Always have a plan B

So, last weekend I had work committments that ruled out being on the water, what could we do this weekend?

As predicted, a high pressure system arrived UK, and as before, it brought 'not a lot of wind'.

Conditions were almost ideal; sun, reasonable temperature, etc, just no wind.

I did go and have a polish of the Gull's hull, around a couple of scratches I noticed. Which gave me a chance to loiter around the sailing club for a while. I did have to finally accept that it just wasn't going to happen. There were some fingers of wind to be seen on the water, but in fairness to the duty crew, I decided to give it a miss - didn't stop some troublemaker with a windsurfer getting his kit out though.

So, what else can you do on a Saturday afternoon with otherwise good weather?

Triumph Bonneville 865cc

Riding my Triumph Bonneville around Somerset for a couple of hours is a reasonable plan B.


Next Saturday, of course, there's the RYA Dinghy Show in London - fingers cross for Sunday's weather.

Bobbing around for a while.

So, Saturday arrives and with -4 degree C ambient temperature off to the reservoir at Cheddar for around 9am. It was noticeable that the promised wind hadn't bothered to turn up. Still, maybe later.

Took my time rigging the boat and donned my dry suit with multiple layers and down to the slipway.

Lots of water in the reservoir at the moment, virtually no slipway left above the water level.

I'm ready to go at about 10:30, when the OOD hails me (as they say), explaining I may have been a little too keen to get into the water. I thought sailing started at 10am, but apparently this is when the safety boat crew turn up and they needed to get their life sorted etc. After a friendly bit of banter, I agreed that if they were happy, I was happy to take responsibility for my own safety in the meantime. Given there was about zero knots of wind, this wasn't in fact that brave.

Paddle away from the slipway and out onto the reservoir. One of these weeks, I'll sail away - hopefully.

Commence bobbing about a bit. There was the occasional bit of pressure, but the fastest my GPS registered was 2.1 kts, but this may have been under paddle power. Typically, I was lucky to get up to 1.5 kts under sail, even then, only occasionally.

With the sun out, it's pleasent enough just being on the water; not exactly exhilerating but what the heck!

I got a visit from the safety boat after about an hour and a half - apparently to check that I was OK; with maybe a little undercurrent of 'what are you doing out here you idiot'.

Whether it was a hint or not, I did start to meander at 0.5 to 1 knot, toward the slipway. The forecast was supposed to be some light wind early on and dropping off after lunch. I don't think the 'light wind' actually arrived and we went straight to 'not a lot of wind'.

So, out of the water and derigged by 1:30pm. Quick hike around the reservoir, coffee and chocolate and homeward bound - with a bit of a sailing tan.

I had posted a question on the Gull forum about sailing in low temperatures. The biggest problem I had today was getting the centreboard down; it was frozen in place. Managed to free it up by pouring water over it from the reservoir. There was a little frozen water in the boat, as might be expected from the small amount of water that found its' way under the cover. No problem with that, other than the sponge I keep in the boat had frozen into it. Pouring water over it eventually freed it up enough to be able to use it - although there was ice on it when I came out. Personally, I was warm in my dry suit. Hands warm enough in my 5mm neoprene gloves. I did start off with a wooly hat, but swapped it for a peaked cap - just for the low sun. So, no problem with the temperature.

Some wind would have been nice!

Fingers crossed; again.

So, back to studying the weather charts.

By Saturday, it looks like we will be in the influence of a high pressure system, and I'm promised; cloud, 8 - 10 MPH winds and 5 degree C temperature.

Time to finish off the new tiller extension I think.

(I've mentioned before that the tiller is, in my opinion, too long and probably not meant for my dinghy. I believe, rightly or wrongly, that Hartley's put a Wayfarer or Wanderer size tiller on my dinghy. Consequently, not only is the tiller too long, the tiller extension is also too long - it snags on the main sheet at the transom occasionally.

So, I'm trying to recycle an old 4-iron shaft and making one out of that. It's just the universal joint that is currently giving me a problem. But I can try out my latest idea on Saturday - hopefully.

Sometimes, it's just not meant to be.

On Saturday, I was supposed to be on a safety boat course, giving a RYA Level 1 certificate - which is nice. Given that I have just bought an outboard, for use with the dinghy, it could be fairly useful.

However, with a forecast of -5 degrees C, the course was called off. I have to admit to being a bit peeved. My intention, as I now have a dry suit,  is to be out on the water whenever possible, so I was up for it. But, no matter, it is now put off until April.

As it happens, due to unforeseen circumstances, it turned out to be just as well. So, a return journey to Heathrow instead - not quite the same as a day on the reservoir, but there you go.

However, the forecast for next Saturday looks promising!

Sailing on Cheddar Reservoir 28th January 2012

Well, I watched a High Pressure system meander across the Atlantic and true to form, the weather was good for sailing. Maybe a bit on the light side, wind-wise, but mainly sunny - what's not to like.

So, after faffing to olympic standard getting the Gull into the water, around 11am. Back and forward, around the buoys - clockwise and anti-clockwise; until around 3:45 pm. Lunch afloat during a lull.
For some reason, the fact that I stayed out, basically all day, drew some comments in the boat park.
To my mind, even just bobbing about on the water is better than not; and go easy on the liquids.

I'm almost reluctant to mention the fact that I virtually had the entire reservoir to myself all day. There was a Laser 2000 sailor who joined me around 1pm for an hour and a half. Also, there was about half a dozen windsurfers - apparently doing some sort of course, but they didn't venture more than 30 metres or so from the clubhouse. So, yet again, I was free to bimble about without too much in the way of having to avoid anyone else. Having said that, the Laser and myself met up a couple of times and passed fairly close. Same tack, upwind gives way, port tack gives way, etc.

And the sunset wasn't bad either.

Company!

Sunset across the hard at Cheddar Reservoir.

Sunset over Cheddar with crescent moon.

DIY Weather Forecasting

Whilst kicking my heels in the hotel last week, due to there being too much snow, arriving far too quickly to venture out on the ski's, I completed several modules of the Day Skipper theory course I am currently working through.

One of these modules was Meteorology. A useful website was mentioned www.westwind.ch.

On the site there are weather charts; both actual observations and also predictions.

So, to get a feeling for the weather over the next few days I've been downloading analysis charts and predictions. UKMO 0-10 day predictions.

Analysis Chart for 23rd January 2012

It is also possible to register, for free, with Dundee Satellite Receiving Station to look at the satellite images. I'm particularly liking the Channel 3 infra-red. http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/


Infra-red Satellite image for Western Europe 23rd January 2012

Sailing solo at Cheddar reservoir - quite literally.

So, Saturday arrives and much as forecast, we have go for launch.

Arriving at the reservoir around 9:15 and into the water, after a fair amount of faffing about, at about 10:45 - I can faff for England.

First, take paddle and paddle away from the slipway. Because; a. I wanted to see if the paddles I have  recently varnished were around the right length. Solo paddling, the longer length works better I think, but with crew, shorter ones may be better - hmm!, and b. there wasn't really much in the way of wind initially.

A busy day at Cheddar reservoir

 I should feel a little guilty really, there's me, reservoir to myself and four duty bods for the sailing club, with two safety boats looking on. Still, my turn will come.

So, sticking with it, about 50 metres from shore a little breeze picks up and off we go.

The wind improved all day and when I finally go ashore there was enough to necessitate hiking out occasionally.

Cheddar gorge in the distance

Around 2 o'clock I was joined in the water by a wind surfer. Well, he spent a fair amount of time in the water, fortunately, I remained dry. But, we still have a safety boat each.As a  bonus, my wife and daughter arrive to watch me and I chase them around the reservoir until they get bored, well cold, apparently.

Around the buoys until around 15:15 and after a couple of final reaches, I thought it time to go in. Although the wind was still improving, the light wasn't good and was only going to worsen - it's as well to de-rig whilst it's still light I always find.

BCYC clubhouse in the background

So, a good day.

Weather watching.

Historically, the British are renowned for being obsessed with the weather - probably with good reason, as it's so changeable.

I'm finding that I am more and more interested in the weather these days, looking for the opportunity to get afloat.

This Saturday, for example, I have a window of opportunity to get out on the water; weather permitting. I haven't been out for a month and won't be able to get out for another two weeks otherwise.

So, everyday day - without fail, with fingers crossed, I find I am repeatedly using up to four different long range weather sites - hoping the more favourable one is more accurate, naturally.

Now, the opinion held of the accuracy of any forecast depends on your experience, and mine isn't that high with regard to the Met Office, but it's all we have to go with.

There is, apparently, a term for time wasted on messing about with computer user settings etc - the Futz Factor - I wonder what the sailing equivelent is for the time spent studying weather trends?

Anyway, Saturday is looking good - at the moment.

Gull Dinghy Class Association

Here's a link to the Gull Class Association website.

A bit more active than the 'official' Gulldingy.org website.

http://www.gullclassassociation.co.uk/home

BCYC New Years Day pursuit race.

Due to work commitments, I missed the Bristol Corinthian New Years Day putsuit race.

But, I did get back in time to see the finish of the race. Well, I say race, but with virtually no wind, it may be the slowest race of the year.

So, here is about ten minutes of dinghy's drifting past, heading towards the slipway.

And, yes it is an experiment to see what my old camcorder can do and what it's possible to knock up in a reasonably short period.

http://youtu.be/2AJQ3A0lzps