No wind, no tide, so went canoeing

Exciting sail in Jav

slowmo

Seals and Pinchers Creek

Synopsis:
9.2 tide. I went early with Rick in the Jav to the seals and a bit beyond (the next green buoy) quite drifty then met up with Chris in Ethelred and Richard in the Laser. All attempted the passage around the sand-dune at the end of Pincher's creek but tide just wasn't high enough. Strong tide, poor wind on return and had to pull all the way up the creek. Richard came a bit later by which time the wind had turned and he could run in.

Mega tide, Zephyr to the point

9.5 tide! Very Sunny day. Took Zephyr with Rick, Phil, Cath and Kim. Did the full trip of trip to seals and landing on point to visit lifeboat house and boardwalk. Picked up passengers at quay in style and sailed all the way to the point. Had to motor-sail much of the way back. Zephyr did well, despite having just a little, fixed, centreboard .

To the point again with 3 boats

Mary banged her knee yesterday and Rick fancied a go in the carrot so I took Chris as crew in the Jav. Richard went in the laser. We had a really good sail, enough wind to zip along nicely but not too much to force Chris out on the trapeze - but she did take a harness! Rick did very well in the carrot with the reduced sail and Richard did well in the Laser but struggled a bit with too much wind. We went to see the seals (they may not have been there, I can't remember) and then stopped on the point for a bit. Rick joined us but Richard missed us and went back early. Cracking sail.

Lego Hunt

Rick and Richard strapped a 2hp outboard to BoP and performed a magnificent retrieval mission on the nearest lego block. It is now just at the entrance to the boat park and I guess many people are wondering how on earth it got there.

A great sail to the point

Mary and Chris went in Ethelred, Rick and I in the Jav and Richard in the Laser. The Jav did a bit of too-ing and fro-ing then we met up on the point. Had a pretty good reach back and even managed to get up the cut on one tack. Mary managed to get rather wet!

Too windy and late for sailing

Ethelred went motoring with Chris, Mary, Katherine and Rick on board. Richard I went canoeing. It was pretty windy and Ethelred went to the end of the cut and then turned round to explore Agar Creek. The canoeists followed after watching Juno come up the cut to moor on the hard. I don't think many people sailed so this was the best option.

A lovely morning sail - but no seals!

Rick and set off in the Jav and had a pretty good sail - windy enough for some trapezing but not too hectic. We got to far point but there were no seals there!
There was some hard tacking to get up the cut.
Not sure yet what other sailing went on: Ethelred? Laser?

All out for an evening sail

Richard and Chris went out in Ethelred, Jen and I in the Carrot and Rick in his minisail. It was quite windy and unfortunately Rick suffered an epuipment failure: The tiller extension broke and it was almost impossible to sail after that. Jen and I brought a spare but we had all pretty much had enough by then. That could well be Rick's last sail in the minisail. (:
This was Ethelred's first sail for severa years and the first one with the new mast. All went very well.

Fun Week Day One: Agar Creek Crawl

The Commodore (aka Minister of Fun) made a stirring speech before we set off - basically warning us to keep out of the way of the Seal Boats!





It was a dead run out of the cut then a brisk reach to the mouth of the Morston Creek. We had a fairly exciting tack up the creek and stopped for a while on the hard there. M walked to Morston and took some pics of the fleet on the actual creek crawl part:

Through one gap but not another

Another very high tide (astronomically speaking) but not as high as it could have been. It was
quite windy so Rick and I set off in the carrot. We went all the way to the seals and sailed
through the gap between far point and the new island. On the return journey we attempted to
circumnavigate the sand dune at the end of Pincher's Creek but the tide was just not high
enough.

To the point and seals in Zephyr

We had a terrific motor/sail in Zephyr today. It was a really high tide (9.3) with a westerley wind. We motored out to the point and spent a good time on the (recently renovated) boardwalk and looking around the lifeboat house. We then had bacon rolls and orange juice on the the shingle back where we had anchored. Later we motored off to see the seals. They were a bit short in number as the new island was totally submerged. We then hoisted sail and had a good run/reach all the way back to the mooring.

Another quick thrash in the Carrot

We set off again and whizzed across to Watch-house bay where Rick took the helm.


There were loads of (mostly dead) ladybirds on the strandline.



Indulgent slowmo:

Quick thrash in the Jav

Rick and I had two sails today. The first one was in the Jav and was an exciting thrash to watch-house bay a few times. Rick did a good job on the trapeze (see vid). It was a bit like hard work so we didn't stay out for long. (note the classy landing!)

Short early morning sail

Today's sail was a bit of a comedy of errors or a communications failure: It was an early start and I thought Rick said he was up for a sail in the Carrot and to meet him at lands end. I therefore set off and went to and fro a few times between lands end and the watchhouse, trying to spot Rick. Eventually I came back and, after putting the boat away, met Rick coming down the hill in full sailing gear! I think he had been asleep during our previous conversation! Mary got a pic of me coming back:

Booze Cruise

We had a pleasant eveing sail in Zephyr, choosing to go up the Cley Channel. Two of the Oxford contingent came along with me and Rick. Catherine brought some wine and nibbles which we believe was a first.

MKF Weekend Day 2 Morning Sail

MKF Weekend Day 2 Morning Sail Video

MKF Weekend Day 1 Careening

Unfortunately, Zephyr's centreboard was playing up again this morning, so we had yet another working party to try to fix it. There is a theory that Zephyr has spent more time on her side being fiddled with than upright being sailed in.

Howard and I reckoned we were more useful supervising from our canoes:

Fred found a hi-tech method to get the mud out of the centreboard case

The theory was that the rope was snagging (there is some wear)

We replaced the red rope with a thinner, blue, rope but unfortunately the knot seems to snag worse than before, dammit. Now the centreboard is stuck protruding a bit.

MKF Weekend Day 1 Canoeing

This was the first time Howard had been in a canoe!

For all we know, as far as Howard is concerned, it may also be the last.
We had a jolly time paddling about while the others did a spot of careening.

MKF Weekend Day 1 morning sail

For some reason Zephyr was VERY full of water.

It was a very still, foggy day...

... so it was good to get a tow...

The Jav had an interesting sail around the new 'seal island' - not entirely deliberately, I kind of got swept through.

Zephyr motored out to the seals, too, but she was hard to see from the Jav due to the fog. Zephyr sailed back with the wind doing a bit of Goose-winging (aka Swan-Upping).

We reached the end of the cut at much the same time and sailed back together after a much better sail than we might have imagined earlier on.

Extreme sail in the Carrot

I'm too old for this sort of thing!

Another drifty sail in the Jav

Had a nice drifty sail in the Jav with C&P

Drifty Sail in the Jav

It was a beautiful sunny and almost windless morning - the conditions in which M was prepared to risk setting out with me in the Jav. We had a nice drift down the cut but the wind was too feeble to get us to the Point so we drifted around the committe boat. A highlight was seeing Juno on the move. We let her go out before us and we had a goood view of her hoisting sail int the pit. We tacked off up the Cley Channel and then came back via the Northeast Passage. Ironically the wind had picked up by then so we may have been able to get to the Point. Fortunately the wind had veered sufficiently for us to get back on one tack.

Around the Cley Channel

Not a bad morning's sail. There was a gentle SW wind and it was sunny! I was going to go to the point but had a problem with the halyard (seems to loads of sand in the mast so the cleat doesn't work). That took up time so I went to the Cley Channel instead and sailed around a bit. Tried the p-cam under the boom - seems OK. Did a bit of handheld stuff which was a bit dodgy.

Below are some stills of two terns I disturbed, the new sluice by the Cley Beach Road and a couple of other sailors....and an edit of the video.

Not a bad morning's sail. There was a gentle SW wind and it was sunny! I was going to go to the point but had a problem with the halyard (seems to loads of sand in the mast so the cleat doesn't work). That took up time so I went to the Cley Channel instead and sailed around a bit. Tried the p-cam under the boom - seems OK. Did a bit of handheld stuff which was a bit dodgy.

Lost in the Fog

Well, almost.
There was absolutely no wind on Saturday, but on Easter Sunday there was a reasonable North wind. The problem was that the visibility was pretty dreadful.
I set off tacking up the cut when the visibility was OK:

...then it rather closed in!

It was OK really. I got to far point but there were no seals! The wind was favourable for going right round the back and I contemplated trying to sail through the gap between the point and the new island but the tide was ebbing pretty fast and as it was early in the season thought discretion was the better part etc.
It was a good sail with a pleasant reach/run home:

Good Friday

Good Friday 2009 in North Norfolk was a cracking day. I had a sail in the carrot in the morning. The wind was 2-4 due South which meant a dead run out (not as hairy as it could have been as the tide had turned by the time I got in gear) and a beat back up the cut.

I don't think I was caught by the webcam, but you can see the race setting off - I followed them out about 10 minutes later:


M and I went on a mudstomp later and she got this thrilling pic of me checking Zephyr's mooring block!

Boat Park Activity

On Saturday the sailing club staked out some more chains in the boat park. It should be quite a good scheme. On Sunday J and I shifted the Minisails and Mark to some decent positions on the bank opposite a path and staked them down. The weather was drizzly so we weren't really in the mood for photos.

First Sail of the year

Well, it was worth keeping the carrot on the boatpark - I finally got a winter sail! The weather was OK (wind 2-3 SW, temp above freezing) and the tide was OK 8.4m, high at around 8:45. I saw no other sailing boats but there were a couple of rowing boats and a small motor boat. The wind was fine to get to the lifeboat house but I didn't fancy going to far point. It was really strange seeing the pit with so few boats - just a sea of buoys. And flocks of birds, mainly geese

Here's one of M's photos:

And I even got snapped by the webcam:

ActionCam on the way back (speeded up x16)

No wind - and rather cold