Time seems to be racing by this season and summer has been somewhat elusive too making time on board special. Our daughter Charlotte has been in France working with Rockley watersports since the 9th June and apparently the weather’s been great too……. thanks for that !

A couple of weeks ago I spent an hour under water cleaning off what can only be described at a coral reef from the bottom of the keel. At low water springs the keel sits about 30-40 cm in the soft mud on our berth and the growth of sealife was quite surprising. Studland bay is the perfect location to do this as the water is a clear enough and calm, until the jet skis and water skiers turn up !

We finally decided on which company would change the standing rigging, and on Monday 19th September Silhouette’s mast comes down and “Quay Rigging” start work. Although the job will only take a week we can’t re-step for 2 weeks as we have to wait for the next full spring tide. When it’s done we’ll post before during and after photos and details including costings.

As mentioned before, we had made contact with Steve & Helen who own “Allegrini” another 473 and arranged to meet up during the summer. Last weekend we finally managed it in Yarmouth. Our trip up on Saturday morning was in poor visibility with sea mist and fog all the way but the sun finally made an appearance as we reached Hurst castle.

A first for us, and quite exciting to be meeting fellow cruisers who would be leaving the UK when we do and following similar routes as far as Gibraltar at least. What a great couple they are, good company, funny and knowledgeable. I mentioned I couldn’t get the AIS to show up on the cockpit repeater so Steve said “I can fix that”……. after many visits to both stations i swear if I’d offered him a hammer he would’ve used it. Suddenly it started working, well done Steve. On the sail back to Poole both e80 and e120 showed the AIS to be off again but on checking marine traffic our entire track was there !?! The last software update for these units was July 2012 which we have so I shall do the same thing Steve did next weekend….. I’ll keep the hammer handy!

We had spoken about having a completely independent chartplotter in case anything happened to the Raymarine units i.e. lightening strike or power failure,  Steve said “you need a bad elf”…..

Sounded like a dodgy character in a pantomime to me but sure enough it does exist.

Designed for Apple Ipads etc it’s a gps system which simply plugs into the lightening connector and once it’s configured to the Ipad, and you download your choice of chartplotter software, job done. We ordered one this week and as we already have Raymarine we added the navionics app and I must say it works all for £110.00

Thankyou Steve that’s yet another pint we owe you

Back in March we picked up a fishing net around the prop which needed a diver to clear (the water was way too cold for me!) which was the first time for us in all the years of sailing. Well, we got another one last weekend when motoring down the Swash channel towards Old Harry Rocks. We heard a thump followed by a rumble and vibration through the cockpit sole immediately thinking damage to the prop, bearing or another net. This time however we were prepared. We dropped the anchor just outside the channel near the rocks and taped our GoPro camera to the boat hook, and the result was a net sack meaning it was time for me to put on the wetsuit and clear it away. We are net magnets !!!

Whilst working on the job at hand I was pleasantly surprised to see the hull fairly clear of barnacles and build up of sea life, just some slime which can easily be brushed off. We’d decided in the end not to come out of the water earlier this year and would monitor instead. As Silhouette will be ashore from October for a few months having work done, we couldn’t see the point. Seeing how clear the hull was meant it was a good decision…. wow we got something right !!!

Propeller cleared we stayed in the shadow of Old Harry for the night then motored in the morning to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight on a glassy sea with no wind at all. Wow has Yarmouth changed since we were there some 14 years ago, the pile moorings are all gone replaced by mostly walk ashore pontoons. The harbour masters in their launches are different, Bernie and Brynn having long since retired, but nevertheless as helpful as ever. As soon as I mentioned we had no bow thruster to turn into a tight space, a big smile bounced back ” no worries I’ll give you a nudge if you need it”

So what hasn’t changed? Yarmouth itself is exactly as we remember it including the damn fine beers on offer and the tardis that is Harwoods chandlers. I wouldn’t want to do an end of year stock take put it this way…..

I noticed another 473 on a finger berth so went over to say hello and cheekily had a tape measure in my hand as I’d noticed their liferaft was atttached to the stern just above the “stupid locker” and wanted to see how much room there was around it. I’m not happy with our valise tucked away in a locker, it’s heavy and If the worst ever happened and it needed to be launched I want it done quickly and easily. Introductions done and measurements taken we had a quick chat like you do about our boats. My apologies, but I’m rubbish at remembering names I do know they keep the boat in Swanwick marina AND that it wasn’t Steve & Helen from Allegrini  !

After a great night on board with surprise visitors Lee & Julie who arrived by RiB from Lymington as it was getting dark, we readied ourselves for a beat against the wind and tide (by choice) with a westerly force 6 to look forward to. As we punched tide just outside the harbour we heard a mayday from a 39 foot yacht that had left the berth in front of us about 45 minutes earlier. They had been dismasted and drifting towards the rocks of Colwell Bay. We were about 25 minutes from them  punching the tide but the Yarmouth lifeboat got there in 15 from the mayday going out ….. mightily impressive. No sooner had they recovered the rigging and towed the yacht back to port, the lifeboat was called out again to an 85 foot yacht with engine failure. We got to see the lifeboat at full speed passing us twice in one afternoon. The tow this time was the biggest tow the Yarmouth lifeboat had done to date.

Our daughter Charlotte is now in France teaching watersports to kids for at least 4 weeks but quite possibly all summer……… missing you already 🙂

leaving me to decorate her bedroom and find a fault with our Raymarine AIS system which reboots whenever it feels like it. Hopefully it’s just a voltage drop due to bad connection, just got to find where the unit is on board now !

We introduced ourselves via email to Steve & Helen who own another 473 based in Swanwick recently and have agreed to meet up this summer. They have their own blog running www.allegrini.co.uk which as it turns out shows their departure date as pretty much the same time as us. They’ve even started a countdown clock which makes it all the more real. Having seen the clock we thought we’d actually compile a list of the jobs that need/should be done prior to our own departure. To be honest I hate lists as there’s always something else to add. That said we both feel if you wait until the boat is 100% finished you’ll never actually leave the berth!!! Someone said (so I’m told) that blue water sailing is boat maintenance in warm weather ( or something like that), so in reality there will always be something to do. Obviously it’s important to get all the big known jobs done before leaving along with all safety issues, we have however been extremely lucky to have found a boat having just returned from an Atlantic circuit and owned by a very fastidious family who prepared Silhouette so well.

However I started a list this week …….. did I mention I hate lists! Some items should be considered normal annual practice but here it is…. GULP

Replace standing rigging and check operating limits of the inner forestay with riggers

Repair or replace Lazyjack system

Check/reinforce mainsail stitching

Install watermaker  (not on original plan but being talked into it)

Service maxprop

Service all winches

Service windlass

Service liferaft and resite to pushpit cradle

Service fridge and freezer systems

Service and check all hoses fitted to skin fittings

Service hydraulic autopilot pump

Change rudder bearing

Change Cutless bearing

Check gas supply system

Generator.. (hmmm still thinking a petrol backup only)

Check wind and solar outputs working efficiently

Check battery banks holding charge

Fit SSB radio and pactor modem

Laptop with software for email and navigation

Check emergency tiller and possible alternative autopilot attachment for it

Check wind instrument (intermittent reading)

New Epirb

E120 back light repair

Towable water generator (maybe)

Replace scuba gear

Fishing equipment inc speargun

Update engine spares

Buy FRiB and 10/15hp outboard (maybe)

Most of these can be done with Silhouette still in the water and won’t take very long at all, some of the big jobs will be done at the same time whilst ashore this winter.

With that compiled we thought a weekend sail was in order and arranged to meet up with our cousins Lee & Julie in Lymington where they live. We had a cracking sail up in a NE5-6 with 1 slab in the main and 2/3rds of the genoa rolled out reaching 9.6kts over the ground (about 8kts through the water) and Silhouette sailed like a dream. As we approached the Needles fairway buoy we started to roll in the genoa as we were heading straight into the NE wind when the genoa sheet whipped just like a tea towel flick and caught Caroline on the side of her finger. Initially it looked dislocated as it certainly wasn’t pointing in the right direction! She bent it back and strapped it up but a visit to Lymington Hospital showed a double break with an unstable fracture. The doctors were surprised Caroline popped the finger straight….. she’s made of strong stuff is my wife !!!

A huge thank you to Julie for being taxi driver and to Lee for remaining with me onboard drinking beer 🙂

The return trip to Poole promised NW-5-6 meaning a cracking sail back so we asked Lee & Julie if they wanted to come with us, we didn’t need to ask twice.

Leaving the overnight berth we’d been allocated at Lymington Yacht Haven wasn’t as difficult as we’d first thought even though we did have to reverse all the way out to the river before relaxing.

 Then once in the Solent it was time for Silhouette to show our guests what she could do. Lee is certainly a sailor as he’d sailed for many years with his dad Colin who introduced us to sailing in 1990, and we just couldn’t keep him off the helm! With smiles all round we passed Hurst Castle close to starboard and once past North head buoy tacked straight to Poole at 7-9 kts.

 When I was finally allowed to switch the autopilot on, we settled down for lunch and I informed Lee that if he could get the necessary time off work, I wanted him to be part of the Atlantic crew.  Lee is a natural and so at home on the water, he would be a huge asset and we hope he can make it. I think the only problem we would have with him is he keeps wanting to put the spinnaker up…. boy racers !!!

Although still very cold, the weather had improved enough to consider an early season day sail so with much excitement our daughter Charlotte and I took the winter cover off and re-attached the mainsail. With a north easterly 4-5  conditions looked great so the three of us slipped our berth and headed off for the 09:30 bridges. Having duly called Poole bridge control requesting a set of bridge lifts we were told we were the only vessel going through. As we approached the first bridge I noticed it was really difficult engaging reverse and when it did drop in there were no revs at all followed by black smoke and an oil slick…. “Dad that doesn’t look right” she said, “s*it” I thought, we’ve lost the gearbox. Fortunately we managed to tie up quite quickly to a spare RNLI pontoon and as I jumped ashore with some lines I looked ahead to see the twin sails bridge half way raised…… oops!!! Quick apology to a very understanding voice on the VHF and we turned our thoughts to the problem at hand.

A phone call to the marina office at Cobbs Quay followed by a tow back to a berth and that was that, no sailing at all. Much reading on possible issues and a phone call to a local marine engineer who took a look and the problem didn’t look like it was mechanical but more like a propeller malfunction. I spoke to the maxprop dealer in the UK “Darglow marine” who said it was unlikely to be an issue with the prop unless it had hit something and bent a blade in the wrong position.

We were going to need to take a look at the prop, no lift out available until April as it’s the busy period, so it meant going under water. I got my 5mm one piece suit out, found my fins mask and snorkel………. and then telephoned a professional diver !! Its March in the UK I’m not that mad. End result was fishing net wrapped securely around the prop and shaft which took the diver 30 minutes to clear.

2 weeks later we went out to test all was ok and managed to shake the sails out before the wind died and some sea fog rolled in. No matter, easter is around the corner and there’s a buzz of excitement as the evenings draw out too !

We knew there would be a learning curve but one thing we didn’t really give too much thought to was the need to book berths in advance given our size and especailly at bank holidays. Whilst we would prefer to anchor when possible, Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight has a great harbour which fills quickly and we have managed to book ahead for the Good Friday. Sadly we left it too late for Lymington so have made arrangements with Hamble Point marina, last time we were there was in 1997 when we bought “Seaway Challenge” our last boat so it’ll be interesting to take a look around.

With Christmas and new year well and truly out of the way, we have been looking at what jobs we can do whilst still on the water to make the “out of water” list much smaller, also making the actual time ashore less too. What looks like the biggest job is the teak decking. It’s starting to go a bit green and although It’s in overall great condition, we want to keep it that way for as long as possible. The previous owner left us some very helpful notes including the name of a teak biocide and protector called Boracol. Having washed down and “lightly” scrubbed the decks (hard scrubbing being a no no apparently) with a nylon brush which was back braking (I’m no spring chicken!) it’s now ready for application. We purchased 5 litres of Boracol online and will apply 2-3 coats this weekend weather permitting.

One major item on our shopping list was a proper sprung mattress. We thought it would be quite easy little realising just how far technology has gone with marine bedding. Think of all the various options available when you visit your local bedding centre then add in the need to withstand the marine environment! Originally we went to last years Southampton boat show and spent some time with one manufacturer who whilst helpful, we found to be quite pushy to get us to sign on the dotted line there and then…… those who know me know that’s like red rag !! When we first went to view Silhouette we spoke with a couple who were living on their B473 in the marina who mentioned they used a company called Wizard Bedding in Plymouth. We sent them an email followed by phone calls and they have been great, even sending out samples free! We really wanted a one piece but Wizard were uneasy about the fact that we would have to bend the new mattress almost in half to get it through the companionway as the springs are not designed for that, so we opted for a two piece with zip attachment and comfort flap. As boat mattresses are odd shapes there need to be a template made and as the template in effect needed to be 3 dimensionable due to different angles when allowing for the thickness of the mattress, I started to get the feeling that if I got it wrong Caroline would never let me forget…..Wizard to the rescue, as they deliver to Sunseeker Power boats in Poole every Thursday they said they would send their man to do it for me for £20 he even turned up with a completed 2 piece mattress with zip so we could see it, bear in mind at this stage we hadn’t given them any money! Anyway, the template duly done,  paid for and delivery completed  in under 3 weeks so if you’re looking for a great company for your marine mattress give these guys a go   http://www.wizardmarinemattresses.com/

Last weekend our permanent berth became available for us so I took the winter cover off enough to see all around and decided to fill up with diesel at the same time as moving to a berth big enough for us and with room for manouevering. Whilst the actual fuel dock is long, the width of the channel wasn’t and I knew I’d have to make a 5 point turn at least to go back. Very little concentrates the mind more than turning a 14 metre boat without a bow thruster in a narrow channel singlehanded. Filling both tanks took 347 litres, the attendant started to looked worried, I think he thought there might be a hole in the tank, at a cost of 48p per litre which i was pleasantly surprised at. Having filled up and completed my 5 point turn making the most of the huge prop walk to port, I took Silhouette to her new berth and placed her in stern first which makes boarding so much easier. The chap on the yacht next to us came out and took a stern line which was very kind and then commented how he was in awe of me moving a boat of that size on my own. To be honest I didn’t even think it was a big deal once I’d worked out the route, full risk assessment, escape vectors, life insurance cover…. oh and fenders !!! Seriously though it’s all about preparation then just getting on with it.

The wind and rain this winter has been relentless and according to my best friend it’s all my fault as the weather went downhill as soon as we got Silhouette ……… and this weekends forecast ? 😦