Trains and boats and ... vans!

I know, I know, it doesn't scan as well as the original lyric but hey ho

So off I went at 5 this morning to drive the van back to Fambridge. The journey went exceptionally well and, after stopping off at South Woodham Ferrets to buy a train ticket (there's no machine or ticket office at Fambridge and the on-line ticket sites wouldn't let me travel during the off-peak period today!) I arrived in good time to have a quick shower, park up the van and walk up to the station

The rail journey also went very well with only brief waits for connections and even the final 30 minute walk from the station, well outside Hamble, to the marina was not unpleasant

Once I'd revived myself with a coffee, I set about striking the cockpit tent and pondering on how the hell I was going to bend on the mainsail with a stiff breeze from astern. Normally, I'd just turn the boat around but we're jammed in between a load of expensive looking racing machines and I really need help to get out of here!

No sooner had I removed the cockpit tent, the heavens opened up! On the bright (philosophically speaking) side, the rain killed the wind and when the heavy shower had passed I was able to bend on the main without much difficulty. It's not the prettiest of harbour stows I have to confess but it's on and ready.

I then toddled up to the chandlery to pick up the hatch cover they promised to get for me yesterday. The nice fairly new looking perspex hatch over the v-berth is all very well but it's going to annoy the hell out of anyone sleeping in there when the sun comes up at an early hour! So it's getting a cover over it.

Whilst there, I bit the bullet and bought a decent Standard Horizon HX870 DSC hand held VHF. I've been hankering after one ever since they came out and the dirt cheap Cobra I've got is pretty rubbish. My justification is that whilst the fixed VHF appears to be transmitting and receiving (tested from feet away with the Cobra) I'm hearing diddly squat on 16 or the local VTS channels and an attempt at a radio check with Solent Coastguard on their working channel elicited no responce.

I suspect either a faulty cable or masthead antenna and there's no time to address that right now so the decent hand held goes under the heading of "essential safety item" and therefore I've allowed myself to buy it.

With that on charge, I fired up the laptop and connected it to the work mobile (better signal) to get a data connection and set about some admin in the form of a Ship's Radio Licence, a Portable Radio Licence and the Small Ships Registration.

Then it was on to sorting out transferring the pre-planned routes from the PC to the chart plotter. That's an ongoing job because I'm having to reformat the CF card as the plotter wouldn't read it.

Rik's train arrives about 8, if he can get here by not much after 8:30 the pub five minutes away does food until 9 (I rang and checked!). Otherwise dinner will be out of a tin

The forecast for tomorrow is pants. Gale warning in this sea area which, if it's still extant in the morning, almost certainly means a no-go. If it drops to a Strong Breeze warning I'll consider going depending on what the weather actuals from the likes of Bramble and Chimet look like.

Early post today as hopefully we'll be up the pub in an hour and a bit

All aboard ...

Well, the skipper is aboard anyway!

Horrible four hour drive down this morning which scuppered my intention of stopping for breakfast and a snooze once I was South of the river. Never mind. I arrived at the brokers office and picked up the paperwork so Pagan, ex-Sandpiper, is now officially ours

Then it was a short hop, via Tesco for some bits and bobs I'd forgotten, to Port Hamble

24 hours parking set me back £10 but needs must.

First order of business was my first mug of much needed coffee aboard and then it was four big trolley loads of gear from the van, a good hundred yards away, to the pontoon. Then it all had to be heaved across the decks of an Elan racing yacht. That was no picnic as the decks are all at horrible angles to walk on (no doubt that works when the thing is flying along under sail but at the dock it is a serious pain in the bottom)

Half way through I broke off to set the water tank filling from the hose.

Eventually, everything was aboard and the water was full!

Another coffee break was followed by setting about finding places to put everything away. I haven't gone to town on the stowage, it's all just "away", because doubtless we'll be changing our minds when we settle down to sort her out properly.

I can already see a number of additional items on my "to do" list improving the stowage with extra shelves and things.

Having largely sorted all that out, other than my clothes and fouly bags which are just chucked up in the v-berth for now, I wandered up to Force 4 chandlery and parted with yet more "cash" for a full gas bottle (one empty and one that feels nearly empty was not good!), swapped a four year out of date coastal flare pack for a shiny new in date pack and ordered up a hatch cover for the big perspex hatch over the v-berth

The cover will keep the perspex from suffering UV damage but more importantly it will keep the daylight from disturbing us when we're asleep in there.

I was about to put the kettle on again when Nicki, the previous owner, arrived to show me anything I hadn't found already. As it happens, I'd pretty well figured everything out but she did pass on several useful bits of info over coffee.

Then I had a fiddle to work out why the AIS transponder appeared to be refusing to transmit a position. Once I'd fired up the configuration software it was obvious. It was, for some reason, set to Silent Mode in the software. I changed that and changed the name in the AIS config for good measure.

I shall have to fit a hardware silent switch at some point

The one remaining job left to do is to bend on the mainsail which has been away at the menders having some stitching re-done. I'm too tired, it's blowing a bit too much from just the wrong direction and it's getting a bit chilly so that will have to wait until I get back here tomorrow afternoon.

I may be glad of the emergency heating (a 1kw gas cartridge camping heater) tonight as I cannot get shore power where I am. It's only half past six and, despite it having been a pleasantly warm day, I can feel the temperature dropping noticeably as the sun heads towards the horizon.

Something for dinner will be on the cards very soon and then I'll chill (literally!) until I'm ready to sleep

With no shore power and only a weak mobile data signal my tech time is strictly limited and posting pictures isn't going to happen. That's quite handy as I haven't taken any all day!

Tomorrow must be another early start to drive back to Fambridge and then hop on the train straight back here again. But more of that another day. Tomorrow, in fact!

The deal is done!

We had the survey on "Sandpiper of Beaulieu" today, carried out by that very nice chap Toby Lester and there were no nasty surprises. A not inconsiderable number of items were, inevitably, added to the "to do" list, some more urgent than others, but nothing that stands in the way of the delivery trip and nothing that's going to cost silly money to sort out

I then had a brief "sea" trial under motor (all I wanted or needed, a sail was not necessary) to test the engine and as far as I can tell it is entirely without vice. In fact, for a 38 year old engine it sounds remarkably healthy.

So the balance of the monies has been paid, the broker is sorting out the bill of sale with the owner and I need to sort out the insurance PDQ because we take ownership of her on Monday!

Monday and Tuesday will be load up, tank up, sort out and van shuffling with our departure planned for first thing Wednesday morning. Weather permitting and barring disasters we'll be heading for Fox's at Ipswich where we have a "do" on Saturday evening.

I'm delighted to have the services of my old Mate Rik for the delivery trip, sadly Tony can't make it 'cos he's had to get a proper job! But if the weather is OK on Sunday he might get some sailing in yet back to Fambridge

The Odyssey Act 3 begins ....

Whether the weather ...

Although we're not counting our chickens, we obviously need to be thinking about plans if all goes well with the survey on the Westerly 33 on Wednesday

April is a month full of time constraints which makes things tricky. I have to be in Northants on Saturday the 16th for my fathers' 80th birthday dinner (the evening of boozing on his actual birthday the previous Wednesday I'll probably have to skip). Then I have to be up Grantham way on Saturday the 30th as we're going to see Bellowhead with Tony and Shelagh (SV Pleinair) and the tickets are bought and paid for!

We have a choice of fitting out suppers on Saturday the 9th - we'd planned to go to the East Coast Forum supper at Fox's Yacht Club in Ipswich but it's also the North Fambridge Yacht Club supper on the same night

Plus I have a week, or most of it, of work planned and booked on a boat at Brightlingsea commencing the 18th and a growing list of other jobs that need to be scheduled asap.

To further complicate matters, advice from the broker who looked over Erbas the other day for us is that we need to get her on the market as soon as possible to take advantage of the Spring rush. Another month and we'll miss out on the best opportunity to sell her quickly at the best price. (We can't sell Erbas until we have Pagan at Fambridge because I need somewhere to live whilst working! She could go on the market though but further advice, which I'm happy to accept, is that she'll sell better out of Clarke and Carter's sales area at Burnham so the sooner we can get her down there, the better)

All of the above is why my plans had been to get everything sorted by the end of March, if not sooner. Ho hum, best laid plans and all that.

A further consideration is the cost of short term moorings if we have a significant delay between taking over the boat and bringing her back. It could add up to a substantial sum of money horribly quickly.

If we push the paperwork through quickly, we could potentially be in a position to fetch 'Pagan' as will be back from the Hamble the week commencing the 4th. More likely it will be the week commencing the 11th.

And that's where the weather comes in ...

For several days now, the long range GFS forecast has been predicting rather too much wind during that first week and mostly from precisely the wrong direction to add insult to injury. The situation then gets worse towards the end of the weekend with every indication that the conditions will be much the same well into the following week.

Of course, the accuracy of forecasts that far ahead is always dubious but the other models all show much the same trend.

There is, in the latest model runs, a ray of hope. There appears to be a weather window opening up for about 48 hours around Friday the 8th into Saturday the 9th. (It then goes moderately pants on Sunday (F5 gusting 6 or 7) which may affect plans to sail one of the fleet to Ipswich and back that weekend)

That may mean missing out on the suppers and collaring whoever I can wangle into crewing a non-stop blast back which will take around 36 hours. I'd rather take 3, 4 or even 5 days over the trip and make it a pleasure cruise but it may be a case of needs must.

There is another possible 48 hour window from early on Monday the 4th into Tuesday but that may be too soon to get the paperwork sorted.

What would be nice would be for those two weather windows to join up!

If we end up needing to leave the boat in the Solent area for a couple of weeks, it would be financially advantageous to move her the 14 miles in the wrong direction from Port Hamble to Lymington Yacht Haven where, as Yacht Havens berth holders, we can get up to 14 days free mooring. I'm keeping that option in my back pocket just in case!

There will doubtless be more waffle to come and of course this is all dependent on the outcome of the survey and sea trial!

Not counting our chickens yet but ...

(an apology, this blog post will doubtless repeat much of what I posted in the wee small hours but expanded and with piccies!)

... we have made and had accepted an offer on a fin keel Westerly 33 ketch.

Meet the probable new boat ...

Currently called "Sandpiper of Beaulieu", she's in Port Hamble Marina

She is in ready to sail away condition with decent sails (although the UV strip on the genoa urgently needs replacement) and a decent array of reasonably modern navigation equipment

As can be seen from the photo, she has a full cockpit tent which is in good, in fact as new, condition except, unfortunately, for the clear PVC windows on the sprayhood. One window has a split in it and all three are suffering from UV degradation. They'll have to be replaced asap, a fact which has been reflected in the price we've offered.

She's very tidy on deck with no obvious problems I can see. She has a telescopic whisker pole, a cruising chute with snuffer and wind vane self steering (as well as a prehistoric analogue autopilot!). I'm in two minds about the wind vane steering. I am not a big fan of carting a big lump of machinery around on the transom unless it's of real benefit and given that we don't make passages as such all that often, if at all, I'm dubious about it's usefulness. And it will doubtless get in the way of the planned hard dinghy with sailing rig on davits.

I'm given to understand that it's worth a bob or two though so if we decide we don't want it we'll sell it on and use the money for something of more use to us such as a modern autopilot integrated with the chart plotter or replacing the manual anchor windlass with a powered one.

The standing and running rigging is all relatively recent (less than 10 years old) and looks to be serviceable. The right things seem to be in the right places too which helps greatly.

There's not much else to say on deck. She's tidy, needing no more than routine annual maintenance type touching up and what have you to the woodwork etc.

Moving below decks, having rejected the aft cabin and walk through on the later Westerly Discus, we were pleased to find that as expected the aft cabin on the W33 does exactly what we need the space to do. It will sleep two guests in comfort and it's large enough and comfy enough for me to sit in that cabin to play my guitar etc. An added bonus is that infill boards and cushions have been made up to turn the entire aft cabin into a big double berth.

However, whilst the cushions themselves are in good condition, the cushion covers are not so great. That story is repeated in the saloon where the cushion covers are nearing the end of their useful life. Again, the cost of recovering the cushions has been taken into account in the offer price.

The main cabin is everything we wanted. We were concerned as to whether the smaller 'L' shaped galley would be big enough (the Discus we looked at had the optional larger 'U' galley with a smaller starboard settee) but in the flesh, as it were, we decided it's absolutely fine.

I like the chart table which is properly usable and quite comfortable to sit at.

The cooker is an older model but clean and it has flame failure devices. We are assured the fridge works but it will be tested before we finalise the deal

The saloon is spacious and comfortable with loads of storage and stowage. The port settee front pulls out and the settee back drops in to make up another double berth. Handy both for extra guests and also as a comfy lounging around watching telly bed

The woodwork is all OK as are the headlinings - the deckhead linings have been replaced with lined panels and the cabin side linings, whilst not perfect, are not too bad.

Jane and I were both comfortable with the space

 The heads is very usable however the boat currently lacks for hot water and therefore has no shower. The hot water situation is on the potential "to do" list, a debate is taking place over whether to fit a shower head or not. I think so, Jane thinks not. It will be done!

The headlining in the heads compartment will need attention though. However it's a small area and no great problem

The v-berth is big enough for us to be happy with it as our "master" cabin. Here too the headlining and also the upper side linings are in need of attention. We have ideas about how to judiciously partally refit this cabin based on the fit out on the other W33 we viewed yesterday morning. It involves partially replacing the shelves with cupboards and hiding away much of the tatty bit!

The stripy cushion covers aren't really us either but they'll be hidden by a fitted sheet most of the time so who cares? :)

As well as a lack of hot water, there is no heating. I'm actually happy about that because it means I can install a brand new Webasto from scratch with the ducting and vents where I want them rather than having to work around an existing installation

The engine is the original 42hp Mercedes OM646. It looks like what it is, a nearly 40 year old engine. However, there are no visible signs of any oil leaks or fuel leaks, the belts all look pretty new (indicating regular servicing) and we're assured it's a "good 'un". The proof will be in the sea trial in due course.

I'm not unhappy with the Merc engine, provided it appears to be a good runner, as they are highly regarded and all the parts are readily available at relatively reasonable prices. However, we will have in our back pocket the funds to re-engine at a later date if necessary.

And then there's the underwater bit ...

Yes, that's right. There's only one keel!

After a great deal of thought, we've decided that the (not inconsiderable) inconvenience of getting on and off our mud berth with a 5'5" draft and the need to be a little less cavalier with regard to flirting with the shallows is outweighed by the considerably better performance the fin keel will offer

Our plans over the next few years involve spending significant periods of each summer away from our home waters and a boat that will sail faster, go to windward better and make more progress in light winds has much to commend it

Added to which, it halves the number of potential keel problems by, well, half!

So to sum up, she's a pretty decent example of the class without too many of the usual faults. The things that need doing are all within my range of incompetence and within our overall budget too which helps. There are some quirks to the design which might not suit everyone, and indeed one or two minor niggles that aren't ideal from our point of view (although I have some ideas to resolve those) but overall she is ideal for our future plans

Of course, I must reiterate that this is all subject to the survey and sea trial which should be happening a week on Wednesday. If any significant problems come to light we'll be renegotiating or even pulling out.

Bigger Boat!

Subject, of course, to survey and sea trial

Yesterday, Jane and I drove down to the South Coast to look at two possible boats. Both were Westerly 33 ketches.

The first boat at Eastbourne was a little too tired. We might still have put in an offer on her but we had a second example to look at on the Hamble

This one was much better albeit still on need of some cosmetic work and improvements. The asking price was rather high given what we'd want and need to spend on her but the broker was encouraging about the possibility of the owner being amenable to an offer

So an offer was duly made and accepted!
And here she is..



She's currently called "Sandpiper of Beaulieu" but not for much longer! She will be renamed "Pagan"

I'm on the mobile to post this so detail pics will have to wait (she's on the Internet, Google the boat name)

She is in need of new cushion covers in the saloon and aft cabin (the v-berth covers are fine though) and a bit of routine woodwork maintenance as you'd expect.

The headlining in the saloon and aft cabin is good, less so in the heads and forward cabin but it can be lived with for now and sorted out at leisure

She has a perfectly serviceable set of instruments, chart plotter, radar etc  although the ancient autohelm might be a bit suspect

The sails look pretty good although the genoa desperately needs a new UV strip. The sprayhood and full cockpit tent look very recent which makes it a shame that the sprayhood windows need replacing. It looks like the clear plastic has UV degraded rather more quickly than it should.

She has the original Mercedes 42hp engine which is reckoned to be in good working order. That will be confirmed on the sea trial. I'm happy with the Merc provided it's a good'un, had it been an older Volvo it would have been a different matter.

She lacks two major requirements - heating and hot water. In many ways though I'm quite happy to install new systems now which will be to our spec and should be reliable

If it sounds like she needs quite a lot doing, well yes, she does. None of it is particularly major and of course the price is right!

The next challenge is to sort out a date for the survey and sea trial. The broker (who has impressed so far) will organise the lift and hold for the survey, which won't be cheap at South Coast prices, but as it's a busy time of year for the yards out could be fun getting all the ducks lined up in a row!

Assuming the survey and sea trial are satisfactory, we'll need to fetch her back to Fambridge pdq. I don't want to be paying South Coast short term mooring prices for long!

More to follow later!

Tally Ho - the hunt is on!

We completed on the house at last on Friday morning and by mid-afternoon the first big financial outlay was in the bag. Not the new boat (yet) but trading in the car, which is now six years old, on a pre-registered van.

The van will be far more useful for the business and perfectly usable for our domestic transport needs

With that commitment signed, sealed and soon to be delivered and knowing exactly where we stand, we've been able to fix the budget for Bigger Boat at £30,000 which must include any required short term spending.

That's, as expected, £10k less than we originally hoped and it pretty much rules out the slightly bigger boats we had half an eye on such as a Westerly Solway and an Oyster Mariner.

So a lot of searching of the various brokerage and boat sales websites has generated a short list of four boats. They are all Westerly 33 ketches!

A W33 ketch - not one of the four currently for sale!

We liked the main cabin and forward of that layout of the Westerly Discus, which has the same hull and deck moulding, but we decided the aft cabin on the Discus was simply too cramped to be of much use. The earlier 33, with the access to the aft cabin from the cockpit rather than via a very cramped walk-through, looks more functionally usable

The only minor niggle is that the W33 generally only comes with the smaller 'L' shaped galley. The Discus had the optional 'U' shaped galley with a shorter starboard settee. We need to get on board one and decide whether that's going to be a problem or not. We think it will be OK. Indeed, it might be a case of it will have to be OK!

The best of the four is unfortunately in Swansea which is a bit of a pain. Not only is it a fair old drag to go and look at it, it will take at least a week of hard sailing to fetch her back to Fambridge from South Wales. However, we're hoping to arrange for our good friend Roger, who's in the vicinity this morning, to give her a quick once over today

The next best, and in some respects in fact better, has just been listed on Apolloduck and is in Ipswich which is very convenient. However, despite only having appeared on Apolloduck on Thursday, on the brokers own website it's showing as "Sale Pending" so I need to give them a ring this morning and find out whether it is available or not

Failing those two, there are two examples on the South Coast either of which we'd be happy with. Both would need new saloon upholstery though for aesthetic reasons - colourful stripy cushions ugh!

The favourite two boats are both fin keel which I've decided I'm happy to go with. Somewhat more restricted for getting in and out of our mud berth (although there may be developments on that front this year but more of that anon) and of course you can't casually dry out a fin keeler but on the other hand they suffer from far fewer keel bolt problems and sail better

So now the time is nigh to get on the phone and start calling the brokers ...