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: