River Blackwater rally, 1-3 August

 

I joined the rally organised by the Drascombe Association based at Bradwell Marina.  It was a good excuse to make a first extended sea passage in Daisy IV, in this case along The Wallet.  I'd made this trip many times before in my previous boats - fourteen return trips, as it so happens - so was looking forward to seeing how Daisy IV managed for her first but my fifteenth.  In the event, conditions were absolutely ideal - NW winds to help me down there, and SW winds for the return trip.  Except for the final stretch home on the Orwell on the return journey, the whole journey was managed without having to tack!

I had intended to stay for longer, making more of the return trip and joining a few other boats for a cruise, but storm Floris had other ideas, forcing me back home a day early.

Outward trip, 1st Aug, yellow track 28.6nm; sailing the Blackwater, 2nd Aug, green track 23.6nm; homeward passage, 3rd Aug, red track 29.2nm.  Total track length 81.4nm

Deep down in the darkest recesses…

 Deep down in the darkest recesses of any boat lies a place that few dare to venture.  It's an unforgiving space, full of rancid smells, foul gunge and, all too often associated with things which, at best, haven’t been operating as should well be the case.  Anyone who finds themselves here is visiting the boat's bilges. 

I had reason to poke around here over the past few days since the bilge pump, which is necessary for pumping out water that habitually accumulates here, wasn’t working properly.  If there is a weakness in the Deben Lugger design it is the fact that much of the rainwater doesn’t run off through the scuppers, and finds its way into the bilge.  A decent rainstorm, whilst on the mooring, will lead to a significant accumulation of water which, if left unchecked, could eventually lead to the hull being submerged.

Following this week's storms, Daisy IV found herself  many litres of water in the bilges, and reaching over the floorboards.  A subsequent inspection of the hull revealed a Rule bilge pump connected to a Rule-a-matic float valve.  Previously this has only been used in its 'manual' mode of operation, since the thing wouldn’t switch off once the hull was emptied, as it is intended to do.

The problem seems to be with the float valve which was incorrectly installed at a level which was little higher than the bilge pump, so that the water level could never quite reach the depth required for the float valve to sit sufficiently low to switch off the electricity supply.

Eventually I managed to remove the float valve, and have now added a centimetre of supporting wood so that it sits high enough to operate as intended.  So, we shall await with interest the outcomes of the next deluge…

Following this piece of maintenance, it seemed the only sensible thing to go for a little sail.  The tide was in its early ebb, so it was good to beat upstream against a F3 NWW breeze, before a run downstream as the wind increased to F4.

9.4nm

Ipswich Docks

 A pleasant afternoon sailing up to Ipswich Docks.  I hadn’t been up here for a number of years!

Sally managed to catch a few distant snaps of me from the shoreline just upstream from Pin Mill!

11.4nm

Weymouth 100, 3-6 July

This rally was something of a reprise of one I attended several years ago with Daisy II.  On that occasion, we were celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Drascombes.  On this occasion, rather more poignantly, we were paying tribute to the late Sharon Geary Harwood who had organised that previous event.

On this occasion, roughly 25 boats attended, including two Deben Luggers.  The forecast for the Saturday and Sunday wasn't promising, but the Friday afforded the opportunity for a wonderful sail along the Jurassic Coast - a return trip to Durdle Door.

I put together this video clip of the whole weekend, including my walk around Portland Island on the Saturday, when it transpired that the wind would be too strong for safe sailing.

Kizzy posing in view of Durdle Door.

Deben Lugger, Deben Lugger (!)

24.2nm

Pin Mill barge match

 It's been a few years since I had the pleasure of witnessing this spectacle.  Around ten Thames barges convened on the River Orwell for their annual 'match' which consists of races and spectacular sailing eye candy!

Cargo ships, old vs new…

For once, I took the ebb out of the Orwell and returned with the early flood, alongside one of the splendid Thames barges.

15.3nm

Family Sail with five aboard

 A lovely afternoon sail with family.  Five adults aboard.  It was interesting to see the boat's ability to handle such a heavy load under sail.  She pointed less well but this was possibly due to light winds.  When gusts came over, as ever, she was up to the task and quickly built up speed!

Daisy IV now has a new sail bag to protect sails and spars while she is on the mooring, and also a fine new bumpkin following the unfortunate snappage at the end of Morbihan!.

5nm

Back home and a different launching method

 Following her excursion to Morbihan, Daisy IV returned to her mooring this week.

As often stated, we aren’t blessed with good slipways over here on the east coast - certainly none to compare with the many we saw in Morbihan.  And, it being neap tides, I took a tip from one of my fellow Debeners from the recent trip to try dry-launching directly onto the hard.  I tried this once before with Daisy II - same location.  This is what happened when I tried it with Daisy IV!

The basic idea is to detach the trailer from the car, push the boat backwards off the trailer - a couple of wheel stops come in handy - wait for the trailer to tilt whereupon the boat moves partly off the trailer.  That's what's happened here.  Then attach rope to trailer and towing hitch, and gently pull trailer from underneath.  

I'd say that worked pretty well.. At risk of starting an AA meeting, let’s see at the end of the month whether a 'dry recovery' can be perfected!