BRISTOL SAILING ASSOCIATION

Newsletter July 2009

Contacts:Gordon Ogden (Commodore)01275 462473

Jock Playle (Secretary)0117 973 8855

Jane Jenkyn (Treasurer) 01275 880318

At the meeting on July 13th we welcomed new member Chris Baxendale, and visitor Ann Saunders.

Future Trips

1.1Bill Thomas will skipper a long weekend charter on the August Bank Holiday weekend, from Friday August 28th to Monday 31st. This will be from Plymouth on a Bavaria 37, and will cost £155 per person for six on board. This is now fully booked. The balance payment of £105 per person is now due. Please send cheques to the treasurer, Mrs J R Jenkyn, Edgecliff, 12 Marine Parade, Clevedon, Bristol, BS21 7QS.

1.2Phil Steele will skipper a week’s Med charter in Sicily on September 5th – 12th. Peter Wakeling has arranged flights and, with Phil, booked a Beneteau Oceanis 423. All balance payments have been paid. Phil and Peter will make all the arrangements with the crew.

1.3Phil Steele will skipper a charter from Falmouth on the weekend of October 3 -4th. There may be one place available, as one member who booked now has uncertain work commitments. This will be confirmed at the August meeting. In the meantime will those who have booked please send a deposit of £50 to the Treasurer, address in 1.1 above.

2.Announcements

2.1Insurance. From time to time we remind members that they should have appropriate travel insurance, including cancellation cover, for sailing trips. We have also warned members that most standard travel insurance policies no longer cover sailing, except perhaps in coastal waters only or if it is incidental to the main holiday. Peter Wakeling has now found some policies which do cover all sailing activities at lower cost than the RYA policy. Peter was unable to be at the July meeting, but will give details at a future meeting.

3.Recent Trips

A summary of all trips reported at meetings is given here, or a full report, if available. Members reporting at a meeting are reminded that a full version of the report should be provided, either written or emailed. If this isn’t available, then only a short summary will be given in the newsletter. Full reports will be included in the next newsletter following receipt.

At the July meeting, we had reports of club sailing as well as members reporting on other sailing activity. These are two BSA charters:

Weekend from Plymouth, June 19 – 22, report by skipper Alan Howells.

Weekend from Plymouth, June 26 – 28, skipper Phil Steele, report by Ian Harding.

and four members’ reports of other sailing:

Plymouth to south Brittany for 16 days, report by Jock Playle.

Canary Islands sailing, June 17 – 27, report by skipper Bob Buchanan and Claire Turner.

Helford – l’Aber Wrac’h race, June 26 – 27, Tim Sandford’s boat, report by Malcolm Price.

Weekend from Solent to St Vaast on “Lady Emma”, July 9 – 12, report by Becky Goddard.

We have also received a report from Keith Fisher, who took up the offer for a BSA member to crew on a yacht from Dartmouth to the Hebrides and back. All these reports follow.

We have also received the first report from Julia and Chris Wallace of their round-Britain sail. This is included with the posted copies of this newsletter, and has already been sent to the email recipients.

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Trip on Gwielo, skippered by Alan Howells

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Weekend from Plymouth, 26 - 28 June, report by Ian Harding 2009

Yacht : “Gweilo” - Bavaria 37, from Plymouth - Queen Anne’s Battery (Liberty Yachts)

Skipper : Phil Steele

Crew : Peter Wakeling ( 1st Lieutenant & Navigating Officer par excellence)

Andy Gordon, Sue Heath, Sue Fowle, Ian Harding

This was Ian’s first trip with the club for about 2 years , and the first one for him with Phil Steele as Skipper……

Sue Fowle and Ian met up at Exeter Services at 1430 on Friday 26th, where she kindly conveyed us both to QAB, Plymouth. We were the first to arrive, and at 1605 Phil Steele, Peter Wakeling & Sue Heath joined. Some discussion took place about an evening sail in the harbour in the brilliant sunshine, but by the time Andy joined us there was some deterioration in the weather and our thoughts turned to food with an evening meal ashore .. Peter recommended the “China House” in Sutton Wharf, which we found pleasantly affordable, good value, and with outstanding views over the harbour …so definitely recommended for those following in our footsteps. Returned to “Gweilo” @ 2315, with plans to get away in the morning and head east.

27th June:- Departed QAB @ 0902, having decided earlier to proceed to the Yealm and explore that river before heading for Dartmouth, as time and tide permitted this rather than just go to Salcombe. As we meandered up the Yealm, you are struck by the beauty of this estuary, and how you would like to live there, if only that were possible ………We sailed on in beautiful weather, with SSW F4 winds gently driving us along, beautiful coastal views, rounding Start Point for the reach up to Dartmouth, and then to Dittisham where we picked up a visitor’s mooring opposite the jetty for the “Ferry Boat Inn”. We were alongside a Hunter 24, so the fender arrangements were rather important, but they left us shortly afterwards as their “home” was near by. That evening we ate in the aforementioned pub, which was packed with people, and the meal was not bad either, which made up for the cramped conditions ……need to go ashore earlier next time ….

28th June :- Departed Dittisham @ 0902 (Co-incidental timing ), sailing back directly to QAB, where we arrived @ 1615. En - passage we used the engine with the sails in order to help us make a good arrival time, but we had a problem with the engine running hot, and some steam appearing out of the exhaust pipe, so it was shut down. Our investigations revealed that some kind of shell fish or snails attach themselves to the cooling water intake pipe when the boat is moored, such that they grow and block the intake …….So those of a technical bent might like to think of a way of shifting them that doesn’t involve lifting the boat out of the water …..My thoughts were on reverse flow down the intake before start-up, and maybe using a bilge pump if it was powerful enough to shift them ..or ultra-sonic sound applied to the intake pipe (as low as you could get internally) by the boatyard to break them up ……(this idea comes from how stones in the bladder can be removed !).

Only some brief rainfall en-passage, and in all respects a wonderful week-end away from our normal routine, thanks to our wonderful Skipper who was a delight to sail with at all times …..

It took 2 hours to clear away from the boat, and the hand-over was dependent on the availability of the Liberty Yachts representative, who seemed inordinately busy that afternoon. This must be one of the downsides of chartering, but better that than the worries of ownership, and its attendant expense!

Total distance run I believe was 72 miles , and thank you Peter for your work around the Chart Table , and for allowing Ian to play with the Radar Set & integrating it to the Chart display , etc.

Finally three points, Ian would like to recommend Phil to be Rear or Vice Commodore as he has the temperament suitable for such an exalted rank, if indeed it exists in our Club ?

Secondly , QAB needs a separate number code for the gate to the jetty, and one for the shower…..To relieve yourself you don’t need a number fortunately….. These numbers are printed on separate pieces of paper in the office, AND CHANGE DAILY ! A bit of a palaver, but they must have their reasons ……

Thank you Andy for returning me safe and sound in 2½ hours, and thank you every body for being such wonderful shipmates!

I hope you all enjoyed the Champers & Bucks Fizz…………

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Plymouth to south Brittany for 2 weeks – report by Jock Playle

Tony Hall and I sailed on a friend’s Moody 36 DS with another of our former colleagues from work from Plymouth Yacht Haven on June 13th, heading for south Brittany. The four of us have been sailing together for over 35 years, and this year the average age of the crew was over 70.

We had originally planned to leave the previous Tuesday, but the midweek Channel weather was wet and windy. We travelled down to Plymouth early on Friday morning intending to leave about midday for l’Aber Wrac’h. When we got there, Plymouth Sound was shrouded in thick misty drizzle. After provisioning the boat, we gave it until 2 pm to clear; by then it was worse – you couldn’t see Drake’s Island from the marina. We decided to leave next morning and miss l’Aber Wrac’h and head straight for Camaret.

We left PYH at 6.50 on Saturday morning. There was less than 10K of wind from the SSW and we motored until Eddystone was 3 M on the starboard beam at 9.30. We then steered 230°M to go more off-wind and were able to motor/sail with both main and genoa giving some lift and an extra half knot speed – 5K SOG. It was like this all day and into the night. At 2300 we hit thick fog just before the eastbound shipping lane. We used both radar and AIS on the laptop chart plotter. With the GPS coupled with the AIS signals we had a listing of not only the course and speed of ships, but also the CPA and time to CPA. This was very useful – much better than the radar as you don’t have to try to plot relative courses. One ship passed less than a mile ahead of us without being visible. The fog persisted into the morning; at 0930 on Sunday we were 1½ M west of Le Four light, without seeing it, and we buoy-hopped down the Le Four channel until a mile off Corsen, when it cleared enough for us to see land for the first time. We moored in the visitors’ marina at Camaret at 1350 in hot hazy sunshine – the hot weather lasted for the next 2 weeks, with just a few drops of rain one morning.

Monday was a rest day in Camaret, as we had to leave at 0500 on Tuesday morning to get the tide through the Raz de Sein. We had a light westerly wind and m/sailed past the Raz at 0930, past Penmarc’h Point at 1400 and berthed in the marina at Loctudy at 1740, a day sail of 55 nM. (According to the frequent weather forecasts from CROSS-Corsen, Penmarc’h is pronounced “Panmar”.)We stayed in Loctudy on Wednesday – a new place for us and very pleasant, once you realise that the town around the church is almost dead (no shops or restaurants) and that all the action is in the Rue du Port past the extensive fish markets and fishing harbour in the other direction. The fish market provided the oysters for lunch.

Our original plan had been to go east as far as the islands of Groix and Belle Ile, but having had a delayed start we now decided to potter around the Bay of Bénodet for a few days then head back via Audierne, Morgat and l’Aber Wrac’h. On Thursday we left Loctudy at 10.20 after refuelling, and again m/sailed in little wind heading for Port la Foret. As it was just 15 M away we went slowly with a couple of mackerel lines out, but there were no fish at all. We realised there were no seabirds either, which was probably a good indication of the lack of fish. We berthed in the splendid marina of La Foret Fouesnant at 1340. There was a rally in progress – the “Regate des Oursins” (sea urchins). This seemed to be a prestigious affair, as three of the Pen Duick series of boats of the late Eric Tabarley were taking part, including the original wooden Pen Duick in splendid condition and the steel-hulled Pen Duick VI. We had been having intermittent engine starting problems, and did a test while in port here. The engine refused to start and it didn’t take long to realise there was no current in the pre-heater. To prove the heater relay was the problem the engine was started by shorting out the relay contacts with a screwdriver. We were lucky to be in La Foret with its full range of facilities. Next morning it took just two hours to obtain a replacement relay, some cable and spade terminals, replace the relay and get going. We left at 1110 and had our first good day’s sailing in a F4 NW wind to Ste Marine marina opposite Bénodet. This marina doesn’t suffer from the fierce tides of Bénodet marina on the opposite bank of the river Odet, and Ste Marine is a pleasant village with several restaurants at the water’s edge.

We left Ste Marine at 0635 on Saturday to reach Audierne, 42 miles away, by high tide so that we could berth in the town rather than moor to a buoy at St Evette. We motor sailed in a weak N wind to Penmarc’h then had a good sail tacking to Audierne in an increasing NW wind of 15 – 18K, which eventually reached 23K by evening. In the hot weather you would have expected this to have been a sea breeze, but it was in exactly the wrong direction – a NW wind on a SE-facing coast. This is a local phenomenon, the “vent solaire”. We arrived at Audierne at 1525 to find the harbour office opened Mon – Fri only. Luckily the harbourmaster turned up and sold us some shower jetons, and said it would suit him better if we paid for the berth next day, Sunday evening. He didn’t come on Sunday so we had two nights’ free mooring.

We left Audierne at 0500 on Monday morning, 2h after HW to have enough depth in the channel and to give time to reach the Raz at slack water then get the tide north to Morgat. Within minutes we noticed a lot of steam from the exhaust, then the engine temperature began to rise. We continued sailing slowly west in 8K of NE breeze while we cleared quite a lot of weed from the cooling water filter. Then we found the pipe was completely blocked, and as it has a U-bend and a right-angled coupling to the seacock it couldn’t be cleared with wire. By great good fortune the dinghy inflation pump had an adaptor which fitted the water pipe and some vigorous pumping cleared the blockage. We sailed on to the Raz, reaching La Platte light at 0750. The wind dropped, we drifted with the tide towards Ile de Sein, then the engine took a long time to start, so to be on the safe side we decided to keep it running until we berthed at Morgat at 1315. As it happened, this was the last time the engine caused any problems.

After a day in Morgat we left at 0700 on Wednesday to get the tide up Le Four and along to l’Aber Wrac’h. The wind was a favourable E to NE at 10 – 15K until we were well up Le Four channel at midday. An hour later we started motoring into a light northerly breeze when suddenly 25-30K of NE wind hit us. With this wind against a spring tide between Le Four and l’Aber Wrac’h the sea was extremely unpleasant, and we tacked motoring until we thankfully reached the Libenter buoy at 1630. At l’Aber Wrac’h all the visitor spaces on the outer jetties of the new marina were occupied, but the harbourmaster directed us to a vacant berth inside and used his RIB as a tug to push us in against the wind. We spent a day in L’Aber Wrac’h, walking up the hill to Landéda for provisions. I checked with the Café du Port that they would open at 0700 next day for bread as we wanted a reasonably early departure for Plymouth. By 10 past 8 (local time) it was still firmly shut, although the baker had delivered bags of baguettes on the doorstep. By this time quite a frustrated queue was building up, and as soon as I suggested we operated a self-service routine, leaving the money on the doorstep, everyone pitched in. Breakfast thus secured we left at 0800 (BST). We were puzzled at not seeing the Libenter buoy until what we had thought was a pot marker turned out to be the topmark of the buoy, all the rest being submerged at the top of the spring tide. Whether it had sunk, or the chain is too short for spring tides, we don’t know, but it seemed an odd occurrence for one of the best-known, and very large, marks on this coast. There were also some changes in the restaurant scene at l’Aber Wrac’h. L’Abri du canot, which used to serve excellent mussels in cider, seems to be under new owners who try to persuade you to have an expensive mixed fish dish and have the cheek to charge 23 euros for a bottle of Muscadet you could buy in a shop for 4 euros. However, there is a new restaurant, the Pot de Beurre, next to the Café du Port, opened only this month, which gave us the best meal of the fortnight at a reasonable cost – really great cooking. Another change is that the showers are now included in the mooring fees – you don’t need to obtain jetons.

For our return cross-Channel trip we had light variable winds for six hours then 10-15K of SW wind which allowed us to motor sail at 5K with the engine just ticking over, until 0600 on Saturday when it dropped. We motored past the Eddystone 2 hours later and berthed at PYH at 1035. That day turned out to be the marina’s annual berthholders’ party so we enjoyed a free meal that evening, returning to Bristol on Sunday morning. We were away for 15 days, sailing for ten of them, and covered 448 nM.

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CANARY ISLANDS SAILING – report by skipper Bob Buchanan

10 days June 17 to 27 2009

Boat. Bavaria 41 chartered from Nautilus yachting. (Octopus Eyes)

Crew, Hugh Hayward, Dave “foggy” Fogden, Claire Turner, Becca Hayward, Becky Goddard.

Tuesday 16/6/2009

We picked up a hire car from Bristol airport and all managed to squeeze in and travel late at night to Gatwick airport.

Wednesday 17/6/2009

We boarded our flight at 07.00am to Tenerife.

We were due to pick up the boat at San Miguel, a small harbour about 15 minutes away from the airport, but were told at the last minute the boat was in Santa Cruz, the capital of the island about 35miles away. We were given a free taxi to the boat.

Everything had more or less had gone to plan so far, we did not even loose Foggy in the airport! Too good to be true? Yes. When we arrived at the boat Foggy announced he had picked up the wrong luggage!!! Even after tying a big Nautilus label on his so that he would not loose it. Several phone calls to the airport came to no avail as Easyjet and the baggage handling company were not answering. It was decided to do the handover while the others went to the supermarket for provisions. Foggy started to borrow sunglasses and clothes from the crew. With everything on board we slipped our moorings and headed out of Santa Cruz, south west towards San Miguel. It was getting late so we decided to head for a small bay called “Bahia de Abona” we arrived there in complete darkness and dropped the anchor. We also put the kedge anchor out from our stern. We had a light evening meal and a glass of wine and beer before we all got into our bunks.

Thursday 18/6/2009

We pulled up the anchor at 09.45 and sailed down to San Miguel. The wind was on the nose so we had to put in a few tacks. We had in-mast furling on the main and roller reefing on the not very big genoa. We were getting nowhere fast so we pulled in the sails and motored the rest of the way. We arrived in San Miguel at 12.45. Foggy had a very lucky escape during berthing. He jumped off the boat with the bow line and promptly bounced and somersaulted across the pontoon, nearly landing in the water on the other side of the pontoon and narrowly escaped banging his head against the harbour wall and a big metal post. We were very lucky that we did not have to take him to the hospital as well as the airport! Foggy and Becky got a taxi to the airport to see if he could return the wrong bag and retrieve his. Becca and Hugh went into town and Bob and Claire tried to find the boat charter agents. Becky and Foggy returned having no luck at the airport and still with the wrong bag as they could not leave it with anyone! Bob and Claire checked out the lovely little bar right at the entrance to the harbour, it also contained a small shop and the showers. We left San Miguel at 15.45 and set off for the island of La Gomera.

We had a mixture of motoring and sailing. As you approach La Gomera there is a wind acceleration zone and you have to be prepared for a sudden increase in wind speed.

We arrived in darkness again at 22.45 and berthed stern to on a finger pontoon. Becca cooked a very lovely chicken curry. After a couple of well earned beers and wine we went to bed at 1.00 am.

Friday 19/6/2009

After a bit of a lie in then breakfast, we moved the boat to the fuel pontoon just to top up, we were very surprised to find it came to about 95 euros. The boat was supposed to have been filled up when we done the hand over and it was showing full. A phone call to the agents was made to register a complaint. While all this was going on Foggy was in town buying shorts and a tee shirt, because all he had to wear was some of Becky’s clothes. He also had no electric shaver as this was still in his kit bag probably still going round and round on the carousel in Tenerife airport.

We all decided to go into the bus station and go for a ride around the island. The scenery was breathtaking as the bus winded its way up and down mountain roads. We stopped at the end of the line in a town called San Juan. It is a very pretty place and was getting ready for a carnival. The return trip was just as good. That evening we had our first meal ashore.

Saturday 20/6/2009

We slipped our moorings, or at least tried to at 08.45. We tried to start the engine but we had a flat battery, we were connected to shore power but we think the isolator switch was not set. We tried to find the battery switch but could not find one. Another call to the agents confirmed that there wasn’t one. The domestic side of things was still working as the lights did not dim when we tried to start the engine. We removed the positive lead off the engine start battery and put it straight onto the domestic batteries, this started the engine. Some how the engine battery is doing all the domestic side as well as starting the engine, the domestic batteries don’t seem to be doing anything. This was pointed out to the agents at end of charter. We finally got away at 09.00 and headed west to the island of El Hierro. Again we had a mixture of sailing and motoring. We were heading for the port of Puerto de la Estaca but at the last minute decided to go a couple of miles south to a by called Tijimaraque. it was a lovely little bay so we dropped the anchor and decided to stay the night. Becky & Claire had the first swim of the holiday doing it in style by skinny dipping. We got the dinghy out and put the outboard on it. Bob, Becky and Becca went ashore to see if there were any shops about. In the only little bar on the beach front it was soon discovered there was nothing else about, a couple of houses and that was it. No one spoke English so it was just a couple of glasses of beer and off we went, back to the boat. Back on board bob decided to have a swim and cool off. That night was a chilled out beer, wine and a lovely meal, in a very secluded and calm bay.

Sunday 21/6/2009

We upped anchor at 10.00am and motored into Puerto Del Estaca. We tied up to the harbour wall as there are no pontoons. On shore we found that everything was shut, the café, the shop, everything. There were no buses or taxis so we could not go into town. We found out that things only open on the day the ferry comes to the island, and today was not it. It was then decided to set off to our next destination which was the island of La Palma. We had a few hours of good sailing, close hauled before the wind died down & we had to put the engine on again. We arrived in Santa Cruz the capital of La Palma again in darkness to find quite a big marina but not many boats in it. There is a lot of building work going on, and a look at the plans shows it will be very impressive when it is finished. It was another quick meal and a drink then bed.

Monday 22/6/2009

The morning was spent getting provisions as we were very short of things due to the fact the last island we came from was shut. Foggy went off shopping to buy some shorts and tee shirts as Becky wanted her clothes back. In the afternoon we got a bus and went to the south of the island to visit volcano San Antonio. In the visitors’ centre we watched a film of the island and how the volcanoes were formed, we then went out to the rim of the crater and walked part of the way around it. One of the volcanoes erupted in 1971. Next was the bus back to the marina, it was very scenic going through small villages and really windy roads. That night we all went to a very lovely restaurant and the meals were even better.

Tuesday 23/6/2009

As it looked like the prettiest island we hired a couple of cars for the day. (27 euros each) We headed north to see the “caldera de Taburiente” the biggest volcanic crater on earth. It measures 1500 m deep and 6 miles in diameter. The views were very spectacular. We the drove up to the telescopes and observatories, these are the most important in the northern hemisphere, we were at almost 2500 metres, and the air is quite fresh at this altitude.

We then drove across the island and down to a small fishing village called Tazacorte then back across the island to Santa Cruz. That evening we went back to the same restaurant as the night before and had another excellent meal.

Wednesday 24/6/2009

We slipped our moorings at 1045. We were waiting for a mechanic to come with a spare part for the fridge as it had been playing up. (They did not arrive as promised the previous afternoon.) First it was half an hour, then an hour then maybe three hours. We did not want to wait any longer so we left. Our destination was Los Gigantes back on Tenerife. We had an excellent day’s sail with the wind averaging 14 knots all day. We were close hauled and the boat was perfectly balanced. At times we did not touch the wheel for at least half an hour (no, the auto pilot was not on) at 2000 hrs about six dolphins came by the boat to have a look at us. We also had to reduce sail area as the wind was picking up, gusting 24 knots, main and genoa were reefed in because just reefing the genoa made the boat quite a bit uncontrollable. As we came alongside the lee of the island the wind just disappeared, so it was engine on for the last couple of miles. We entered Los Gigantes just after low water. We knew we would not have much depth and we showed zero as we went in. we berthed at 2115. That night we had a drink and a meal in the harbour.

Thursday 25/6/2009

We went ashore for breakfast then had a look around the shops. Then we all went to a swimming pool right next to the harbour. We all spent the rest of the day there just swimming having a drink and lazing in the sun. That evening Claire and Foggy took the dinghy out to investigate a marine farm underneath the cliffs. The highlight was seeing a dolphin that was very close to the shore catching and eating a very large fish.

That evening we all ate out in the harbour.

Friday 26/6/2009

We slipped our moorings at 1215 for a short sail to Los Cristianos. We dropped anchor in the bay and had lunch and a swim. At 1730 we upped anchor and set off for San Miguel. There was no wind at all so we had to motor. With about six or seven miles to go, bob decided to have a lie down. The helm asked him for a course to steer and was told 060 degrees. At 0645 the engine was slowed down and Bob appeared in the companion way and asked what was going on. We are here, came the reply, we can’t be said Bob, our E.T.A is 0730. He came into the cockpit to see the harbour breakwater and masts. O.K. said Bob, slightly bewildered, starboard side to and go straight to the fuel pontoon. As we got to the fuel pontoon Bob said when we left here just over a week ago there was a big blue and white building with showers a shop and a bar on top with a lovely veranda, IT’S GONE. With that the fuel attendant came out and said we have no fuel you will have to go around the bay to San Miguel, we were in the wrong harbour!!! Bob had to take some flak about not knowing where he was and not knowing where he was going. As we motored out of the wrong harbour bob checked his GPS. San Miguel was on a course of 060 degrees and was still a couple of miles away, it just that we had to travel over land to get there. (The charts on board are very vague and the chart plotter was just as bad, very little detail of harbours are shown, if at all) We finally arrived in San Miguel at 1930 refuelled and berthed. That night we had a meal ashore only to be plagued by mosquitoes. Back on board things got worse as the mozzys followed us and made our last night hell.

The next day the taxis picked us up at 1000hrs to take us to the airport. We got there and Foggy was reunited with his luggage. Unfortunately the person that had his luggage taken by foggy had gone home a few days earlier.

We all had a fantastic ten days, some of the sailing was very good and some days we needed more wind. Canary Island sailing is definitely recommended

N Miles logged 333

Night hours 3.5

Helford – l’Aber Wrac’h race, June 26 – 27, report by Malcolm Price

This was on Tim Sandford’s Dehler Optima 32 “Dehlerious”, with Malcolm, Bill Thomas and Jon Wood as crew. Tim had moved the boat from the Solent previously (see Bill’s report last month) and had rented a house with a mooring in St Austell Bay. They sailed to Helford for the usual pre-race festivities, which were more than usual, with a barbecue and fireworks, as it was the 50th anniversary race. There were 75 entries, many having come over from France, including the very smartly uniformed crew of “Calypso”.

They were given a start time of 1445, and the only sailing rule was to leave the Manacles buoy to starboard. It was misty with light winds to start with, then had a good sail with a southerly wind on the nose, tacking towards l’Aber Wrac’h. In the early hours of Saturday the wind dropped, then became SE. They were aiming to be up-tide when they reached the coast, but by 0900 they were floundering with no wind. The time limit was 4 pm, and Tim decided to carry on. Malcolm and Jon were on watch when the wind rose again when they were still 20 miles from the coast, but it died again at 3 pm so they were out of time. Only 17 boats made it on time. That evening they ate in the Capitainerie restaurant. The smart French crew of “Calypso” came 2nd - a British yacht won.

Instead of the usual Saturday night reception, as it was the 50th anniversary the YC des Abers had arranged a Sunday lunchtime event, with lots of food and wine, and a band and sea shanties. This was in the Semaphore, up the hill from the village, where there was a 50th anniversary exhibition with photos from past years, which included some of Alan Howells’ BSA crews of recent years.

The left on the Sunday evening back to St Austell Bay, starting with a spinnaker run in a SW wind, then having to motor until they had a NW wind for the last 4 hours.

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Solent to St Vaast on “Lady Emma”, July 9/12 2009 – report by Becky Goddard

Skipper: Becca Hayward

Crew: Bob Buchanan, Becky Goddard, Hugh Hayward, Dave(Foggy) Fogden, Paul Ashbee ,Dave (Winksy) Winks

We all arrived on the Barberis 42 on the Wednesday evening on her berth at Ocean Quay, Itchen, Southampton. Various passage plans had been mooted but the skipper had opted for leaving the Solent at 06.30 the next morning to make the best of the tides and winds to reach Cherbourg. The plan also included sailing to St Vaast La Hougue on the Friday and leaving from there for our return trip to Southampton.

After a late supper and a fair night’s sleep we were all up and off the mooring by 06.05 – and at 06.10 we were aground just below the Itchen bridge! The very low spring tide had narrowed the channel and we believe the river is also silting up – that’s our excuse anyway!

There was no wind so we motored down towards Wight and the Eastern exit from the Solent via Bembridge. A serious “full English” was cooked by Becky en route.

As we rounded the Island the wind began to rise and we had the forecast F4 from the NW for the rest of the day. It was beautifully sunny and warm so bare shoulders and legs were on show by 10.00!

Our speed was excellent and the wind steady – later in the day it was decided to aim for St Vaast directly and we made our landfall 20 minutes after the lock gate had opened.

Foggy put us very neatly into a berth about 22.00 and we had a late supper on board.

It was decided to leave Cherbourg out of the itinerary since St Vaast is such a delightful town so after a late breakfast we all took the amphibious ferry to Ile de Tatihou off the coast. This has fortifications, a museum and lovely gardens and the return trip costs 8 euros.

After our return everyone got cleaned up for an evening on the town and we went in search of a restaurant. Becky had previously been to The Fuschias (past the Post Office) and we sat down to a gourmet meal. Prices ranged from 28 – 40 euros and the drinks as in the town cafes were from 3 – 8 euros, quite a lot more expensive than previous trips to France!(the record on our visit was 6 euros for a pint of lager!!)

After a good sleep we awoke to grey skies although the forecast for the next 24 hours looked promising with F4 SW winds backing to W during Sunday. We had a day pottering round the town and viewing the remains of the market after a big cooked breakfast. Although we had booked a table in La Debarcadere it wasn’t ready when we arrived for an early dinner and the food was well below par both on the previous night’s meal and previous visits – a pity.

The lock gate was due to open just after 23.00 and we slipped our mooring in slight drizzle to find the wind from the South about 6-8 knots and the compass light not working! Bless head torches which we rigged on the binnacle! After setting the sails (one reef in the main and the No 2 genny) for a downwind run we started our watch system which got shot to pieces when the wind began to rise and we decided to put the second reef in the (new) main. The sail itself started pulling out of the boom track and both the foredeck crews’ and the helmsman’s jobs became more difficult with a rising following swell.

Eventually the watch system started again and some very tired eyes saw the dawn at fivish – the sea was grey, the sky was grey but it had stopped raining! The wind had at last gone round to the West and we did a very controlled gybe since the main was not happy with a tear appearing at the reefing points. Slowly the sun appeared and the wind picked up to a lively 20 -25 knots and as we entered the Solent via Bembridge it touched 33 knots. Becca bless her heart made big breakfast butties despite the bouncy conditions! During the night we had taken down the genny and when the wind settled in the West we hoisted the storm jib. Eventually we decided to get up the Solent without stopping at Cowes and since the main was again pulling out of its track we ditched the sails and motored up the North Channel until we entered Southampton Water when we hoisted the storm jib again and sailed on it alone up to the Itchen entrance. We reached the mooring about 16.30 and then began a long clear up of the general chaos of a night passage – bedding everywhere and wet weather gear in various places. We all wanted a cup of tea but during the trip we had seemingly run out of water and also had a lot of it sloshing around in the bilges so an investigation was held and an electrical failure was deduced – since the boat was going out the next morning we rang round to find the resident boat man who turned up about 19.00. The courtesy flag halyard had jammed with the French flag still on it so Hugh was winched up to fix it.

We finally left for home about 19.30 after a very interesting and demanding trip – many thanks to Becca for skippering us and earning her bottle of bubbly after the outward Channel crossing – her first as Skipper.

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Dartmouth to South Uist (Outer Hebrides) 24 May – 24 June 2009 – report by Keith Fisher

A member of Portishead Cruising Club had approached BSA to see if anyone wanted to join two others on this epic 1,500 mile trip to the outer Hebrides and back. The boat owner – John de Haume – was looking for someone to join them as the only other crewmember was John’s cousin (Ray) who was 71 and had never sailed before !!!

The boat was a Beneteau Oceanis 381 that was well equipped for cruising.

As well as “George” (auto helm) it had a “Mildred” (wind vane steering), it also had photo electric panels and a wind generator so no problem in keeping the battery topped up which allowed us to keep the fridge running all the time. This is an important consideration when you might not visit a source of fresh food for five days.

The first leg was 235 miles to Milford Haven a 44hr sail which was quite a baptism of fire for our novice crew member but he seemed to enjoy it. The sailing was mixed with some motor sailing but also some excellent “ proper” sailing. In Milford Haven we met up with another boat from Portisead and we sailed together for the next three legs.

We left Milford Haven 12 hours later than planned to allow for a very wet F7-F8 to blow through.

On leaving we passed through the worst overfalls I have ever experienced, on one occasion we crashed off the top of a wave with such violence that we lost the whole of the masthead light. At this point our novice crewmember was lying on his bunk thinking that he had made a bad decision. Things improved and we sailed on to Holyhead (140m).We stayed a day in Holyhead and took full advantage of their new marina facilities.

The next leg was a fairly short hop (60m) to Douglas IOM and tied up in their packed but picturesque harbour. We were one week before the start of the TT races but there were plenty of bikes and bikers zooming around to add to the local colour.

The next leg was IOM to Bangor NI for a last top up on everything before heading off for the Hebrides.

The plan was to sail to St Kilda the most westerly and most exposed of the Outer Hebrides, but after a day and a night of beating into a F6 and a big sea we decided to turn right and head for Tiree and spend a quiet night at anchor and catch up on some sleep.

The next day we were escorted by dolphins as we sailed between Tiree and Coll and headed west to Barra the southernmost of the outer Hebrides. Castle Bay was a good safe anchorage and we took time to explore the island.

By this time Ray had forgotten the overfalls and was really enjoying himself.

After a couple of days in Barra we sailed north to Eriskay. After an overnight stay at anchor we sailed on to Loch Skiport at the northern end of south Uist. This was the first of the truly spectacular anchorages.

The next day we sailed 44 m to the east to Skye and anchored in Loch Scavig to the south of the island a truly spectacular anchorage with the Black Cuillin Mountains towering above us and a family of seals playing in the loch.

The next day it was a fairly short hop (14m) to Rum and took time to visit the grand hunting lodge that was built on the island by an English mill owner.

From Rum we sailed south past Muck to the very pretty Tobermory on Mull.

The next day was a long haul (83m) south down the Sound of Mull passing to the east of Jura and on to Islay. This bit of the trip required some careful planning of times of tides as in some parts you could have a 7 knot lift or go backwards. We passed the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan where it is claimed at some states of wind and tide the noise of the wild water crashing can be heard 10 miles away.

Whilst on Islay we visited the Laphroaig distillery and watched the national finals of the beach rugby.

From Islay it was back to Bangor NI then a 95m sail south to Howth (Dublin) which allowed us a couple of days sightseeing before setting out on the long (310 m) sail back to Dartmouth.

It was a fantastic experience, would I do it again, probably not, better to fly to Scotland then start sailing.

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