Local sailing trips
Over the last couple months I’ve mostly solo sailed the river Medway and Thames Estuary. This is usually day sailing. It takes about 1.5 hours to sail up river to the Thames Estuary and once you arrive at Garrisons point Sheerness your confronted with lots of shallows, where, if you have not properly planned your trip you could easily run aground, even at high tide. Many people have and do. Two weeks ago I met a 45ft sailing vessel who had made a passage from Belgium to Chatham Marina and a crew member told me on passage they run aground on 3 occasions. Fortunately for them its mostly soft mud and you can usually reverse or maneuver to safe water. I assume this is what they did. Nevertheless it makes you wonder about their passage planning!
Day trip to SS Richard Montgomery and Redsand Towers.
I also took my daughter, her boyfriend Jake and his father Scott for a day sail at their request as they had never been sailing before. Before setting off I gave them a safety briefing of all the boats safety and emergency equipment, including how to launch the life raft, use a VHF radio and send a mayday message. One of the most important things I also teach is how to start the engine, in case I fall overboard, purely selfish in a way, in hope they can turn the boat around and come a get me. And also, seriously, so they can get them selves to safety should something happen to me on board. I thought it would be nice to sail out to the world war ll wreck SS Richard Montgomery which ran aground in 1944. (It was and still is full of explosives, all 1400 tonnes of it. Its about 1.5 miles offshore from Sheerness where it sits on the Nore sandbank, having broken in two when it sank. At low tide its two mast stick well above water as they do at high tide, but not so much. (See photo).The wreck is a protected site and is marked by yellow danger buoys. Its unlawful to enter inside these danger marks and the site is constantly monitored by the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency. Later this year the mast are to be removed to reduce he strain on the wreck and are to be preserved at Chatham Historic dockyard. It is said that should the explosives go off, they would cause a tidal wave on to the Isle of Sheppey, surrounding areas and up the River Thames. As I understand it the explosive have always been too fragile to be removed and it is still thought the risk is too high to do so).
As everyone onboard were enjoying themselves and as we had plenty of time, I decided to continue on to the Redsand world war ll forts, about 7NM offshore. These can be seen from land and appear as 7 boxes on splayed legs. They are are couple NM from Whitstable windfarm. I remember as a child I could see them from our caravan site on Sheppey (These towers are constructed from metal with splayed concrete legs (See photo) and were built to defend London and its shipping lanes from German air raids, submarines, E-boats and V1 and 2 flying bombs. They shot down 22 aircraft and 30 flying bombs). Its strange sailing around them and reflecting what life must have been like for the soldiers on duty.
Scott seemed to enjoy helming, its something I always give a guest to do when I have them on board as it gives them the chance to be fully involved and I think Scott truly had an amazing experience. I’m not sure Jake was too impressed and think he would have enjoyed the adrenaline of a windy day with the boat heeled over and water over the bow. Perhaps Ill take him on that adventure another time. In the meantime Jake and Scarlett took the return trip as a chance to catch up on some sleep.
On the way out the wind was predicted to be light so I fitted the Code 0 sail. (This is a light wind sail that is attached to the front bow sprit). I haven’t used it for a while as its a powerful sail and I have been caught out a few times when the wind has unexpectantly picked up and over powered the boat, a bit of a handful when your on your own. Its also quite an effort to get it out and hoist it, especially when I’m only sailing the river Medway. But given the light wind prediction thought it would be worthwhile. I am glad I did as I forgotten how well Luce sails with it up and plan to use it more often when day sailing.
All in all it was a great day out and a chance to meet Scott. The sun was shining with a few clouds all day and very warm. Scarlett even cooked up some sausage and bacon rolls for lunch which was delicious, even though it took me a good 30 minutes to clean the kitchen and hob when we returned to the marina.
Sailed a friends boat to Queensborough.
My friend Nick lives on his boat at Chatham Marina. We lost touch years ago and it is good to see him every week now at the marina. We often catch up, usually on his boat for a beer or two. His boat is an older Moody 36ft sailing boat. He invited me for a sail with another guy called Tony who also has a Moody yacht at Chatham Marina for a sail to Queensborough for lunch. We set off to catch the midday outgoing tide. However, I’m not sure how, but we ended up on the incoming tide which meant we had a very slow sail. In fact we arrived so late we ended up having pasties, sausage rolls and croissants on board. The helm on Luce is very responsive and I’d forgotten how unresponsive some older boats are to steer. Nicks boat “Miss Saigon” was a heavy boat too, which also surprised me weighing 14 tonnes when empty.
She sailed well but its weight and slow steering was very noticeable to me, but Nick was used to her and maneuvered her well. Although I notice mooring her back in the marina was a saga as she is almost impossible to steer in reverse and a lot of shunting back and forward was required to position her into her birth. Never the less Nick did this without fuss. I’m not sure I would have been able to do so as effectually as he did. And wonder how she would cope in a high wind when mooring.
It was a lovely day and Nick and Tony were good company. Tony soon sussed I raced yachts as I was continuously tinkering with the sails to get Nicks boat to go as fast as I could. Where as cruising sailors usually just set their sails and cruise and enjoy, rarely adjusting sails unless the wind changes or they have to change coarse. Once we returned we enjoyed a beer, otherwise known as a sun downer.
Overnight anchorage at Stangate Creek.
This weekend I set sail to Stangate Creek, a very quiet creek, just off the River Medway as you approach the Thames Estuary. I left about 14.00 to catch the outgoing tide and Luce bombed along nicely downwind in about 10 knots gusting 16 knots. The wind speed and direction was, rarely, just right and I only gybed a few times before reaching the creek arriving about 16.00.
There were 3 other yachts anchored up and a motorboat. I sailed to the spot I had planned and just as I arrived the wind picked up to about 20-24 knots due to dark clouds appearing overhead. I decided to look for a more sheltered spot, but the entire creek was windy. I pondered about returning to the marina but once the dark clouds past it all calmed down again and I was able to anchor as planned.
Once I dropped the anchor, I then used the anchor wizard on my chart plotter to set the anchor alarm. This gave me a 47mtr radius for Luce to react to wind and tide. If she moves outside this circle then an alarm will sound. I had set the anchor well, testing it with the boat in reverse at 2000rpm. This should be secure up to a force 8 wind, well above anything that was predicted.
When you anchor in these settings it is so quiet, all you can hear is the wildlife which chats away all night. After watching the sunset, I cooked dinner then I started the generator which gently hums in the sound proofed engine room and watched tv for the evening.
At about 02.30 the anchor alarm went off indicating Luce had moved outside it protected alarm circle. I remember I woke with a start and bashed my nose on the ceiling bulkhead. Anyway, after looking at the chart plotter in the saloon navigation area, I saw Luce had moved slightly outside the alarm circle, I grabbed the search light out and went on deck. I took a mental note earlier of my position in relation to some landmarks which all appeared to be in order. I had a good look around and lightly trod on the anchor chain as it exited the bow anchor locker. If the boat was dragging its anchor you would feel vibration in the chain, all appeared fine. I then started the engine, reversed and the anchor held well. I checked my anchor chain digital screen and it showed I had just under 49 mtrs of chain out. I then remembered I’d let out another 2 mtrs of chain, pondering if I did this after setting the alarm when attaching the snubber.(this is a rope that secures the chain with a rubber stretchy section and stops the chain putting all its pressure on the winch and stops the chain snatching and jolting in the wind and tide). I took in another 3 mtrs of chain just in case I fitted the snubber after setting the alarm and went back downstairs. The alarm continued to go off about 20 times over an hour or so. I decided to stay up and monitor the situation for a bit. After an hour or so I notice Luce started to move back inside the alarm circle. I checked the tide times and low tide was not due for another 2 hours and was surprise the tide was changing. It proved the point that creeks and alike behave very differently to general tide timings and direction.
I was satisfied I was not dragging the anchor and went back to a peaceful nights sleep, after making a mental note to work through the calculations on what caused the alarm to go off. I was also very pleased with the new alarm sounders I had fitted earlier this year after noticing I could barely hear the manufacturers original chart plotter alarm.
The next day I raised the anchor, removing heaps of seaweed around the chain as it rose. The anchor and chain was very muddy and the whole process was as usual quite messy. Once the anchor is raised you will drift with the tide and the creek is very shallow and narrow so I was eager to return to the helm and motor into safer water, leaving the mess to be cleaned and hosed down when I returned to the marina.
I had a great sail back to Chatham, upwind in about 8-10 knots of wind. Luce was heeled over about 15 degrees sailing really well. Upwind, in good wind and calm water is my favorite sailing. It makes you feel alive, if you know what I mean.
