OYT Shakedown - Day 3

Sunday 24^th March 2024

0000 hrs

Lat: 50° 45.26'N Long: 001° 31.67'W

0700 hrs

Climbed on deck to a stunning sunny morning. The plan for the day was to get Prolific back to Ocean Village for some 'tight space' manoeuvring for Constantinos and Andrew. While I was enjoying the sunshine on deck Andrew was out with his drone and taking some stunning shots of the boat on the pontoon.

Prolific alongside at Royal Lymington YC
© Andrew Wilkes 23/03/2024

Prolific alongside at Royal Lymington YC
© Andrew Wilkes 23/03/2024

0810 hrs

Slipped the lines and followed the ferry down the river. At the mouth of the marked channel the yacht club have a platform with a hut and small balcony on it, clearly used for racing, but I wondered if it is an AirBnB.

A gentle motor up the western Solent then as we turned into Southampton Water and head to wind we raised the main then one by one put all three reefs in checking that everything was running smoothly.

1100 hrs

Arrived Ocean Village and then started on the hard work of 'parking in tight spaces'. Thankfully, no bumps to either boats or pontoons.

1300 hrs

With all the practice done it was time to finally tie up, have lunch, prep the boat for handover. While several Sea Staff were staying onboard I headed home.

A very enjoyable few days working the boat with just Sea Staff allowing us to refresh our skills without a crew of young people and put the boat through its paces in heavy weather.

All times are UTC.

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The Numbers for Prolific

	Underway	Distance NM	Avg SOG knots	Max SOG knots	Night Hours
Day:	4h 50m	13.42	2.78	8.00	0h 00m
Trip:	19h 35m	71.00	3.62	12.00	0h 00m
Year:	19h 35m	71.00	3.62	12.00	0h 00m

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Crew: Constantinos (Skipper), James B, Josh, Andrew W, Tom K, Robert J, Sara A, Rooby, Juliette D and Sandy.

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Sunrise: 0542 hrs Sunset: 1931 hrs

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Weather: Forecast valid from: 00:00 (UTC) on Sun 24 Mar 2024 until 00:00 (UTC) on Mon 25 Mar 2024

Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth, North Biscay

Westerly or northwesterly 4 to 6, becoming variable 2 to 4 later, then becoming southerly 5 later in Plymouth. Moderate or rough, becoming slight or moderate later. Showers, then rain later in Plymouth. Good, becoming moderate later in Plymouth.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 24/03/2024

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OYT Shakedown - Day 2

Saturday 23^rd March 2024

0000 hrs

Lat: 50° 45.62'N Long: 001° 17.60'W

0900 hrs

Slipped our lines at Sheppards and headed up river to the fuel barge that opened at 1000 hrs. On going up river I spotted a boat that I last saw in Scarborough back in 2021, and latter dropped them a message saying I had spotted them.

1000 hrs

Alongside the fuel barge Josh and Rooby tended the refuelling while the rest of the crew had a 'happy hour', boat cleaning.

1130 hrs

Fuelling complete. Thankfully, I was not paying, but wondered if they give Nectar Points.

As we entered the Solent we could see some very dark angry squalls to the west of us and waited until they had passed before raising the mizzen and the staysail.

In a matter of half an hour the day had changed from a pleasant spring morning to a cold and very wet day, but the squall soon passed and we got to work putting the boat through he paces making sure that she good for the start of the season.

After several hours of sailing to windward and lots of tacks it was decided to call into Lymington, not one of the usual ports of call on the Solent, for the night.

Prolific tacking in the Solent

1530 hrs

We dropped the anchor to the east of the channel into Lymington to wait for the tide. Sitting in 40 knots of wind with the rain lashing the boat watching it from 'the shed' was quite comfortable, in an open boat things would have been very wet.

1630 hrs

The weather had cleared and the anchor lifted before we followed the ferry into Lymington. Andrew being a member of Royal Lymington Yacht Club had arranged for us to tie up to their pontoon for the night.

1730 hrs

Lat: 50° 45.26'N Long: 001° 31.67'W

After a couple of practice parks, which attracted quite a large audience, we tied up alongside and Andrew left for his own boat. House rules state that you must fly a club pennant when alongside.

After supper we piled into the bar and enjoyed a few beers - I enjoyed the atmosphere in the club to the hurly burley of the pub in Cowes the previous evening. Several club members came over and asked about the boat and the charity.

Sounds like Prolific holds the record for the largest boat to come alongside.

All times are UTC.

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The Numbers for Prolific

	Underway	Distance NM	Avg SOG knots	Max SOG knots	Night Hours
Day:	6h 00m	23.25	3.87	10.00	0h 00m
Trip:	12h 45m	57.85	4.53	12.00	0h 00m
Year:	12h 45m	57.85	4.53	12.00	0h 00m

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Crew: Constantinos (Skipper), James B, Josh, Andrew W, Tom K, Robert J, Sara A, Rooby, Juliette D and Sandy.

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Sunrise: 0602 hrs Sunset: 1824 hrs

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Weather: Forecast valid from: 00:00 (UTC) on Sat 23 Mar 2024 until 00:00 (UTC) on Sun 24 Mar 2024.

Wight, Portland, Plymouth

West or northwest 5 to 7. Moderate or rough, becoming rough or very rough in west and south Plymouth. Squally showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 23/03/2024

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OYT Shakedown - Day 1

Friday 22^nd March 2024

0000 hrs

Lat: 50° 53.71'N Long: 001° 23.50'W

There had been a call for volunteers for a Sea Staff only trip on Prolific before the start of the season to give the new skipper and first mate some practice parking the boat and to check out the rigging as both masts had been out over the winter. I thought it would be good to go along as it gave me some time on the boat before my first trip of the season.

I drove up on the day before and met up with most of the Sea Staff onboard the boat. Prolific was not on her usual mooring as all of the pontoons on the south side of Ocean Village were out of the water for dredging and I found her on the north side of the hotel.

0800 hrs

The remaining sea staff arrived and twenty minutes later the two riggers from Allspars turned up with their kit.

0930 hrs

Slipped the mooring at Ocean Village and headed out. By the time we joined Southampton Water the staysail, main and mizzen had all been hoisted for the riggers to complete their checks. Very quickly the jib followed, I've never seen all of the sails up so promptly.

We scuttled down Southampton water with the riggers looking intently at the rigging, feeling it with their hands and tightening it with massive spanners. Then much to my surprise climbed the rigging on the way back up Southampton water with 25 knots of apparent wind. Glad I don't do that for a living!

Rigger at work

1215 hrs

With the riggers work completed we dropped the sails and returned to Ocean Village. Dropped them off for their next job and had lunch.

1330 hrs

Lunch finished we set off again, but this time purely under engine for some 'pontoon bashing' at Trinity Landing in Cowes.

The next few hours were spent parking Prolific to the landing and much to my surprise I was invited to park the boat! With the Staff Skipper beside me I carefully manoeuvred the boat next to the pontoon and successfully brought her alongside without scratching the paintwork or bashing the pontoon.

Prolific alongside Trinity Landing, Cowes.

Prolific setting up for another park.

1730 hrs

Lat: 50° 45.62'N Long: 001° 17.60'W

Tied up along side at Sheppards Marina in Cowes.

Just after we tied up alongside Willoughby, one of the OYT Sea Staff, popped in to say hello.

Following supper we ajourned to The Anchor Inn to quench our thurst. A rather busy pub full of yachties.

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The Numbers for Prolific

	Underway	Distance NM	Avg SOG knots	Max SOG knots	Night Hours
Day:	6h 45m	34.60	5.12	12.00	0h 00m
Trip:	6h 45m	34.60	5.12	12.00	0h 00m
Year:	6h 45m	34.60	5.12	12.00	0h 00m

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Crew: Constantinos (Skipper), James B, Josh, Andrew W, Tom K, Robert J, Sara A, Rooby, Juliette D and Sandy.

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Sunrise: 0604 hrs Sunset: 1822 hrs

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Weather: Forecast valid from: 00:00 (UTC) on Fri 22 Mar 2024 until 00:00 (UTC) on Sat 23 Mar 2024.

Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth

Southwest veering northwest 4 to 6. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough in Plymouth. Occasional rain or drizzle. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 22/03/2024

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Bleeding Screws

Tuesday 5^th March 2024

With the weather finally improving I popped down to the boat to start the list of jobs that need doing. The first one was to sort out that secondary fuel filter air leak where the bleed screw is.

Knowing that the bleed screw was not an original I purchased the correct part from Volvo, how much for a screw with a hole in it! When I came to fit it discovered that in the past that somebody had cross threaded the hole and replaced the bleed screw with a bigger bolt hence the problem with air ingestion.

I dropped into the engineering shed at the yard to speak with Donald and arrange a visit to the boat, the hole re-tapped and a bigger bolt to be used, but hearing that I had an original Volvo bleed screw came up with a better solution. Drill out the hole, fit and glue in a 'sleeve', I am sure it has a technical name, with the correct thread for the Volvo bleed screw and job done.

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