Heads bilge pump

Inevitably, water sometimes appears in the bilges and needs to be dealt with. Sponging out is laborious and time consuming if there is a substantial amount – I recently struggled to replace the log impeller blank and took on quite a lot of water into the bilge. There is also a sensible recommendation in the... Continue Reading →

Mayday Postscript

Since returning, I have been in touch with Steve Hancox, skipper and owner of ‘Bryony’ and we have had some interesting correspondence. Bryony is an old wooden ‘Gaffer’ which Steve restored in the garden of his house in Herefordshire. She is 10 metres over the deck with a 2.85-metre bow sprit.   She is a “double-ender”... Continue Reading →

Mission Accomplished

We did manage to evade the zealous Yarmouth Harbour fee collectors and after a sumptuous full night’s sleep, we slipped our mooring at 06.45 bound for Northney Marina. Heading down the Solent under a clear blue sky and with the tide under us, we had the best ‘white sail’ sail since departing the Cote D’Azur... Continue Reading →

Carl’s confessional 😕

The updated weather forecast coupled with our delayed crossing necessitated a rethink. With the wind veering to the NNE in the evening, we didn’t relish the prospect of just bashing back in 25 knots on the nose. The better option was to take the 3 hour shorter crossing to the Needles, get in earlier and... Continue Reading →

Mayday !

Our intended passage from the NW corner of Brittany was to sail towards Guernsey overnight, pick up a signal for a weather update, and carry a favourable tide through the Alderney Race with a slingshot into our channel crossing – best laid plans
 Coming on my watch at 2am, making good speed under sail alone... Continue Reading →

The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea

Our crossing of Biscay started, as expected, with mirror calm conditions over a long, languid Atlantic swell and little wind. Carl continued to suffer, and he took himself off to bed with a bucket. If he enjoyed his octopus pie when first ingested, the regurgitation didn’t sound at all pleasant. As we pressed on, the... Continue Reading →

To Biscay and Beyond

European bureaucracy now goes without saying so the Brexit induced rigors were no surprise on our return to Galicia. Increasingly, the equinoctial weather influences do begin to make the forecast conditions somewhat volatile and capricious for our return passage across the fabled Bay of Biscay from North West Spain. In the meantime, our brief return... Continue Reading →

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