For some days leading up to the event, a close and watchful eye was kept on the weather forecasts, as they lurched from damp, to very wet and back again! However, we were not to be put off, and slowly, slowly, the forecasts improved enough for us to become a little less pessimistic.

I personally have been to 5 concerts over recent years, and never yet had a wet one! So with maybe unfounded optimism, and a bit of a prayer, we made ready to welcome our crew, Maureen and Diana BC and set sail for East Cowes, (via Gosport to collect Robert).

The weather remained fair as it turned out, there was no queue for the lock and the short passage on Friday from Chichester to Gosport was enjoyable, for once, with winds in the right direction to allow us to sail in a relaxed manner, rather than beat!

Friday night dinner was a traditional affair aboard Sea Dream with chicken soup, roast chick, garden veggies etc! This sailing club definitely sails on its stomach; always has, and I sincerely hope always will!

Robert arrived ahead of time on Saturday morning, hot foot from the railway via the greenie ferry! We made off for East Cowes and once again enjoyed a fair old sail, with definite hints of increasing periods of warm and sunny weather, and friendly winds.

Such good progress was made that we were able to drop the hook, and bob around in Osborne bay for an hour for a leisurely lunch on deck, in advance of the serious eating and drinking of bubbly to come later on.

Moored up in East Cowes Marina, we were joined by Nigel and Barbara for a welcome cup of tea prior to packing up at least half the contents of the food lockers and fridge, together with folding chairs, chilled bubbly, rugs, wetties etc, etc and pile all into our aged, but loyal wheelie shopping trolley… not so fashionable I grant you, but fit for purpose still after some 20 years of good use by Avi!

Steve, Louise, Anna and Yamma arrived in good time and soon we were all propelled, courtesy of the ever-efficient Jones’ Taxi service, to the grounds of Osborne house, arriving just as doors were opening, and laying claim to a prime pitch. The landlubbers:- Hilary and Nick, Victor, Gerry, Nigel and Barbara, and Steve and Val joined us as we set about laying out a veritable feast.

Much eating, drinking and amiable banter ensued, until some sort of hush fell as the concert began.

The Master Singers, William Tell and Star Wars, preceeded the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Danse Macabre, Strauss polkas (complete with some prancing and dancing from a few active members) giving rise to some very Close Encounters of several kinds!!!

The second half of the programme was the predictable, familiar with the “never can do without” works that feature annually at the last night of the proms in any location. Complete with the HSSC version of the sailor’s hornpipe performed with much vigour, endless flag flying and a definitely hearty round of Rule Britannia and Jerusalem, we ooohed and aaahed with the fireworks until the very last spark and ember had died away.
 

The informality of the evening, and the fairly close, friendly and intimate location shared by some many hundreds of like-minded folk gives this event its longevity and enjoyability and is why we shall return for many years we hope.

A tired but happy bunch returned to boats, guest houses, and hotels, and sleep came easy!

The following day dawned sunny and bright, and although Sea Dream encountered problems with her battery charger ably dealt with by Sea Start, otherwise known as AA for the Solent, we were all on our way home by 12.00 noon. A spritely downwind sail East in good time was only marred by the absence of free flow at the now infamous Chichester Lock. Because of the time of high water and due to the restrictions of the Neap tide, some 40 boats or more had arrived at the lock all at once and the resulting melee and scrummage persisted for more than an hour, standing ground, (or actually water!) all the time. Not fun, and definitely not what you want at the end of such a commodious weekend.

However, all was well in the end, with the stalwart Captain Avi saying calm and cool throughout. That doesn’t mean that the skippers mate, remained equally so, but that minor domestic is not subject for this report!

All had a fab time, and we are definitely planning to return next year, together with an even larger number of members and their boats, it is hoped.

Dates for next year’s concert will be available in due course from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra web-site:- www.bsolive.com

Sandy Riegler
Sea Dream

NO HEROES this year, No wind, No race but YES, beautiful sunshine and Yes sparkling blue seas and YES the largest midsummer gathering for many years with 8 boats and 30 members dining together at the Royal London Yacht Club on Cowes Parade.

It seemed the only craft moving anywhere on the Solent were those under power!

The Rally afternoon’s principal pleasure was watching Gallivant approaching her marina berth with young Anna on the bow line and the twins and Jo on the aft lines.  Dan manoeuvred himself brilliantly into a 37ft space (Gallivant is 36ft) and a round of applause went up from a very large watching audience aboard moored marina boats.

As promised, this year the Rally met up in a different marina – Shepard’s Wharf proved to be a popular venue (the shower blocks were large, luxurious and empty and the Marina nightlife peaceful !

The HEROES Chocky’s Challenge box will remain unopened until next year.  Of the five boats in the rally departure area Sea Dream and Casco were the only two to make it across the line before they too succumbed, as had the others, to the westerly tidal flow and no wind. 

In addition to Bagadeus, Blue Lady, Casco, Gallivant and Sea Dream, joining us at Shepard’s Wharf were Ulysses, Glissando (surprise surprise) and Chai of Burnham.  Commodore Stanley amused us with his anecdotes, SC Gill said her usual bit and we had the pleasure of Barbara and Nigel Reese and Lyn Bolland’s company at the Dinner as well

Gill Woodbridge

Victor and Robert again joined owner Mike and 1st mate Pete on Matahari for the 80th anniversary Round the Island (RTI) race, started in 1931 to commemorate the 1851 race won by the America of “America’s Cup” fame.  On August 22, 1851, the America raced against 15 yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron in the Club's annual 53-nautical-mile regatta around the Isle of Wight. America won, finishing 8 minutes ahead of the closest yacht Apocryphally. 

We even practised, but it did not help sufficiently to win.   Matahari is based in Haslar and had her bottom wiped at Hardway Marina, and a new main and genoa fitted ahead of the big day.  Water was low, fuel even lower.  The total complement was 8 of varying competence. 

On Friday we set sail for Cowes past Ryde church a few times.  The weather was not warm, but we did get a good sail.  No spinnaker practice though.

The Group 5 start time was 07h10 and we slipped East Cowes at 06h30.  The visibility was poor / foggy, the wind was getting up quite nicely, sails up, engine off, engine on, down sail to put one reef in – it was two later, engine off, and the start gun goes.  We are on starboard tack and were nearly rammed by some idiot for a later starting group hoisting sail across the start line.  Banker.  Pete told him so.

We tacked down to the Needles, with some of us acting as ballast – not quite dangling legs over the side – that would have been too professional.  At the Needles there was quite a lot of traffic, sufficient to need a bow lookout.  Some say the waves were 25 ft high, others 28 – it all depends on what reports you read – I was bow lookout and did not have a tape measure with me, but Victor says “yes”.  Suffice to say that when the bow rises on a wave it’s an awful long way down to the water in the next trough, followed a few seconds later by half calf (human rather than bovine) deep in water as the bow goes through the next crest.  Manic – but good fun.  One gets a very good almost bird’s eye view of other’s cockpits when sailing parallel to them.  This is the stuff photos are made of, but the weather was such that I did not want to risk my camera.  I did not see Beken at St Catherine’s like last year.

The lifeboat was nowhere to be seen at the Needles guiding yachts to keep clear of the wreck; it was somewhere in the bay towards Poole.  They were called out over 60 times for a variety of incidents including 6 dismastings.

We turned and were now going downwind on a starboard broad reach, with a preventer on, dong the “outside” route – straight line to St Catherine’s Point.  We were doing quite well till a gust turned the boat 90° to starboard with two boats there already.  We missed, probably only by a bit more than the thickness of the gel coat, by continuing to turn instead of trying to recover.

At St Catherine’s there were two features to avoid, an upturned cat and a fully inflated liferaft trailing behind another yacht.   The journey from there to Bembridge was relatively uneventful.  Between Bembridge buoy and the forts we passed another upturned cat, this time with the cabin visible – the one at St Catherine’s looked like a shark.

The home run was another tacking job up the Solent, and eventually the fogginess cleared and the sun came out, as did the helicopters.  The winds died a bit from F6 gusting mid F7, enough to knock a reef out.  We came across the third upturned yacht, probably a cat, but this time in tow by a couple of ribs.  Almost in the same place as last year there was a yacht aground on the sands on to the east of Ryde.  Last year it was Sunsail, this year it was a gaff rig “oldie”.  We couldn’t quite make the finish line on a single tack so tried to go into Osborne Bay and out again.  The end result was that we got to within a couple of boat lengths of the finish line when “water” was called by a boat on starboard tack.  Where did he think we could go to with a host of boats all trying to get over the line?  We finished.

We did not hit anything, nothing hit us, we did not sink – that was Pete’s department.  Mike fed us while we were going round, and by the time we got to the finish line the sun was shining properly; we went back to East Cowes to recover followed by a meal in the Island Sailing Club of which Mike is a member.

How did we do?  Mike’s aim was to better 9 hours.  We did, just, at 8h56m11s actual and 8h59m56s on corrected time.  We were 16th out of 30 finishers in 5A, and 437 overall compared with last year’s result of 28 out of 38 and 677 overall.  Overall, there were 1908 boats registered, of which1305 finished, 433 retired, and 16 were disqualified.  For more info see http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk/web/code/php/main.php?section=home .

On Sunday morning the sun had come out, the wind had dropped, and we went for a gentle potter back to Haslar.  And then the fog rolled in.  Lunch in Haslar was a rather over-heated affair – too much sun and too little shade, and all the while, the background was the fog horns of the boats in the Solent.

Do it again next year? You bet.

Robert.

Click on link for more details of this race which took place under quite gruelling conditions.

Link

The subject of water, especially swimming or sailing in it or on it is a topic that does not fit easily with the Jewish people.  When the good Lord took the children across the Red Sea not only did he have to part the waters to allow them to walk across, but the sand underneath had to be dry.  Indeed it is my view that the Jews were so relieved to get away from water, be it the Red Sea or the River Nile, that it was for this reason they spent forty years wandering in the desert.

    How much more unlikely therefore would it be that there is in existence a Jewish Sailing Club in North West London.  North West London is not known for its amazing pieces of water or sea and it is my belief that generally Jews have an aversion to water and hence to sailing.  Nevertheless it is indeed correct that there is a Club known as The High Seas Sailing Club which was founded by Jews for Jews and sails with Jewish participants.

    Imagine the scene, going on a sailing boat which sleeps say 6 people and equipping it for a period of perhaps a long weekend. Thursday night through to Monday.  It takes a while for the six person team to realise that they do not need at least two outfits every day for four days and that they are going to be wearing their wet gear most of the time, especially if you are sailing on the South Coast.  Furthermore on a yacht that is even say 40ft long, the available spaces for storage of clothes and make up, cosmetic equipment and all the accoutrements that one would take on a long weekend just are not there.  In an ideal world one needs to come with soft foldable bags and soft and very foldable and uncrushable clothes.  Much of the trip is self-catering so what is of great necessity, especially on a Jewish boat is food.  Learning to cater for 6 people for 4 days, (and as you bring your own you can bring your chicken dinner for Friday night), is really quite a work of art.  The idea is that you should have little or no food over at the end of the fourth day when you re-pack to leave, but of course, there always is.  There is a saying that on a non-Jewish boat one never goes thirsty and the alcohol runs freely.  On a Jewish boat one never goes hungry and there is usually a shortage of alcohol.

    Even more astounding is that of the people who go on the boat at least half of them will know how to sail.  Obviously some with a greater degree of skill than others and just like driving a car there are good sailors and bad sailors.  When my wife and I first started sailing we were not just inexperienced, but completely naïve.  On two occasions we nearly set the boat alight.  The first was when trying to fry some eggs for breakfast and the second time was on a Friday night when a paper napkin somehow caught a draught from outside the boat, floated up and landed on the Shabbat candles.   Fortunately there were those in the boat who were quicker than us at being able to avert the disaster, but these were two lessons we learnt very early on, on how not to do things in small spaces on sailing boats.  We now bring smaller candles and use no oil.  Needless to say we were never invited back on to the boat by the owner again.

    There are many people who think that sailing is an activity pastime only for the very fit, expending lots of energy and that you can only do it if you are really tuned in.  Let me dispel yet another myth.  Sailing is for the inactive.  One has to know how to untie the boat, and you only do that when the Skipper tells you.  You have to learn one or two knots so that you can tie the boat up again, and again you only do that when the Skipper tells you.

    There are a few hairy moments when perhaps if the wind changes direction you have to change the sails and heave on a few ropes, but that apart, most of the time you are sitting down and eating snacks and biscuits that people have brought up from below because it is rather boring sitting there doing nothing, whilst somebody else steers the boat, (some intellectual might be doing a crossword).  If at some stage you are asked to do something, then usually it is to steer the boat (in nautical terms called “helming”) The Skipper may say that we are going in the wrong direction, because the wind has changed, and therefore we have to either tack or jibe.  I have been sailing now for a number of years and I theoretically know the difference between tacking and jibing but primarily to me  it amounts to the same thing.  It means re-setting the sails and steering the boat in a different direction because the wind will not let you go where you want to go.

    There are then issues about what to do when you are stuck at sea and there is no wind and you are getting nowhere. The real sailors amongst you say “no, no we must not switch on the engine that’s cheating”.  The fact of the matter is that if the Skipper is not prepared to allow you to switch on the engine to get you moving, you just sit there, so again more food comes out and more drinks and a fairly merry time is usually had by all.

    By the time the wind does arrive its lunch time and then a very important decision has to be made.  Do you want to sail on to where you were going or do you then switch on the engine to get to where we are going as fast as you can so that you can have lunch.  That depends entirely on the mentality and the generosity of your Skipper.  If he is a purist sailor, he will not switch on the engine and he will sail and whilst the crew will not go hungry because more snacks and crisps and biscuits come up from below, nevertheless lunch is postponed until one reaches a safe haven.

    Unfortunately when sailing there are no such things as motorway cafés on the way. (There’s a money making idea),  but if the boat is ably crewed by shall we say three men and three women, and without meaning to be sexist about it, (because everybody lends a hand doing everything, including the washing up) there is usually a sympathetic lady who will bring up some snacks until we get to that safe haven where lunch can be organised.

    The beauty of sailing is that by self-catering you can and do choose your own food.  It can be and usually is great fun for all.  Because of the unpredictability of it all, it is, in fact and often becomes a true life adventure.  Be it for two or three days on the South Coast where it is not always wet and windy, or ten or fourteen days in the Mediterranean or even further a-field in warmer climates, it is effectively like having a caravan on water.  The trouble is I will never, ever holiday in a caravan, but I would happily and do holiday on a boat.

    There are many who think that sailing in this form is for the idle rich. Another myth to be dispelled.   In fact the majority of people are far from rich and far from idle. 

    Most sailors are not boat owners. The majority of people hire/charter a boat for the period of time they want it, be it a weekend or fourteen days or some other period, and one therefore only has the cost of hire, plus the cost of food.  Obviously there are extras such a fuel for the boat and the like, but to think that it is a pastime for the idle rich is indeed a myth.

    Once you are out on the boat, the engine is switched off,  the sails are up and the wind is blowing at a reasonable rate, then you leave your cares behind, be it for an hour, or a day or a week, you are transported to another world.

    For those of you who have friends or adult children spread the word and entice them along with tales of lavish on board banquets and general bonhomie. The camaraderie of the sea is something to be appreciated and even envied.

Commodore Stan

for the Shannon River Cruise click here 

for the HSSC Club Family weekend click here

for the HSSC Rally and Dinner click here

The next morning fog was all around. We couldn’t even see the Spinnaker tower over in Portsmouth – less than a mile away.  The morning was spent on berthing and manoeuvring under power in the marina. After lunch the fog seemed to have lifted just a little. I radioed the Queen’s Harbour Master, to say that we were about to leave the harbour and asking if there were any traffic of note.  “Yes, he replied – the Normandy Ferry is just coming down the fairway to exit the harbour”.  And sure enough a minute later it appeared out of the nothingness, huge and forbidding – we let her pass.  That evening we berthed in Cowes and had a trip to the pub.  The forecast for the 28th was for more fog. 
We left Cowes with eyes and ears peeled.  The radio was tuned in to Southampton Vessel Traffic Service and I kept a close eye on the radar and chart plotter with its recently added Automatic Identification System (AIS) overlay.   We crossed the harbour entrance and headed off toward Lepe Spit buoy.  Half way across, a rumble became a roar and a small fishing boat appeared alongside and slowed down.  The lone helmsman yelled across “Err mate, which way to Beaulieu?” It seemed even the locals were having difficulty. We obliged him and then Wild Spirit made her way west-south-west to the shallows on the mainland side of the western Solent.  No ferries cross this area and, in five metres of water, we would be safe from most commercial cargo traffic.  There it was, in thick fog, that we chucked over a fender tied to a length of mooring warp and I demonstrated sailing back to a “Man Overboard” (MOB).  The Day Skipper candidates all followed suit.  The concentration was intense.  Forty or fifty quid of fender and warp never left the gaze and extended index finger of our designated competent crew.  The helms never allowed the yacht to stray more than three or four boat lengths from the MOB and each of them achieved the pick-up on their first attempt!
With the MOB retrieval exercise in the bag I felt happier with our progress.  That afternoon we worked on anchoring and then headed for Lymington.  The Lymington–Yarmouth (Yarmouth is on the Isle of Wight just three nautical miles due south) ferry operates hourly and, in good visibility at night, they are a useful guide into Lymington harbour.  Even wider vessels have recently been introduced and seeing them pass in the narrow, shallow channel into Lymington, it looks like they are not going to manage without scraping each other.  In poor visibility, they are menacing, invisible hulks of coarse unforgiving steel!
Radar can give the approximate position of a vessel but determining its course and speed is not easy.  AIS relies on VHF transmissions by each vessel detailing their ID, position, course and speed.  With a VHF receiver passing the incoming data to a chart plotter, knowing where other vessels are and where they are going, is much easier.  And, if your sailing yacht has an AIS transmitter, the other vessels will know where you are and what you are up to as well.
So for the first time in anger, I placed my faith in AIS.  Eyes now glued to the chart plotter, I could tell that one Ferry had just left the quay at Lymington and another was on its way from Yarmouth. 

The fog had thickened and our lookouts could see only a few boat lengths off.  Keeping just enough way to maintain steerage and using our foghorn, we waited to the east of the river entrance, on the starboard edge of the channel, for the outgoing ferry to pass.
At first it slowed down.  Maybe it took a minute or two to realise that we were holding station.  But then it sped up again.

A few minutes later and, if the AIS were accurate, it ought to pass us safely on our port side.  The hum of its engines intensified, as did the tension within some of my crew.  It seemed an age before lights loomed up through the fog.  The ferry glided past, as anticipated, and then it was gone.  With the incoming ferry audible, invisible and maybe half a mile behind, we headed in.  Knowing her speed from the AIS, we motored Wild Spirit to maintain her distance ahead and we arrived safely at our berth in the Yacht Haven.
The next day the fog had lifted and the rest of the course went without a hitch.  And what did I learn? AIS, within its limitations, can be of huge assistance on entering or leaving a port in poor visibility.  The fog focussed the crew and they rightly felt a great sense of achievement.  And, however many RYA courses I teach, there are always new challenges to overcome and satisfaction to be gained.

Phil Sugarman
RYA Cruising Instructor

This is a very brief introduction to radar without going into the niceties of plotting on graph paper or a chart what an actual set of conditions would look like on radar.

Click here to access this tutorial.

Tom Cunliffe ran an electronic navigation seminar at the Cruising Association on 11 December.  The topics covered were computers and electronic charts (Chris Pontet from Euronav), radar (Alan Watson, independent practitioner) and chart plotters (Nick Meadow from Garmin).

Tom says electronics are aids to the Mk I eyeball.  Electronic charts are either Raster or Vector.  Which is best depends on the coverage of the area you wish to sail in, and if both are available, the cost.  Beware that waypoints put on one chart might move slightly when shifting to a bigger scale.

Some electronic charts include information kept in an almanac, but when opened “they invariably cover the critical point of the chart you need”.

Computers may be built-in or laptop.  Built-ins are expensive, and still need a keyboard and mouse or ball.  Balls may be better than mice.  Laptops can be used at home for route planning and then taken on board and run from a power source / inverter.  Chris recommended removing the batteries when running on board.  Instead of connecting to the ship’s GPS, GPS “dongles” can be bought for about £35, work on NMEA protocol, and connect via USB.  Buy the short NMEA to USB converter cable from a shop where you can exchange it because some don’t work with some computers – apparently this is a quirk of the dongle / computer combination that you won’t know till you’ve tried.  Computers can also display instruments, but this depends on screen size and cable spaghetti doing the connections.

Radar now comes in “digital” that increases the sensitivity, and by using colours, can distinguish targets hidden by heavy rain.  Get the biggest transmitter possible because bigger reduces the beam width and so separates targets at greater distance – multiple targets aren’t covered by the beam at the same time.  Locate the aerial about 1/3 to ½ up the mast and in front of it, not on the spreaders that would give a large shadow when the radar beam was pointing at the mast each time the aerial rotated.  “Broadband” radar transmits and receives continuously (rather than pulsed), but is not good at ranges greater than about 5 miles.  Also, they don’t fire up RACONS.  There seems to be some discussion on which display is best – course up, head up and north up.  Alan suggested course up because it irons out small movements in the boat’s heading and when you go on deck the orientation of what you see on screen is what you see on deck.  Swing the boat to get the fluxgate compass sorted, and get the heading line sorted by aiming at an object about 1 mile ahead to adjust it.  AIS (Automatic Identification System) is good, but it is not a substitute for radar – it won’t show you a harbour entrance in the fog.  When receiving AIS target info, check that the transmitting ship is actually doing what its AIS says it is.

Nick took us through chart plotters – bigger is better – “touch screen” versions maximise the screen size compared to the aperture the instrument is fitted into.  Some models, depending on manufacturer, are able to split the screen vertically and / or horizontally for multiple charts, for example, one may show detail and another a larger area.  Ensure that the screen can be seen in the sun and at night at the correct angle, for example, from the helmsman’s position.

Other issues covered include getting weather data and electrolysis.  Chris suggested go to Euronav’s website and check the link to “weather” [http://www.euronav.co.uk/ ,  http://www.euronav.co.uk/Weather/gribfiles.htm].  Electrolysis is apparently caused by being connected to shore power where earth potential is not quite zero.  A way round it is to insert “galvanic isolators” between shore power earth and the boat’s earth, alternatively, use a 1:1 transformer.  [A Google search afterwards revealed http://www.galvanicisolator.co.uk/ and the link http://www.safeshoremarine.com/assetts/galvanic%20isolators%20the%20facts%204%20individual%20pages.pdf ]

Some years ago Ruth and I joined Tradewinds Cruise Club entitling us to choose where and when to sail in a 51ft. Catamaran in the Caribbean.   Sailing most winters with 6 others plus Skipper and mate  – who look after us and prepare the delicious  food – with free bar always open.  We have sailed around most of the Leeeward Islands as well as  the Grenadines. – a perfect way to see the Caribbean in February sunshine with constant warm winds.  Here we handle the wheel and haul up the sails, but unlike the Solent, there are rarely any wind shifts.   The fastest we registered on a broad reach on the way to Bequia was 11 knots.

Apart from the always happy and relaxed company the skipper, who knows the waters well, brings us to quiet isolated bays where we can snorkel and swim and even drink our gin and tonic whilst lying on our backs in the warm waters.

In 2008 we sailed around the islands closes to Rhodes in the Ionian Sea;  in 2009 we sailed in a 71ft. Catamaran along the coast of Belize.  And finally in June 2010 we sailed off Southern Turkey in Turko-Greek waters in a 91ft top sail schooner with main forward gaffe  and outer jibs.  The crew comprised Skipper David, partner Penny, daughter Julia (fluent in Turkish and a great swimmer) and Kurt, the deck hand, who preferred this life to being a senior,  but young,  engineer  with  Camden Council,  together with a couple from Canada and one from New Zealand  making up the party.     Ruth and I had a comfortable cabin in old pinewood in the focsle, with a loo shower that was effective although absolutely minute!   With a black hull and canvas tan sails Rhea (mother of Zeus) sailed at a good 7 knots on a reach or run.  The force 4/5 winds arrived about noon every day so afternoon sailing was on whilst swimming in the warm translucent sea before breakfast at 8.00am started the days off well!     

It is a wonderful experience to sail in this large sailing boat in warm waters, with constant sun and regular breezes.  Finally, we spent an evening and day in Istanbul – and for those who are looking for a clean relatively inexpensive ‘boutique’ hotel in the old part of the City with unimaginable views from the top floor terrace over the Bosphorus one can’t do better than the warm reception at Agora Life Hotel in Sultanhamet.

We are now looking forward to sailing in February 2011 round Guadeloupe – returning again to the warm and sunny Caribbean.