Saturday social

Saturday was one of my favourite ,Cruise' of the season.  It's not very far or indeed very taxing but it does tend to draw out a few people and is a nice and easy social get together.
The destination was Studland, just out of the harbour.  I got to the club at about 9 ready for a 10am departure. As I was loading the tender one of the other members came back down the pier, he'd been out in the bay already and said that the wind was strong and the moorings at Studland looked really bouncy.  We decided to have a look anyway and if it was too uncomfortable we'd just come back to the harbour and hide behind Brownsea island.
I'd been a bit tom over the previous few days and hadn't been eating so thought it wise to put in a couple of reefs considering the earlier wind warning.  Ciao Bella felt well balanced and the tiller was really light.  The new lower pintle hadn't just been fixed but positively improved.  Out in the Swash channel and the promised wind had legged it so I shook out the reefs and sailed in the company of John with his gorgeous Southerly

John took a series of photos of Ciao Bella as he sailed across, I may be a bit biased but I think they are superb so without apology I'm putting them all in her :)

There were very few boats in the bay when we got there, which was great as it meant we could all pick up Banks Arms mooring buoys.  Although the wind strength had abated, the direction was still making the bay bouncy and I wouldn't have wanted to rely on an anchor to hold while we were away from the boats.

Just having a chill before paddling ashore.

We made our way to the shore and took a walk up to the Banks Arms.  Five boats had come across and a few more members had driven round.  Julie and James also came round by car and wanted to go for a walk so we took a stroll around the headland. It was a beautiful day and I couldn't think of anywhere better to be. 

Back at the pub for more talk of daring do, whippings and splices it was soon time to head back to the boats.

Before coming back I rafted up with Lapwing for a cup of coffee and a chin wag.  Lapwing is a bilge keel Corribee and is one of the boats planning to cross the channel next month.

As we both left the bay at the same time it was inevitable that we'd drop into a competitive sail back.  The Corribees extra length and narrow beam make it just that bit faster, certainly on a beat. It also seems to point a bit better. All in all a fabulous day on the water (Pub garden and footpaths).

Splicing evening

This is a little out of sequence, I did have a cracking sail on Saturday but just haven't got around to writing it up. Tonight however, I went to a splicing evening which was organised by the sailing club.   Allan Barwell from Poole rigging services came along armed with plenty of bits of rope for us to practice with.    He started with some basic knots, we all said we could tie a bowline but when he showed us how quick he could tie one we were gobsmacked and all wanted to learn.  A couple more useful knots in the armoury and we moved on to splicing.  Confusion reigned but eventually we all got the basics sorted. I just hope I'll be able to remember next time I try it!. It's a great skill to learn and, apparently, they get neater with practice.  I feel that every line on Ciao Bella will have a loop in the end whether it needs it or not :)
He did bring some Dyneema but decided to leave that for another day as we were clearly not quite ready :0))

My first attempts at splicing.

Rudder Trouble #3

So then, the repairs to the rudder move on a bit.   A local fabricator has supplied me with some strips of 3mm x 22mm stainless steel, drilled to match the old thin ones. In the meantime I'd cut a chunk of Nylon to make the bearing.  As I can't weld stainless I asked Brian to help me out.   Brian just does things.. I don't know anyone else who has made their own weld set!

The strips were about 2" over size so the plan was to trim the excess off the strips and use one off cut to weld across the bottom to form a channel for the Nylon bearing to sit in

Brian did a fabulous job, the bearing fits nicely. It will be fixed in place by a bolt from one side to the other.  I  will drill the bearing after I have aligned it with the pintle.

I will run the boat up on the beach again ASAP in order to fit it, Hopefully back in business by the weekend :)

Trophy time.

This weekend, as a diversion from trying to re-attach the rudder on Ciao Bella, it was pleasant to be invited to take part in the Round the Island race. Liam Thom had entered his Hurley 20 bilge keeler 'Peggotty'.
As Ciao Bella was poorly I had to catch the ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Friday evening.  Yarmouth harbour wa full of old gaffers and there town had a carnival atmosphere, to be honest I was glad to see Liam waiting for me as there was far too much testosterone and alcohol being mixed... it was only going to end badly :)

John and Liam (Owner)

Up far too early on Saturday morning, we headed for the Folly, where Peggotty is moored.  Here I met John, the other crew member; probably first mate as at least he knew what he was doing.  Liam and John paddled over in the Kayak and returned a while later with Peggotty to pick me up from the pier.
We were in the ISCRS Division 8D and our start time was 0640BST. I can only assume that 8D signifies a laughing face at all skippers and crew in this division.

Racing towards Hurst Narrows

The race start time came upon us before we were properly in position and we had to head for the line further north than we had intended.  We were unable to lay a line to Fort Victoria and had to tack away from the shore.  The conditions were quite blustery, 16 knots gusting 22 knots and we picked up a fair bit of speed.  Out of the Solent and the wind held steady at 14-16Knots so we braved the Gennaker... Holy moly, we had 10.5 Knots on the GPS and blasted past another competitor.  However it didn't last, a 20 knot plus gust came at us and we broached. Back on full main and full genoa we rounded the needles and settled in for a long stint around the back of the island.  Every time we even thought about hoisting the Gennaker a big gust would persuade us not to.  Even though we were close to the back we still had plenty of company and the boat was travelling well. After St Catherines the wind Strengthened again and we had to first reef the Genoa and then the main.  We beat across Shanklin and Sandown, where we still had some company but weren't able to make our course, we had to put in a series of tacks to get around the Bembridge Ledge buoy and head back into the Solent.

Beating to Bembridge Ledge

 By now the wind had dropped enough to shake the reefs out but the writing was on the wall, It looked like we were going to have a long race. The next obstacle was Seaview Mermaids. The race instruction were to go round their moorings which is a fair detour.   By now the wind was down to 8 - 10 Knots, We had to beat towards Ryde but could quite make our course to avoid the pier so had to tack out wide again. Beating to windward in light winds is not what bilge keelers like to do.

Beating past Ryde sands

The last few miles seemed the longest but eventually we made through the finish gate.. no triumphant blast of a horn for us... just silence. We finished at 19:35.. nearly 13 hours after the start. 56NM so not bad  in my 'Cruiser' opinion but certainly not race pace :)
Anyway, you have to play to your strengths..  1459 boats competing for 12 Trophies.. The Tenacity cup was always going to be ours ;)