Mahaskah's new home

Mahaskah in Newhaven Marina

Walking into the Marina that Monday afternoon to wait for John, (we hadn't moved from the Visitors' berth yet) I felt a surge of something: it was a small thing, and actually it was also quite a big thing- many years ago  I promised myself that I would one day walk into a Marina and go to my boat. Now here I was.
It is a dream come true.

Chichester Harbour to Newhaven, part 2

On a foggy early morning start we picked up Bill from Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club and drove to Dell Quay.

John and Bill drove through Itchenor reach and out into the harbour while I made bacon sandwiches. We had the masinsail up, but for looks rather than because there was wind.

By the time we had got to West Pole Beacon, the tide was halfway to low, and we were slightly in advance of our schedule. This was no problem as the sea state was slight and the wind light and variable from the east.
We hoped to be able to find a bit of southerly wind to unroll the genoa.

The swell through the Looe Channel, because of its shallowness, set a rolling motion that didn't suit John's constitution, however, with Bill's help we made the acquaintance of a new crew member; we shall call him George:

intoducing George

George is an electronic auto pilot. His cheery red casing perfectly matches our "his 'n hers" oilskins, and his retro 70's styling works well with ours.

Here is George doing all the work while John catches some ZZZZs.

Nothing changed much for many hours, we saw some fishing boats off Littlehampton. When the flooding tide picked up, we found we were doing 5.9 knots over the ground, Bill and I ate a chicken stew I had brought with us.

The sun was going down as we were level with Brighton, and about an hour into the dark, John took the tiller and brought us safely into Newhaven Marina.

The journey had taken 10 hours motor sailing- boring, bit cold, but uneventful.
It would have been an entirely different experience without Bill, and without the auto pilot.

Dell Quay to Newhaven

The boatyard want to remove all the moorings for the winter, and we want to bring Mahaskah to Newhaven, so we have been waiting for optimal conditions, namely wind direction, to coincide with our availability.

We are now nearly at the end of November, and we have pushed our fortunes along a little by asking the wider sailing world for some support. Our slight lack of confidence in traversing the Looe Channel and sailing into unfamiliar water as the days have grown shorter, led me to send out a couple of emails, one to Newhaven Yacht Club and one to Arun Yacht Club, which is based in Littlehampton, and a phone call to our former RYA Day Skipper Instructor.
We have had a response from all quarters, which is lovely and reassuring.

We have had an eye on various weather websites, looking for a change in the Easterlies which seem to have prevailed since a large high pressure system has been sitting in Northern Europe for the last 3-4 weeks.

Tom Cunliffe author of The Channel Pilot, (and everyone else we talk to about it) says that we must be ready at the start of the Looe Channel (which is a safe passage through the wild outfalls south east of Selsey Bill) at low tide. This gives maximum opportunity for travelling east with the flooding tide.

So here's the theory: we can leave Dell Quay at 2.5 hours either side of high water, it takes about 2 hours to motor to Chichester Bar, ( but don't want to be around there when the water is low, and there's a swell as the shallow stuff can get a bit close to the boat). We don't really know how long it will take to be at the beginning of the Looe Channel, but if it takes 2 hours, we'll be there perfectly in time for the rendez-vous at low tide.

We want daylight at the beginning of the journey. Everyone tells us that Newhaven is the sweetest harbour on the South Coast to get into, by day or night.

Tomorrow, high tide is at 6.24, and low tide at 12.20, in addition it is Neaps, which means that the difference between high and low water is at it's lowest- (2.3 meters in Chichester Harbour), and this works in our favour in several ways. Easier to get out of Dell Quay; less of a risk of grounding on Chichester Bar and gentler tidal rips round Selsey Bill.

So far so good, and if only the wind were doing what the forecasts last Wednesday said it would be doing by today we'd be very happy. But at the moment we are looking at South, and South Easterly breezes of force 2-3. If this remains the case we will be motoring most of the way, but as BG, who will accompany us, said "better to go on a sunny day with little wind, than a wild, wet and cold one"

Stand by to read a report of what actually happens!

End of the season

We are getting ready to find winter mooring, planning to berth at Newhaven Marina.

A first step towards this objective is bringing the rigid tender back to Lewes, here it is in the back of the van.

October Heatwave!

Thinking that we are soon to be transferring Mahaskah to Newhaven, we took advantage of the extraordinary mediterranean weather we are having to invite the whole family for bbq/picnic on East Head Sand using the boat as a base.
It was apparent from the moment we passed Worthing that the whole of Sussex was heading for the beach. By the time we reached the Chichester circular, traffic was crawling. Our normal one hour journey was doubled.

Kia, Tiffany and Mylo joined us at Dell Quay for the ride. First to Chichester Marina visitors pontoon for water where Tiffany filled the tank, then on to find a spot amongst the throng at the anchorage.

Once settled, bbq and beach toys were thrown into the tender and we managed to cook and eat sausages before the sun went down behind the dunes.


Children sleeping in the forward cabin, we watched the sky grow dark and identified stars and constellations using John's new smart phone app.At one moment nearby, two masthead lights seem to collide,and a distinct "clunk" was heard as the dropping tide lengthened everyone's moorings and swung the boats round.

"Good morning"

Dawn

I had slung the hammock in the shrouds and remembered how to get comfortable enough to sleep. The last time I slept in a hammock in this way was in the Caribbean about 30 years ago!

 Next morning, before breakfast, another play on the beach was in order.

This was before 10 o'clock. Mahaskah is just above and to the right of the girl digging in the sand.

 A cooked breakfast had been promised and was provided, then with the pink bunting flying, we went for a little sail up the Emsworth Channel.

John, in his "Heritage" shorts

 John was fine tuning the sail set according to his new book, and we tried for a more technical approach.

Summer, Steve and  Lotus were on their way, although we guessed they were meeting a lot of traffic. Using Google Latitude to see where they were, Kia tried to guide them to West Wittering Car Park. Eventually they got to West Wittering Sailing Club car park and felt they could go no further. Although leaving the car there risked clamping. So a plan was hatched that we would anchor near to the WWSC bay, John and I would go in with the tender and I would park the car, leaving them to either walk to the beach or come back  to the boat.
However the anchorage by now was absolutely chocca, and we felt that if there was a possibility of dragging the anchor, it wouldn't be right to leave Kia in charge, so I (bravely) took off into new waters with slight nervousness that the outboard would fail. I haven't mentioned that we had left the rowlocks behind, (there's always something). Aiming blindly at what looked as if it could be a sort of Clubhouse, I  spotted two pink and turquoise dots with a smaller blob beside them. It was the travel-worn, heat-exhausted,  Summer Steve and Lotus. Steve with a throbbing big toe, which meant he couldn't have walked anyway. After some discussion, I took the car keys and joined the queue for parking.
Some minutes later, we had loaded the tender, and pushed off. No, the outboard didn't start immediately, but eventually it did, and we joined the boat with a determination to make the best of what remained of the day.

Because the tide was now going down, we had to start back to Dell Quay. Steve got the hang of driving, and the children enjoyed the view from the hammock.

Water was running out as we came into DQ, we slid along the bottom for the last few metres.

West Wittering Car Park closes its gates at 8.30pm, so not knowing how long it would take to get back, John took Steve and I to shore so I could drive him back to fetch his car.
J returned to the boat and the girls, to finish off the end of weekend chores: bags and food to pack, heads to clean, seacocks to close, gas and batteries to turn off, sail cover to replace, fenders to stow.... etc.
The plan was that we would all meet up at The Crown and Anchor in Dell Quay to end the day with nice meal.
This simple plan proved to be  hugely optimistic .

Steve and I found that getting into the Car Park was like trying to get back into Glastonbury after it's finished, departing traffic was occupying both lanes of the road, so we had to face off every car in the left hand lane and wait till it had negotiated a space in the right hand lane. At the barrier, I gave S quick instructions about finding his car, (remember, I had parked it), I did a U turn and joined the crawling queue once more.
S, had no charge on his phone, didn't immediately find his car, had to hobble about asking for help.

Back in DQ, Summer and Lotus had already been delivered to the jetty, John and Kia hurried to get back with the last load and Tiffany and Mylo, when the bottom of the tender struck the mud about 15 metres out.
It was now about 7 o'clock, and dark, with no other alternative, they had to get out and carry the kids and gear through two feet of sticky slimy smelly mud, and then slide the tender over the top of it to tie it up on shore.

A hour and a half after I had set off with Steve,on a journey that shouldn't take more than 20 minutes, I got back to the pub and found them in rather downbeat mood, especially as there was no food on offer. Steve turned up 30 minutes later.
We all agreed it was time to go home.
I  have to finish this blog by saying that I'm proud of everyone, that even in those difficult conditions, there was no bickering or moaning or blaming.
I hope we will remember the good bits and laugh about the rest.

Tomahawk Owners' Association Rally (17-18 Sept) or not

This was to be out Big Voyage.

We gave ourselves a whole week to enjoy the journey, and to ensure that we would make it. Starting on Wednesday afternoon, we brought Mahaskah down to deep water at Itchenor and tied up at the visitors' pontoon.

"Give us a biscuit, go on" 

The following morning, as we waited for the wind to pick up, it was from the north, The forecast we were hoping for was Easterly.

It was almost cloudless and very light wind, but we were keen to start. Just west of the West Pole Beacon we lost the wind and with sails flapping in a desultory way, had our first lunch of homemade pasties.

Unable to bear the non-start, we put the engine on and motored towards Horse Sands Fort.

By three, there was some wind from the east, and we were overtaken by last night's neighbours from Itchenor, who, with better sense, had waited longer and got a good sail.

Anyway we were soon in Fishbourne, on Wooton Creek. First landfall, and on The Islalnd!

After a pause for a cup of tea, we took advantage of the easterly wind and pressed on to Cowes.

From the busy harbour we motored south along the Medina, spotted Gyspy Moth IV, on our way to the famous pub and Restaurant with moorings, The Folly.

We had a reasonable meal and enjoyable evening while a single guitarist, and his backing tapes, entertained with rock music from the 70s. Towards the end of the evening, some young people in colourful clothing and dreadlocks sat at the table next to us. They brought a faint whiff of woodsmoke. They sat together, ordered drinks and some food, applauded the music and were unobtrusive, although noticable amongst the mainly middle aged boatie types.
When the Landlord joined them and sat talking we felt that he was displaying a congenial inclusivity.
However, as we left, we passed by them, now on the terrace, and they told us he'd asked them to move outside because their smell was offensive!! This took a bit of shine off the evening and we resolved to mention it next night.

Throughout the evening, texts had been flying around from the TOA, the upshot of it was that the Rally would be cancelled due to poor forecasts for the weekend. Although this was disappointing, we put into action an alternative plan: to visit John's old friend A and his family in Newport.

Friday.
A and R would meet us for a drink later at the Folly.
Meanwhile we would see what the sailing looked like in the Solent.

Tides are a big consideration, they can get as strong as 4 knots in some places at certain times,so for us, with a maximum speed of 6 knots under sail, and probably less with the engine, the possibility of not arriving at the pre ordained destination is quite real. Today we decided to sail against the tide towards the Beauleigh River, on the Hampshire Coast, and use the tides to return. That morning, the wind was fickle, it changed from east to west mid channel.
There was more than that to worry about, however.

We were wallying about, getting sails up just outside of the samll boats mooring area in the mouth of the Harbour. John pointed to a small vessel,
    "is it stationary?"
    "must be fishing".
Within minutes this small "fishing boat" loomed up, circled us, an immense Coastguards Launch, the CG leaned out and shouted down
   "what are your intentions?"
   "we're just g-g-going to Beauleigh"
   "Head towards the Prince Consort Buoy and GET OUT OF THE CHANNEL"
he indicated behind him, where a tiny dark oblong sat on the eastern horizon.

We watched as the launch shooed away other small boats from the path of the monster.Within minutes it had grown to become a towering metal cliff. I suppose the CG were mindful of the incident that had occured the previous fortnight during Cowes week when a yacht had ignored all sensible precautions and had become a smear on the side of a container ship rather like a sweet paper on the side of your shoe.Miraculaously, no one was seriously hurt.

We grabbed a mooring buoy in Beauliegh, and had a quiet and sunny lunch before returning to Cowes, wind against tide, but until the last half hour, the wind kept us moving nicely.

It was great to meet up with A and R, and we made plans for lunch the next day.

Saturday
Newport. Mooring on the Town Quay. Sounds quite easy, doesn't it? hmmm

Town Quay, Newport, where we didn't tie up.

1)  the town is packed, with moored boats, and with a vintage car market on the quayside which meant that all the bollards and cleats for boatie use were looped up with red and white hazzard tape to prevent landlubbers from falling off the quay.
2) the only available space is small and has a shortage of things to tie up on.
3) fenders are not adequate against the wall, you need fender boards (these are heavy planks with rope at the ends which serve to buffer the boat from the wall and hang down over the boat's fenders), and that means you need cleats midships (which we don't have)
4)  the tide is going down. That means you have to work out a way of leaving enough mooring rope so that the boat can drop with the water, yet not swing out when you don't need the slack for drop.People advised us with complicated systems involving weights or buckets full of water
5) there was no ladder near us to get down or up once the tide had gone out
6) we were having a row

nearly two hours of fumbling and swearing later, a large man walking a toddler on a lead, asked if we were leaving because he had a long keeled boat that wouldn't be safe on the floating pontoon.
If there's a floating pontoon to be had, let's swop; bugger the learning curve, 20 minutes later, with A now arrived to assist, we were snugly tied up and secure on the pontoon, and nice man with a 50ft 100 year old wooden gaffer, family of toddler and 8 month baby and wife on their way to New Zealand, had taken our place. Everyone happy.

Later we went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with R and their oldest son.

Sunday
did some laundry, chatted to New Zealand bound mum about her plans to sail Dolphin of Leith with two small children , set off to do some more sailing.

Because everyone had said the weekend's weather, particularly Saturday was going to be squally, we were cautious when we saw black clouds, we reefed and set off.
Plan to head west towards Wooton again, winds were now firmly westerly, so good for taking us back to Chichester Harbour.

Aware of dark sky over Calshot we braced ourselves for  a squall, all that came was heavy rain, little or no wind, this happened a second time, and then we had a squall with black sky, heavy rain and wind; we took it on a beam reach and raced towards Portsmouth, visibility was very poor. We were glad to get into Fishbourne again, the sun came out and it became a beautiful evening, the barman at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, had seen us arrive and stayed open so we could restore ourselves.

Monday
We got to Bembridge at last.
As usual, too keen, too little water, turn round and have a whizz up and down inside the harbour . My first real VHF radio conversation with the Harbour Master to get a berth.

Beach huts on Bembridge Beach

Nice bins

Went for a walk to Seaview along a coastal path, rather boggy, skirted the outskirts of the town, big smart houses and few people. Found the Old Fort Cafe and Bar (opposite No Man's Land Fort- this is a round stone island built as sea defenses by Palmerstone in 1860s, now redeveloped as an exclusive hotel)

Stayed for dinner and took a taxi back.

Tuesday
Winds forecast to be F4-5 today waiting for the tide we strolled to the beach to scan the sea, although blowy, sea state was calm, reassuring.
Wind picked up as we were leaving the berth, it took longer than it should have done, but eventually, double reefed we were sailing back to wards Chichester Harbour. The wind direction didn't quite suit our intended course, and we didn't want to loose too much time because the window for getting into Chichester with the current conditions was quite precise.However, we tried various things and sometimes they worked, and sometimes we sailed a course for the wind, correcting it as we tacked. The challenging thing was sailing on  a run. We spotted another yacht on the same bearing as us sailing with just the genoa, but as the sea was now quite choppy, we didn't feel up to dropping the main, so kept it sheeted in.
The crossing took about 2 hours, the last bit, approaching West Pole beacon travelling at right angles to the direction the waves were coming in so that once or twice the boat broached (this is a temporary loss of contral as the rudder looses contact with water) but John was helming masterfully and not at all anxious.

We rather felt that we should have a welcome home party to celebrate our return from the high seas, but there was no one around, so we pressed on to Dell Quay.

Throughout the whole week we had had to pump the bilge regularly. diesel is leaking now, we removed one 2 gallon and one 2 litre containers of wasted fuel from the bilge.

More cloud observations, pontoons and drills

On Friday afternoon, we loaded up and set off, first to obtain water from Chichester pontoon, then, because we felt that we had berthed nicely there, we decided to try Itchenor.
There was an ebbing tide and wind against it, so we circled a few times before achieving an almost perfect docking. It was a stunning evening, and the inflatable was pressed into service to seek out a pub. Itchenor village itself is the centre of "Chapland" and we weren't too impressed, but the sailing club on the waterfront welcomes yachtsmen ( and their partners, presumably??) and looked more picturesque, if not more PC.

Following us back to our overnight pontoon was a tiny sailboat we had noticed on the quay with dollies and cartons of juice loaded into it. The occupants were two dads and their small daughters, the dads spread a tarp over the boom and slept in the cockpit. They made us feel we basked in the lap of luxury!

Early start, another attempt to cross the Solent.
This time we thought Langstone Harbour was a possible destination. I was using the GPS and successfully  putting in tentative waypoints. Calculating wind direction and tides, readjusting at the West Pole Beacon, finding a more comfortable bearing it actually only took 40 minutes from the Chichester Fairway beacon to Langstone Fairway.

We were now trained to look for cirrus clouds and to observe the "crossed winds rule"; if the streaks of the clouds run parallel to the direction of the wind, no immediate change is expected.

We were uninspired by Langstone Harbour, the only anchorage being close to roads, also Tom Cunliffe's words in The Channel Pilot referring to the tidal current "anyone unfortunate enough to fall from a moored yacht during the height of the ebb on dark night could well be lost" rather put us off!

Unable to claim a landfall, at least we had arrived somewhere other than Chichester Harbour. We turned round and went home again.

Emsworth visitor's pontoon was our Saturday night stop, the place was deserted, a beautiful evening sky blooming, a sudden decision to have a BBQ. John lept into the inflatable and in minutes was  puttering off to the Town Quay to find meat in the Co-op. It was an anxious wait for me, partly because the "one-match" BBQ kit needed extra kindling and attention, but mainly because our previous experience of badly timing the tide here led to nearly getting caught on a mud bank and the outboard packing up. So in the deepening gloom, I was first relieved, and then worried to see a tiny figure rowing out.

The meal was actually not very nice, but the adrenaline made it all worth it! We turned up the music and had a party for two on the pontoon. Then we got the cushions out and slept there. It was really noisy with the water sloshing, the ropes groaning, the pontoon creaking as it lifted and fell with the tide.

On Sunday, while we still had the place to ourselves, we took the opportunity to do lots of berthing practice.
Here is a photographic representation of the drill:
Leaving a berth with tide and wind astern, (and an imaginary yacht you don't want to bash in front of you).

1)protect the dockside stern with plenty of fenders

2)attach a stern spring to a pontoon cleat midships, ready to slip


3) let off the bow line and stern line, put boat into reverse against the wind and the bow will swing out,

4) "stop taking photos and get on the bloody boat" !

We also did some MOB drills, (that's Man Over Board, you throw in some fenders to act as a person and then manoeuvre the boat to get them back).

We were very glad we hadn't stayed in Langstone as the weather on Sunday deteriorated and by the afternoon, we were among a very few reefed up yachts and windsurfers, slogging across the tide back towards  Dell Quay.