Roger, Lee and Jolyan.
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Sunday, 12 May 2013
New crew: we're hoping to be outward bound tomorrow
New crew members Lee (from Southampton) and Jolyan from Cornwall arrived this afternoon. Roger, who was on leg remained on board. If conditions are suitable we'll head for Falmouth tomorrow. Meanwhile we have enjoyed meat and vegetarian penne Bolognese, washed down with ginger beer.
Roger, Lee and Jolyan.
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Roger, Lee and Jolyan.
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Still here
Just at present the wind has dropped, but it will come back later. Saturday was a day of victualling for the next leg, and a little more revision. New crew member Lee arrives this afternoon. I hope the weather will allow us to make some progress tomorrow. Much as I like Plymouth, we have been here too long. It would be good to be sailing again.
Thanks to Carole for this picture of me at the helm coming across Lyme Bay.
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Thanks to Carole for this picture of me at the helm coming across Lyme Bay.
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Friday, 10 May 2013
An enforced break
We had winds of 40 knots in the Mayflower Marina yesterday: that is on the border of Gale Force 8 and Severe Gale Force 9. None of the gaffer fleet left the harbour and the parade of sail round the harbour was sensibly postponed.
I took a walk around to Royal William Victualling Yard... An impressive complex of buildings that used to supply the fleet in times gone by. Now it is flats and restaurants.
There was a nice view of Toucando across the water. Rather impressively our triangular burgee remained flying at the top of the mast despite the howling winds.
I then went into the city centre and had a look at the Barbican area, enjoying a crab sandwich at the Strand Cafe, before returning to Toucando to do some revision.
We had a French style lamb ragout/cassoulet aboard before going to Jolly Jacks.
It happens to be the 50th anniversary of the twinning of Plymouth and Brest, so there were a lot of Breton/French in town, some of whom had been persuaded to come over to entertain us. A band of trilby wearing female accordionists were joined by some bagpipers for an evening of impromptu and very merry music making. Local Plymouth musicians joined in as well as the gaffers: notably Ben Collins who has done a lot to promote shanty singing in the Solent Area in recent years. We stayed until after closing time.
Today (Friday) has been one of more revision for me. Crew members Hugh and Carole have returned to their respective homes. Roger and I remain. Lee arrives on Sunday and thereafter we hope to be sailing again.
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I took a walk around to Royal William Victualling Yard... An impressive complex of buildings that used to supply the fleet in times gone by. Now it is flats and restaurants.
There was a nice view of Toucando across the water. Rather impressively our triangular burgee remained flying at the top of the mast despite the howling winds.
I then went into the city centre and had a look at the Barbican area, enjoying a crab sandwich at the Strand Cafe, before returning to Toucando to do some revision.
We had a French style lamb ragout/cassoulet aboard before going to Jolly Jacks.
It happens to be the 50th anniversary of the twinning of Plymouth and Brest, so there were a lot of Breton/French in town, some of whom had been persuaded to come over to entertain us. A band of trilby wearing female accordionists were joined by some bagpipers for an evening of impromptu and very merry music making. Local Plymouth musicians joined in as well as the gaffers: notably Ben Collins who has done a lot to promote shanty singing in the Solent Area in recent years. We stayed until after closing time.
Today (Friday) has been one of more revision for me. Crew members Hugh and Carole have returned to their respective homes. Roger and I remain. Lee arrives on Sunday and thereafter we hope to be sailing again.
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Thursday, 9 May 2013
Stormbound in Plymouth
On Wednesday we got up late, had breakfast and tidied the boat. The crew explored Plymouth and I did some revision. In the evening we enjoyed fish and chips with the gaffers at Jolly Jacks entertained by the Tavy Tars. It remained windy all day, with waves lapping over the breakwater pontoon. There are 30+ gaff rigged boats here. The parade of sail in the harbour scheduled for today (Thursday) has been postponed as gales are expected to blow through. It looks as though our crew change may happen here rather than Falmouth.
Annabel J on the breakwater pontoon.
The Tavy Tars singing shanties.
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Annabel J on the breakwater pontoon.
The Tavy Tars singing shanties.
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Location:United Kingdom
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Brief update: we arrived in Plymouth
It was a very long day which will warrant a very long blog... But for now all I can say is we had a very nice sail across Lyme Bay and quite a challenging landfall at Plymouth. Here's a picture of the nice bit.
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Monday, 6 May 2013
We're in Weymouth
My crew for leg one comprised Carole, Hugh and Roger, all of whom have sailed on Toucando before. We left Southampton on Saturday and met the gaffer fleet in Hamble. This was the beginning of Round Britain Challenge for us. There was a supper at the RAFYC followed by entertainment from George Becket and the Blunt Instruments.
We set off for Yarmouth under power arriving for a late lunch. There were some jobs to do, like putting on sheets and reefing lines, the spars and sails only having been put back on Thursday.
We enjoyed a chicken tagine on board Toucando.
On Monday morning we had planned to set off at 0800 to get to Weymouth early, but it was very foggy.
We delayed until 1000 when it had cleared a little. Thee was not much wind. We motored down the Needles Channel and practised our radar skills. It managed to be foggy and sunny at the same time. Most of the way we saw nothing, but eventually Portland loomed above the fog bank. We came into Weymouth at 1700 where it was warm and bright. It's one of my favourite ports.
We are about to start cooking and enjoy our evening. The voyage has begun... All we need now is enough wind to sail and enough visibility to see where we are going.
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We set off for Yarmouth under power arriving for a late lunch. There were some jobs to do, like putting on sheets and reefing lines, the spars and sails only having been put back on Thursday.
We enjoyed a chicken tagine on board Toucando.
On Monday morning we had planned to set off at 0800 to get to Weymouth early, but it was very foggy.
We delayed until 1000 when it had cleared a little. Thee was not much wind. We motored down the Needles Channel and practised our radar skills. It managed to be foggy and sunny at the same time. Most of the way we saw nothing, but eventually Portland loomed above the fog bank. We came into Weymouth at 1700 where it was warm and bright. It's one of my favourite ports.
We are about to start cooking and enjoy our evening. The voyage has begun... All we need now is enough wind to sail and enough visibility to see where we are going.
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Friday, 3 May 2013
Just in time
Thursday 2nd May was exceptionally busy. Following the disaster with the broken down truck Jeremy Freeland of Collars delivered the new bowsprit and repaired boom on top of his car before 0800. We carried them down to the pontoon. They looked very good.
I went aboard to do some essential admin. I heard the tramp of feet on the deck. I popped my head out. "It's Andy from Greenham Regis." The electricians had arrived. The wind indicator had not worked since the mast had been re-stepped. John, the regular electrician was going up to sort it out. There was only a fairly thin (but strong) cruising chute halyard, and an even thinner (but strong) topsail halyard going to the very top of the mast. "Are the shackles up there ok?" John asked. "They looked ok to me," I said, "But I'm not an expert." John peered at the top of the mast with binoculars. He looked a bit grim. He suddenly said, "Ok, we'll do it." He got his climbing harness out and attached two lines to it. Andy and I started hauling him up. 48 feet is quite a long way, but we got him up to working height. I tended the ropes, while Andy looked at the display panels.
Yes, that is an electrician up there.
John discovered the wind vane had not been properly reattached. However even when it was, it only showed wind direction, not speed. We sent up a new unit on a flag halyard. It worked! A little adjustment was required to the display readout. And then the job was done. We carefully lowered John to the deck. "Your shackles are alright," he observed. I was very grateful for his help in getting the problem sorted and ascending an unknown wooden mast on a breezy day.
Just as the electricians left the riggers arrived and we got straight into installing the bowsprit and boom. There is a lot of rope and wire on a gaffer, and we got confused more than once, but with the professional skills of the riggers and my knowledge of the individual peculiarities of Toucando's rig we got everything back on, including the mainsail in about three hours.
By this time it was mid afternoon, but exactly a month after her mast was unstepped Toucando was once again a fully functional sailing vessel - with less than 48 hours to the start of the circumnavigation.
There are still a few cosmetic jobs to be done but the important functional tasks are complete. Thanks to Ebbtide Marine Engineering, Greenham Regis Electronics, Collars Spars, Spencer Rigging, Force 4 Chandlery and helpful crew and friends: Colin, Jem, Kevin and Roger.
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I went aboard to do some essential admin. I heard the tramp of feet on the deck. I popped my head out. "It's Andy from Greenham Regis." The electricians had arrived. The wind indicator had not worked since the mast had been re-stepped. John, the regular electrician was going up to sort it out. There was only a fairly thin (but strong) cruising chute halyard, and an even thinner (but strong) topsail halyard going to the very top of the mast. "Are the shackles up there ok?" John asked. "They looked ok to me," I said, "But I'm not an expert." John peered at the top of the mast with binoculars. He looked a bit grim. He suddenly said, "Ok, we'll do it." He got his climbing harness out and attached two lines to it. Andy and I started hauling him up. 48 feet is quite a long way, but we got him up to working height. I tended the ropes, while Andy looked at the display panels.
Yes, that is an electrician up there.
John discovered the wind vane had not been properly reattached. However even when it was, it only showed wind direction, not speed. We sent up a new unit on a flag halyard. It worked! A little adjustment was required to the display readout. And then the job was done. We carefully lowered John to the deck. "Your shackles are alright," he observed. I was very grateful for his help in getting the problem sorted and ascending an unknown wooden mast on a breezy day.
Just as the electricians left the riggers arrived and we got straight into installing the bowsprit and boom. There is a lot of rope and wire on a gaffer, and we got confused more than once, but with the professional skills of the riggers and my knowledge of the individual peculiarities of Toucando's rig we got everything back on, including the mainsail in about three hours.
By this time it was mid afternoon, but exactly a month after her mast was unstepped Toucando was once again a fully functional sailing vessel - with less than 48 hours to the start of the circumnavigation.
There are still a few cosmetic jobs to be done but the important functional tasks are complete. Thanks to Ebbtide Marine Engineering, Greenham Regis Electronics, Collars Spars, Spencer Rigging, Force 4 Chandlery and helpful crew and friends: Colin, Jem, Kevin and Roger.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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