Sunshine and showers

Toucando took the opportunity of a daysail on Saturday, joined by Rob (who has much experience crewing on a variety of sailing vessels old and new) and Alison (who completed  the Clipper 09-10 circumnavigation).  We filled up with diesel at Itchen Towage and motored out into Southampton Water.  There was very little wind, but we got the main up, then the staysail and jib, and sailed towards the Solent fairly slowly on a broad reach.  As we went the wind built up and we finished up crossing over to Osborne Bay at a reasonable speed.  Although it was bright, Alison spotted some threatening clouds to the west, so we got our waterprofs on. We dropped the anchor for lunch, which we ate in the cockpit.  The sun continued to shine, even when we were bombarded by a hailstorm.  To the north over Lee on Solent there was a large, shallow arched rainbow... or perhaps that should be hailbow?  We didn't linger.  The anchor was hauled up and we set off this time with two reefs in the main.  Conditions were squally going back, with the wind varying between Force 3 and 5, gusting 6.  It also moved round to the north west so we had to tack up past Hillhead towards Southampton Water.  As we got closer we saw the first of five large liners come out of Southampton, including P&O's Arcadia.  We put the engine on off Hamble, dropped the sails and motored in the dusk back to the Itchen.  It was completely dark by the time Toucando was back on her mooring.  Thank you to the crew!

On Sunday I did some more work on "varnishing" the woodwork.  There is a lot to do!  I will have to make the most of the opportunities that present themselves to keep on top of it.  Tonight I go to the committe of the Solent Gaffers, where one of the big topics of discussion will be next year's Round Britain Challenge.

toucando.net is back

I am pleased to report that Toucando's website is back on line: toucando.net

Round Britain Trip: Summer 2013

I am considering the possibility of Toucando taking part in the OGA 50 Round Britain Challenge.  The Old Gaffers' Association is the organisation which promotes gaff rig... that is, sailing boats with a four cornered mainsail raised by a spar called a gaff.  In the nineteenth century most sailing boats were like this, but in the twentieth century the triangular sailed Bermudan rig has become the norm.  In 1953 a group of enthusiasts set up the OGA to promote gaff rig at a time when it seemed in danger of dying out.  2013 will be the 50th anniversary and to celebrate a fleet of gaffers will be sailing round Great Britain, including stops in Dublin and Belfast.  The fleet will be joined by boats from Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and maybe further afield, making it one of the biggest and most ambitious gatherings of gaffers for many years.  Each of the OGA areas will be laying on an event as the fleet passes through, where local gaffers will join in the celebrations.

If Toucando is to do this she will need a crew....  but not necessarily the same crew for the whole trip.  My experience so far is that a crew of three or four (including skipper) works best. There is a theoretical maximuim of seven.  I would require one person with fairly substantial experience as first mate, and others with at least some experience.  The arrangement would be on a cost sharing basis.

The OGA50 itinerary is shown below.  The shore events are fixed, as they will be organised by local OGA Area Committees.  The actual route and timings would be determined by the weather conditions and similar factors.  There will be two options in the north of Scotland: one will be to go round the top, the other through the Caledonian Canal.

If you are interested in crewing any part of the trip please get in touch.  I must stress that this is a feasibility study at present, with no final decision yet taken as to whether I will be taking part.  I will be keeping the blog updated as things develop.

Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May: Solent Area event - Hamble

Monday 6th to Friday 10th May: Leg 1: Hamble to Falmouth

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May: Cornwall and Devon area event - Falmouth

Monday 13th to Friday 17th May: Leg 2: Falmouth to Milford Haven

Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May: Bristol Channel area event - Milford Haven

Monday 20th to Friday 24th May: Leg 3: Milford Haven to Holyhead

Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th May: North Wales area event - Holyhead

Monday 27th to Friday 31st May: Leg 4: Holyhead to Dublin

Saturday 1st June and Sunday 2nd June: Dublin area event

Monday 3rd to Friday 7th June: Leg 5: Dublin to Belfast

Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June: Northern Ireland area event - Belfast

Monday 10th to Friday 14th June: Leg 6: Belfast to Campbelltown

Saturday 15th and Sunday 15th June: West of Scotland area event

[i]Monday 17th June to Friday 12th July: Legs 7 to 10: Campbeltown to Grimsby

There will be options either to go round the north of Scotland, via Orkney, or through the Caledonian Canal. The longer route will include stops at Stornaway, Lerwick, Arbroath and Eyemouth. In the case of going for the Caledonian Canal option the timings would allow for a couple of weeks cruising in the West of Scotland before going through the canal and working down the east coast including a stope at Newcastle.[/i]

Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July: Humberside area event - Grimsby

Monday 15th to Friday 19th July: Leg 11: Grimsby to Ipswich

Saturday 20th to Tuesday 30th July: East Coast area event - Ipswich (not sure of the details of this - however it would seem to allow for some sailing around the Essex and Suffolk coasts, and maybe a trip up the Thames to London - or even a quick visit to the Low Counties)

Wednesday 31st July to Friday 26th to Friday 2nd August: Leg 12: To Ramsgate

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August: Kent area event - Ramsgate

Monday 5th August to Wednesday 14th August: Leg 13: Ramsgate to Cowes - could allow for some visits to French ports in the eastern channel

Thursday 15th August to Sunday 19th August: National OGA event - Cowes Yacht Haven

Monday 20th August: Return home???????

Anybody interested in crewing please get in touch via: toucando@citybeat.org.uk indicating which legs you may be interested in.

toucando.net domain problem: normal service will be resumed as soon as possible

Unfortunately the toucando.net domain does not seem to be working: the problem has been logged.  This is the website where details of Toucando's forthcoming voyages are published, amongst other things.  I am hoping to go sailing on any decent weekend through to the end of November, except 6/7 October and 3/4 November.  Anyone interested in crewing is invited to get in touch at toucando@citybeat.org.uk.

The only way is Cowes

On Friday I collected the staysail from SO31 Ltd in Hamble, who had done an excellent repair job, including replacing the very worn UV strip.  I was joined in the evening by friends Steve, Janey and Isabella.  Two weeks previously I had sailed with them on their boat on the River Orwell: today they had driven across from Essex.  I brought them out by tender to Toucando's pontoon. where we had 7 vegetable tagine and various other bits and pieces, washed down by Toucando's stock of Guinness.

In the morning we had a leisurely cooked breakfast on a mirror smooth River Itchen, watching the seaweed and flotsam rising with the tide. We fed the seagulls stale bread, Isabella spotted the cormorant, my visitors walked along the pontoon to see the dunlins who take their morning rest a bit further along.  I put the staysail back on, and furled it so the UV strip could be admired.  It was a very good match with the Egyptian cotton (colour) of the original.

Eventually the tide turned.  We got ready to leave and set off down towards Southampton Water.  We were duly impressed by the size of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen car carrier that left her mooring just as we passed.  It had looked as if there would be little or no wind: in fact there was a very good sailing breeze.  We raised the main off Weston. then unfurled the staysail and sailed down the channel on a comfortable starboard tack.  It got even breezier out in the Solent, although it was variable.  We more or less held our course, heading towards Ryde, admiring Osborne House, before turning west towards Cowes.  We dropped our sails in good time and motored through the bottleneck that is the entrance to the River Medina.

Cowes Yacht Haven was full, so was Shepards Wharf: it was another busy weekend as people took advantage of the fine September weather.  Fortunately there were still spaces at East Cowes, one of which was allocated to us.  Some of the party took advantage of the excellent showers, whilst others headed straight to The Lifeboat pub where we sank some Guinness and Goddards.

Eventually we were all ready for a walk into town, via the chain ferry.  We checked out a number of us and restaurants before settling on The Red Duster where we enjoyed an evening meal of island fayre.  Eventually it was time to go home, so we caught the water taxi.

It was a leisurely start in the morning.  The weather had changed somewhat.  It was cloudier and colder, but at least to begin with there wasn't a lot of wind.  We topped up Toucando's water tanks and prepared to depart.  Getting off the pontoon went very smoothly and we motored north along the Medina to the Solent.  The wind was very variable in terms of strength.  In the interests of a quick and comfortable return passage we motor sailed on the jib and staysail, getting back to Toucando's home pontoon for a late lunch, so that our visitors could get on the road for their return trip to Essex.

Thanks to all three of them for crewing, and a special mention to Janey for breakfast cooking and washing up, and to Isabella for some expert renditions of the Essex vernacular.

Old Gaffers' Annual Race and Rally 2012

For something like 54 years old gaffers have gathered in the Solent for a race and rally.  This year the event started in Lymington on Friday evening, with a race to Island Harbour on the Medina on Saturday.  Toucando's crew on this occasion all happened to be based on the Isle of Wight.  They came over on the Red Jet on Friday morning and joined Toucando at Shamrock Quay for lunch before we set off.  We motor sailed most of the way (there wasn't a great deal of wind, and as usual it was from the wrong direction), although we did do a bit of sailing in the western Solent.  We were also slightly hampered by the lack of a staysail - it is being serviced by SO31, who are putting on a new UV strip.  We had a comfortable passage and crept into the Lymington River between the large ferries which ply between the mainland and Yarmouth.  We saw a lone gaffer sailing out by a minor channel as we went past the Enticott starboard post:

We got to the Dan Bran pontoon where we moored alongside Rula (Aeolus later moored outside us).  We were just in time to get ready to go ashore for our evening meal of fish pie at the Lymington Town Sailing Club.  There were a few announcements about the race, some music from a local band, and from the gaffers increasingly good shanty singers.

We were not taking part in the race, which meant we could have a leisurely start in the morning, enjoying the fine weather on the pontoon.

We were joined by John, a friend of Carole and Paul, so we had four on board when we set off.  It was a light airs morning.  We got the sails hoisted east of Lymington and had a good couple of hours sailing in the western Solent, practising tacks and gybes, and being carried ever closer to our destination by the rising tide.

Eventually the tide dropped to virtually nothing, and we were happy to drift while we had lunch enjoying the view of other gaffers trying to race.

 We dropped the sails off Gurnard and motored into the Medina.  Island Harbour has a lock, and because we wanted maximum flexibility regarding departure times we decided to moor on one of  the Folly Inn's pontoons.

John, Carole, Paul and Andrew aboard Toucando at the Folly

We caught the water taxi ashore and joined the festivities at Island Harbour... starting off with some excellent beer aboard Susan J, a 28' Falmouth Working Boat. Like Toucando her hull was built by Martin Heard of Gaffers and Luggers in Mylor, and also like Toucando the remaining work was done elsewhere.  Mike and Dan Shaw (respectively the National and Area Presidents of the Old Gaffers' Association) sailed Susan J around the UK and actually saw Toucando being built in Howth.



After the boat party we went to the Breeze Restaurant, where prizes were awarded, Miss Ningi an 18' open boat skippered by Bernard Bowes, coming first overall.  We enjoyed a chilli and were entertained by a bluesy cover band.  Eventually we caught the water taxi back to Toucando's pontoon.

On Sunday we left the Medina in very light winds and motored round to Osborne Bay where we dropped the anchor, enjoyed the view and had lunch.  Whilst we were doing so the wind gradually picked up, to a Force 4 in the bay, which meant it would be stronger out of the lee of the island.  We raised the hook and motored back home in a Force 5, gusting 6,with a couple of slight showers thrown in.  The main excitement on the way back was some high speed air sea rescue activity at close quarters (practice we presume).

We got back to the Itchen and returned to Toucando's home pontoon.  Thank you to Carole and Paul (and John on Saturday) for being an excellent crew.

Midweek Solent Cruise

Hugh and Colin joined Toucando at lunchtime on Wednesday 22nd August.  We agreed on a westerly destination... possibly Lymington, possibly Poole.  We set off down Southampton Water, raising the sails off Weston.  The wind came and went.  The forecast indicated reefing would be required, and this certainly proved to be the case when we came out of the lee of Calshot and turned into the "precautionary area" by the Bramble Bank.  The wind got a lot stronger... we recorded over 30 knots, and the waves rolling up the Solent from the west were quite big.  Unfortunately we let the staysail flog, and sustained a little damage.  We decided to go to Cowes where we found a berth at the yacht haven.  Fortunately it was very quiet (Cowes week having taken place the previous week).  We ate steak and mixed vegetables on board before enjoying a pint at the Anchor.

Thursday was quite a contrast.  Very light winds took us down the eastern Solent.  We had contemplated going out to the Nab Tower, for no particular reason other than it was there, but we weren't going fast enough for that.  Instead we went in to Chichester Harbour, Toucando's first visit, and anchored off East Head.  I haven't done a lot of anchoring in Toucando, and was pleased with how well it worked.  We had lunch below decks.  We became aware of a lot of masts going past at close quarters, and looking out of the hatch found that there were hundreds of dinghies racing about.  It was the week of the combined clubs' regatta in the harbour.  We had clearly arrived while they were all ashore for lunch.  Now they were all out again.  It was crazily busy, particularly so at the junctions of the various channels of the harbour.  While we were at anchor they all had to avoid us, but once our anchor was raised and we were under way we had the interesting challenge of avoiding myriads of small boats scooting around very fast, all of which had "right of way" over us.  We managed to do so, without putting ourselves aground or impeding any of the races, which was quite a feat. We then sailed off to Haslar, where we moored near the lightship. 

On Friday morning we were booked in to Sealift at 0900 for washing and replacement of specialist anodes.  Unfortunately the bow thruster propeller was lost overboard by an enthusiastic member of staff.... fortunately Sealift immediately set about sourcing a replacement (at their expense). This meant that ist was midday befopre the job was finished and we were on our way back to Southampton.  We had a good tri[p back to the Itchen and toucando's home pontoon.

Channel Cruise: Part 5 - Back to Southampton

On Sunday 5th August we set off for Southampton.  We asked the berthing master to help turn us around in the fairway and set off into Yarmouth Roads, where we got the sails raised with no reefs.  It was just about perfect sailing conditions, as we headed up the western Solent to Gurnard, before gybing, skirting the Bramble Bank and Calshot Spit and reaching up Southampton Water to Weston, where we dropped our sails.  We then headed up the Itchen, filling the fuel tanks at Itchen Towage before returning to Toucando's pontoon.

Just off Newtown Creek we encountered Four Seasons.  They had left Alderney a day after us.  It was good to see them again.  They seemed to be pointing cameras at us.  I am hoping that there will be some nice photographs of us in due course.

Thanks very much to Colin and Roger for crewing and enabling Toucando to make her first cross channel cruise from Southampton.

Roger and Colin somewhere in the English Channel

Roger and Andrew in the Solent - with a Dutch gaffer

Voyage of Toucando

Channel Cruise: Part 4 - Braye to Yarmouth via Poole

On Friday 3rd August we set off from Braye towards Poole.  It was a frustrating day as the wind was pretty much directly from behind, which may sound good, but isn't.  Boats roll about in such conditions and don't go as fast as you would like.  So although we sailed some of the way, most of the time we were motor sailing.  The only excitement came when we lost the tender, which we were towing, as a result of a poor round turn and two half hitches.  Fortunately it was spotted 200 metres behind and we had an interesting 20 minutes recovering it.  We were allocated our berth at Poole Quay and had the satisfaction of having completed a second channel crossing.

On Saturday we left our berth with some difficulty.  There was a brisk southerly blowing.  It would be hard to explain all the complications, but long keeled gaffers do not tend to go well in reverse at slow speeds.  Anyhow, we avoided hitting anything and warped ourselves round so we were facing the right way to go out forwards.  We motored out of the harbour, raised the main with two reefs, rolled out the staysail and had a good sail across Poole and Christchurch Bays.

We arrived at the Needles and sailed up towards Hurst very nicely.

The Needles (with the Bridge Buoy) from Toucando

We made pretty good progress until we were at Fort Albert when the falling tide slowed us right down.  It took a while to get up to Yarmouth, and then the lowering of the mainsail caused a little confusion.  Eventually all was sorted out and we made our way into the harbour where we rafted up on the green pontoon.

Andrew and Roger sorting out Toucando and the tender on the green pontoon at Yarmouth

We had a pleasant meal ashore at the Wheatsheaf courtesy of Colin, and were ready for the final leg of the trip back to Southampton.

Channel Cruise: Part 3 - St Peter Port to Braye Harbour

We didn't need to leave St Peter Port until after lunch, so we took the opportunity to do some victualling and in my case walk up to the museum.

St Peter Port Harbour with Herm across the water as seen from park

We set off having topped up the fuel tank and bought some more cooking gas and headed off back up the Little Russel.  The first part of the passage was fairly uneventful.  It was a slightly hazy day and we eventually sighted Alderney and the Casquests (the rocky islands to the west).  There was a real Atlantic swell rolling in from the west... big but very gentle waves, the remnant of some storm thousands of miles away.  Toucando rolled from side to side... all the crockery rattled as we went first one way then the other, and anything left loose  flew from side to side.

We had decided to approach via the Swinge - the stretch of water between Alderney and Burhou.

Alderney with Burhou in the top left and the Swinge in between

The Swinge is one of those places with a fearsome reputation, which proved well deserved.  We had been sailing, but took our sails down having conferred with Four Seasons over the VHF.  They said that it was "exciting".  We were certainly going fast with the help of the tide.  Ahead we could see a line of white breaking waves between the tip of Burhou and somewhere south of Braye Harbour entrance.  I took the tiller, and steered straight towards the wall of water: I wanted us to go into this head on.  Suddenly we were in a violent and confused sea, with standing waves, whirlpools and the rest.  It would not have surprised me to see the tentacles of a kraken reach out and curl round the mast.  We pitched back and forth, burying the bowsprit in the waves ahead, the stern sometimes coming clean out of the water and the tiller feeling light as there was nothing but air to steer by.  Each wave came very quickly after the other.  Our speed through the water was next to nothing, but over the grounds we were doing six or seven knots.  We were being hurled through the Swinge with the tide behind us.  Toucando shook and quivered with every wave.  It would have made a good video, but none of us were ready to do that.  Colin kept a watch on the chart plotter assuring me that there was plenty of sea room ahead.  I'm not sure how long it took... maybe a quarter, perhaps half and hour, but evenutually we were through it and out the other side not too far from the entrance to Braye Harbour.

It may or may not have looked like this

We turned into the harbour and started looking for a mooring buoy in the dusk.  Eventually we found one near the main harbour and secured Toucando before having a restorative beef goulash.  I had a can of Tanglefoot, my first alcohol in a year (not counting a very nice sherry trifle at Christmas). It had been an interesting day.

Toucando moored in Braye Harbour

In the morning we caught the water taxi ashore and walked up to St Anne's, the only town on Alderney. Although the population of the island is tiny, just over 2,000, it does feel like a little town, with a high street lined with granite houses, plenty of pubs, and shops which meet the island's needs as well as the whims of tourists.

Street scene in St Anne's, Alderney

We went our separate ways.  I wandered south past Crabby and various forts along the rocky coast line, looking out at the Swinge.  The tide was running in the opposite direction.  The confused water was in a different place, and I watched with interest a yacht try to make its way through against it.... very slowly indeed.

Alderney view... with fort and the Swinge overfalls clearly visible between the island and Burhou

I took a look around the museum in the afternoon, which had some interesting displays about island life, including the evacuation during the second world war, before doing another loop of walk north of Braye to yet more forts.

The whole Southampton Sailing Club party gathered together at the Braye Sailing Club before going to the renowned Chippy just by the old harbour.  It deserved its reputation: it was packed out.  I enjoyed haddock and chips with home made tartare sauce.  We exchanged stories about our experiences getting to Alderney... most of which focussed on the terrors of the Swinge.

Alderney Chippy

Channel Cruise: Part 2 - Cherbourg to St Peter Port

It was a fairly early start on Monday 30th July to get up and out of Cherbourg to catch the tide down to Cap de la Hague, the pointy western tip of the Cotentin Peninsula. We left our mooring without difficulty, raised the sails in the harbour and headed off into the Channel. It was motor sailing into a wind with a lot of west into it.

The sea was reasonably calm and we made good progress along the French coast, seeing the massive Joburg nuclear reprocessing plant high on the hill as well as a few small villages and the Cap lighthouse. As we approached the Cap the waves got bigger. Although we were a good few miles off shore we were clearly experiencing the effect of the tide rushing round the corner. Toucando pitched quite a bit, slamming down into the troughs between the waves. Eventually we got through it and were able to turn onto a more south westerly heading towards the Alderney Race. I had been through the race on Morwenna a couple of years ago. On both times the experience was similar... a lot of help from the tide, but no particular excitement. Unfortunately the wind still stayed on the bow so we continued to motor sail. Maybe next time I'll tack to windward, but on this occasion navigation and a timely passage was the priority.

We could see the other members of our fleet much of the time: Four Seasons, Sheena, Bianca, Siskin. We saw Alderney of to starboard, and the outlines of Sark, Herm and Guernsey ahead.

Alderney as we made our way to St Peter Port, Guernsey

We entered the Litle Russel, the channel between Guernsey and Herm. There are a lot of rocks about... mostly fairly close to one or other island, some more in the middle, but generally well marked. We made our way down to St Peter Port without any particular difficulty, lowered the sails outside the harbour, waited for Four Seasons to negotiate the mooring. We then rafted up alongside FS on one of the pontoons in the outer harbour (Toucando is too big and unmanoueverable to go into the marina.)

Roger helming us through the Little Russel

On Tuesday we spent the day sight seeing. My mission was to acquire a new Guernsey sweater. I had got one on my Morwenna trip, which had proved very good value: warm and very hard wearing. Roger decided to accompany me. The shop was on the western side of the island, although the bus driver claimed it had closed, a quick check on the iPhone established it was still operational. We caught the 7a - the bus which gowes round the island anti-clockwise. All fares are £1.00 - brilliant! The bus first winds through St Peter Port and St Sampson, then along the rugged north coast, full of cliffs and bays and forts. Eventually we got to Fort Grey, next to which the sweater shop operates. I was able to find one in a nice sea green. We had a cup of tea in the neighbouring cafe and walked out to the fort.

View from Fort Grey, Guernsey

We caught the next 7a to complete the circuit. We then went to a pontoon party on a couple of the SSC boats... bring your own crisps and ginger beer. Some of the fleet were going to continue south to Jersey and Brittany. Some had to go straight back home. Toucando, Four Seasons and Sheena were going off to Alderney. We said our good byes.

Castle Cornet, St Peter Port, by moonlight

We ate at the Swan pub that night. Fortunately it was not an early start for the north going tide so we were able to spend Wednesday morning having a further look around St Peter Port.

Channel Cruise: Part 1 - Southampton to Cherbourg

The crew assembled on Friday 27th July. Toucando had been victualled and prepared for the voyage. Roger of Southampton Sailing Club, and Colin who had sailed on Toucando recently both came to Shamrock Quay in the afternoon.

We set off shortly after 1700 towards Yarmouth, our chosen first night destination. Our voyage was to take us across the English Channel and to last nine days... Toucando's longest trip since her passage from Dublin last year. The cruise was in company with several other Southampton Sailing Club boats, led by Four Seasons.

We were able to sail some of the way down to Yarmouth, but needed the engine as well. We found a mooring buoy outside the harbour before darkness fell. We ate a Mediterranean chicken stew on board and got ready for an early start the following morning.

Our mooring buoy off Yarmouth

To get the best of the tide through the Needles Channel we aimed to leave at 0515 on Saturday 28th July. We actually slipped our mooring ten minutes later. We soon got the sails raised and were able to sail down the last few miles of the Solent, past the Needles before turning left and steering 185 degrees for Cherbourg.

We were on a pleasant starboard tack, with just the right amount of wind... an unusual experience. Toucando made a decent speed and we progressed steadily, making one (probably unnecessary) deviation for large shipping. As planned we arrived uptide of Cherbourg and were able to slide into the Western Entrance of the Grande Rade diagonally, to the astonishment of the crew who were slightly alarmed that we appeared to be heading straight for the harbour wall.

At 1703 we were the first to arrive, and had made an excellent time. It took slightly longer than we had expected to get the mainsail down. The wind had got a fair bit stronger in the final hours of the crossing. When we entered La Chantereyne Marina we had expected to be greeted by a lady in a red dory... but she was nowhere to be seen. We did a quick circuit before retreatring to the Petit Rade to await the arrival of Four Seasons. It seemed that the marina had not reserved places for us, so we wnded up distributed all over. Toucando finished up on the waiting pontoon... not connected to dry land (but we are used to that). We had a bolognese aboard.

Toucando in the sunset at Cherbourg

Sunday was a free day. We had established in a morning trip ashore that nothing much happens in Cherbourg on Sunday, and unfortunately the convenient Carrefour supermarket just by the harbour is being rebuilt, making any significant shopping difficult.

In the afternoon the skipper took advantage of visiting the Cite de la Mer, a major tourist attraction. Although it was only a frw hundred metres from where Toucando was moored it was a long (but not unpleasant) walk round the harbour to get there. It is based in the old liner terminal and one of the first rooms you go in is the baggage hall... quite impressive, I thought.

Liner baggage hall in cherbourg, now part of the Cite de la Mer museum

That room told the story of French emigration to America. Other parts of the museum were devoted to the Titanic (which stopped in Cherbourg for one and a half hours en route to Queenstown, and thence to its nemesis); diving and submarines (including a decommissioned nuclear sub), and a rather atmospheric aquarium.

Jellyfish

(I could post a few more like this.)

Nuclear submarine

I would recommend Cite de la Mer to anybody with a day to spare in Cherbourg. In the evening the whole Southampton Sailing Club part gathered in the Yacht Club restaurant where we enjoyed some French Cuisine... a duck and anchovy salad, a salmon steak, and creme caramel in my case. The following day we would be setting off towards St Peter Port Guernsey. (To be continued.)

Home again

Toucando is back on the Itchen after a nine day cruise to Cherbourg, Guernsey, Alderney, Poole and Yarmouth. A detailed account will appear in the next few days.

Isle d'Aurigny

We spent two days in St Peter Port, Guernsey, and are now in Braye Harbour on Alderney. The Swinge was quite exciting with standing waves and confused seas.

Toucando est arriveé

We left Southampton on Friday and moored overnight outside Yarmouth. We set off at 0525 on the falling tide. We had a nice channel crossing and entered Cherbourg at 1703. More details to follow. We'll be here fire a couple of nights.

English Summer (continued)

June was terrible... the wettest on record (since records began in 1902).  Not only did this make sailing unappealing, it was not conducive to external maintenance either.

My parents, Donald and Audrey, visited at the beginning of July.  Although we didn't sail anywhere we had a few evenings aboard Toucando.  We also visited Cowes where we saw the classic yacht fleet in the Yacht Haven, and Southampton's new Sea City Museum, which focusses on the city's links with the Titanic... most importantly the 500 crew who lost their lives.

The jet stream which had been causing all the weather trouble moved north in time for the weekend of 21st/2nd July, which was just in time for some planned day sailing.

On Saturday we were joined by Colin, Michele and Steve P for the RYA's "Push the Boat Out Day" - an attempt to get as many people on the water as possible.  We had a pleasant time tacking down Southampton Water, before getting out into the Solent, circumnavigating the Bramble Bank and returning under engine.

We particularly enjoyed seeing the Jubilee Sailing Trusts's "Tenacious" coming up Southampton Water under sail.

On Sunday the crew comprised Hugh, Jane, Michele and Steve P and the main event of the day was going down to the Solent to meet and greet the returning Round the World Clipper Race.  Toucando had seen the fleet go out last summer (http://toucando.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/round-world-racing.html) so it seemed appropriate to see them come back.  We motored down to the rallying point and joined the flotilla.

(More details on the Clipper Race: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-18904550).

After a lunch under way we spent the afternoon sailing round Southampton Water and the Docks.

On Monday Michele and Roger helped take Toucando over to Cowes for a lift, wash and change of anodes.  I think she was going about a knot faster (maybe more) on the way home.

Three good days sailing in pleasant weather!   This is what the summer is supposed to be like.  Toucando is now getting ready for her cruise to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands, due to start on Friday.  I plan to post a few brief blogs en route, and a longer account when we get back.  I hope the jet stream stays where it belongs and we continue to enjoy a proper summer.



English Summer 2012

I was just getting ready to set off for Southampton when I heard a rumble like a large trolley being wheeled down the road.  The rumble continued, and was soon accompanied by a lot of banging and crashing.  The lights flickered.  One of the summer storms had arrived in Leicester.  I opened the front door and stood looking out as the torrential rain beat down.  Some of it was hail "as big as 50 pence pieces" they said on the news: more like the size of hazel nuts in their shells.  It couldn't really rain any harder.  Next, the drain right by my door decided to become a geyser... water from two directions.  It lasted about half an hour.  It seemed to make sense to be on a boat, so as soon as it subsided I was off.  (I was just slightly concerned later on to see on the city council webside that the main road by my house was flooded, with a nice photograph to prove it.)

Fiftey miles south and th roads were dry.  When I arrived at Toucando it was a pleasant afternoon.  The bucket I leave in the cockpit only had a little water in it: so it hadn't been raining much in the South.  I had a day to get ready for the weekend crew, which involved a few chores around the boat, and some victualling.

On Saturday Jackie and John arrived.  I ferried them out to the pontoon.  We discussed our plans.  It was Round the Island weekend, so the Solent would be very busy and it was unlikely that there would be space in the Cowes or Hamble marinas.  And the forecast was for fairly strong winds and rain... so we decided to stay local.  We put a double reef in the main on the pontoon and had some fun springing off against the wind, leaving a rope behind in the process.  Then we were off motoring down the Itchen.  We sailed a bit on the staysail to begin with, at a very moderate pace.  Having rolled it up we then raised the main off Weston and sailed on the reefed main and the full jib.  We practised tacking with Jackie and John at the helm, sailing down to the Hamble oil terminal twice, and up to the docks once.  We were pleased to see the Lord Nelson at her berth and her sister ship Tenacious come in under engine.  There were a few liners and container ships around as well.  The wind was pretty brisk... Force 6 and we took advantage of the wind shadow of the bigger ships to furl the staysail and jib and lower the main before returning to Shamrock Quay for the evening.

Getting off the pontoon at Shamrock in the morning was another challenge.  A ferro-concrete yacht with a hole in her hull came and moored close behind us, and a motor super yacht with her wrapping still on moored opposite.  The narrow gap that remained had to be navigated in reverse gear (not Toucando's strongest point).  After several attempts we got through, attached T's stern line to the opposite pontoon, and warped round her bows so they were pointing the way we wanted.

When our path was clear we headed out towards Southampton water.  We raised the main, unfurled the jib, and half the staysail and raced down Southampton Water.  This time we continued into the Solent proper.  It was a steady Force 6, gusting 7... with the wind exceeding 30 knots for some of the time.  Jackie helmed across the Solent towards Osborne Bay, where the wind dropped a little in the lee of the Island (and the waves were smaller too).  We waited for a small ship to pass and John took the helm on the way back.  If anything the wind was even stronger.  Toucando heeled over and we sped back over Ryde Middle towards Hillhead, before steering for Southampton Water.  Again, we took advantage of a passing ship to furl the sails in relative calm, before heading up the Itchen back to Toucando's home berth.  The rain which had been threatened by the forecast never really arrived.  It was certainly Toucando's most lively sail of the year so far, and everything had gone well.  Thanks to Jackie and John for picking up the basics of the gaff rig so quickly.

Jackie and John went home, Hugh arrived.  We planned  to go to Poole on Monday morning: then tides were near perfect.  However in the morning it was wet, windy and very murky.  We motored down to dockhead to have a look at Southampton Water and could see relatively little of it.  The prospect of three and a half days sailing in unpleasant conditions with limited visibility didn't appeal, so we turned round and went back home, which was disappointing but prudent.

The Met Office have announced that June 2012 was the wettest on record... and that the first half of July doesn't look a lot better.  In other words this is the fifth poor summer in succession.  Hopefully the jetstream (which is causing all the trouble) will return to its proper latitude before long.  We've had enough rain and strong wind on land and sea for a bit.

Maintenance month

Since her return from Yarmouth the main focus on Toucando has been maintenance.  Andy, my sanding consultant came down for the long bank holiday weekend.  We took Toucando over to Shamrock Quay, where there would be a supply of electricity and water, as well as ready access to a chandlery.  Andy quickly identifid that the taff rail was delaminating on the starboard side and that the bowsprit needed some repairs.  There were some also some patches on the gaff which needed attention.  Glass fibre filler and various clamps were procured and put into action.

The process of sanding cleaned up the deteriorating woodwork.  Any holes or splits were filled. Coelan "yellowish" primer was used in accordance with Toucando's original colour scheme.  (I like the Coelan colour range: there is a choice between yellowish and reddish!).  After a suitable interval it was possible to apply the clear topcoat which dried to form a durable but flexible plastic skin.  Whilst Andy did the woodwork I did a number of smaller tasks, such as installing a new seal on the aft perspex hatch to stop rainwater ingress.  By the time the weekend was over Toucando was already beginning to look smarter.

Andy's work and some dreary commitments meant a return to the midlands, but at the end of the week i was back south, stopping at KJ Howells in Poole to acquire some more Coelan berfore applying another couple of coats.  A whole week of public duties kept me in the midlands before I was able to come down on Saturday 16th.  On Sunday crew members Colin and John came to Toucando, who relocated to Shamrock Quay again.  They were very helpful in sanding the rest of the taff rail and the tiller.

On Monday Rob the engineer arrived.  He sorted out the intermittent fault on the freshwater pump, which means that water now reliably comes out of the tap when it is turned on.  He connected up the electric bilge pump, sorted out a leak in the salt water hose, cleaned the fuel tank, replaced some of the fuel lines which had degraded quite badly and which were leaking very slightly, and realigned the engine so that it does not judder at slow speeds.  Roger I dropped by and helped with yet more sanding.  I was able to complete the application of the Coelan.  The weather forecast had not been good, but in fact the sun shone for four days and quite a lot was achieved.  There are still lots more jobs to be done, mainly treating other parts of the woodwork, but I am hopeful that this will be possible in the near future.

I am very grateful to Andy, Colin, John and Roger for dropping by to help out.

Toucando is looking forward to sailing again soon.  Her programme is visible at toucando.net under the Calendar 2012 tab.

Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival 2012

For me this is one of the best events of the summer: it's an annual gathering of traditional boats at Yarmouth, a small harbour town at the west end of the Isle of Wight. Although the boats are at the centre of things it's a festival for the whole town and beyond.  There is an international street market, craft tent, vintage car rally, entertainers, dogshow, lifeboat display, etc..

Toucando was joined in Southampton by Lesley and Carole on Thursday.  After some lunch on board and familiarisation with the ropes, we set off.  The wind was variable.  It started off in the north, went round to the south, then the south east, then the south west.  The only consistent thing about it was that it tended to blow from the direction we wanted to go.  We raised the main off Dockhead in a blustery Force 4 to 5 from the south east and motor sailed down to Calshot.  Once in the Solent we were able to start beating down towards Yarmouth,  but  by this stage the wind had dropped and backed to south west and we were not making very fast progress.  The crew however got pretty efficient at tacking.  We completed the passage in very light winds arriving in Yarmouth at about 1930.

After securing Toucando we went for a barbecue and were joined by Carole's husband.  Unfortunately the lawn at the Royal Solent has been turned into a builders' compound so we were in the shed at the back of the car park.  Nevertheless it was good to meet up with the gaffers again.

Friday was shore-based... there was plenty to see.  Toucando seemed to enjoy being on one of Yarmouth's new walkashore pontoons between some Memorys including Sepia and Nipperkin.

In the evening the shore entertainment was laid on by Rob Da Bank or Radio 1 and Bestival fame. 
He does a lot of stuff on the Island and brings a new dimenstion to Friday night at Yarmouth.  Cuban Brothers were headlining, but my recommendation for top band was Skinny Lister.  This five piece sings folk songs, shanties and their own material, while passing around a couple of earthenware cider jugs.  It's about time for another folk revival, and Skinny Lister brings a new energy and enthusiasm to the genre.  Best of all they seem to attract a young following who belt out the choruses with real enthusiasm.

Saturday was the day of the race.  Since Toucando will not race until a regular crew has been found I enjoyed spectating from the end of Yarmouth Pier.  Despite the blue skies it had blown a gale overnight and was very blustery in the morning.  Most of the small boats decided to stay in harbour.  Miss Ningi bravely ventured out, had a brilliant start, but had to return when waves started flooding her.  The crowd repeatedly opined that it was "blowing old boots" and that (most of) the competitors were "going like a train".  I haven't the faintest idea who won, but it all looked good.

I decided to give the Abba, Queen and Rod Stewart tribute bands a miss on Saturday night... or at least listen to them from Toucando.

The homeward crew comprised Lesley and Michele.  The wind had dropped considerably.  We sailed quite slowly up the western Solent and Southampton Water.  It was very crowded as youy might exect for the first really warm weekend of the sailing season.  We got back to Toucando's home berth on the Itchen at about 1430.

Thanks to Carole, Lesley and Michele for crewing and miscellaneous old gaffers for the benefit of their advice.

May Parties

My final exam of the year took place on Monday 21st May.  In the afternoon I went back to Toucando and motored her across to Shamrock Quay, just the other side of the river.  This was to enable easy access for a range of party guests.  On Tuesday evening I welcomed some demographers and statisticians from my course, who were also celebrating the end of exams.  The radio announced that it was the hottest day of the year and that the Solent was the hottest place.... very different from the near freezing weather earlier in the month.

We had a pleasant evening sitting above deck sharing thoughts on the (academic) year just gone and watching the sunset.

On Wednesday we were joined by some ex-Council colleagues, and one dog.  The weather was just as good.  We enjoyed catching up on developments and another fantastic evening on the Itchen.

This is quite a contrast to the many evenings when I was going back to Toucando in the evening with the rain lashing down ansd the wind howling in the rigging. Thanks to everybody for coming along!

Easter Cruise 2012

I had spent a couple of weeks on pre-season maintenance, including supervising a few engineering jobs, so Toucando would be ready for her Easter cruise - the first of 2012.  I was joined by Peter and Stewart on Thursday evening.  Our first task was to take Toucando over to Shamrock Quay so she could fill her water tank and enjoy a night plugged into the mains.  The crew checked out The Waterfront, while I prepared dinner.

In the morning we made ready to go.  Getting off the berth avoiding the enormous Sunseeker moored behind us was not easy - the tide flows at right angles to the pontoons, but we managed eventually and made another short hop to the fuel barge where we took on 100 litres of diesel, before heading under the Itchen Bridge and out into Southampton Water.  Peter and Stewart raised the main... encountering a few snags and tangles (we got a lot better at it over the course of the weekend), and we motor sailed towards the Solent.  The forecast was for moderate northerly winds, which would have been ideal for a trip west, but the wind was very light and of indeterminate direction.  Our initial thoughts of heading for Poole had to be abandonned, and we settled for Yarmouth instead.  We got some sailing in which was good before motoring in and berthing on the new pontoon by the lifeboat.

We went and had a beer in the Royal Solent (ginger beer in my case), which is part way through a major refurbishment.  Dick and Pat Dawson showed us the work in progress.  We moved on to the Bugle before returning to Toucando for a Pirata Carbonara.

Saturday seemed like a good day to head to Poole, which is what we did.  Crossing the bay was easy, but we really had to fight the tide in the harbour entrance. Poole Quay Marina told us they were full (there's a wretched Sunseeker taking up the space for abour four sailing boats).  Fortunately there was space on the quay itself, which gave us the opportunity to use the fender board which has only had one other use over the past year.  It was towards low tide, and we had to climb up a horrible ladder to do the mooring.  As time went by and the tide rose we had a convenient step ashore from deck to quay.  Three other boats moored alongside us, and negotiated out departure time the following morning.  I did a little revictualling.  There was a rabbit in charge at Tesco... ok, a person dressed as a rabbit.  She tried to sell me some carrots, which I thought was quite amusing.  We had a (ginger) beer in the Jolly Sailor with some pub grub.

Toucando on Poole Town Quay

On Sunday we headed east, towards Cowes.  There was not a lot of wind to begin with, but once we were inside the Solent we did a training run, gybing our way to our destination.  By the time we took down the main off Gurnard there was a Force 5 blowing.  We went to Cowes Yacht Haven and found a suitable mooring before going ashore and enjoying some (ginger) beer and more pub grub at The Union Inn.  We helped the people at the next table in the quiz... well, we think we helped them we didn't stay for the answers.

Monday the wind had blown up.  A gale was threatened.  We reefed Toucando and set off.  It was blowing Force 7, gusting 8.  We headed north across the Solent and up into Southampton Water. We motored.  Those boats sailing were all well reefed: one was even using its bright orange storm jib and trisail.  In less than two and a half hours Toucando was back on her mooring.

It would have been good to have had a little more wind earlier in the weekend and a little less at the end, but nevertheless was had a good trip to four ports.  Toucando has emerged from her winter somnolence and is looking forward to more sailing.  She may be a little disappointed over the next month, as my priority will be to complete four assignments for my course but by the end of may we should have a pretty busy schedule.  Thanks to Peter and Stewart for crewing this weekend and getting to understand the running rigging of a gaff rigged cutter.

Instructors Conference and Winter Thoughts

I spent an interesting weekend at Bournemouth at the RYA Yachtmaster Instructor Conference.  It was very well attended with participants from all over the world, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Croatia, Belgium etc. etc..  A particularly interesting session led by Tom Cunliffe looked at how to link up the RYA training scheme with National Historic Ships: the publicly funded organisation promoting and protecting out maritime heritage.  It looks as though NHS (not the best acronym really) will endorse traditional boats and trainers, so that a special stamp can go in your RYA logbook to say you've done your Competent Crew, Day Skipper, etc. in a traditional setting.  The scheme is not quite ready to go yet, but it all looks very promising.

Here's a link to National Historic ships to find out more about their work: http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/

Other sessions included a presentation by Sir Alan Massey, head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (and former Second Sea Lord).  He talked quite a lot about safety issues, and explained the plan to reduce the number of coastguard bases, but make them more resillient and focussed on rescue coordination.  He gave some stats about accidents: it would appear the fishing industry is by far the most dangerous of any occupation in the UK.  Then there was Captail Andrew Moll, Deputy Director of the Marine Accidents Investigation Branch, who talked about various interesting accidents, including a tanker that got kebabed on the leg of a drilling platform that had come adrift and got stuck point up in the middle of a shipping lane.  Andrew is a Memory owner and a keen sailor of small gaffers.

I am studying virtually full time at Southampton University for the next few months, but I am looking forward to a long weekend cruise at Easter, and the Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival in May.  I hope to do a few more weekends as well: then some longer cruising in July and August.  Meanwhile Toucando is my home base while I'm in the south.  The diesel stove is getting plenty of use!

Finally, here's a plug for Steve Gravells and Technical Recreational Coaching.  Steve helped sail Toucando back from Ireland to Southampton last spring.  He is a very experienced sailor and trainer, having been in charge of Southampton Water Actrivities Centre (SWAC) for many years.  I did all my shore-based training with him and would recommend his courses very strongly. http://www.technical-recreational-coaching.co.uk/

Colour supplement

First of all: Happy New Year to all crew and followers.  Thank you for making 2011 such a success.  I am looking forward to the new sailing season with great enthusiasm.  I hope we will be undertaking some longer passages.  The first is likely to be over the Easter weekend, probably along the coast to Weymouth with stops in Poole and Yarmouth or Lymington.  Meanwhile here are some pictures from the autumn.  First the jib following "hurricane" damage.  It is now expertly repaired and I can barely see how it was done.

Sarah and Michele on a trip which included a stop in Hamble: 

Here we are in Cowes: 

Jean and Roger on a very pleasant day in the eastern Solent: 

Penny, Hugh and Stephen on an autumn trip to Yarmouth:

A view from the foredeck:

Jolie Brise - a very famous old boat: