Club Cruise to Brightlingsea

 A very pleasant, albeit not enough wind, cruise to Brightlingsea. I sailed round to the Swale from the Medway for an overnight stay. Arrived nice and early so made some bread in my new Omnia oven. It was very nice, better than shop bought! On Saturday I sailed to Brightlingsea and despite the light winds didn't need the engine. Sunday was an ashore day with a curry in the evening. Thoroughly recommend the Raj Massala, Tower Street in Brightlingsea. The food was great and the staff are a bit Fawlty Towers! Monday sail / drift / engine back to the Medway. 

Late season hull scrub

I was hoping the hull would last until I lift her out for the winter but the hull is badly fouled and there is a possibility that I might join the club rally at the end of August. So it was onto the scrubbing dock where I removed a couple of wheel barrow loads of barnacles and weed. A thin coat of anti fouling and back on her moorings. I decided against a sail as the forecast this weekend is not great, Fastnet racers should have fun! 

There were a couple of adventures while I was down at the club. One of the club boats broke down so an intrepid crew set off in Heather to recover the engineless boat. One their way back the engine on Heather overheated so they drifted down on to a buoy to sort themselves out. As I was going their way I towed them into the club dock.

The next adventure occurred when a boat was coming into the club dock and missed the tide by a few minutes resulting in grounding in the mud just short of the scrubbing dock slab. I moved heather round to sit between her and the dock and then we moved pontoon blocks, lines and fenders around until she was stable. In the morning it all had to be undone.

Things playing on my mind

 As you will know if you have checked out this or my previous blogs, I love the Jester Challenge and all it offers someone like me. Singlehanded sailing, cheap boat, own endeavours, limited rules and going to a specific location pretty much sums up my approach to sailing. Having a year off has given me time to think and plan. While I would really like to go back to the Azores and quite like to go back to Baltimore for the craic I need to think about the implications for everyone involved. The JBC23 brought this into sharp relief. For my family, the worry factor ramped up considerably after last year's health scare. The tragic events of this year's Jester Challenge increased this worry yet further. What it must have been like for those that took part, and even worse those that heard the regular coastguard broadcasts, is difficult to imagine but they all entered the challenge with some concept of the risks. What is unimaginable is the distress felt by the family of the Challenger at the centre of the incident. There is no value in speculating about the cause or what anyone would do differently until the investigation is complete. Even then there may be very little that Jesters will do differently and if additional rules are brought in then it might not be the same.       

The following extract from the Jester Challenge website sums up the situation far better than I can.

Jester Baltimore Challenge 2023. SITREP 5 04/07/2023

 georgearnison  Uncategorized  4th Jul 2023 2 Minutes

The time has come to sum up this year’s Jester Challenge. This is not an easy task, as there is so much that is positive, counterbalanced by the devastating loss of one of our number.

This year a total of 43 skippers sailed in the event, the biggest number to participate in any of the 15 Jester Challenges sailed since its inauguration in 2006. Winds in the very early stages were extremely light, causing some retirements, but a large majority of yachts arrived at Baltimore in good order. This year also saw the initiation of our Sailing for Science project, in collaboration with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, with Jester skippers recording all cetacean sightings off the Irish coast.

However, the usual socialising at Baltimore was quickly tempered by concern for the whereabouts of Duncan Lougee and Minke, who failed to arrive as expected.

Most of you will by now have heard the sad news that after a protracted search in the Celtic Sea, Minke was finally located. Duncan was not aboard and the chances of finding him are slim.

It is as yet far too early to try to seek explanations as to what may have happened; and in any event any explanation is unlikely ever to be more than mere speculation. It would also be premature, while we are all still totally perplexed and numbed by this heartbreaking turn of events, to catalogue and celebrate Duncan’s huge contribution and influence as regards the development of the Jester Challenge, along with his many other fine qualities. That will come later, at an appropriate time and in an appropriate way.

This tragedy is a huge blow to all the members of Duncan’s family, and our thoughts are first and foremost with them. The tragedy also brings great sadness to the Jester family, which now numbers several hundred participating or aspiring skippers. Hopefully it will serve to make us stronger and more determined. Such is the Jester spirit.

For the moment, as we all come to terms with what has happened, in our own ways and in our own times, it seems that deep and quiet reflection may be in order. We all know in our hearts that over the thousands of ocean miles we have sailed, we have all been, at some point or another, within a hair’s breadth of calamity. The ocean is a dangerous place and the sea remorseless. We are the lucky ones. Let us reflect a little on those less fortunate.

Next year is an Azores year and while I would love to go back and visit my friends out there again and some other islands, I am only 50/50 about taking part. If I can get a year of good health and increasing stamina under my belt this will go a long way to giving me the confidence to have a go. Hopefully this won't be tempered by any changes in the challenge format. I consider the precautions I take for my safety to be adequate but I am always open to ideas. Regular reporting in would put me off, as would any form of pre event checks. My respect for the Jester Challenge organisers has always been high but during the last week they have managed the situation excellently, communicated where appropriate through the website and, most importantly, kept those ashore who were most affected in their thoughts and actions. This has reassured my family that if the worst were to happen then they would be considered.

2026 is scheduled to be the full challenge to Newport, RI. Whether or not I consider this in my plans will depended on factors that will transpire over the intervening period. If I had to decide today I won't be trying.   

First sail for a while

Last weekend I went out with two friends from the club. Despite having done almost no maintenance to Louisa over the winter she went well and everything worked perfectly. This was my first sail since returning from last year's Jester Challenge and being out with two competent people in benign conditions was ideal. The repaired boom held up but it was obvious that a thorough clean was required. We made it round the Montgomery wreck and had lunch underway.

Chantilly is for sale

On my way home from the Azores in Louisa I decided to part with Chantilly, my MacWester Rowan 22'. Chantilly had taken me to Holland, Belgium, Ireland as well as many trips around the UK East and South coasts. She was my first yacht and, up until this passage, where my heart was. A friend at the boat club is helping me sell Chantilly https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1223708715016031/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Ace08f9d5-f7da-4937-9440-15dd66eed453 

2022 Review

 A game of two halves.

First half was all about preparation and execution of my attempt to sail to Newport, RI in the Jester Challenge. As it turned out the weather and a rigging problem meant that I only made it to the Azores.

The second half began with a heart attack a couple of weeks after returning home. The rest of the year has been about recovery and all plans for the future are up in the air. 

Praia da Vitoria and return passage

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going to Praia do Vitoria for a couple of reasons: I had hoped that my visit would be part of the Jester Azores Challenge and I had had such a great visit to both Velas and Angra that I didn’t want to leave the Azores with anything but positive memories. Praia looked like a tourist destination with little of the history of Angra or rural beauty of Velas. This was unfair and when I sailed round from Velas on Sao Jorge I arrived at day break to find a great harbour, sheltered from most directions and with only a couple of anchored yachts. I motored into the marina and despite a bit of confusion with a speeding motor boat I settled into a secure berth. One of the long term berth holders came over to say hi, we had a mutual friend from a previous jester challenge, and he invited me over to the local bar for a drink. While the town was OK, it wasn’t much more than a tourist destination, the people were great. They were friendly, helpful, fun and accommodating. I met up with several other longer term berth holders including an Aussie who was getting his catamaran ready for a passage to Portugal and then the USA. He was trying to beat the deadline for all boats to be off the hard standing area so I gave him a hand with setting his boat up. 

After a couple of days the couple I had met in Sao Jorge arrived after a few days in Angra and like me, they were waiting for a weather window to return to the UK. It was great to meet them again and we had a couple of meals together and continued earlier conversations. Praia is a key destination for trans-Atlantic yachties and some were staying there long term including a few who had moved there and still had their boats in the marina. It was easy to see how this could suit me but I wanted to get home. I had a look round the town and the main church was very beautiful.

 

A weather window was opening after a week at Praia and so I provisioned the boat with some perishable items: fruit and bread. The marina started to thin out and around 15 boats left for North Europe. A very wise sailor who had been a commercial skipper summed up my feelings very well ‘when boredom outweighs fear, you’ll be off’. He was the owner of a beautifully set up Rustler and was in the process of gaining residency status. After some minor border exit confusion I got my passport stamped and determined to set off that evening. Over a week in the marina and the bill was just over £50.

The passage home could not have been more straight forward or different to the passage to reach the Azores. 13 days of which 9 were a beam reach on port tack which is the most comfortable for sleeping and cooking. The course was an almost perfect great circle towards Ireland and then turn into the Western Approaches where the continental shelf gradient is at its least steep. This is where any sea state should be least affected by the depth changes from 4000m depth to 200m. I had to rig the spare main sail as it has a slot in it where the kicker can be rigged. The boom attachment broke again and will need a proper repair or even boom replacement when I get home.

Maximum wind speed on the way home was force 7 and it would have been nice to have had use of my newer main sail as it has a deeper third reef. At no point did the sea state become an issue and the rigging repairs held up very well and my confidence grew. By the end of the trip I was sailing under full canvas during the day and only reefed at night to avoid having to go forward in the dark. With the wind on the beam or abaft I rigged a preventer on the boom and this worked well even though I didn’t have any uncontrolled gybes. I did have to gybe when the wind moved round to the south for a couple of days but I had spotted that this was going to be necessary on the weatherfax charts.

 

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Celestial navigation worked well and dead reckoning was much improved as the course and speed was a lot more predictable on this passage. To overcome the negative effect on morale of not closing in on a distant waypoint I set intermediate waypoints for approximately 200nm intervals. These made course setting and progress monitoring much simpler. This combined with the astonishing reliability of my Sea Feather self-steering was a delight. I set the sails for the course I wanted, with no steering compass this relied on my hand bearing compass. Then trimmed the self-steering and engaged the chain on the tiller. After this I monitored progress on the chart plotter for 10 minutes. My chart plotter is only Navionics on my iPhone but this worked really well. 9 times out of 10 I was within a few degrees of my desired course and things stayed like that for up to 48 hours. I christened my self-steering Ron, as in Ronseal, does what is says on the tin. Apart from a couple of drops of oil and brushing the salt off, it worked brilliantly on both the passage out to the Azores and on the way home. 

I still had supplies for 40 days and did my best to consume them on the way home, I put back on the weight I had lost on the way out and still had around 20 days supplies when I got back. At about 200nm out I tried tuning in to Radio 4 LW and the first broadcast I heard was Jonny Bairstow scoring his second century and England winning their test match. If I had waited a day I would have heard the nonsense of the UK government imploding. At this point I was equidistant between Ireland and UK port of entry. I would have been tempted to head for Ireland!

Day run distances were 90nm on average and on one day I managed 105nm, the only time I had exceeded 100nm in a midday to midday run. The final day would have been longer but I arrived at Plymouth at 7AM with 90nm clocked. I hung around in Cawsand bay and then went straight into Mayflower Marina without anchoring. I completed port of entry process relatively efficiently and had a rest. A lovely chap on a Wing 25 popped over to say hi and ask about boat handling. I met a couple of youtubers and had a great evening meal and catch up with George from the Jester Helm. After filling up with diesel I left on the midday tide and motored in windless conditions to the Solent.

I anchored off Hurst Point and had a good rest before leaving to catch the end of the tide back to the needles and the fair tide heading East. Again it was windless and so with the engine on at 1400 rpm I was making 3.5 knots through the water and up to 7 knots over the ground. I held the tide until after Dungeness. It was swelteringly hot and so I gave the engine and myself a rest for a couple of hours to ensure I had the tide with me to pass Dover. After 46 hours I was back on my mooring at HNYC. A couple of boats came out to say hi. It was great to see Triassic and be given an enthusiastic welcome. After a meet up with the captain and crew on Bonny and a night’s sleep I left Louisa for the first time in 78 days. A quick a shower and lift to the station and I was on my way home to see our newest family member.