to none.  We wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend them to anyone considering having work done to their vessel.  And, to top it all, the location is magical.  Thank you Andrew, David, Luke, Dusty, Louise, and all the rest of the team!

It's All Gweek To Me

 

Having made the decision to have the keel bolts checked we had the tricky task of navigating our way up the Helford River to Gweek Classic Boatyard.  The Helford is a drying tidal river so we needed to get the tides right in order to ensure sufficient water for our pilotage.  But I’m running ahead of myself.  First, let’s talk about the best laid plans of mice and men!

 

We had booked our lift-out for the morning of 1^st April.  The tide would be two days after springs but there should still be sufficient water for us.  However, as the day came closer the weather forecast was starting to look dodgy.  The entrance to the Helford is well sheltered except if there is any easterly component to the wind.  Sure enough, for our planned day the forecast was for a Force 5-6 wind coming direct from the east.  Everyone we spoke to told us that we would be fools to try, particularly as we had not been there before.  So a quick call to the Boatyard team and we were able to bring our lift-out forwards a day.  This would avoid the wind and give us a little more water in the bargain.  The only downside was that we would have to be at the quayside a little earlier, a small price to pay.

 

The next point to consider was whether to leave Mylor the evening beforehand and pick up a mooring buoy in the mouth of the Helford for the night.  This seemed like a sensible idea and would de-risk our passage up the river the following morning.  So that was decided.  But here’s a lesson learnt.  Don’t let the kind offer of assistance lead you to rush and miss things.  As we prepared to slip our lines from Mylor a fellow boat owner kindly offered to help with the rope work.  This lead me to rush as I didn’t want to keep him hanging around.  So we quickly slipped our berth and headed out for open water.  I had forgotten two things.  I had left the galley porthole open which resulted in sea water coming in and soaking our stove and other things.  Thankfully it was only spray, but it could have been much worse.  Secondly I had intended on switching off the water pump before leaving the harbour.  Needless to say that one of the plumbing pipes came off whilst we were at sea and the entire contents of our fresh water tanks dumped themselves into the bilge.  Not a good outcome to a couple of hours at sea.  However, all of this was soon forgotten when we picked up a mooring buoy (first time Bridget) and settled into the tranquillity of the Helford River.  What a special place that is.

 

The following morning was an early start.  Gweek is about 5 miles up the river and we needed to be there for 8:30, just after high tide.  We awoke to thick fog around us which was going to slow our progress, although slow and steady were the watch words for this pilotage.  I had studied the charts, wrote copious notes and watched the Boatyard’s video several times in the previous weeks, but I was still very nervous.  When the tide is in there looks like there is a huge body of water, but in actual fact most of it is far too shallow for us.  There is a very narrow and winding deep water channel which needs to be followed closely so as to avoid mishap.  Thankfully the upper reaches of the channel are buoyed, but they can be disconcerting.  Some of them appear very close to the riverbank and, had it not been for the words of the yard staff the day before telling me to trust the buoys I would not have believed we would make it.  We even had to contend with a boat coming down the river but we managed to pass each other without drama.  We were almost there when we were met by the Boatyard team in their rib coming to guide us in.  They were fantastic, and really gave us the confidence that all was well.  We were soon tied up alongside the boatyard quay.

 

As soon as we had tied up the yard crane burst into life and Wendy Woo was lifted up out of the water and settled into a cradle.  Now the stripping out work can commence.  I’ll talk about that more in my next blog.  Until then, keep the easterlies to yourself!