Post by Matt on Aug 14, 2012 13:29:58 GMT
Club trip to Watchet 10th -12th August 2012
I met up with friends Lyndon and Dean at 9pm on the Friday morning with the intention of getting the 10am lock out on Ocean Factor, my new boat. The weather was sunny and there was a light breeze as I wobbled along the B pontoon with all my food and clothes for the weekend trip. I was ready for any weather with T shirts and wet weather gear as it had been changeable over the last few days. Lock out was easy and I was pleased with the new (50 Cobra VHF handheld that had been recommended to me by Lyndon (I had resisted the persistence of the chaps at Force 4 to purchase a £200 model they told me was clearly more suitable for my needs), it performed well throughout the weekend. In the lock was a large catamaran as well as Seren Wen a 26ft Snapdragon skippered by Chris and crewed by Brenda from the club.
Flying along from Cardiff to Watchet
Out of the lock we raised full sail as there was not a lot of wind and headed off down to Lavernock point, keeping close into the coast to avoid being pushed up tide towards Bristol. We travelled between the Rannie Buoy and the headland of Lavernock and passed Sully Island. We heading dead downwind and Ocean Factor was goose winged. We were only doing 3 knots but carried on sailing as it was lovely with the sun beating down and the boat travelling along nicely. Half way across the channel we checked the gate times and saw that the sill at Watchet was due to close at 14.34 and it was only an hour and a half before that now. We realised we had to get a wriggle on and started the engine to up the speed to 5 knots. Also after speaking to a friend of mine 'Mick' who is based in Watchet shortly afterwards on the phone said that we needed to ramp up the power even more to get there in time so we increased the throttle almost flat out and she ploughed along at 6-7 knots. We could see Watchet in the distance and knew we could just make it in time. Upon entering the outer harbour we saw Mick on the harbour wall shouting and waving his arms saying that the sill was closed. This was strange as the official gate closure times said that we had arrived about 15 minutes before it was supposed to close. As we rounded the corner we saw the sill closure notices up and did a quick U-turn and headed back out of Watchet outer harbour. Mick did suggest we tie up to the wall in the outer harbour but with all that mud, being a fin keel, a wall to keep tweeking ropes with and no board to put against the hull we decided to anchor to the west of Watchet between the harbour and Blue Anchor Bay. We saw Seren Wen and Gem proceed into Watchet and learned later that they had tied to the wall.
After about 10 minutes of motoring west we did some calculations and headed for a nice spot to chuck the anchor down. The sun was beating down and it was hot, hot, hot and the water so tranquil so I decided I needed a dip when the tide had become slack. It took a while, dipping my feet in then my waist but finally I went in, followed by Lyndon who just jumped in rather than my tentative steps. We had a swim around the boat. It was handy having a sugar scoop stern to climb back onto the boat when we wanted to get out. Lyndon had tied a couple of cans of Carlsberg to a rope and hung them over the side to cool and we cracked them open after our swim. I made some pasta for dinner, we had some red wine and listened to 'James Bond Anthems' as the sun went down over the horizon just beyond Minehead. I had kept in touch with Mick in Watchet and checked the tides and rather than anchoring for the night we decided to up anchor and make the 11pm sill opening. It was dark I had to shine a powerful torch to make out the entrance but we went in and tied up to a beautiful catamaran, the same one that was in the lock with us in Cardiff. Mick and the the owner of the cat 'Mark' joined us for a larger and we went to bed around 1pm.
On the Saturday we dined on bacon sandwiches and coffee for breakfast. A lot of other boats came in on the tide lunch time and it was lovely to see Allan and Edwina from 'Chausey', Martin and Sarah on their new Westerly, Chris and Brenda of 'Seren Wen', Rob and Karen from 'Cassandra' and Keith and Gareth of 'Arrietta' to name but a few. As this was the BCYA rally we were given vouchers from 'Don which entitled us to a free hog roast and a drink. Cloudy cider that was toxic was on offer from the esplanade club at £2 a pint so a few of those wend down nicely as well as the pig in a bun. Later in the evening with shirt and aftershave on we headed into town for a curry in the Spice Merchant which I can highly recommend. Others headed for The Star which also does lovely meals. We all went to bed a little early but after a bit too much sun and cider it was probably time for it. Later that night it rained, thundered and lightning.
Chris and Brenda (Seren Wen), Gareth and Keith (Arrietta)
Dean, Lyndon, Martin and Sarah (Tamarind....nearly said Bright Flyer!)
Moored next to a big cat.
A pontoon with lots of CYC boats there.
Sunday morning it was sunny again and we had a walk along the harbour wall and Dean took a load of photos. We met up at 12.30 for a lock out a 12.45 and headed back to Cardiff. We were one of the first boats out and looking back loads of boats flooded out, like bees from a hive (I understand from Sue Newbold, one of the organisers that there were 55 visiting boats that weekend!).There was a nice breeze and we were doing 4-5 knots. 'Arrietta', skippered by Keith Pritchard who had came out of Watchet 15 minutes after us overtook us half way across the Channel which just shows what a good skipper and that fast Etap 23i can do. The wind was on the nose (as usual) so we could only manage NNE and sometimes only N so only managed to make Barry before having to turn on the engine. Arrietta and Seren Wen joined us and as it was neaps and not much wind or wave we managed to get back easily, staying close in again and locking in together.
We had a lovely time, I'm sure helped by the fantastic weather and friendly crowd that was there. I'll post some pictures when I can later in the week.
Matt
I met up with friends Lyndon and Dean at 9pm on the Friday morning with the intention of getting the 10am lock out on Ocean Factor, my new boat. The weather was sunny and there was a light breeze as I wobbled along the B pontoon with all my food and clothes for the weekend trip. I was ready for any weather with T shirts and wet weather gear as it had been changeable over the last few days. Lock out was easy and I was pleased with the new (50 Cobra VHF handheld that had been recommended to me by Lyndon (I had resisted the persistence of the chaps at Force 4 to purchase a £200 model they told me was clearly more suitable for my needs), it performed well throughout the weekend. In the lock was a large catamaran as well as Seren Wen a 26ft Snapdragon skippered by Chris and crewed by Brenda from the club.
Flying along from Cardiff to Watchet
Out of the lock we raised full sail as there was not a lot of wind and headed off down to Lavernock point, keeping close into the coast to avoid being pushed up tide towards Bristol. We travelled between the Rannie Buoy and the headland of Lavernock and passed Sully Island. We heading dead downwind and Ocean Factor was goose winged. We were only doing 3 knots but carried on sailing as it was lovely with the sun beating down and the boat travelling along nicely. Half way across the channel we checked the gate times and saw that the sill at Watchet was due to close at 14.34 and it was only an hour and a half before that now. We realised we had to get a wriggle on and started the engine to up the speed to 5 knots. Also after speaking to a friend of mine 'Mick' who is based in Watchet shortly afterwards on the phone said that we needed to ramp up the power even more to get there in time so we increased the throttle almost flat out and she ploughed along at 6-7 knots. We could see Watchet in the distance and knew we could just make it in time. Upon entering the outer harbour we saw Mick on the harbour wall shouting and waving his arms saying that the sill was closed. This was strange as the official gate closure times said that we had arrived about 15 minutes before it was supposed to close. As we rounded the corner we saw the sill closure notices up and did a quick U-turn and headed back out of Watchet outer harbour. Mick did suggest we tie up to the wall in the outer harbour but with all that mud, being a fin keel, a wall to keep tweeking ropes with and no board to put against the hull we decided to anchor to the west of Watchet between the harbour and Blue Anchor Bay. We saw Seren Wen and Gem proceed into Watchet and learned later that they had tied to the wall.
After about 10 minutes of motoring west we did some calculations and headed for a nice spot to chuck the anchor down. The sun was beating down and it was hot, hot, hot and the water so tranquil so I decided I needed a dip when the tide had become slack. It took a while, dipping my feet in then my waist but finally I went in, followed by Lyndon who just jumped in rather than my tentative steps. We had a swim around the boat. It was handy having a sugar scoop stern to climb back onto the boat when we wanted to get out. Lyndon had tied a couple of cans of Carlsberg to a rope and hung them over the side to cool and we cracked them open after our swim. I made some pasta for dinner, we had some red wine and listened to 'James Bond Anthems' as the sun went down over the horizon just beyond Minehead. I had kept in touch with Mick in Watchet and checked the tides and rather than anchoring for the night we decided to up anchor and make the 11pm sill opening. It was dark I had to shine a powerful torch to make out the entrance but we went in and tied up to a beautiful catamaran, the same one that was in the lock with us in Cardiff. Mick and the the owner of the cat 'Mark' joined us for a larger and we went to bed around 1pm.
On the Saturday we dined on bacon sandwiches and coffee for breakfast. A lot of other boats came in on the tide lunch time and it was lovely to see Allan and Edwina from 'Chausey', Martin and Sarah on their new Westerly, Chris and Brenda of 'Seren Wen', Rob and Karen from 'Cassandra' and Keith and Gareth of 'Arrietta' to name but a few. As this was the BCYA rally we were given vouchers from 'Don which entitled us to a free hog roast and a drink. Cloudy cider that was toxic was on offer from the esplanade club at £2 a pint so a few of those wend down nicely as well as the pig in a bun. Later in the evening with shirt and aftershave on we headed into town for a curry in the Spice Merchant which I can highly recommend. Others headed for The Star which also does lovely meals. We all went to bed a little early but after a bit too much sun and cider it was probably time for it. Later that night it rained, thundered and lightning.
Chris and Brenda (Seren Wen), Gareth and Keith (Arrietta)
Dean, Lyndon, Martin and Sarah (Tamarind....nearly said Bright Flyer!)
Moored next to a big cat.
A pontoon with lots of CYC boats there.
Sunday morning it was sunny again and we had a walk along the harbour wall and Dean took a load of photos. We met up at 12.30 for a lock out a 12.45 and headed back to Cardiff. We were one of the first boats out and looking back loads of boats flooded out, like bees from a hive (I understand from Sue Newbold, one of the organisers that there were 55 visiting boats that weekend!).There was a nice breeze and we were doing 4-5 knots. 'Arrietta', skippered by Keith Pritchard who had came out of Watchet 15 minutes after us overtook us half way across the Channel which just shows what a good skipper and that fast Etap 23i can do. The wind was on the nose (as usual) so we could only manage NNE and sometimes only N so only managed to make Barry before having to turn on the engine. Arrietta and Seren Wen joined us and as it was neaps and not much wind or wave we managed to get back easily, staying close in again and locking in together.
We had a lovely time, I'm sure helped by the fantastic weather and friendly crowd that was there. I'll post some pictures when I can later in the week.
Matt
