Tag: OGA

Sailing to the East Coast 1: Eastbourne

Our much anticipated cruise to the East coast, to attend the OGA diamond anniversary party in Ipswich, began a few days early. A forecast for bad weather caused the demise of our planned cross-channel trip, but one good day allowed Niki and I to set off on the first leg of our cruise instead.

It was was a glorious morning to set off, sunny but no wind. We made good time with tide and engine; the wind filled in later and we were able to sail the last few hours of our passage.

After a spirited run past the iconic Beachy Head, we arrived at Sovereign Harbour after 62nm and averaging 5.5kt, about an hour sooner than I had expected!

Southsea Rally

It’s a pleasure to visit somewhere new and what better way than in company! I was very happy to join a rally in Langstone harbour with the Solent OGA group. Langstone is a place I had never previously visited, sandwiched between our home patch of Portsmouth harbour and the ever-popular Chichester harbour.

Tom Cunliffe describes Langstone as a piece of wilderness, between these two high developed and much manicured areas of water. Southsea harbour is accessed over a cill which open at about half tide. Since this window of opportunity was centred on mid-afternoon, Niki and I set off as soon as the sea breeze kicked in.

Rather than sailing the quickest route (only 5M), we reached out to sea past the forts and then tacked back inshore towards Langstone harbour mouth. The pilot warns of strong tides and that was exactly what we got – we swept in at about 6kt, but others who had arrived on full flood made more than 9kt over the ground!

The weekend was a pleasant mix of good food and enjoyable company, with an afternoon cruise on Saturday. We’d had blistering weather for the arrival day, but Saturday morning was grey and some rain, but as our flotilla passed out into the harbour for a cruise, the weather brightened up and the gentle breeze made for a very relaxed trip.

I was surprised by the scarcity of boats (or moorings) in the main part of the water (unlike Chichester) and it’s clear this is a great place to anchor. Our local guides agreed, but I got the impression they’d rather it remained off the list of popular anchorages!

Sunday morning was an early start and we crossed the cill at 7am before the falling tide confined all to the marina for the morning. There was no wind at all, so I motored along the 4m contour, close enough to the shore to watch the early morning swimmers, joggers and dog-walkers on the beach. I passed through the inshore small boat passage, past Southsea pier and back into Portsmouth, leaving us plenty of time to tidy the boat before returning home in plenty of time.

Tied up alongside *Nancy Blackett*, once owned by Arthur Ransome, bought from the proceeds of Swallows and Amazons and the model for the boat in his book *We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea*

It’s not often I get an excuse to pass through this small boat passage very close inshore

Huw, the rally organiser, on his Norfolk Gypsy, *Mincarlo*

Giving Molly’s hull a clean prior to the rally, ready for her summer voyages

Poole but not Weymouth

Our plan after the Yarmouth regatta was to sail West to Poole, Weymouth and then hopefully Dartmouth. Niki joined me aboard, with Alice and her friend Lauren, hot-foot from their success at the regional volleyball finals. The wind had been in the East or NE for the past week and was forecast to stay that way for the coming week. The fresh or strong wind made for rapid passage westward, but with no letup forecast, did not bode well for the return journey.

We set off from Yarmouth with the ebb tide, under jib only. The sea state was smooth and we enjoyed a sunny ride past the needles. We could see the coastguard rescue helicopter hovering over Alum Bay and lowering a crew; we later learned that a man had been rescued from the beach having been missing overnight.

Coastguard helicopter dangling a rescuer from the winch

From there, we ran West with a clear view of the white rocks of Handfast Point, some 12nm distant. We were expecting to move on to Weymouth the next day, treating the girls (both of whom are studying geology at A-level) to a close up view of the Jurassic coast. Old Harry and Harry’s Wife were this intended as aperitifs for this experience, but they were nonetheless impressed.

We ran before the wind across the bay and then into Poole harbour. The wind was such that we had to pass around the north of Brownsea Island, to anchor in the shallows near Pottery pier. This gave us the afternoon, in which the girls swam and I made a veggie curry in the thermal cooker. During the dinner time discussion, we reached the conclusion that Weymouth was not a good idea and so determined to return to Gosport the following day.

I had not brought so much as a pack of cards, so we had several rounds of “animal, vegetable or mineral?”, much to Lauren’s bemusement.

The following morning, I had the teens inflating Aurelia for the short row ashore and a stroll on Brownsea Island. It was interesting to see the remains of the village and spot a few of the resident red squirrels.

After that, it was time to batten down the hatches and battle back upwind. I was hopi great we would be able to sail, but the wind was thoroughly “on the nose” and this was a longer leg than the girls had bargained for, so I motored. We made great time despite the head wind, with the tide under us and Andy the Autopilot steering an arrow-like course across Bournemouth Bay.

Sweeping into the Solent past Hurst Point

We passed into the Solent via the North Passage and the strong flood ushered us past Gilkicker in great time, arriving back at POG in time for a welcome visit meal at the Castle Tavern prior to the girls’ early bus back to the midlands.

Yacht Lady Belle as she beat up the Solent

YOGAF 2023

The Yarmouth OGA Festival is my favourite weekend in the Solent Gaffers calendar. It attracts gaffers large and small, old and new and it’s great to chat to so many other owners. This friendly event has a great social scene but the highlight event is the Saturday race. Here are some photos from the harbour and the race.

Thanks to Sue Pennison and the Solent OGA committee for organising, to Tim and Liz Dodwell for taking me out on High Barbaree and to all the other sailors who make this such an enjoyable event.

So, what’s a Gaffel race?

At the annual Whitsun gathering of the Solent Gaffers a race format has taken root that is rather different to the familiar “pursuit” or “handicap” formats. A Gaffel race is a format borrowed from the Dutch gaffers and consists of a course in which the skippers choose from a range of different legs. It’s a subtly tactical situation, because one must take account of tide, wind and the peculiarities of one’s own boat. All the competitors start at the same time and must finish by a specific time (or earlier); those crossing the finishing line late suffer a penalty. Each leg has an “official” distance and can be sailed no more than twice. The winner is the skipper with the fastest average speed, taking into account the boat’s handicap.

Today’s race at YoGaff 2023 in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight attracted a range of boats from small trailer sailers to heavy displacement gaffers and took place in a good breeze of wind, but any skipper that failed to account the famously strong tides in the Western Solent was punished mercilessly. Whether front runner or retiree, all had a lovely afternoon and a story or too to tell at the post race barbecue. Thanks to the Solent Gaffers for organising this wonderful regatta and Royal Solent Yacht Club for running the race.

Leathering the gaff saddle

On traditional gaffers, the gaff jaws are often covered in leather to help them slide along the mast and prevent wear on the mast. Whilst the Crabber 26 is not a traditional gaffer, I do like the “leather look” and it’s not that hard to do.

When we bought Molly, I noticed there was quite a bit of wear on the mast where the gaff saddle sits, especially in the position when the sail is furled. Some wear is inevitable on a gaffer, but it seemed excessive. Inspecting the gaff saddle, which is a pretty substantial piece of stainless on a Crabber 26, I could see that it was lined with a piece of plastic resembling a vinyl floor tile. Over time, this had cracked and split at the edges and appeared to be the cause of the wear. One thing I’ve long made a habit of doing when moored is to use an extra line to secure the boom towards the stern quarter and stop it moving. I’m sure over time, the constant shifting of the boom considerably adds to wear where the gaff saddle sits against the mast.

I have some experience of leathering gaff jaws on my previous boat, but the design of the gaff jaws is quite different on the Crabber 26 to my previous boat, a Cape Cutter 19. I took advice from those in the know, and Sue Pennison in the Solent OGA was very helpful. She suggested a “sandwich” arrangement using a saddle stitch. I bought my materials from Classic Marine in Suffolk, costing about £40 for the whole job. They supply pieces of the correct type leather; you simply specify the size you need and they charge you by the square foot (!). They also see tough rot-proof twine and sail-makers needles. Before starting, I took a diploma at the University of YouTube on how to do the saddle stitch (easy!). The photos below show the main stages in the process.

The condition of the gaff saddle when I started; you can see the damage to the original lining which I think was the cause of my mast wear.

I used a paint stripper to warm the plastic and soften the adhesive – this made removing the material much easier, but I was careful to minimise heating of the metal.

The leather was supplied in large rough cut pieces. After very careful measurements, I cut a piece which was the correct height (allowing for a 5mm seam top and bottom) but over-long, because I was not sure how much length I needed as the leather was stitched around the curve.

The trickiest part was making cut-outs for the various fittings on the back of the saddle. Despite my careful measurements, I did make one mistake (one of the large slots was too big). Measure twice (or more!), cut once… Fortunately this error does not show when the saddle is fitted. You can see I drew an outline of the metal and then added the seam allowance.

The inner piece was very easy to cut. I measured along the leather with my trusty Portland dividers, and marked with a sharpie where the holes should be, so the stitching would look even. Before fitting, I wetted the leather, to make it more supple. I held the sandwich in place with small clamps and then drilled holes. I made the holes in small batches, so that the position would be right, as the leather conformed to the curve of the saddle. Saddle stitch is a very easy stitch, using two needles cross-crossing each other. Very satisfying work!

Top and bottom now stitched. The leather is ready for trimming to size at the ends.

The ends now trimmed to size. I let the leather dry and then cut with a good pair of scissors. Note the holes drilled in measured positions, ready for stitching.

The finished work! Overall I’m really happy with the result – looks great and, a few months later, much less wear on my mast.

Yarmouth and back

As the season draws to an end, there was one more rally to attend. The gathering was in Yarmouth, which is always a lovely place to visit. There was to be an informal OGA gathering on the Friday night, followed by a race and formal dinner on Saturday, organised by Royal Solent YC. I couldn’t attend the Saturday events, as I needed to return to Gosport to pick Niki up, but I was treated to a magnificent sail down on Friday afternoon. The ebb was in full swing, so I had almost 2kt of fair tide. The unusual NW direction of the wind gave a fast point of sail on a single tack the whole way – a broad reach most of the time. This was my first long sail since I re-stepped the mast (more on that later) and I was hoping the heavy weatherhelm had been improved. I set out with 2 reefs in, as I was solo and wanted to check the reefing, but shook one of the reefs out as soon as I was out of the lee of Gilkicker point and could feel the breeze that would carry me to the other end of the Solent.

Molly didn’t dip below 8kt between Cowes and Yarmouth!

*Alva*, a 170ft 1939 Swedish luxury yacht, at anchor off Lee-on-Solent

As usual it there was plenty to see – not much commercial shipping, but pleasure craft of all sizes, including many interesting boats (see photos). The trip was completed in very quick time; Molly was making between eight and nine knots from Cowes to Yarmouth! She handled beautifully – the helm was almost completely neutral with single reefed main, staysail and jib, the weatherhelm only pulling in the bigger gusts.

*Marjorie*, a Shilling Yawl going great guns past Cowes

Colregs? Normally you don’t want to see a cargo ship from that angle, but fortunately this one is anchored!

Yarmouth pier in the evening, with flag at half mast for Queen Elizabeth, and the forest of sails at Lymington in the distance on the mainland.

A lovely evening on Molly with Maggie and Huw of Minarlo (nearest the camera) and Tom of Marjorie and myself.

Yarmouth harbour had not been able to put all the gaffers together, so we were a little dispersed. I ended up on a pontoon with Marjorie, who I had sailed alongside down the Solent, rafted to me. Nearby was Mincarlo, a Norfolk Gypsy, whose Maggie and Huw we’d met several times at events this season. We enjoyed some excellent fish and chips from the Blue Crab (highly recommended- they have a booking system so you can be sure it’s been cooked to order!

The following day was much lighter, but still a NW breeze. I had to leave at midday, in order to catch the flood tide and was expecting to motor for at least some of the way, but ended up sailing the whole time in the sun, varying between a relaxed amble and a brisk trot. All in all, quite a treat!

*Mincarlo* slipping her warps to return home

Paddle steamer Waverley, seen on both legs of this journey

Yarmouth gaffers

Every year, the Solent area OGA holds a rally in the lovely Isle of Wight town of Yarmouth. It’s always an enjoyable weekend and this year, owing to the Platinum Jubilee, it was over four days, instead of the usual three.

My passage back from Falmouth had been timed to be able to attend this rally, so I was glad Ben and I had had no delays sailing Molly to her new home waters. I dropped Ben in Lymington and took the opportunity to re-provision there too, before crossing the Solent again into Yarmouth.

It was great to see attendance up on last year, following the cancellation of the event in 2020 (last year I attended in Aurora, as part of the Cape Cutter 19 rally) and there was a pleasant pontoon drinks party to restore connections from previous years.

The last few long days of sailing caught up with me and I retired to bed early after a delicious steak cooked aboard and a glass or two of red. In the morning I woke refreshed and had a leisurely start before sailing back to Lymington once more to collect Niki, who returned to the boat after a few days at home with Alice.

After eating a rather good paella cooked in our thermal cooker, we repaired to the sailing club for live music and dancing. After a nightcap aboard Molly with the intrepid crew of Miss Ningi, we hit the sack.

Saturday morning is always the gaffer race, organised by Royal Solent SC, but sadly the race was cancelled this year, as the wind was too strong.

Niki and I elected for a walk and enjoyed a wonderful seven-mile loop to Freshwater Bay on the south of the island. This was an absolute treat, taking in cool woodland, rolling farmland and the marshes along the banks of the river Yar.

Boats on the Yar seen from the lovely wooded footpath along the old railway line

The event was rounded off with prize giving and a BBQ meal; see you all next year!