First Sail of 2019

Leaving the house in thick mist and driving down the A30 in dense fog I arrived in Plymouth bathed in sunshine, popped into the local CO-OP and purchased some food for lunch and arrived at the boat to be confronted by this beautiful still morning view.

A beautiful February morning

The marina was a hive of activity, people I had not seen for months were down checking their boats and passing the time of day.

Around 1000 hrs, Stuart and Jane Hall arrived for some sailing and a bit of pontoon bashing. We had a brew and slipped the lines with the firm intention of spending a couple of hours trying not to scrape the gel coat off the boat. As we left the marina I though sod it, let's take advantage of this beautiful day and get a bit of sailing done, so we put the fenders away and struck out for a play in Plymouth Sound.

Jane and Stuart Hall

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Crew: Sandy Garrity, Stuart Hall and Jane Hall.

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Trip Stats: Distance: 7.90 nm, Avg speed: 2.30 knots, Max speed: 5.00 knots, Under way: 3 h 25 m

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Weather Issued: Inshore Waters Forecast to 12 miles offshore for the period 0000 UTC Saturday 23 February to 0000 UTC Sunday 24 February 2019

Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly

Wind: Southeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in west, becoming variable 3 or 4 later. Sea State: Moderate or rough, occasionally slight in shelter in east. Weather: Occasional rain and fog patches later Visibility: Moderate or good, occasionally very poor later.

The Winter's Tasks

With the boat afloat there were a number of jobs that were done over winter.

A declutter

Having had the boat for some time it was time to start going through her to see what was actually needed, what was nice to have and what needed to go. I was surprised at the stuff that was onboard and I had never used so slowly they were removed from the boat and either used, binned or set aside for the boat jumble.

The Windlass

I knew the windlass had seized, power was getting to it as I could hear the motor attempt to turn but it was not turning the gypsy. One bitterly cold Sunday afternoon saw me spend the best part of two hours unbolting the casing that holds the windlass in order that I can take it somewhere warm to work on stripping down and freeing up the mechanism.

Polishing and waxing the deck

Not all the deck, just the smooth bits and the cockpit. The deck had been neglected for some time and was in desperate need of some tender loving care. Several hours spent cleaning each section with a barrage of cleaning chemicals followed by a good rince saw me applying two coats of polish and about five of wax. The aim is to give the deck some ultraviolet protection and is a job that will need to be done repeatedly over the summer.

Varnishing the Saloon

I was quite sure that the internal woodwork had not been touched so set about the task of giving the saloon a freshen up with some varnish and am quite pleased with the results.

A few jobs yet to do

Replace the through deck glands at the base of the mast, slight ingress of rain and this needs to be fixed.

Repair the danbuoy.

Southampton Boat Show 2018

I've not been to the Southampton Boat Show so this was going to be a first. Caught the train up from Devon and arrived at Southampton Central in plenty time and walked down to the showground.

First impressions were it was a tiny trade show and why was everybody raving about it, oh hold on, they are not letting anybody over that bridge, I wonder what is over there? At 1000 we were allowed over the bridge and pandora's box was opened. Note to self catch a later train next time.

Just like the Ko-Ko in the Mikado I've got a little list... of companies and people I wanted to speak to and after locating the main tent. Actually, it really is a very small trade show and I was struggling to find stand numbers!

Boat Insurance

Talked to my current insurance people about my plans for the next few years and learnt that a coastal policy only allows for sailing 12 miles offshore unless you are on passage. Oops, I've been a very naughty boy and have often been playing further out than that and not known I was not insured! Arranging to get that limit extended. Current company happy for plans in the Atlantic, but not into the Pacific. They were good enough to direct me to a company who insures world wide, but only high value boats, well much higher value than Aphrodite.

Hydrovane

Had a long talk with Will Curry about the technical details of the Hydrovane, just need to save up some quite a lot of beer tokens and get one.

Copper Coat

A very informative discussion with Ewan Clark from Copper Coat about preparation and application of the product and he kindly pointed me in the direction of a company in Plymouth who can do the job from start to finish. More what I want as I hand scraped the previous boat and vowed never ever to do that again. They have the space, the kit and the contacts to do a far better job that I could do.

Crewsaver

I needed to replace one of my life jackets and spent about 30 minutes chatting to a chap from Crewsaver on the Force 4 stand. Extremely informative and I was more than happy to pull out my credit card and take the jacket home.

Brunton Propellers

As we hit 4.8 knots SOG the prop starts turning, while it is good to know that we are going about 5 knots I can't see me keeping my sanity listening to that for hour after hour. Several people had said, "Sandy you need a folding prop".

I was able to get the "folding prop 101" from Brunton Propellers and came away with a much better understanding of the subject.

After a morning of talking to the companies I wanted to talk to I set off round the pontoons for a quick look at the modern, plastic, IKEA furnished boats when a voice piped up, "Hello Sandy" and I met up with a few friends who I had not expected to see.

Ambled up to the railway station and squeezed on a late running train, note to self book seats on an earlier train next time as it is a very small show!

All in all an good day out.

Parking Masterclass

It had been some time since I had taken Aphrodite out, mainly due to not having the confidence to single hand her out and back into the marina. A few times with my old pal Craig and others, but I did need to master this skill and over come my now lacking in confidence. The other thing that was holding me back was the deliver of the Genoa, but that was now on the boat and there was no excuse.

Through work about a year ago I bumped into a Yachtmaster Instructor who was happy to give me some tuition for some sailing, not having his own boat, and we arranged to meet up at the marina and sort my skills out.

About 0900 UTC I had a wave from the quayside as Stuart arrived and I popped up to meet him and sort parking out. Having shown him the facilities we headed back to the boat for breakfast and plan the day.

Over breakfast it was decided to spend a few hours on basic engine control, something that is not really needed on a swing mooring, and some maneuvers in the outer part of Millbay then come into the marina and do the same thing with lots of boats about.

Breakfast consumed got all the lines onto the boat and headed out for a couple of hours of tuition on maneuvering Aphrodite slowly and controlling the speed and turns on the engine. It felt just like driving a care for the first time. Which was quite odd considering the amount of time and distance that I had sailed on all the boats that I have but this was very different and quite difficult, I found the levels of concentration extremely high.

While reversing into an imaginary berth we were approached by a high speed RIB with a couple of chaps dressed in black advising us that one of the submarines was heading out to sea. We came away from the wall and watched the long dark submarine surrounded by guard ships pass us by and continued with our exercises.

Having got to grips in the outer harbour we moved back into King Point and Stuart would demonstrate a movement then I would repeat the move until I was comfortable with it. I don't think I've ever motored so close between boats, stopped that close to transoms and moved that slowly in a circle. The good news was it was beginning to make sense.

Starboard 10 degrees

Not only was it beginning to make sense it was beginning to attract an audience of other boat owners keen to see me master the skills, and make sure I was not going to take a chunk of their gelcoat. In she goes Our stomachs were telling it was lunchtime and I needed some thinking time to process the new skills in my head. We tied up alongside and I put the kettle on. Off out into Plymouth Sound where things got interesting. The main halyard got wrapped round the radar reflector and we could not free it. So found a buoy and Stuart went up the mast to sort things out, we hoisted the main and let go the buoy unfurled the genoa and sailed away. A fun few hours trying out the sails and feeling how differently she handled with both new sails on was interesting. The ultimate test was to bring Aphrodite onto her berth without mishap and I passed with flying colours.

The Lads Trip 2018 - Malpas to Plymouth

It was quite hard dragging ourselves away from such an idyllic spot, but our destination had to be Plymouth and Aphrodite's new home.

We cast off and gently motored down Carrick Roads where we hoisted both sails and waited for the wind off St Anthony Lighthouse and as promised the wind filled and we started our eastward journey back to Plymouth via the Eddystone Lighthouse.

A relaxed passage followed with the wind building slowly from a F1 to a F4 and we were finally able to see the shape of that new main, all the theory about sail shape finally made sense!

By the time the strange shape of Eddystone crept above the horizon we were doing a good six knots and looking forward to rounding the waypoint and turning north towards Plymouth. About a mile off the Eddystone we were about to cross a fishing boat on a trawl and just as I was about to gybe to the rear of him he stopped and let us pass, a huge wave of thanks and we rounded the light.

As evening was approaching the weather was changing and it was time to put some warmer clothing on.

Heading towards Plymouth Breakwater all of a sudden it got busy, fishing boats going in several directions, HMS Dragon coming out and a tanker racing us for the line at the breakwater. We were more than happy to follow him in.

Ironically, as we headed in towards King Point a Plymouth Sailing School boat was heading out. I did my RYA Day Skipper with them years ago and I thought it good to meet them as I brought Aphrodite into her new home port.

We furled away the genoa and dropped the main in the sound, sorted out the fenders, set the mooring lines up and prepared to enter the marina. Motoring past Pont Aven I realised how small the boats we sail in are!

At the entrance to King Point several small boys woke up to the fact we were coming in and they had fishing lines out, we did a 360 degree turn and let them pull in their lines gave them a wave of thanks and entered the marina.

No pressure, we were in and were looking for our berth. Hoping nobody was watching us enter the marina, thankfully we came alongside with little fuss, but I need a not more practice!

Aphrodite had been delivered to her new berth and there were more adventures to come.

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Crew: Sandy Garrity, Alex Bowling

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Distance figures Distance: 51 nm Moving Average: 5 kts Max: 7 kts

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Weather Issued at: 04:05 on Thu 10 May 2018 UTC For the period 06:00 on Thu 10 May 2018 UTC to 06:00 on Fri 11 May 2018 UTC

Plymouth

Wind Northwest, backing south or southeast, 5 or 6. Sea state Rough or very rough, becoming moderate or rough later. Weather Showers. Visibility Good.

GPS Track