Winter sailing, rugby and beer

Ishtar is having a new UV strip fitted to her genoa - it's needed doing since we were caught out in bad weather in June last year. The sailmaker said it would take a week, and he's now had it for two, hopefully it will be back this week.

Our friend Vince wated to go for a sail, to play with his spinnaker, and there was rugby in the bar afterwards, Wales v Scotland from Murrayfield no less. The weather looked decent for Saturday, a ridge of high pressure was forecast between strong winds on Friday and a gale late on Saturday night. Vince asked if I fancied a sail, and I jumped at the chance.

We locked out at 11:30, a few other brave sailors and a few more fishermen were in the lock with us. The fishermen, no doubt, intent on luring the year's last few cod onto their decks.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Leaving Cardiff locks"][/caption]

I helmed as we navigated the dredged channels leaving Cardiff, the dredger 'Sospan dau' waited for us to clear before continuing her work:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dredger"][/caption]

Vince put the kettle on and enquired as to whether I fancied just going for a sail up towards Newport with the last of the flood, returning later with the ebb in time for the game. Perfect! We put the sails up and settled into a nice easy beam reach, enjoying the winter sunshine, tea and good company.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Vince making tea"][/caption]

 I spotted something in the water, it looked like a balloon with an attached messsage. Who knows where it came from? It turned out that it was probably Cardiff - it was a valentine's balloon. Vince let it go and instead of returning to the sea it sailed up and away into the blue sky.

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Sky"][/caption]

The wind strengthened and a slight chop picked up as the tide started to ebb, against the wind. We turned for home, but the wind had backed, and what should have been another beam reach had turned into a beat. As the first spots of spray splashed into the cockpit I regretted not brining my full sailing gear, but we didn't get any wetter, despite the 23 knots of wind.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Beating back towards Cardiff."][/caption]

 

Another yacht from the club was shadowing us, but we passed her, Vince's racing experience telling him when best to tack.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Tacking"][/caption]

 

It is, of course, still February, and the chill wind did start to have an effect as the sun dipped. No problem, we were soon locking in and tying up. Before long we were in the bar, with a few friends, watching the rugby (Wales won 24-6) and enjoying a few beers.

Thanks, Vince, a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Aberthaw or bust

A quiz night at the club. Sadly, my knowledge of 1970's sit coms let me down, and we came second. Louise went off to work and I wandered along the pontoon in the bright moonlight, slipping occasionally on the frosty planks and eyeing the icy water either side. Tigger was waiting on a freezing cold Ishtar.

Managed to sleep, and woke around 08:00. Eberspacher struggled with the freezing air and had only managed to get the boat a few degrees above freezing after half an hour. Outside was even worse:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Frosty morning"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Brrr"][/caption]

The fog bothered me. The Inshore waters forecast said fog patches in the Bristol channel and very poor visibility at times. I was not frightened of hitting anything, it was just the whole point of going out was to have a lovely sail along the coast of South Glamorgan in bright winter sunshine. I didn't see much point in going out in January if visbility was 200 metres.

By the time Louise arrived at 10:00, it had cleared, and we set off for the 10:30 lock. I started breaking the sheets and haliards out of the ice.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Frozen sheets"][/caption]

 

I took Ishtar into the lock - the first time since the engine change. The power was quite a shock, as was the pronounced prop walk. Still, I didn't hit anything and Louise handled the lines.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="In the lock"][/caption]

 

We shared the lock with 'Deios', a lovely wooden motor cruiser. We'd seen her at Llangwm a couple of years ago, and again at Lundy. Originally from Troon on the West Coast of Scotland, her owner explained the work he was doing in maintenance. Teak, Oak and Larch. She headed off for Flatholm and Steepholm as we left the locks.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Deios"][/caption]

 

Our friend Allan had gone off at 07:00, in his Westerly 33, Chausey at the start of the ebb. It was now mid flow, and I wanted to see what the new engine could do against the tide. Even at 3000 revs, I could make 2 knots against the tide at the Ranie buoy, where it runs striongly. Happy, Louise retired to bed and I hoisted the sails, although the signs were not good for an exciting sail.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="No wind"][/caption]

 

It was flat calm. The sails hung limply. No problem, I thought, it will pick up in an hour or so. It didn't.



I could have started the engine, but it was so peaceful. Louise was sleeping, I was drifting Westawrds at 3.5 knots with the spring tide, and enjoying every minute of it.

As we passed Barry, the Pilot went out to meet a Cargo vessel heading West from Bristol. Presumably to pick up the pilot after navigating the upper reaches of the Channel. A reminder of the old days, when the Bristol Channel Pilots raced Westwards in their sleek cutters, to get the best trade.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Pilot boat approaching cargo vessel"][/caption]

I rang Allan aboard Chausey. He was just passing Ilfracombe, and the tide had turned. I still had over an hour of ebb left, which illustrates the effect of the Bristol Channel tide, for those who know how to use it. Allan asked me to time the turning of the tide and position. I agreed.

We'd almost reached Aberthaw when Louise surfaced. Tigger too. A cup of tea and she was ready to sail back. Well, we only sailed for a few minutes before switching the engine on. The sun was dipping and so was the temperature.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Heading home"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Looking West"][/caption]

 

We flew back with the flooding tide and were soon rounding the Ranie bouy and looking at the setting sun behind Sully Island

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Sully Island (right)"][/caption]

 

The high pressure (1036mb) had pushed down the tide and the lock master advised we wait an extra half hour before locking in. As we crossed the bay after the lock, the sky was magnificent

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cardiff Bay"][/caption]

 

We were soon approaching our mooring at the club, cold and tired, but very happy.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Setting sun"][/caption]

 

When you make the effort, and get out on a day that starts with you wondering what you are doing in the frost, you get such a great feeling being out on the water, and start wondering why you haven't been out for weeks.

A lovely day.

Wakey wakey

November! Last time I updated.

Busy with work. Busy with Christmas. Busy with Flu. Heavy snow and Cardiff bay freezing around the edges again. Not really a great time for us to sail.

We visited Ishtar last week after 5 weeks away. After the heavy snow and thick ice, and a long period on her own I expected all sorts of problems. I could not believe it, therefore, when the engine fired up as I started to turn the key.

A huge smile, and thoughts of worry free sailing for maybe the first time this year, after limping around the Bristol channel and beyond for the last three.

I'm satying on the boat tonight, taking bedding, food and so on down later today. All things being well, we'll be sailing all day tomorrow after Louise gets home from nightshift.

Can't wait to get out on the Sea again, even if the winds may be too light to sail properly.

And so, how about a sail?

5 weeks of hard work, worry and toil, taking the boat out of the water, removing and selling the old engine, fitting a new engine and associated stern gear, worrying about whether it would all get done on time, and then whether it would start, whether it would all function correctly, and finally, triumphantly riding around the bay with our brand spanking new engine, purring like a kitten.

So, as you can imagine, we couldn't wait to switch the damn noisy thing off.......

The purpose, of course, is to sail. So, Saturday morning, with the Wales V Australia game on in the bar at 14:30, seemed a perfect opportunity to get out for a few hours of relaxation. Tides would have meant we could not get back in in time for the game, if we ventured out into the Bristol Channel, so we sailed in the bay.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cardiff Bay"][/caption]

 The Bay, naturally, is very popular at weekends, with boaters of all abilities keen to play. I prefer to get out early, at least you can get an hour or two before it becomes too much effort to concentrate on so many craft. With light winds, we slipped through the water at a leisurely 3 knots or so, sipping tea and coffee whilst Tigger barked aggressively at anyone careless enough to get withing 3 miles of us.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Bay"][/caption]

 We knew many of them, of course, and waved to Chris, Peter, Vince and Neville as they passed by on their own boats, tacking this way and that, and generally enjoying themselves as much as we were.

Clouds of tiny Optomist dinghies joined in the festivities, trainees, some of whom were very young indeed. Starting early seems a great way to learn the ropes.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Optomists"][/caption]

 

There were other boats too, vibrant colours in the early winter sunshine, against the backdrop of Penarth head.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dinghies and Penarth head"][/caption]

 

It really was very enjoyable, spoiled, only slightly when the engine would not start when we were ready to head in. Louise suspected a misaligned 'O' ring on a filter, and set about fixing it. I thought, 'I wonder if I can sail right back onto our pontoon berth before she gets the engine going?'. It gave me great satisfaction to do just that, although a painful trip when dropping the mainsail blackened my mood somewhat, as did the rugby later.

A lovely day thaough, and, hopefully, after the trials and tribulations of the last few weeks, hopefully we can now say that Ishtar is back to normal.

Sea Trials

Well, not the sea, actually, just Cardiff Bay.

On Sunday we returned to the boat. I removed the steps to see about half an egg cup full of greasy water in the bilge, clearly run through from the cockpit locker where some diesel soaked rags lay. No leaks then!

The warranty card required that we run the engine for 15 minutes at 50% revs, 15 minutes at 75% and 15 minutes flat out. We left the pontoon, still not quite able to grasp the fact that Ishtar now answered the throttle immediately, no 30 second delay whilst the old engine gradually heaved Ishtar into motion.

The movement now was instant. The prop walk, unnoticeable with the Bukh, was clear, and going astern in a controlled manner, choosing your direction was now possible. Off into the bay we went. We ran through the checks, watching the warning lights all along for any problem. None. Running a brand new engine at 3600 revs seemed very harsh, but that was the manufacturers recommendation, so we did it. No sign of any problem, and 6.4 knots, Ishtar's hull speed reached.

We spent another hour running back and forth across the bay. There was a slight squeaking at 2000 revs, which dissappeared above that, which will have to be identified. The ventilator fan, recommended by Beta but missed out by many people we have spoken too, was a lot lounder than we had anticipated. Apart from these minor issues, everything was perfect.

So, engine is in, seems fine. Now we have to put the boat back together. Clean up. Put away all the tools, put back the cushions, food, water and so on. Hopefully, in a week or two, we can be out in the Bristol channel, using Ishtar as she was intended, and this last six weeks will all be behind us.

Launch day

We got to the boat early. Louise tided up, frantically putting tools away. I knocked out some of the blocks holding Ishtar in her cradle and Louise dabbed on some antifoul in the gaps. Then, it was 10:00, and the yard lads approached.....

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Time to go"][/caption]

 

I had not been there when Louise cut and fitted the new packing for the stuffing box, nor when she and Vince had fitted the new through hull fitting. With visions of water flooding into the boat, Ishtar was gently lowered down the ramp into Cardiff bay.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="And in"][/caption]

 

Louise crawled into the engine compartment, and there was an anxious wait until , a few minutes later, she emerged through the cockpit locker with a big grin. 'Completely dry' she said. I could not believe it. I climbed aboard and checked. The tissue paper she had wrapped around all the new fitings and stern gland were bone dry. Louise had done a fantastic job.

We lef the crane and, with the help of a few friends, pulled Ishtar along the pontoon on ropes, tying her up ready to start commisioning the engine.



Next job. Prime the engine. I had diesel in the fuel pipe after the primary filter (water separator with glass bowl) but, try as I might, I could not get a clear flow of diesel at the secondary filter, lots of air. We spent an hour, trying with the hand operated lever on the fuel lift pump to no avail.

Eventually, I resorted to using our old oil sump pump, connected it to the end of the fuel pipe and a few quick pumps relulted in the unmistakeable bubbling of air, clearly coming from the primary filter O ring.

Rather than mess about (the filter had ony done about 20 hours) Louise replaced the filter and O rings, top and bottom. Within 2 minutes, I had a clear flow of diesel, first at the secondary filter, then at the injector pump. It was now or never.

I'd been so used to turning the key on the Bukh for 20 seconds or more, I didn't realise the engine had started immediately. It was a strange moment. We'd done it. It was in, no leaks, and purring away like a dream.

The warranty checklist required we checked for leaks, adjusted the gear linkeage to ensure the clutch was not slipping, run the engine on the pontoon for 20 minutes and then go for sea trials. We worked through the list, still expecting to find the inevitable things we'd missed or done wrongly. Couldn't find any.

Eventually I stood on the pontoon and asked Louise to slip it into forward gear, and then just into astern. The boat eased forward and then back, perfectly. I panicked slightly when I heard a loud squeaking noise, until I realised it was Louise, giggliing like a 5 year old, a huge smile on her face.

I climbed aboard, let loose the mooring lines and set off to our own pontoon berth. The travel on the throttle was around half what it was on the Bukh, and we had around twice the power, so I had  no idea we were speeding along at 5 knots, creating quite a wake. The last time I had tested the Bukh, we could barely reach 4 knots flat out.

It was brilliant. A lot of friends were there on Saturday afternoon, and other boats had been launched too. It felt great, motoring up between the pontoons, people cheering, waving and clapping at us, and we both felt very proud that we had done all the work ourselves (with a fair bit of help from my father and friends, of course).

Not much left to do now.

We had six days left before launch, to fit the prop, run in the new electrical cables and fuel lines, mount the console, fit the through hull fitting for the water intake and a 'few other bits and pieces'. We'd do it easily.

Then work intervened, and I ended up spending most of the week in Bristol, leaving a huge amount of pressure on Louise. She coped admirably, above and beyond every other woman I know, working night shifts before returning to the boatyard for an hour or two, sleeping in the car before continuing her work. I would never have managed without her.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Hero"][/caption]

 

I'd cut and pinned all the new engine cables, Louise fitted all the connectors and connected the system up. Lights on, and engine live first time! The tricky bit was fitting 3 x 50mm cables into the '1-2-all' switch, but Louise did a lovely job.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Tight fit"][/caption]

Our friend Vince came to the rescue as well, fitting the new water intake

 



And doing a beautiful job of splicing in a piece of teak to our rubbing strake, which repleced a rotted piece. Thanks Vince.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Vince, repairing our rubbing strake"][/caption]

 

With the boat out of the water, security was an important issue. It was vital to ensure that anyone intent on breaking into the boat and stealing our new engine was kept at bay:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Beware of the dog"][/caption]

 

We gradually ticked off the jobs, with me doing little bits whenever I could. I broke three De Walt 'Extreme' bits drilling a hole in the prop shaft for a split pin. A simple job, still took nearly 2 hours:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Prop shaft hole"][/caption]

And on with the prop:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="prop"][/caption]

 

Then, suddenly, it was late on Friday evening. Ishtar was being launched at 10:00 on Saturday morning. There were tools and mess everywhere. The fuel lines had still not been fitted, and we'd completely forgotten the through hull fitting for the speed log was leaking, and needed a dab more sikaflex. Louise quickly did it, and picked up a curry on her way home. She'd not slept for 36 hours.