Drascombe Association: Chichester Rally, 27-30 May, 2016

Sunset over Chichester Marina

This was my first visit to Chichester Harbour and its environs; a Drascombe Association rally seemed too good an opportunity to miss.  It really is a splendid Drascombing location and it's not difficult to see why south coast Drascombers enjoy this location as much as they do.  We were based in Chichester Marina which provides lock-based access to the harbour.  

The marina is extremely well-appointed and, perhaps unsurprisingly, wasn't cheap, although we apparently had a special weekend deal - three days for £60, berthing, slipway use and car/trailer parking.

Winds for the three days were northerly, the weather being truly exceptional for the first two days of sailing.

The following video gives a flavour of the event.

Most boats arrived either by land or by sea on Friday 27th May.  Work commitments and bank holiday traffic delayed my arrival until very late that same evening, so I slept aboard with the boat on the trailer and launched at 7am the following morning.

Slipway at Chichester Marina

The rally involved two days of sailing around the harbour with visits to East Head on Saturday and the Thorney Channel on Sunday; at this point, the rally ended with some leaving, others planning an extended cruise as a postlude.  Despite a forecast of increasing winds, I tagged on a solo trip taking in the Emsworth Channel on the Monday morning before recovering the boat and trailing home.

Overall track 46.9nm: yellow (Saturday) 15.7nm; red (Sunday) 14.5nm; green (Monday) 16.7nm.

This was a first opportunity to try out my new chart plotter, the Garmin Echomap 45dv.  It also has the potential for attaching a transducer and this may well interest me in due course since my current echo sounder has broken down.  However, as can be seen from the tracks, the chart plotter is working well and has lots of interesting functions with which I should spend time gaining familiarity.

Saturday 28th May - trip to East Head
Unusually, I had the pleasure of company in the guise of the Chair of the Association, over from Ireland without boat.  We sailed downstream for a planned lunchtime anchorage off East Head before my crew jumped ship to join the ex-Chair in his boat.

I beat a passage upstream as far as Del Quay before retiring to the marina.

Dabber action!

Saturday track: 15.7nm

Sunday 29th May - trip up the Thorney Channel
Today's trip involved a trip up the Thorney Channel aiming, amongst other things, to catch a glimpse of seals.  In the event, we saw one, although of these wonderful creatures are such a common sight in my usual sailing areas, I wasn't disappointed.  Again, I had company for the trip to Thorney and back.  

Lunchtime anchorage off the Thorney Channel

Having parted company with crew mid-afternoon, I anchored off Copperas Point for a while, watching boats on their way up to Dell Quay before setting off myself under full (albeit not particularly well-set) main for another beat past Dell Quay, retiring once again to the marina for supper.

Coasters Blue Peter and Nonsuch rafting up off Copperas Point

Amongst other entertainment in the evening, I admired nesting birds using the boom ends of the two neighbouring boats to my own - footage of this can be seen in the video above.  I wonder how often those boats are used...

Sunday track: 14.5nm

Monday 30th May - solo trip up the Emsworth Channel
Freshening winds were forecast today so, with the rally now officially ended, I departed early aiming to take in the western wing of the harbour - the Emsworth Channel.

Itchenor

I sailed with the ebb along to East Head before rounding the corner just off Hayling Island.  Now pointing into the wind and against the ebbing tide, I resorted to motor for the long northerly trip up to Emsworth.  Once there, I thought about stopping at the visitor jetty but decided the strengthening breeze merited an early return to base - there would be plenty to do, hauling out the boat ahead of a three and a half hour road trip back home.

Waiting for 'lock-in' at Chichester Marina

Monday track: 16.7nm

Mizzen mast repairs

Five years ago I lengthened the mizzen mast in order to accommodate a mizzen boom.  The account was in this blog entry. The increased height is necessary for the boom to achieve clearance over the outboard motor in its raised position.  The solution at the time was to place a hollow stainless steel tube over the top of the mast and insert a short length of wood (taken from the wooden spindle of a disused window blind).  This, six screws and a lick of exterior brown paint has served the purpose since then.  It was only ever intended as a stop-gap until I had both the time and, probably more pertinently, plucked up the courage to do something more permanent.

It's quite remarkable that it lasted as long as it did but recently it had become noticeably loose and, in removing the screws, the rotting wood explained why.

So, it has become necessary to achieve a more permanent solution, namely to attempt to scarf a piece of timber on the top end of the mast.  I've heard this explained many times but never before attempted it.  It so happens that an off-cut of the piece of spruce from which I originally whittled the most recent mizzen boom was a reasonably good length.  It wasn't quite long enough for the recommended 1:7 scarf joint, more like 1:6, but I've decided I can live with that - if it subsequently needs redoing, that's fine!  I can think of at least one further reason for inserting a through bolt other than for strengthening the joint - more of all of that in due course.

First steps were to mark out and saw the timber.

I then used epoxy to glue the two pieces together.

The epoxy glue dried overnight.  The following evening, using an electric plane and some sand paper, it rather neatly reduced to this:

Next job is to apply some varnish.  I'm not one for achieving superior finishes, but hope that whatever I apply will do a reasonable job.  I've used Ronseal exterior varnish, on and off, for a while and found a small tin just for the job.  It's clear varnish so it should make an interesting feature of the woodwork.  This is after one coat; several more to go during evenings this week.

Easter shakedown cruise, March 31st to April 3rd

Dried out on Saturday evening off the western shore of Osea Island.  It's a little rocky this close in, but I took a chance and was lucky.  The wind was strengthening from the east, with overnight rain forecast; this tiny cove off the west side of Osea provided perfect shelter.

As is the way, these days, a window of opportunity for the first cruise of the season arose during the Easter holidays.  In fact, an early Easter combined with the lack of need to antifoul the hull enabled a launch in March - that's never happened to Daisy II before!


Thursday 31st March - launch at Bradwell Marina, trip to Osea Island
Being unencumbered by a mooring this season, different launching venues beckon, so it was good to visit Bradwell Marina for the first time since 2011.  It is pleasing to see that little has changed.

The slipway at Bradwell Marina

The slipway is just as long as it always was, but it is pleasingly accessible and they obviously take care with maintenance, in particular by keeping the lower reaches relatively algae-free.  £19 for launch, recovery and parking over four days represents reasonable value for the east coast.  It's also refreshing to note that they take the trouble to check launchers possess basic safety equipment such as VHF, flares and life jackets but then they leave you to get on with it - a no nonsense, fuss-free approach.

Cruising in March - a first for Daisy II

Launching at Bradwell Marina, a quiet sail to Osea under jib and mizzen drying out close to the south western shore of this delightful island.

 Friday 1st April - River Colne to Colchester

As is so often the way at this time of the year, a thick sea fog greeted me in the morning.  The night was very cold and frost had formed on the deck.  HW was around 6am, so I moved to deeper water for breakfast, with the somewhat forlorn hope that the fog would clear.

Unable to distinguish between sea and sky!

 The sun was trying to poke through, so I pulled in the anchor and, under motor, made my way with the tide north east past the island.  The sun doesn't always help in the fog, the bright rays glistening on the fog as the following picture attempts to show.

A panoramic view under way! 

 Finally the fog lifted opposite Stone Sailing Club.

The fog finally clears

Sailing out of the Blackwater to the end of the Colne, I stopped at Mersea Stone for lunch and, after a brief trip up Pyefleet Channel, sailed up the Colne past Wivenhoe to the more welcoming Rowhedge with its visitor's jetty.  

Approaching Wivenhoe.  It looks a pretty place but it's disappointing they haven't made shoreline access easier.  A 2 hour jetty, such as many other seaside towns offer, is all that would be required.  I'm sure visitors would spend some money in your town!

Rowhedge - a welcoming visitor's jetty.  The two hour limit is sufficient to visit the local amenities.  Neighbouring Wivenhoe could learn something from this.

Following a welcome pint in the Albion public house at Rowhedge, I motored along to the end of the navigation (at least, without having to lower the mast) at Colchester, just a few miles further on.   For the record, there is another visitor's jetty here, although little to suggest a stay and exploration would be worthwhile.  I turned round and returned to Pyefleet for the night.

 Saturday 2nd April - Blackwater to Maldon

I called into Brightlingsea briefly before setting on my way.

At Brightlingsea

I motored out of the Colne in steep pitched 'wind over tide' waves.  Then set sail bound for Maldon.  On the way, knowing that I needed to wait for the tide to reach the head of the Blackwater, I called in to  Lawling Creek.

Seals along Lawling Creek

I've not had a huge degree of success in the past reaching Maldon.  Today, I sailed in under jib alone - the tide was still 2.5 hours before HW and I wasn't sure of depth.  Today wasn't for stopping although it looks like an interesting place so I will call in again for a longer visit.

Approaching Maldon

Finally, Osea beckoned, as explained in the opening photograph in this posting.

Pyefleet to Brightlingsea, then out of the Colne, up the Blackwater, via Lawling Creek to Maldon, finally retiring to the west side of Osea.

 Sunday 3rd April - return to Bradwell Marina

Dried out off Osea

Sunrise over Osea

Breakfast

After breakfast, a quick trip back to Collier's Reach, off Heybridge, lead to a wonderful reach back down the Blackwater, returning to Bradwell Marina for hauling out.

From Osea, to Heybridge finally returning to Bradwell

 In summary...

72.5nm, top speed 7.2kts (with tide!)

Drascombes and Cobles

Coble at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea

I was in Northumberland this weekend, visiting my son who is at the university in Newcastle.  Whilst waiting for him to discover the meaning and value of mornings, my wife and I took a breakfast trip to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.  Amongst the many things which make a visit to this charming seaside town utterly worthwhile, I happened upon a yard of Coble boats.  Native to the north east, these historic boats are very much the spiritual antecedents of John Watkinson's Drascombe design.  It's not difficult to see why when observing that familiar rake on the stern transom.  Further discussion can be garnered from this thread from the Drascombe forum.

Today seemed a good opportunity to take some snaps of these fabulous looking boats.

Another coble, with the distant view out to sea.

Later the same day, my son did surface and we took a trip to Kielder Water which is the former stamping ground of Daisy II in her former guise of Aquarius prior to my purchase of her.  Indeed, my only previous visit to this place was in November 2006 at the invitation of her previous owners, in response to their advertisement, viewing Aquarius before discussing terms.

We didn't find much boating going on today - it would have been cold and wet, albeit a pleasant northerly breeze - but, after a pleasant shoreline walk, we popped into a pub for a very welcome mid afternoon meal.  It's remarkable, in the bleakness of the surrounding countryside with so few people around, to find such an oasis: The Boat Inn at Leaplish Waterside Park.  Recommended!