[email protected] - Port Solent Yacht Club

Affiliated to the
The
Burgee
February 2015
Port solent yacht club magazine
www.psyc.uk.com
Send contributions to the editor:
[email protected]
1
From the Commodore’s Cockpit
Ian Reed (Reflections)
Welcome to another New Year! The Club wishes all its members, friends and
colleagues a healthy and enjoyable 2015, particularly as this year is the 25th
anniversary of the foundation of Port Solent Yacht Club.
We ended 2014 with a well-attended AGM at which we welcomed two new
committee members for the 2015 season: Angela Britton as Treasurer and Jaye
Isherwood as Rear Commodore House. We wish them both the best in their roles
as we progress through the year. At the same time Nick and Sue Hewitson stepped
down after serving PSYC for several years as Rear Commodore Sail and Treasurer
respectively. We thank them for their great contribution and are pleased to say
they will be assisting in a rally or two in the coming season.
On the social side, we joined the Residents’ Association for a Christmas Lunch
in the Mermaid Room of The Harvester on Sunday 7th December then held our
Christmas evening at Zizzi to conclude the season. Both occasions were well
attended and much enjoyed – good preparation for the seasonal celebrations to
come.
During this time the Committee has been working on the programme for 2015,
the draft version of which was presented at the AGM. Provisional bookings for all
the venues are now in place and a number of rally organisers have kindly
committed. We still need a couple more organisers to help fill some dates so, if
you think that you may be able to help, please call me. Dates, destinations and
organisers are given on the laminated book-mark enclosed with this issue of The
Burgee.
We hope that you will also keep in touch with events and make any contributions
you may have to Jacqui for the web site and Tony for The Burgee. All stories, tips
and experiences, good or bad are helpful and/or entertaining to other members.
Our next event is the Winter Meet on 22nd February in Port Solent, in the Mermaid
Room upstairs at The Harvester (1100 coffee for 1130 start). The main
presentation will be from Lewmar, whose name is almost synonymous with
winches and hatches. Further details and any changes in the programme will be
made available on the web (address on front cover) and through members’
emailing so please look out for these notices.
Let’s hope for more fair winds and good weather for this season’s rallies and I
look forward to seeing you on the water in 2015.
2
Rust! A Warning Story
John Crooks (Entropy)
My Beneteau Oceanis 281 is too small to have an anchor windlass, powered or
manual. To raise the anchor, I have to pull up the chain hand over hand. The
increasing weakness of advancing years has made me reluctant to do this, with
the consequence that my anchor has lain undisturbed in its locker at the bows
for many years. After a recent search for a rain-water leak, Mark Goodacre
reported that the anchor and its chain were in such a rusty mess as to be unusable.
I decided I had to remedy this.
I lifted the anchor and its chain out of the boat onto dry land to work on them.
I cut off the chain from the anchor with an angle grinder (marvellous tool!) and
took the rusty chain for disposal at the recycling centre. I have read about sailors
chipping rust off iron ships, and found this was the best way to treat the anchor.
Vigorous thwacking with a hammer detached flakes of rust like overdone potato
crisps. I gave the anchor successive coats of three kinds of paint – Hammerite
Kurust, Isopon Zinc 182 and finally Hammerite Silver Direct To Rust.
The photos show the rusty shackle I cut off, beside a new one from the chandlers
for comparison, and the repainted anchor.
I know that Tony Firth takes care of his anchor, and is a leading exponent of the
art of anchoring, but how many of the rest of us neglect our anchors in this way?
From now on, I will store my anchor and chain on dry land until I have occasion
to need them. The anchor will never be hidden in the chain locker, but either in
my garage or on the bow roller ready to use. There are those who will criticise
this policy, on the grounds that I never know when I will need my anchor. Suppose
I find myself driven onto rocks by a gale with an engine that will not start? My
reply is that I don’t do that kind of sailing, and, besides, I don’t think my puny
anchor would be much help in those circumstances.
I have plans to use my anchor again, using a jib-sheet winch as a jury windlass.
If this works, there will be another piece in a later Burgee: Anchoring Without
Money or Muscle. Ed’s note: I’ll look forward to this follow-up article,and also to
seeing how John’s DIY regalvanising works out. It reminded me of the recent job
that B E Wedge did on my chain (see following page).
3
strength of the chain? I chose half a
dozen of the rustiest-looking links,
scraped then to bright metal and
measured their diameters with a gauge.
The result was reassuring; the
diameters were never less than 9.9 mm
and generally 10 mm. A little rust, like
a little blood, goes a long way!
Rusty anchor chain? Just
apply money
Tony Firth (Amoret)
Being a cautious sailor, I always haul up
the required length of anchor cable
onto the deck and flake it out before
anchoring. This helps ensure that there
are no foul-ups in the depths of the
chain locker or jams in the navel pipe.
I then lay it by paying the chain out
through my hands as Amoret’s
remaining way tightens it onto the bow
cleat. The last bit of way sets the anchor
and avoids having to start the engine.
This is moderately hard work with a 20
Kg anchor and 10 mm chain, but it’s
worth doing to lay the anchor properly
so that it can be relied on to hold for as
long as necessary.
The next trick was to get the chain into
my car’s boot. I am the proud guardian
of an Irish fish-box that floated into my
Port Solent berth during a gale. It
usually acts as a repository for metal
and electric recyclables, but I evicted
these and put the box below the bow
roller, then lowered all the chain into it.
The exciting bit was dragging the
boxful of chain along the marina wall
and up the slope to the access gate,
though a slightly damp day provided
some lubrication. Then it all had to be
handed out of the box, which went into
the boot before being reloaded with
chain. The drive to Willenhall went
smoothly until I entered the one-way
system around the Wedge works, but
after two circuits I figured it out and
drove into the reception dock. I handed
the chain out again onto a pallet and
headed back home. A couple of weeks
later I collected 60 metres of clean,
bright chain and got it back onto
Amoret by reversing the fish-box
shuttle. The foreman had told me that
a few links would have stuck together
but that a smart tap with a soft hammer
would deal with this. Only half-a-dozen
were affected and the soft hammer did
the job. All that remained was to attach
length markers (small cable ties – 1 =
10 m and ½ = 5 m), splice on 60 m of
Anchorplait and take it for an outing. I
was very impressed with the thick and
uniform coat of zinc – far better than
on any new chain that I’ve seen.
Anchoring is now total pleasure with no
mucky secrets.
The main snag is that, after ten years’
hard use, my chain would come up from
the locker covered in rusty slime, which
transferred itself to the deck, hands and
clothes. Something had to be done.
I dismissed the idea of replacing the
chain since 60 metres of new 10 mm
costs £417 at the Marine Superstore.
Some web searching took me to the
galvanising firm, B E Wedge. A call to
their Southampton depot revealed that
they only handle chain at their
headquarters in that historic capital of
Black Country metal-bashing, Willenhall
in Staffordshire. Their process involves
washing the chain in solvents and acid
to remove grease, rust and old zinc,
followed by a process called shoggling
in which the chain is suspended in a
bath of molten zinc then shaken to
prevent the links from sticking
together. The price was about half that
of new (generally Chinese) chain and
these guys were clearly experts. The
question was: had the loss of steel
through rusting compromised the
4
draws close. By ‘joining’ an event the
organiser will receive a list of expected
attendees. When we have events for
which deposits are payable, the site will
collect the fees when you pay with
services such as PayPal.
Both before and after the event, you can
blog comments and upload pictures so
that the experience is fully shared.
Jaye Isherwood
[email protected]
(French Filly)
Do contact me if you have any problems
or questions about using Meetup.
PSYC is now registered on Meetup.com
which allows us to provide up-to-theminute
announcements
and
arrangements for meetings, rallies and
events. This service will enhance our
ability to keep in touch with existing
and prospective members leading up to
an event.
Contacting French
Coastguard
Ian Reed (Reflections) & Tony
Firth (Amoret)
When you are on the other side of the
Channel in the coming season, you
should be aware that the French
coastguard service (CROSS) has
changed its emergency phone number
from 112 to 196. It would be well
worth saving this in your phone in
case you see an incident or situation
that needs reporting.
It’s easy to join. All you need to do is
register by providing your email
address and your security password.
You will be asked to enter your location
and interests. A search facility enables
you to find ‘Port Solent Yacht Club’
where you apply to join.
In addition you will find meetup.com a
fantastic way to find other local interest If you are on your boat at the time
groups such as walking, kayaking or (whether in home or foreign waters),
using VHF is greatly preferable to
socialising.
phoning. This isn’t only because you
You can access Meetup either via the will avoid paying a roaming mobile
web site www.meetup.com or by charge! VHF Channel 16 has the huge
downloading the Meetup application for advantage that it is a broadcast medium
your smartphone. Just make sure that that is monitored by all responsible
the app has the logo (above) as there seafarers. Your message will be will be
are other applications of a similar name. heard by most vessels nearby, some of
Those who wish to arrange their own which will able to give rapid assistance.
events through the club are welcomed
to do so; just email me the details and
I will arrange on-line access.
A little information about CROSS could
be useful. CROSS stands for Centres
Régionaux
Opérationnels
de
Surveillance et de Sauvetage. It
corresponds closely in organisation and
function to our Coastguard, being
Once you have joined, you will receive
automated
email
updates
and
reminders regarding events as the date
5
organised into Maritime Rescue and
Coordination Centres and Sub-Centres
and having responsibility for various
maritime surveillance functions such as
controlling TSS traffic as well as for
rescue coordination. Their rescue
assets, like ours, include lifeboats,
police, military and civilian vessels and
helicopters. Its principal stations are
CROSS Gris-Nez (Eastern Channel).
CROSS Jobourg (Upper and Lower
Normandy), CROSS Corsen (N and NW
Brittany). CROSS Étel (NW Brittany to the
Spanish border) and CROSS Med
(Mediterranean). France accepted the
principle of a few, large rescue
coordination centres considerably
before the UK’s recent reorganisation.
must go through CROSS. Unlike the
RNLI, SNSM often makes a charge for its
services (towing in a broken-down yacht
would certainly incur a charge) and also
they levy very big fines for frivolous or
unjustified calls.
Social Report
Jaye Isherwood (French Filly)
Firstly to introduce myself as the new
social organiser for our club where I
hope that I can help us have some
exciting events throughout 2015. Look
out for my reports on events in future
newsletters. We have a number of
events in the pipeline where the details
will be announced via Meetup and our
We are used to hearing CROSS Events section of the PSYC web site.
announcing weather forecasts on They are:
Channel 16 then giving them on
Channel 79 (Gris-Nez and Corsen) or Valentine’s Cruise 14th & 15th Feb
Channel 80 (Jobourg and Étel). These So far we have fourteen members
forecasts are mostly in French (spoken attending the Wave 105 Valentine’s
fairly slowly), but Jobourg gives gale cruise to St Malo with a club dinner on
warnings in English and it is claimed board the Pont Aven on the Saturday
that all will give an English-language night. Look out for reports on this trip
forecast in answer to a request on in the next newsletter and on Meetup.
Channel 16. Clearly, if you want to
notify them of an emergency or an Second Winter Meet - 22nd Feb
incident, you should contact them on Due to refurbishment we lost the use of
the PHYC Quayside facility and are now
Channel 16.
using the top floor of the Harvester
The French Lifeboat service is SNSM Restaurant at Port Solent (now called
(Societé Nationale de Sauvetage en the Mermaid Bar). This worked well for
Mer). It has a small amount of state January's meet and we will repeat the
support but mainly depends on same arrangements. Arrive at 11:00 am
individual or corporate giving. Many for tea & coffee followed by a talk and
members of SNSM lifeboat crews are optional Sunday lunch.
retired or soon-to-retire professional
seamen. As well as their 219 lifeboat Social Meets at the Mermaid Bar
stations, SNSM are responsible for 273 I am in talks with the Harvester to
beach lifeguard stations. Total numbers reserve the upstairs Mermaid Bar for the
of lifeboat crew are similar to the UK first Friday evening of each month
though overall voluntary financial starting on Friday 6th March, that is, the
support is lower so vessels appear less evening before the shakedown cruise
sophisticated. As in the UK, you cannot to Island Harbour.
call the lifeboat service directly but
6
Sponsored Walk around Langstone for a potential visit to their interesting
Harbour - May 2015 (Date tba)
base at Wapping where the Marine
Police Museum is also located. We will
I am in the process of arranging a hear the history of the world’s oldest
sponsored charity walk around the police force that dates back to 1798.
circumference of Langstone Harbour
with stops for breakfast, lunch and an
afternoon drink in Langstone. The walk
will follow the coastal path and use the
Hayling Island ferry and the disused
Hayling Island Billy branch railway line
Time allowing I am planning to pop
nearby for a meal either at Tower Bridge
or St Katherine Docks after the visit.
Posh Frocks 19th Sept
As a change to the published agenda
we are looking to switch the Posh
Frocks event from Southampton to
Portsmouth. This is due to a conflict in
dates with the Southampton Boat Show
for which berthing has become really
expensive. As a result we are now
planning a day sail followed by berthing
back at Premier Gosport and an evening
meal at the Royal Naval Club and Royal
Albert Yacht Club in Old Portsmouth.
back up to Langstone.
The walk is planned to start from
Farlington Marshes car park where we Safety at Sea
will assemble and walk to the first Ian Reed (Reflections)
breakfast stop. If anyone wants to take
the same journey by bicycle, do let me One of the principal factors contributing
know and I will arrange a second trip.
to safety at sea is always worth
revisiting - that of wearing your
Summer Coach Trip
lifejacket. Whether you accept this
Usually the summer programme has a position or not is a discussion between
gap when a few go on the summer you and the skipper of the boat you are
cruise. However, this year we are on. If you bring and wear your lifejacket
planning a coach trip to London for as I do, then it needs to be working!
those who are looking for something
different. I am in talks with the As part of my RNLI role I undertook
Metropolitan Police Marine Support Unit (over several weekends at Port Solent
7
8
and with colleagues at other venues) a
survey on the wearing of lifejackets. The
recorded position on vessels going
through the Port Solent lock seems very
similar to what the national figures will
be (when concluded) and that is that
about 50% wear lifejackets. In the
specific Port Solent survey, with wind
forecasts of 3 to 4, power craft crew
were a little less likely to wear a
lifejacket than their sailing-boat
counterparts.
trip, you have a replacement readily
available for continuing your passage.
The season is about to start so it is
worth just taking some time to ensure
your own safety.
Winter Meeting – January
Hugh Nightingale (Shiraz)
Our Commodore Ian opened the
meeting with thanks to the 21 people
there to attend the first winter meeting
However, how many of the life jackets and to Jaye for organising the venue.
worn were correctly fitted and indeed We had made several attempts to
would operate correctly is a big arrange an outside speaker for today
question. Historically, national surveys but had failed. However, for our next
say about 20% of lifejackets fail on meeting on 22nd February we have a
inspection. In conducting a number of presentation by Lewmar. Ian then
life jacket inspections during ‘on board introduced Tony to talk about his plans
advice’ or at lifejacket clinics, several for his summer cruise.
things arose that you can control by
Tony observed that over the years the
your own inspection.
number of boats taking part in the
a)
Are the strapping, webbing and summer cruise had decreased and last
year amounted to one only. This year
clips sound?
we are leaving July and August mainly
b)
Does it have a crotch strap? open for members to organise what
Without - will it ride over your head they prefer, in company or not. He
wondered how much time is needed for
on inflation in water?
a blue water cruise. The minimum is
c)
Is the gas cylinder secure and about 2 weeks to West Brittany, Biscay
fully screwed in? Without a secure and North Spain requires a 4 week
fitting will it fully inflate the bladder round trip and the Azores 6 weeks. A
circuit of Spain, Portugal, the Canaries,
or leak?
the Azores and home takes about 11
d)
Is the gas cylinder rusted? Is it weeks, while the Caribbean (one way)
serviceable – has it abraded requires 7 weeks. An 11m boat is big
(perforated) the bladder of your enough and two people are needed
lifejacket?
unless you like talking to yourself. A
crew of two means 12 h of watche)
When did you last inflate your keeping, 8 h of sleep and 4 h of leisure.
life jacket and see what happens A more perfect crew is three, giving 8
over twelve hours?
h each for watch-keeping, sleep and
leisure. Any sensible insurer will cover
You should also make sure you have you for a crew of two suitably
spare cylinders so that, if it goes off experienced people (including the
accidentally or intentionally during a skipper). Now what gear will you need?
A big sun hat is essential, windvane
9
self-steering is very useful, a storm jib
(hope not to use it too often), and an
EPIRB (hope not to use it at all). Astro
navigation is not necessary these days
but is fun though GPS gets you there
with precision unless a lightning strike
knocks out all the electrics. Yes,
lightning will take out even a hand-held
GPS unless you have had the foresight
to store it in a Faraday cage such as the
oven. A few practical requirements
include water, allow 2l/day but note
that Tony is not an enthusiast about
water makers as they use a lot of power
and they can fail. A safety margin of 3
times estimated use is Tony’s maxim.
Food can be a mixture of fresh, dried,
canned or convenience, but also check
that someone on board can cook. This
year Tony is planning to leave about 9th
May for Spain, Portugal, the Canaries
and the Azores. The first choice would
be to sail in company to La Coruña if
another boat is up for this. There is also
room for additional crew to join the
return leg from São Miguel, Azores,
from 5th July to about 23rd July and Olivia
pointed out that flying to the Azores will
be cheap when the new Ryan Air service
starts in April.
Jaye is also looking for ideas for the
Christmas party; Zizzi was good but
what new ideas would club members
like to see?
Ian noted that there were some new
faces at the meeting and suggested that
they should have a chat about the Club
with any committee member. He
thanked everyone for attending; the
meeting ended at 1218 and twelve
members and friends stayed for lunch.
Another Summer Cruise,
2014
Hugh Nightingale (Shiraz)
An incomplete list of cruises by PSYC
members during 2014 would include
two round-Britain voyages, Tony’s
official summer cruise and ours.
A few years ago we did an extended
cruise with Tellina where the aim was
to join the PSYC Summer Cruise and
then go on for a couple of weeks with
no time constraint should weather etc
prove a problem. We managed to reach
Perros Guirec, meeting friends old and
Ian then said we were planning two new along the way, but decided to
extra things this year. First there will be return within five weeks in order to
a competition for the best photograph attend other events. This time the aim
taken on a rally of either a scene or was to get a bit further and be away for
boat. Second we have a Challenge Cup about eight weeks but again with no
for which the plans are being prepared time constraints. Oh the joys of being
but will probably be based on sailing a retired.
marked plan around cans and timing
yourself (note: not a race!). We will use A few friends had shown interest but in
ISC ratings and there will be further the end it was Roger and Sue on High
announcements on the website and in Time that ventured forth with Shiraz. A
few guide lines, not rules, were agreed.
The Burgee.
No overnight passages, no overly long
Jaye introduced herself as Social trips, no excessively early starts, to be
Organiser (Rear Commodore House) particularly careful about the weather,
and
outlined
the
2015
social to try to avoid sailing every day i.e. stop
programme (see her article on page 6). and explore places especially if new,
10
and to have a holiday as well as a sail.
I want to make sure that this does not
become a “then we went there, then we
went to, after that we got to” etc. report
but if it does you’ll have to forgive me.
electronic foghorn when we entered a
thick fog bank though we will have to
devise a new radio procedure as the
VHF can’t drive both. Our passage plan
worked well, passing outside Les Sept
Iles, though in the log I have noted a
Fully provisioned, on 24th May we set course change of 15 deg. at one point
off. If you know Marian and Sue you will because we were being carried on to
know what fully provisioned means. We rocks!
went into Lymington to meet up with
Blue Hoolie and Paw Buoy on their own Trebeurden is one of those marinas
mini cruise and had a good evening. We where you have to arrive at the right
set
off
the
next
day
but time. There is an automatic rising sill
wind/tide/waves/instruments caused (fascinating to watch) which means, as
us to turn back at Hurst and tie up you can guess, that it’s a bit shallow
exactly where we had been an hour outside. Not only that but the entrance
earlier to hope for better conditions the is a dogleg where you end up running
following day. So it was 0911 Monday parallel to the wall before a 180 deg.
that saw us on our way to Portland turn into the marina; beware fishing
having a pleasant sail marred only by boats coming out, it says. Actually not
the overfalls at St Albans Head. These as bad as it sounds. We rather liked this
few days were planned as successive place and had a good walk along the
day sails, the idea being to make best beach next day, from my point of view
use of the tides once in Brittany. So
Tuesday was an early start, 0600, to
Alderney. This is my favoured route
now; it’s further but 41 M to Portland
and 56 M to Braye gives an easy channel
crossing and we were there by 1530.
The only trouble with this seems to be
my usual sparring with Her Majesty’s
Royal Navy and them knowing where
they are and where they’re pointing
their pop-pops. Next day: a sail to St
Peter Port to take stock and sort out
tides. We tied up on the outer pontoons,
now linked to shore and having water
but no electricity; the usual squash and mainly to see the sill from the shore.
rafting here. We stayed one day here Everyone says you must go to L’Aber
which gave us time to fill up with cheap Wrac’h as if it’s some magic place and
fuel and re-berth ourselves for a better was our next port of call after a passage
getaway next day. Another early start, outside the Ile de Batz (see return trip).
0600, for one of our few long passages To me it’s just in the right place to
this time 64 M to Trebeurden. A little break up an otherwise long passage,
language problem here while discussing but otherwise it’s a bit of a dump,
this with some French sailors tied though I have been told by other
alongside; details from me or Roger frequent visitors that it isn’t. Its
about that. Just outside St Peter Port we reputation was not helped this time by
gave thanks for our newly installed being forced to tie up outside on cleats
11
covered in oil and tar. We made our
getaway at 0900 next day to Camaret.
We stayed six days here waiting for the
right conditions to tackle the famed Raz
de Sein but we enjoyed ourselves with
a walk around the headland and bike
rides. Roger has a nice weather app that
gives wind and swell predictions which
is useful in this area of sea. Suffice to
say when we went through the Raz we
wondered what all the fuss was about.
However, on this part of the trip you do
see those lighthouses usually pictured
with a huge wave breaking around them.
From Camaret we went to Loctudy
through the Raz leaving at 0900 and
arriving 1930 after 55 M. We were a
little apprehensive about going in here,
I think, and as it turned out, with good
reason. Had we called up in advance we
would have been told the marina was
closed with the designated visitors’
berths all occupied by locals and no
option but to tie up outside. Here is
where the cross river ferry ties up as
well and it’s a bit daunting seeing a
large bow and anchor overhanging your
stern as he manoeuvres in. After a
pidgin French conversation with the
operator it seemed he was happy for us
to be there though we moved up a bit
next day. We stayed 3 days and made
good use of the free bikes even taking
them on the ferry across to Ile Tudy.
Apparently this is named after a Welsh
monk who came to the area in 500 AD
or so. We filled with fuel here using the
automatic pumps but it was only
available in 69 euro bites. We learnt a
new phrase here, “un bout a quay”; this
is what we would call a shore line or
spring where “un bout” is a rope specific
to boats and “a quay” is self
explanatory.
of the night causing an immense swell
straining lines to the limit, and a fragile
mains supply. We were moored right
opposite the ancient walled town where
we could watch in horror as the local
youths threw themselves off the
ramparts to the sea below hopefully
missing the numerous rocks on which
the castle was built. We had an
enjoyable walk around the old town and
partook of our self-promised ice cream,
2 scoops (not the most on offer) which
almost proved too much for some
stomachs.
We had promised to attend a wedding
anniversary in Birmingham so had to
return to England for 21st June. Roger
and Sue also elected to come back so
we needed somewhere to leave the
boats. We chose the Kernevel marina in
Lorient but had hoped to stay one night
in the small marina of Port Louis on the
other side. The reply when we called up
was that they were still full of a classic
boat rally (though we thought they had
left) and to try Kernevel. As it happens
both these marinas are run by the same
organisation so they overheard our
conversation. Anyway, when we arrived
they were more or less waiting for us.
High Time initially had a poor berth but
after some negotiation we all ended up
in a row next to another UK boat that
was also being left for a while. We had
several days to prepare so we made
good use of the free bikes again to cycle
around and visit places. We had always
assumed we would travel back to UK
either by train or hire car/ferry or plane.
Came the day to organise this, we
cycled all the way into the centre of
Lorient to the address the Capitainerie
had given for a car hire firm but could
not find it; it had moved. Roger had
On 12th June we left for the short trip to noticed a Hertz office on the way in so
Concarneau. This has quite a nice
we went back to that. Here we were told
marina, only marred by the fishing there were no cars available because of
boats leaving at full speed in the middle the French rail strike so now we are
12
snookered on two fronts. Dejected, we
pushed the bikes around the corner to
a little café for a coffee and think. We
had a phone number for the original
hire firm so we called that but there was
no one there that could speak English.
A coerced and brave Sue was persuaded
to use her pidgin French and managed
to hire a car and have it delivered to the
marina. We were not sure if all was
arranged as we thought. Back at the
marina, the Capitainerie (who spoke
good English) was asked to call the firm
and confirm our booking and yes, it
was, complete with delivery. It was
cheaper to hire the car for a week and
leave it in a car park at the ferry terminal
than have two separate days. The car
duly arrived, transported us to the
out-of-town industrial site that we
would never have found on the bikes to
complete the paper work and off we set
for a pleasant drive to Cherbourg where
we left the car in a secure compound in
the terminal. Then a very fast smooth
passage across the channel making you
wonder if a big motor boat wouldn’t be
the answer; nah.
beyond what is reasonable and
everyone feels poorly, exhausted or
both. The simple but greatly under-used
answer is heaving-to. Everyone has
heard of it, but far fewer use it.
Heaving-to means getting the yacht to
settle into something between a close
reach and a beam reach position
without making significant forward way.
Once hove-to, the yacht will slowly drift
sideways with a stalled keel; this keel
stalling produces a wake or “slick” of
turbulent water upwind of the yacht,
which tends to flatten off the sea. This
position lets the crew relax, eat and
sleep until everyone feels ready to carry
on.
There are lots of ways of achieving a
hove-to position. The best-known
method is to reef both sails, then tack
the boat slowly without releasing the jib
sheet. Once the jib is well backed, the
main-sheet is eased and the helm
turned so as to steer the boat to
windward. Once the boat has settled,
the helm should be locked or tied off in
this position. If the main fills, the boat
To be continued…
will luff up until the main stalls again
and the backed jib turns the bow off the
wind. Tweak the main and helm
Heaving-to
adjustments until the yacht is sitting
Tony Firth (Amoret)
comfortably at a suitable angle to wind
and sea without fore-reaching. Perfect!
Have you ever felt that it would be The boat is rocking gently instead of
useful to take a break from sailing crashing through the seas, things are
during a passage? Maybe lunch would quieter and everyone feels much more
be more enjoyable if it wasn’t such a relaxed. Coffee and some hot food all
struggle to keep the spaghetti on the round, then draw straws for who will
plate. Possibly you are crossing a keep watch first while the rest get some
shipping lane and want to stop until the shuteye. To get sailing again, pull the
group of six ships, all apparently with main hard in, release the helm and turn
sleeping watch-keepers, have crossed the boat off the wind so that you pass
safely ahead of you. Perhaps you are through the gybe point and back onto
approaching a tricky harbour entrance your desired course. Trim the sails and
in the dark and would like to kill time you are away again, fed, rested and
until it is light enough to see where you relaxed.
are going. Perhaps the wind has got up
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The main snag of this method in rough
conditions is that the windward jib
sheet chafes against the shrouds.
Depending on your rig geometry, it may
be possible to set up a temporary jib
sheet inside the shrouds to carry the
load of the backed headsail without
chafe. Some hull shapes heave to better
than others. In general, a performance
boat with a short, deep fin keel and
shallow aft sections will be more
reluctant to settle down and will
continue to fore-reach somewhat, while
long-keelers with keel-hung rudders will
often settle down well even without a inner forestay, secured to the tack
headsail.
fitting and tied down in its bag with
sheets led aft, so that when the moment
The hove-to position works very well in comes you just need to clip the halyard
gales provided that the sails are up to on, remove the sail bag and whizz it up.
it. A triple-reefed mainsail will usually If you carry a trysail (a tiny, very strong,
cope all right, but a deeply reefed roller triangular mainsail that is independent
headsail is the wrong shape (too hollow) of the boom), this should have its own
and in the wrong place (too high and track riveted onto the mast to one side
too far forward). Cutters are lucky of the slot, its lower end being only 30
because they can roll up the headsail cm or so above the coach roof.
and set a small, strong, flat staysail. For
sloop-rigged boats, it is well worth This sail also should be hanked on,
getting a rigger to fix an inner forestay. bagged up and tied down, so that
If this joins the mast just below the attaching the halyard and removing the
outer forestay it will be adequately bag can be done from a prone position
supported by the shrouds and backstay. rather than standing up
The lower end of this inner forestay is
arranged so that it can either be If your luck is out and conditions
tensioned out of the way among the become extreme, it may not be possible
shrouds to facilitate tacking the to keep any sail up. Traditionally boats
headsail for local sailing, or can be in this situation chose to lie ahull. This
tensioned onto a strong point on the meant stowing all sail, locking the
foredeck to carry a hanked staysail. A steering in a centred position and
Highfield lever or similar device is used retiring below to drink rum and tell
to tension it. On long trips it is wise to dubious stories until the storm had
set up this inner forestay in its working passed by. The catch, of course, is that
position before leaving harbour; on a a yacht lying ahull will spend a fair part
rolling boat it develops a life of its own of its time beam-on to wind and sea,
and can easily lift you off your feet.
with a serious risk of being rolled by big
seas
and
structurally
damaged
For ultimate security it is wise to carry (particularly loss of part of the coacha storm jib. It goes without saying that roof and windows) by any seas that
the place for your heavy-weather break badly. An alternative often used
staysail or storm jib is hanked onto the by big racers with large, fit crews is to
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steer downwind under bare poles, possibly towing a few hundred metres of warps
to discourage the stern from overtaking the bow. There are two snags with this:
a boat running with a storm remains in the storm much longer than a boat that
is hove-to, and a single mistake by the helmsman may result in a catastrophic
broach.
A much better approach is to use a parachute sea-anchor secured to the bow or
a drogue bridled onto the stern to maintain some sort of a hove-to position. For
more detail on these, there are plenty of websites and two excellent books: Storm
Tactics Handbook: Modern Methods of Heaving-To for Survival in Extreme
Conditions (2008 Edition) by Lin and Larry Pardey, and Heavy Weather Sailing
(2008 Edition) by Peter Bruce. The 1979 Fastnet Race storm starkly revealed that
loss of life and of yachts resulted from running or from lying ahull. Yachts that
adopted hove-to strategies survived without very serious damage.
Why not contribute to the next issue of The Burgee?
Send any articles on trips, gear, techniques or any
other aspects of sailing. Good photos are always welcome.
Please send separate text files and photos (JPEG preferred)
and avoid montages, superimposed lettering and PDFs.
All material to the editor [email protected]
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