Spring Break Sailing 2012

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Enroute from Newtown River to Lymington

We just got back from a week on the Solent.  We had big plans for an overnight sail to the West Country, but after a few nights out we decided that it was just too cold to do a long passage.  It was at or below freezing most nights, getting down to 25 degrees F one night in Lymington and covering the boat in frost.

We were lucky to have along a butane-powered Bright-Spark indoor heater to take the edge off the evenings and mornings (http://brightspark.info/products/domiglow-indoor-heater): We used four or five of the butane “batteries” during this week, which cost about £10 for a pack of four.  We were very careful to make sure it ventilated correctly, and was nowhere near anything flammable on board.

Bright Spark Butane Indoor Heater

Still, most days had sun, even if they were cold when the clouds showed up.  We sailed from Gosport to the Newtown River for two nights, and then to Lymington for three nights, and finally one more night in the Newtown before our best sail of the trip back to Gosport yesterday.  Best day trip was a bike rental in the New Forest, which the kids really enjoyed.

Cycle Touring in New Forest

We also hiked from the Newtown River to Yarmouth for a day trip, hiked the Coastal Path in Lymington, and did fossil hunting along the shores of the Solent.  Now that we sail with two teenagers, things are changing a bit.  Doug can helm quite well, and Eve is taking on increasingly important jobs (like helping to land on docks).  If you look back through our photo albums, it seems like only yesterday they were five and seven years old.

We have a full photo album of the trip here:

 Spring Break Sailing 2011

Sample Images:

Southern Rival in Newtown River at Low Tide

 

Doug takes the helm for part of sail back to Gosport

As a reward for enduring the cold nights and days all week on the boat, we set up a four night rental of a fisherman’s cottage in the old town of St. Ives in Cornwall.  We’re at home now resting up, but early tomorrow morning we catch a train to St Ives for the rental.  The thing that sold me on the cottage was the location and the wood burning stove.  I’ll post pictures of this trip later.

On the way. . .

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I’m on the fast train right now to Portsmouth to begin our “Spring Break 2012″ sailing trip.  Rest of the crew will join tomorrow morning, and today I hope to install the new Racor spin on filter adapter to the Cav filter head, replace the raw water impeller, re-install the jacklines, and replace the water tank filters.  If I have time, I also hope to do a provision trip to Morrisons tonight.

It’s always exciting at the start of a two-week break like this.  The weather for the week looks mixed, and I really can’t take the family out in semi-rough conditions, so we will need to play it by ear as to daily destinations and where we hole up.  At the very least, I hope we have some nights at Newtown River and Brownsea Island, and one at Studland Bay.  I also look forward to dinner at the Folly Inn.

If I can, I’ll take some pics of the work today and do another post later tonight.  I have a 3G stick for the laptop that typically works well, except on speeding trains.  I also splurged today and upped to First Class for £5 so I could have power outlets and table for the train trip– it’s worth it to get off on the right foot and relax a bit.

Kemp Stackpack Installation

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My son and I had a good day at the boat yesterday. We bent on the slightly shortened genoa onto its track and attached just about everything in sight with McLube dry lube (including the cable of the sail that slides up the track). When done, the headsail looked great– we could put on a couple more inches of tension, and that’s just what it needed.

Slightly shortened genoa flying at dock.

Kiwi Rigging of Gosport had also visited SR last week to service the winches, do a rigging check and minor repairs, and mount the mast blocks and lines of our new Kemp stackpack. Yesterday we bent on the cleaned and repaired mainsail and rigged up the stack pack for the first time.

Kemp stackpack almost installed

Complete stackpack installed.

All looked fine by the time we were done. We haven’t sailed with a stack pack or lazy jacks before, so I’m looking forward to going out. The gate on the sail track got a bit tweaked during the process, but I think we have a work around until I can modify the gate plate (to keep the slugs from sticking going up and down).

Still waiting for the Racor adapter to change over our CAV secondary diesel filter to a spin on Racor. Next weekend we have a few more things to service, and then we plan to head out for a week of cruising.

More images of the stackpack installation:

http://sailingvoyage.com/photos/index.php/Sailboat-Maintenance/Stackpack-Install-2012

Using Sealift2– First Lift of the Year

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We haven’t lifted Southern Rival out of the water for two years.  We have had divers clean the bottom growth (grass mostly, and the prop) about twice a year, but it was time for a proper lift out and clean and anode replacement.  Also, she was overdue for a topsides cut and wax.

Sealift2 recently added a facility in Gosport– right at the end of our pontoon, actually.  I read about the service at the forums at www.ybw.com, and it appeared to be a good and easy to use service.  I stepped into the office late in December and bought reduced price coupons for two lift outs this year, and one cut and wax for the topsides.

We have our first voyage of the year planned for 1 April, so we’re in the run up for the season.  Yesterday we had her up and out for the day.  A full photo gallery is available here:

http://sailingvoyage.com/photos/index.php/Sailboat-Maintenance/Boat-Lift-2012

Here are some sample images of a very successful Sunday:

Steph and Eve help land between the "goal posts."

It was easy to pull in, get clamped, tie off and be lifted.

 

Time for a new anode on that prop!

With shiny topsides, we prep to launch.

By the end of the mostly sunny day, we were happily back in our slip.  We also collected our cleaned and repaired main sail, and our new stackpack from Kemp Sails, and we hope to put all on next Saturday.

A Sail on the Columbia River

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I was lucky enough to have a trip to the Pacific Northwest last week, and we managed to take out Aurora, our Cal 20, for a day sail on the Columbia River.

It had rained all morning (so we took a chance to board a Fantasia 35 that was for sale nearby), and then it was sunny but calm when we were on the river.

It was great to be on the river again, in February no less.

Full photo gallery:

http://sailingvoyage.com/photos/index.php/Sailing-US/Cal-20-Sail-Feb-2012

 

More winter work progress

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Just had another good evening aboard. Took off the main sail yesterday and turned it in for cleaning and repairs. Picked up the altered genoa which is now two inches shorter on the luff and had stitching repairs. In two weeks I hope to put the main back on with the new stack pack and lazy jacks.

We will also clean sheets and do other work. Riggers should visit next week to do some repairs and mount lazy jack blocks.

I will be away for next two weekend. We might schedule the lift and bottom clean for mid march. The top side will also be cut and waxed. I also plan to buy a small pressure washer for the decks and spray hood.

If nothing else, we should have a cleaner boat this year! At the moment it’s sunny and cold and blowing F7 outside here in Gosport, so I don’t feel bad about packing up, sealing the boat, rinsing the decks, and catching a train to London.

Winter Upgrades to our Rival 34 Sailboat

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It’s winter break, and I’m spending a few days on the boat.  I had a very good meeting with Kemp Sails and Kiwi Rigging (both in Gosport) this morning about some winter upgrades to be done in the next few weeks.  I’d like to think that I have a small pot of money to use every two years for some nice upgrades to our boat.  Two years ago it was new primary winches from Lewmar.  This year it’s all about the sails and rigging.

First, we are having Kemp build us one of their modern stack packs with lazy jacks.  This should make dropping the sail and putting in reefs easier with a husband/wife crew like ours, and our current sail tie and sail cover system are end of life anyway.  This is a relatively affordable upgrade, and we look forward to it.  (In particular my wife seems to like the idea of me doing less ping-ponging up and down on the fore deck as we enter Poole or similar rough entry areas.)

Second, it’s been embarassing that we haven’t had a good preventer system for the boom for down-run sailing in choppy conditions.  As you might guess, the English Channel is typically choppy conditions.  At the London boat show I picked up all the gear (line, Harken block, stainless fittings) for a nice end of book preventer that runs to the bow and back, and I have that all set up.  Once the stackpack from Kemp cleans up our boom, I might consider rigging the preventer to be under the boom and ready all the time.
Third, we had the genoa taken down today and Kemp is going to shorten the head by 2-3 inches so that we can increase the tension on the halyard.  It runs right to the block now, but we don’t seem to get enough tension and this affects upwind performance.  That should be an easy fix and should be done in a couple of days.  Otherwise, the North Sails genoa is in great shape, and no other cleaning or repairs are needed at this time.

Fourth, now that the mainsail has been measured for the stackpack, I’m taking it off later this week to deliver to Kemp for repairs and cleaning.  That should be done in 2-3 weeks.  I like our North Sails main, but it’s developed some mildew spots and has one or two holes worn through up by the luff of the sail.

Kiwi Rigging of Gosport is visiting our boat next week to install the two blocks for the lazy jacks and to do a rigging check.  Since I’m a touch lazy this year, I’ve also asked them to repack all five of our winches (since it’s been two years).  I don’t expect anything negative from the rigging check, but I like having one done every two years.

Other things– I need to change the oil this week and I plan to upgrade the fuel filter from a CAV to a Racor spin-on.  In previous years, I always get a 50/50 chance that the dumb multiple seals on the three part CAV filter don’t perfectly align and leak, so I have to disassemble and redo a second time (and this is far back behind the engine in a painful to reach space).  I was inspired by Paul Heiney to do this upgrade, since he reminded me that  replacing clogged CAV filters at sea could be extremely difficult and nausea producing.  The spin-on Racors will still need to be bled, but at least they won’t require the three part glass and metal and rubber O ring dance.

If I have any funds left, I’d like some LED cabin lights for reading, but they can wait.  Also, in the future I’d like Lith-ion batteries, but not yet.  If I were sailing the Azores this year (and I wish I were), I might also consider installing a Walden boom-brake (which I also saw at the London Boat Show, or I could bring one back from the states), but I don’t think we need it for this season of sailing.  Maybe next year!