MKF 2013 day 2.

MKF 2013 day 1

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

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.

MKF Sunday

MKF Saturday

The Skipper manfully tows a stricken boat home!
(sorry but this is the best pic I have - a still from a dodgy video.)

MKF Friday PM

Jav 1

Jav 2