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Monthly Archives: June 2015

2015-06-24 · 16:33

Plans for wind vane self-steering

If I’m to solo sail Tammy Norie any great distance I’ll need self-steering gear. I already have an electrical tiller pilot (a Raymarine Autohelm 1000 Micro Tiller) but it uses quite a bit of power and is quite noisy. Also, it’s a good idea to have backup. Wind vane self-steering is common on long-distance boats and especially junk rigged boats. It uses the direction of the wind and the forward motion of the boat to steer, keeping you going at a constant angle to the wind.

There aren’t many self-steering systems that will work on a boat as small as Tammy Norie. Roger Taylor uses the Pacific Windpilot Lite and swears by it. That was my plan too until I saw the Hebridean in an article in Practical Boat Owner. It’s a cunningly simple design that I can build myself at a fraction of the cost. This appeals to me because I’ll learn a great deal by making it, and I’ll be able to maintain it myself. Saving half the cost of the boat is also important!

After quite a long correspondence with John Fleming I ordered a copy of the plans and they arrived today. 
I’ll be documenting my progress with building and using the wind vane here on the blog.



Filed under autopilot, Constructing the Hebridean, Equipment, self steering

Tagged as autohelm, equipment, Hebridean, Pacific Windpilot, PBO, plans, self-steering, wind-vane

2015-06-24 · 13:05

Boats and Tanks

It’s Tankfest this weekend at the Tank Museum in Bovington, in the very lovely Isle of Purbeck. My brother and kids are likely to be going on Sunday.

I can’t quite sail to Bovington, but I can sail to Wareham nearby. Wareham is upriver from the west end of Poole Harbour, and the journey from the Solent to Poole is well known.

The plan would be to catch the morning ebb tide from Fareham at 06:45, sail through the Solent, across Christchurch Bay, into Poole Harbour, and up to Wareham. There are lots of possible stops and sights along the way — Cowes, Newtown Creek, Yarmouth, Beaulieu, Lymington, Mudeford, Christchurch. If things go really well I might sail further to remarkable Lulworth Cove.

PassageWeather predicts fairly light south and south-easterlies, so it ought to be very pleasant. The prevailing winds are westerly, which would make it an uphill slog. I’ll need to look at the weather systems and make my own prediction too.

But it could be a very nice long weekend trip!



Tagged as Bovington, plan, plans, Pool Harbour, sailing, Solent, tammy-norie, tank, Tankfest, Wareham

2015-06-23 · 23:10

Summer sailing plans

Tammy Norie’s summer is coming together.

2015-07-04/05 is the Junk Rig Summer Rally at Warsash.  Last year I kicked off my east coast adventures at the East Coast Rally and some Cambridge friends came along for the ride. It’ll be great to meet the south coast folks. Various members of my family including my nephews and niece are coming along too.

2015-07-10/13 I plan to sail Tammy Norie to meet her sister Sinobee, recently bought and being restored by Jake McLewee in Brighton. Jake came along to Tammy’s launch and a day sail and is learning rapidly about Coromandels and junk rigs. That is also the weekend of the Brighton Kite Festival. I’ll have to pack and bring my collection of fighter kites!

2015-07-23/24 is a meeting of the Small Sailboat Club at Ashlett Creek in the Solent. I’m looking forward to meeting James Hall in his Paradox Microcruiser.  The Paradox and Enigma are fascinating designs, and I think they’re just crying out for a junk rig.  James has been thinking along these lines and I’ll be discussing it with him.

2015-08 has no specific dates yet, but CUYC will likely be sailing Puffin to Bruges. I’d like to rendezvous with Puffin, then take Tammy Norie to meet her sister Siskind at Edam and explore the Netherlands. Siskind is being restored by Antoine Maartens who you’ll find commenting quite often on this blog. I think that will be my big trip and main holiday this summer. It’s a chance for some passagemaking and coastal exploration in good company!

As always, let me know if you’d like to meet or join in with any of this!



Tagged as Ashlett, Ashlett Creek, Belgium, Brighton, Bruges, Edam, JRSRC, kite, kite festival, kites, Netherlands, plan, plans, rally, sailing, Sinobee, Siskind, Small Sailboat Club, summer, tammy-norie, Warsash

 



2015-06-22 · 17:30

Tammy Norie in Bembridge

My plans for the weekend worked out well. I caught the afternoon tide out of Fareham, down to Portsmouth, then out and across to Bembridge.

It turned out that the Fareham Sailing and Motor Boat Club had an organised meeting and dinner over at Island Harbour Marina on the Medina on the Isle of Wight, but I didn’t find out about it until Saturday lunch-time. I had a go at beating up towards Cowes to meet them in the morning, but it was choppy and would’ve taken many hours. The forecast for Sunday was even stronger westerlies. So I decided to reach over to Bembridge and reach back the next day.

Nothing exciting happened, but then it is the Solent. Here’s a nice picture of Bembridge Harbour. I’ve selected a few other nice ones for this album including a picture of Tammy Norie with a spinnaker at her bow.

Engine hours: zero. (OK, I did run the engine for five minutes to stop the fuel gumming up and make sure it worked.) Sailed solo upwind onto the pontoon at mid tide in Bembridge in a very stiff breeze and a tight space.

The two important things for me, this weekend, are (1) that Tammy is at last feeling like she’s back in one piece, with nearly everything in the right place, and ready to go, and (2) I am feeling like I’m back in one piece — able to use my left arm almost all the time without difficulty. I was told it would be one year to recover, but I think I’m 80% of the way there after six months. I think I can confidently plan some more adventurous sailing for the rest of the year.

If I’m to take part in the Jester Azores Challenge in May I’d better get going!



Tagged as Bembridge, FSMBC, injury, Isle of Wight, Jester, Jester Challenge, sailing, shoulder, Solent, tammy-norie

2015-06-22 · 15:13

Presenting the Tied Hybrid system: can it work? Figure 10.2 from Practical Junk Rig Tied Hybrid sketch


Filed under Plans, Repairs and Modifications, sail

2015-06-19 · 11:03

Local exploration plans

This weekend I’m planning some local exploration around Portsmouth. The weather looks warm and clear, with light to moderate westerly winds. High tides are in the afternoons. I’ll ride the ebb tide out of Portsmouth Harbour on Saturday afternoon, sail to wherever seems good with the wind, spend Sunday morning exploring there, then catch the Sunday evening flood back up to Fareham. Although I know the western Solent very well, there are plenty of places around Portsmouth I haven’t seen, such as Chichester, Bembridge, Ventnor. And I’m sure I’ll get some maintenance done too.

Get in touch if you want to join in!

I’m also cooking up some longer term plans for the summer and Autumn. Watch this space!



Tagged as Bembridge, Chichester, invitation, plans, Portsmouth, sailing, tammy-norie, Ventnor

