Laying up weekend

No sailing this weekend unfortunately - too dark, wet and windy.
We took the Javelin to Langham and I tied the extra mooring line to Zephyr and bailed her out.

This year I'm keeping the Carrot up in the yard. Not too difficult really, just a drag alomg the hard and a helping push up the hill:

Classic Zephyr Sail

We took our visitors on a lovely sail in Zephyr. We went out to see the seals...

Had a walk on the boardwalk and visited the Lifeboat House...

We moored Zephyr on the nice shelving beach on the entrance to Pincher's Creek:

Extreme Solo Sail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVpLJcu6pgY&feature=player_profilepage

It was pretty windy today. We had Melshir and her ex-national sailor friend Heather with us. The only practical option was two-up in the solo...

I reckon we were spotted on the webcam sailing back close-hauled over the marsh:

Jen and I went canoeing

Last potential sail for a while. It was really too windy for most sailing today. We could have gone out in the Carrot I suppose - maybe with the small sail - but didn't fancy that. We had hoped finally to get the the point as Jenny hasn't been there this year, but had to settle for some canoeing.

Breakfast at Watch-House Creek

We planned to breakfast at Blakeney Point but the wind was a fairly strong westerley so we didn't feel like going that far. Watch-House beach was occupied so we navigated up Watch-House creek as far as we could and found a decent anchorage.
We had a very good breakfast (bacon & egg bap and tea!) but got a bit twitchy when some bird-watchers came by:

Dodgy start and short lively sail

Jen and I went in the Jav, Mary and Christina went in Ethelred. It was windier out than we thought. Jen and I had a few furious reaches towards the watch-house and up and down the cut. Plenty of planing. The helmet-cam refused to work properly so could only grab a few shaky seconds. Ethelred went out out a bit further but came back quite quickly as Mary was absolutely drenched with spray. Had a bit of a panic when the spinnaker halyard came loose as I was attaching the jib - so the mast came crashing down! Jen and I managed to raise it again but I had struggle a bit to get the 'foot' sorted out as it became detached from the bottom of the mast. All seems OK now and there were no other equipment failures.Note: The usual rudder is too long in shallow waters (like reaching across the marsh today) so I might use the other rudder sometimes - and maybe even shorten it.

Brisk early morning sail

I went sailing in the Carrot AM. Early start (tide 5:48 in book). Quite windy WSW so just went towards committee boat and then reached around near the watch-house.

Seals in Zephyr

Sat 2010-08-14In Zephyr with Rose and Richard to seals and point. Had to motor home against wind and strong tide.
NB I have spotted a useful bit of driftwood by the second sluice on the left by the bank.

Monster Tide

Fri 2010-08-13Monster tide too windy and very wet except for a few hardy/stupid sailors. I went in canoe and went along the road and round a car.

Fun Week: A windy day for sailing around

It was quite windy so I went out in the Carrot with the reduced rig. 'Fun' was a 'follow my leader' which was a bit too much like racing so John Seymour and I peeled off for a while. The others then went to Watch-House Bay briefly and then had lots of fun reaching about. Got quite a bit of hand-held action cam footage but the thing got moisture in it later on and misted up.

I got a short, shaky bit of video of the Commodore making an ungainly job of getting in a Seafly:

Too much wind for sailing

The Fun Week programme was to have breakfast on Blakeney Point. It was far too windy for dinghyt sailing. Mary and I set off in Zephyr but it was really too windy even to set sail. We went back to the mooring but I could only attach the painter close to the mooring stake. This meant Zephyr blew over the path (you can see this in the photo below).
I eventually went canoeing and persuaded Rose & Richard to have a go, too. This also meant I had a way to get back to moor Zephyr properly later.

We eventually had to have breakfast in the lee of the club hut!

It was a strange thing to eat a bacon & egg butty while canoeing.

Went out for an evening sail (Richard L in laser, to) and had a good time.

Fun Week: Wine at Watch-House Beach

Mary got a lift in the Commodore's crab boat Unity - which unfortunately suffered engine failure which meant they had to sail out and have assistance on the way back up the cut. There was a brisk WSW wind which meant a hairy run out of the cut. I went to Juno and back in the carrot before joining the others on the beach. A sister Solo was there and I had a bit of fun racing her. On landing at the beach I scrambled through the shrubby blight and we had a convivial time helping the Commodore get through his 10-litre wine box. I had a good time planing around before going back up the cut.

There we met Richard and Rose who took over the carrot and had a drifty sail up the cut - and had to tow back. It was the greasy pole this evening and the we picked up bits of grease on our hands.

Fun Week: Treasure Hunt

The Treasure Hunt involved placing sticks into empty milk cartons attached to buoys and sticks in the harbour then returning to the Cooke Posts. Mary and I went in the Solo. We may have been better off in the Jav as the wind dropped. Mind you, it was done on regatta handicap so we wouldn't have set off for ages. It was a great larf and we did pretty well.

Fun Week: Cakes at Watch-House Beach

The first day of Fun Week. A gentle evening sail to the Watch-House.
Mary & I had Tish & Keith with uis so we ent in Zephyr. We tried sailing but it was a real drifter and we had to motor further west to get into the Cley Channel.

Mary had made brownies and we all enjoyed cakes and coffee.

It was a shame we couldn't sail, but it was a lovely evening.

July 31. Jav in regatta!

We had a fantastic start (most early starters got nowhere, some even behind the line), messed up around the mouth of the cut and unfortunately the wind was flukey and dropped so they cutr the race short. It was an ideal Jav wind. Did some spinnakering on the way back - up the cut as far as Zephyr.

30 July. Passengers

Cracking sail in Zephyr: Motored out most of the way to give a good time viewing seals and boardwalk to the point for out visitors. Picked and dropped-off from the quay.

July 29. Four-up in Zephyr to the point

Quite windy - needed all four on one side most of the time when beating. Got to the point - not sure we saw seals - but had a good boardwalk to the sea, got some driftwood and considered, briefly, taking a massive trunk back!

28 July. Zeph, solo and laser

Christina and I went in Zephyr. The Richards went in Solo and Laser.

July 27. Epic Jav sail

Rik and I sailed the Jav. I used 'helmet cam' and got some footage of fast sailing and trapezing. Locks were in Ethelred and we met on the point. I thin we got the spinnaker up, too, but don't reckon there are photos of this.

July 25 Canoeing

M took a few photos as I set off and I wore helmet cam (!)
I paddled over to watch-house creek then off towards cley and back via the NorthEast passage.

July 18. Rik and Dad in Zephyr after shaky start

I think Rik, me and Mary set off initially but it was too gusty for Mum so we took her back. After a bit Rik and I set off again and had a good sail.

17 July - Rik and Dad in Zephyr

Sunny start, saw seals, striong westerly wind, got squally rain on return

Glorious morning for a sail

Very little wind today but assuming the conditions would be the same as yesterday we got the Jav ready. Some went out in Zephyr - which was handy for a tow out.

more details and pictures later...

Major evening excursion

The wind had picked up by the evening and, evening though it was another 8.00 tide we got all the boats out: the Jav (B, F and Jun), Carrot (H) and Zephyr (R, T, Si, Jud and Su). This was a sea-trial for Zephyr's recently installed centreboard system and she did very well going off to the committee boat and tacking most of the way back. H in the solo had a good time reaching to and fro - but lost his cap. The Jav fared less well as it was gusty at times and the shallow water made it difficult to get enough centreboard down and steering very tricky. We went out to the Watch House a few times and got a plane going but reckoned it a bit risky to go too far out should the wind pick up any more.

Nine of us got ready to sail:

We got the Jav ready:

We got the Carrot ready:

There was little water but plenty of wind

Someone may have better pictures of Zephyr

Zephyr Centreboard

We had yet another MKF Engineering session to try to sort out Zephyr's sticking centreboard. The latest plan was to use stainless steel wire in the uphaul system, hoping that this would not snag in the centreboard case as was suspected was happening with the current rope-based system. It took quite a lot of scraping and flushing to get the mud out. There were also a couple of bits of shingle wedged in there. This is a bit ominous as it might imply the problem is one of mud and shingle ingres rather that a snagged rope. The new wire-based system has travel (approx 18 inches) limited by a knot.

First sail of the season in the Javelin

B, H and T got up early to go sailing in the Jav. It was very still so we rigged the spinnaker and gave it a go. We had expert tuition from H and seemed to have got the basics of spinnakering sorted. We identified a few glitches which we fixed later in the day (new main halyard cleat, tightened up the spinnaker boom downhaul and loosened the shrouds to give the mast a more forward rake).

Here we are setting off:

The webcam caught us going out:

B, H and T got up early to go sailing in the Jav. It was very still so we rigged the spinnaker and gave it a go. We had expert tuition from H and seemed to have got the basics of spinnakering sorted. We identified a few glitches which we fixed later in the day (new main halyard cleat, tightened up the spinnaker boom downhaul and loosened the shrouds to give the mast a more forward rake).

Evening trip to Cley Marina

At the beginning of the 2010 MKF Blakeney weekend, The Gs and the Gatwick Ps went out in Zephyr under motor. It was an 8.0 tide so we couldn't use the Northeast Passage but had to join the Cley channel to the west of the Watch House. The wind was Easterly 1-2 so we had a gentle run back along the Cley channel and made a reasonable stab at reaching across from the Watch House. The trip was notable for wildlife. Notable sitings were:

• Shellducks with ducklings which dived and skimmed along the water in a very charming way
• Oystercatchers - some on nests probably
• Little Egrets
• Some unidentified bird of prey being mobbed by terns

Trip to the point amongst the Cockles

It wasn't such a bad day today, but I was a bit worried the wind might misbehave. It was reasonable down by the boat park so I kept the full sail on and it was OK. There was enough wind for a bit of planing around. This is me from the webcam getting ready to set off:

It was a broad reach/run up the cut. I beached on the point and then had a look into Morston Creek but it was straight into the wind so I didn't fancy going too far.

There was a Cockle race which I joined on the way back.

I didn't go as far as the seals - not that I would have expected to find any, they seem to be in short supply this year. We may have to go further out to see them in Zephyr during the MKF weekend in 2 week's time.

Tranquil evening trip in Zephyr

Previously in the afternoon I had taken the motor down to Zeohyr and pumped her out. In the evening M & I took all the rigging down, put it in the cabin and set off under motor.
It was a beautifully calm evening. The wind was still northerly but a gentle force 2 - a far cry from the morning.
We motored over to Watch-house beach (to the east of watch-house creek) and tied up to some shrubby blight [Mem: I could put a stake/ring here to make mooring easier]. We had a nice stroll to the beach (disturbing a family of Oystercatchers) and watched the waves:

We then rigged Zephyr.
[Note the useful oil drum I found on the beach]

M helmed on the way home - we made it all the way under sail.

Hectic morning sail

There was a medium breeze this morning and a very early tide. There was a laser out at the end of the cut when I went down to get ready. It was a Northerly wind so it was going to be a tough tack out. I decided not to put on the action-cam to start with as I was concerned it might interfere with tacking. This was possibly a good move but a shame as there was very little sailing possible: I managed to tack out OK but it was very gusty and the wind was strengthening. I finally got to the end of the cut and noticed the laser was capsized. I had a quick go at reaching towards the point but there was a heavy swell and it was hard to keep control. After a while I decided to cut mu losses and head for home. This was a real challenge as it was a dead run in choppy water. I managed to weather the worst of it and then, thankfully, entered the smoother water in the cut. I was pretty much on the edge and very nearly broached at the start but hung in there and kept bearing away to keep the run going. I was on a starboard tack and was prepared to head in to the bank if I had to. I eventually managed to keep it together until I was opposite the dinghy park - the Giant Hand was not in evidence in these conditions - and slammed into the bank. It was then an easy task to drift across the channel with a loose sail. I contemplated changing to the reduced rig but reckoned I'd had enough.

That's me on the webcam after running up the bank:

Stiffkey Freshes and Juno

I had a good early-season sail out to the point. I had a look for seals but there were none. I then went across to Stiffkey Freshes and took this pic:

Robert from next door was out in his laser and came close but got a bit caught up on the bar.
I managed to get some pics of Juno on the way back. There was activity on board but I didn't see her sailing.

Bye Bye Minisails

We have donated the Minisails to the sailing club. I gave the 'foils' a bit of a clean before taking them to the clubhouse.

Another Solo gives me an idea

I have been having trouble trying to keep the mainsail up in my Solo - the jambing cleat sometimes fails to catch properly as the halyard is a bit sandy. I spotted another Solo getting ready to sail as we left and noticed that it cleats the halyard on the thwart. I think I'll try that myself.

Zephyr and the Commodore

Zephyr's cabin cover is a bit smarter now but we didn't have time to clean her topsides or fix the centreboard. That's the BSC Commodore in the background.

Second sail of the season

Wind was almost due North so I had to tack out of the cut but had an easy reach to the point (see video) and then another one all the way along the Cley channel just about up to the 'marina'.

Running home

You can just see me on the webcam as I landed.

Carrot Mainsheet Cleat

I have taken the cleat to bits, cleaned it, oiled it and put it back together. The cams should work much better now.