Plans for 2021

Like the rest of the world 2020 was a year dominated with Coronavirus and in the United Kingdom the exit from the European Union. Little sailing was done, but a lot of work on upgrading the systems on the boat.

Due to the uncertain travel situation I am planning to circumnavigate the United Kingdom during August, September and early October 2021, I have split the voyage into several legs and am inviting sailing friends to hop on and off the boat if they want to do one or more legs.

Leg One Plymouth to Ramsgate 250 nm (Two days sailing)

A run along the "La manche" in one hop with lots of diversion ports so that I can check that we are all set up for the trip.

48 hour stop over with possible crew change.

Leg Two Ramsgate to Edinburgh 400 nm. (Four days sailing)

Basically, getting to Scotland in one hop.

I am considering a five day stop over as my daughter might be in Edinburgh and I have family to visit this also allows for a crew change.

Leg Three Edinburgh to Stromness 215 nm. (Two days sailing)

This is where things start getting interesting and very weather dependent. I am aiming for Stromness on the Orkney mainland and a visit to Lyness where I spent a couple of years as a toddler.

Leg Four Stromness to Mallaig 250 nm. (No defined time)

This is where things slow down a bit and we can enjoy the west Highlands. Once round Cape Wrath I plan potter down to Mallaig over a few days. Places I want to stop include Loch A' Chadh -Fi where John Ridgway set up his outdoor center, Aultbea where we lived for about six months, Glenelg and Sandaig the home of Gavin Maxwell and Loch Nevis.

Leg Five Mallaig to Fort William 75 nm. (One day sailing)

A trip down past Mull then "home" to Fort William; there should be a new 40 berth marina there. I'm planning to stay for five days as I've lots of school pals to catch up with possible crew change. Aim to be here mid September at the latest.

Leg Six Fort William to Largs 150 nm. (Two days sailing)

Possible crew change at Largs.

Leg Seven Largs to Isles of Scillies 360 nm. (Four days sailing)

The run back south.

Leg Eight Isles of Scillies to Plymouth 90 nm. (One day sailing)

The run back to home port.

The Winters Work and Coronavirus Interrupts Play

My 2019 sailing season finished with a voyage on the Ocean Youth Trust South's vessel Prolific and I was looking forward to spending some time working on Aphrodite as there were a couple of major projects to do, specifically improve the electrical system as much of the wiring was over 35 years old and beginning to corrode, the telltale black copper showing at the joints that needed to be replaced with more modern tinned copper, and give the inside a lick of varnish as Aphrodite needed a lift inside.

I was fortunate to get early retirement in January at the age of 58 which allowed me to bring forward my plans by two years. Little did we know then that Coronavirus would sweep the world and the UK would go into "lockdown", a word I dislike, for three months setting my plans back a bit.

The Batteries

I had always felt that the batteries were on the light side for what the boat was being expected to do. Two led acid batteries: the 80Ah starter battery was not holding its charge; the house battery was only 100Ah and with just the engine or shore power charging was not keeping up on multiple day trips without using the engine more that I wanted.

With much research I decided to replace the current batteries with Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) ones as they have better resistance to vibration, can't leak acid if they crack, can be discharged to a lower voltage and the existing charger was able to cope with them.

After much searching on the internet I found a company that could supply low profile batteries that would fit the existing locations and worked out that I could fit extra batteries under the rear bunk thus increase my house capacity to 390Ah an increase of 390%.

That should keep me happy for a few days, especially as I'm reducing as much of the power usage as I can, LED bulbs and the like.

The Switch Panel

The original switch panel while working was of its time, the voltage and amperage instruments could not accurately display the boats actual usage as we were using far less power as over the years equipment got more and more efficient. Thus began the search for something up to date that would deal with modern power requirements and simplify things for single handed passages.

After much searching of the internet I found KDD Power in Cornwall that were producing exactly what I wanted and it got even better when they said that they could custom make a panel. Being pretty local I popped down to discuss my requirements and commission a new switch panel and VSR charger.

Delivery Trip - Lowestoft to Hartlepool Day 2

Finish

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Crew: Peter Vandenberg, Will Armitage, Sandy Garrity

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Trip Stats: Distance: 200 nm, Avg speed: 7.00 knots, Max speed: 12.50 knots, Under way: 28 h 30 m

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Weather: Inshore waters to 12 miles offshore 13:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 21 May 2020 to 13:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 22 May 2020

North Foreland to Selsey Bill - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Variable 2 to 4, becoming southwesterly 5 or 6 later. Smooth or slight, becoming moderate later. Thundery showers for a time. Good occasionally moderate.

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Variable 2 to 4, becoming southerly 4 to 6, veering southwesterly later. Smooth becoming slight. Thundery showers for a time. Good occasionally moderate.

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Delivery Trip - Lowestoft to Hartlepool Day 1

test ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crew: Peter Vandenberg, Will Armitage, Sandy Garrity ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Weather: Inshore waters to 12 miles offshore 13:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 21 May 2020 to 13:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 22 May 2020 North Foreland to Selsey Bill - Strong wind warning 24 hour forecast: Variable 2 to 4, becoming southwesterly 5 or 6 later. Smooth or slight, becoming moderate later. Thundery showers for a time. Good occasionally moderate. Gibraltar Point to North Foreland - Strong wind warning 24 hour forecast: Variable 2 to 4, becoming southerly 4 to 6, veering southwesterly later. Smooth becoming slight. Thundery showers for a time. Good occasionally moderate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trip Stats: Distance: 200 nm, Average speed: 7.00 knots, Maximum speed: 12.50 knots, Under way: 28 h 30 m, Sailing hours: 24 h 0 m, Engine hours: 4 h 30 m (inc warm up cool down).

Delivery Trip - Cowes to Lowestoft Day 2

Day two saw the wind build to a F7, gusting F9 and the Coastguard issued a gale warning for the sea area we were in so it was decided to run for shelter in Lowestoft.

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Crew: Peter Vandenberg, Will Armitage, Sandy Garrity

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Trip Stats: Distance: 200 nm, Avg speed: 7.00 knots, Max speed: 12.50 knots, Under way: 28 h 30 m

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Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 13:00 (UTC+1) on Sat 23 May 2020 to 13:00 (UTC+1) on Sun 24 May 2020

24 hour forecast: Southwesterly veering westerly later, 5 or 6, occasionally 7 until later. Slight or moderate. Showers at first, perhaps thundery. Good, occasionally moderate at first.

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