August Cruise - Ashlett Regatta and Drascamp

Three weeks of sailing...including Drascamp...it's here. Starting with the Ashlett regatta I have three glorious weeks stretching ahead of me....

We started with Ashlett regatta, launching on the Thursday (5th)  in preparation for the regatta on the Saturday A great Drascombe turnout, canoe races, dinghy races, umbrella races (3rd this year - pipped at the post by Messrs Niner and Peter who snuck in to second ahead of Pauline and me), a pursuit race (thanks Wayne for letting me play - great fun) and BBQ and music - all on a lovely hot sunny day - couldn't have been better.

Regatta flags

and more...

Chillin... Tony, Bill, Wayne and Stewart

Tony, Pauline and Annie relaxing in the sun

Sunday was a blustery day and there was a lot of debate about departing. in the event the bigger boat, Tony, Peter, Marcus and I set off for Cowes, ignoring warnings about the regatta week and crowds. A lively crossing but no dramas and yes, Cowes was certainly bustling but once we got up to the Folly reach it was eerily quiet - no rafting,,,empty pontoons so we tied up and had a very plea sent evening.

Monday

We sailed across to Portsmouth and all the way up to Fareham, lunching on the Fareham Yacht club pontoon, before making our way back down to the Portchester Sailing club pontoon where we spent the night, meeting Doug Latta, who helped arrange our visit, and sharing a beer with him. 

Portchester pontoon

Portchester Castle

Tuesday

We sailed to the entrance to Bembridge for lunch and then onto Ryde where we succumbed to fish & chips after a hard day in the sun. Coming out of Portsmouth, after a discussion the night before, I sailed right beside the buoy marking the location of the wreck of the Marie Rose..quite eerie.

There was a great number of new marks and buoys being put into place both within Portsmouth harbour and on the approaches...the new aircraft carriers must be huge.

Wednesday

The next day we made our way down to Yarmouth for the night, where we left Marcus to pop home for a day or so and Peter T who made his way over the Keyhaven to r/v with another part of the fleet who were going to follow us to Poole over the weekend. Meanwhile Tony and I set out for the west. Initially the plan had been to visit Swanage but the swell in the bay off the beach set us round the headland into Studland Bay.

Video - leaving via the Needles Channel

Pellew under sail

Studland was lovely and we decided to linger the following day, especially as Tony wasn't feeling great. I left him tinkering with his boat and rowed ashore for a walk along the cliff at Old Harry. Fantastic views in the hot sun as I walked along almost to Swanage before heading back to the beach.

Old Harry

Studland Bay

Drama at dawn

We spent the afternoon wading round the boat cleaning the waterlines and generally chilling before retiring for a snooze - hard life. Mind you it all changed in the early hours when Tony woke me as he was feeling very poorly. A phone call to the Coastguard and a consultation with a doctor at Poole Hospital resulted in the inshore lifeboat coming out to take him into hospital - the second trip for him this year !!!! It was funny, looking back, discussing with the coastguard the possibility of a helicopter pick up..I was very keen as it would have given Tony the full set...but he was less so ..and with the shallow water and number of masts around the inshore boat was the best option.

All of which left me anchored in Studland, with two boats.......

Saturday

A call to Brad solved the problem and I set of for the beach at Sandbanks where I collected him and returned to Pellew where he upped anchor and we set off for the Poole Quay marina.

Video of Pellew's temporary skipper

The rest of the fleet gathered at the marina and on the Monday set off for Drascamp on the southern side of the harbour at Cleavel Point,

Solar Panel- update

Time seems to have flown and it has been some time since I updated the blog .. such alot happened over the summer ..... but I will start with the solar panel update. Back in August...yes August I jury rigged a solar panel to help with power requirements generally, but particularly in view of an extended three week cruise that I was about to depart on.

At the London Boat Show I bought a Photonic Universe solar panel the dimesions can be seen in the panel below. There was a boat show discount so it was approx £120 at the time.

Details on reverse of panel for those that it means something to.....

For the cruise I left it jury rigged to see where and how the best fit would be. The kit comes with the panel, a charge control unit and about 4 m each of cable to connect panel to the unit and the unit to the battery. The panel has some water proof connectors fitted that allow a cable run to a point and then easy removal of the panel as required.  I left all the wire untouched, thinking I would trim it to the length required once I had established a final fix.

Points to note - the battery cables are thick -- to thick to fit into the screw fittings on the controller and require quite a bit of strand removal to get a good fit.

It is easy to wire the panel the wrong way - in which case you get a battery indicator light and that re assures you it is working...but closer inspection of the manual reveals you should also get a green condition light - either charging or maintaining the battery.

The panel worked very well, with the battery kept in tip top condition so thoughts started to turn to a more permanent fitting.

The starboard berth on my Shrimper is used for food and utensil storage in clear plastic boxes - so remains largely undisturbed  so I decided to fit the unit on that side away for day to day foot traffic as it were.

Fitted between edge slats and storage unit on starboard bulk head -
wires can just be seen disappearing behind the slats

The position allowed me to chase the wires into the recess behind the slats and from there down into the well area under the bunk support. From the well it is a short run to the battery but I was able to leave the wires uncut. The wires to the panel are also coiled here, with the connectors left visible so that I can pull out as much length of cable or push it back as required.

So far I seem to have settled for a short run of cable with the panel sitting just outside the spray hood butted up against the rear of the mast. However the flexibility with the cable has allowed me to trail it through the cabin and out through the fore hatch with the panel sat in the anchor well.

I have resisted the urge to fit the panel as I don't plan to take it with me on most trips, using it instead for maintenance whilst the boat is left for any periods. It can live in the car whilst I am sailing, although I have rigged some clips and elastic in the roof headlining area over the starboard bunk so I could  hold it securely against the inside of the cabin roof, out of harms way, if I did want to take it with me for any reason.

So far so good - my only regret - I have two batteries and didn't think or research to possibility of unseeing the panel to maintain both. It seems that they do controllers with a double battery in-put so It may just be a case of upgrading controller? we'll see...

New Project - Solar panel installation

Prior to the Ashlett regatta and the Drascamp event I have jury rigged the installation of a Photonic Universe solar panel and its controller.
It should provide intelligent charging and allow me to run the cool box/ fridge for extended periods.

Drascamp will provide the test, although, having left the jury rig running for the past week, I will check the batteries on Thursday. I have been waiting for some specialist connectors that will allow me to remove the panel, leaving the wiring in place, but ensuring the shortest run of loose cable .

They have now arrived so if, as I hope, the batteries are showing full charge, I will route the cables and mount the Controller as a permanent fixture.

I will add some pictures and some more details about how well it works after a period of testing.

Your thoughts and comments please.......

I usually receive the occasional question or comment but on this occasion I am actively seeking your views.


The dark blue hull of a Shrimper takes some bashing, mooring up, coming alongside, rafting up, sun/UV damage and in spite of polishing it soon looks tatty and forlorn.

You may have read of my experiment with helicopter tape which was successful in protecting the gel coat but in itself became marked and scarred and was quite hard to remove.

Having looked at Drascombes and their lower rubbing stake, they don't seem to suffer in the same way. The strake and the upper rubbing strake support any fenders that are used and also provide a good point of contact other than the gel coat itself.

The question is...

Is it a modification that will add or detract to the look of the boat?

And is it preventative maintenance that is worth doing to prevent damage and wear ?

Below are 2  "before" and 2 Photo Shopped "after" images that show what it could look like. I have reduced the width of the lower strake to just under half that of the top strake to prevent the boat looking boxy.

The hull is single skinned and access within is pretty easy so fixing is not the issue.

Before - Bow

Before - stern section

After - Bow

After -Stern section

Please leave any comments or observations you may have.

June Cruise 26th - 29th

Sunday 26th

The fleet was already assembled up at Newport IOW when I launched at Ashlett and had been out for several days.

I launched with assistance from Sharon, but not without incident...managing to tear off one of the trailer handles on the hitch post as the boat went off the trailer and into the water...lesson learnt - don't belay rope to what you think might be a strong point. In fairness I never imagined the boat would slip off so easily...must be getting more use than before.

A nice sail across to the island where I meet up with Andy Peter in Blue Peter who had sailed into the Medina ahead of me, having come from Keyhaven.
The wind was on the nose so I motored up the river to find Bard - Siobhan, Marcus - Sundance, Peter - Siesta and of course Tony - Pellew already ensconced on the pontoon.

Drinks and nibbles were held on Peters boat, after which Brad and I ventured into the town to eat.


Monday 27th

The weather forecast was full of doom and gloom  but Marcus had to be home as did Andy and Peter needed to make sure he could get to Chichester so after a breakfast in Weatherpersons and a wait of the water to rise they departed. Meanwhile Brad, Tony and I investigated the pub next to the Premier Inn on the quayside and saw them disappear down river. We had settled on Plan 1 with and alternative of Plan 2...always good to have another option...so inevitably settled for Plan 3 ..which was to do nothing...so we opened another pack of beer and settled into the sunshine afternoon, with a barbecue on the cards later.
Which was when I made a slight error of judgement...on the way back from the pub to the boats we had come across an old chap on the quay, with a metal cage and container that seemed to coronation all his worldly goods. It turned out that he had been living on the large barge that has been moored at the northern end of the Newport pontoon area for as long as I can remember, slowly looking more decrepit  until it had finally sunk a few days earlier.
Well, sat on the boat in the sun I saw an old chap sculling past so, thinking it was the same guy who had been full of local interest, invited him on board for a beer....the look of disgust on Tony and Brad's face was a picture as this old, smelly and possibly worse character sat down to sup beer. I was up wind so didn't really notice...but it was a totally different man. Thankfully after a beer he had things to do and departed,, much to the assemble groups relief.
The BBQ was soon on the go and afterwards we paid yet another visit to town.


Tuesday 28th

Set off early to catch the tide and had breakfast anchored down stream near the marina at the top of the Folly reach...handy as far enough away fro both harbour authorities to go unnoticed.
We the set out - our destination Eling at the top of Southampton Water.

Encountered on the way  - 2nd place Round the Island finisher

On the way over, with a good wind and some sun we encountered this trimaran which would go on to finish second in the Round the Island race on the 2nd July.

We needed some tide to get us up to Eling so ducked into Owers lake, tucked in behind Calshot, directly in front of the Power station.

Approach to the deep water off the lock - Owers lake

The leading marks , to the left of the Power station, are accurate and certainly for small boats access in variable at most states of the tide - handing for waiting out the tide approaching or leaving Ashlett.

Once the tide turned we set of again passing close to the tanker jetty with all its pipes and cranes

Part of the Tanker Jetty - Fawley

Siobhan meets the hovercraft

Eling Mill is right at the top of the stretch of water and in true fashion as soon as it was in sight it started to rain ...hard...."tying up rain" as Tony called it.

Tied up at Eling SC

Brad departed by train to get his car and trailer and Tony and I adjourned to the pub for a meal - a theme developing here I think. Brad returned having dropped the trailer at Ashlett and we all moved on to Eling Yacht Club...made very welcome and received some good advice about the Isle of Wight festival - an event for next year I think.

There is a toll bridge at Eling and the man diligently collects the tolls between 9 - 5

Looking into the harbour it is tight with boats - many around the edges secured between piles, but a large number in the centre on what appears to be a island when the harbour dries.

The harbour at Eling

Leaving the jetty

The not so nice view....

Wednesday 29th

We departed quite early to get out before the water left, and made our way down to the clubs deep water moorings where we picked up a buoy whilst we had breakfast.

Tony decided to depart to beat the incoming weather and Brad followed shortly after. I decided to take a slower meander down as it is quite a long way up Southampton Water, and whilst there may as well take a look around.

There was an interesting ship in dock, off loading big motor cruisers as well as a stack of yachts - that all looked as though they were worth more than the ship they were on.....

I turned up the River Itchen and had a very fast run up under the big bridge, but it was pretty uninspiring so dropped the sails and motored back to the main channel and plugged my way though wind and rain back to Owers where the others were snug out of the wind.

We waited there until the tide was in at Ashlett and made our way in just in time to join a crowded mill for curry night.

Thursday 30th

Typically the day we pulled out was the warmest, sunniest day of the week but never mind..here's to the Ashlett regatta and Drascamp.