Search This Blog

Wednesday 30 September 2015

WiFi COMMUNICATIONS


 

Here at the Granary Yacht Harbour we have a tidal range of some 4 metres. As the tide falls the quality of the little EE go everywhere WiFi box link also falls until I'm cut off! 













The answer, as the tide falls, is to lift the little box higher and higher to keep it in contact with (presumably) the nearest radio mast. So I end up hanging it in the wheelhouse roof, then putting on the wheelhouse roof and finally hoisting it up the mast!




I also have a thing called a WiFi Bat which is hoisted high on the mast. It detects a dozen or so WiFis including the local pub's. However the links are comparatively slow compared with the EE 4G service.




I've got to get all my telecomms sorted I've got BT at Rafiki, Vodafone for my email and EE to get 4G for this tablet. Chaos!

Monday 28 September 2015

CATCH UP


Back on board having returned from a break to attend Max's birthday party and Dartmouth Term of '65 Reunion.

Blogging

I deliberately did not take my tablet with me as I felt I needed a break. So I was very annoyed to discover the two posts I had scheduled were not published.

Boating

Yesterday, went for a lovely trip down the river and out to the Woodbridge Haven buoy. Local chum Tony came too and did much of the driving, so I had a better chance to admire the view and check out Lady Cate's performance. The weather was perfect; fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky. A strong easterly wind had built up a massive swell during its long fetch from the Dutch coast, so we had an exciting time leaving the river through the very narrow channel out to sea and bounced around for some 20 minutes rounding the buoy and returning up the narrow channel again. Lady Cate is happily seaworthy but does seem to be rolling wildly when we stand on the upper deck.

As I mentioned earlier, a small four legged jacking rig has been set up in the river about a mile from the bar. Apparently it there to establish a power cable link between the national grid and the offshore wind farm. It all happens up here in Suffolk!

Great news for me. Tony is an electrical and electronics engineer and got much of Lady Cate's instrumentation working at the connection of a multi-channel SeaTalk plug hidden under the instrument panel. A lot of stuff ticked off my to do list. Nevertheless still have to connect up the masthead instruments and check all calibrations.


TO '65 Reunion

BRNC Courtesy The Britannia Society
The Reunion of Dartmouth's Term of '65 was also judged a great success. Imagine a gathering of some two hundred 68 year old pensioners catching up on old times! Many came from Australia and a long term chum , Norman Sawyer, came all the way from New Zealand only to be staying in the same B&B as me. It was a massive memory fix. Some of us met at The Floaters pub on Friday evening; tripped up the river Dart to Totnes and out to sea before the main dinner on Saturday; Chapel, with all the great sea hymns, followed by a short guided tour and a BBQ on Sunday. This gave us good time to chat. Great to have the ladies with us. Very happy weekend.



Max's Birthday Party

Max's birthday party was wonderful. Apart from the simple joy of some twenty 6 year olds screaming around with apparently endless energy, there were animals brought by specialist entertainers, which kept adults and children enthralled alike. Tarantula, fruit bat, skunk, an 18ft albino python and many more. 2 year old Iris more than held her own amongst these great big 6 year olds; sweetly self-assured. Most impressive. Party a great success. And the promise of another grandchild due next month.


Open skies

East Anglia is famous for its open skies. This I took on a bleak rainy day mid-September, looking through rigging.






Tuesday 8 September 2015

REDSHANKS ARRIVE

wildlife.eu


 
A large flock of redshanks arrived today. Lovely little birds with long bright orangey-red legs; busy demeanor bobbing along the tide line.

There must have been 100 or more. They are about 25 - 30 cms long.

They make up for the loss of the oystercatchers!



Monday 7 September 2015

SQUEAK SQUELCHED





As visitors may well remember the companionway steps astern to the galley, heads and cabin space had the most enormous squeak.

By dint of sawing off 1/16th from each end of the step the squeak has been squelched. Actually I'm rather missing it!















Whilst we're in my cabin, here's a picture of my new curtain which I had made up by John Lewis. Note the matching of curtain and cushions. There's style!! Drawn across at night the curtain stops the heat from rising up in to the wheelhouse. Lovely and snug my Snug!











And turning around you see my on board library and work table along with the lovely roses Allie gave me for my birthday.






Cheers. Bye for now.  Chris

Friday 4 September 2015

Weird weather sailing in Samurai to Suffolk Yacht Harbour


Samurai is a beautiful wooden unclassed bermudan sloop, some 30ft, built in 1968. 

http://www.photo-boat.com/
 (Picture of her to follow. Meanwhile here is a beautiful one someone did of something like her earlier.) Her slender wooden mast reaches gracefully for the sky. ( Not many wooden masts these days, sadly. Unsustainable aluminium is the norm.) Her narrow waist tells of her speed. She is a lovely yacht and is one of Lady Cate's neighbours.

She owns Alex who invited me and Gordon to sail her round to the Suffolk Yacht Harbour on the north side of the River Orwell, 10 miles by road, 20 miles by sea as we have to avoid the shallows near the coast. This turned out to be three semi-retired chaps enjoying surprisingly weird weather.

Setting off from the Granary Yacht Harbour at Melton we headed downstream against the last of the rising tide. The sky was cloudy but bright. The outlook variable. Of course when told the outlook is variable there is only one assumption to make. The weather will get worse. And it did. The distant dark clouds roiling dramatically higher as they approached from the West, got darker thicker and severely threatening. Quite romantically threatening. But there was little wind. Odd.

The River Deben winds gently down from Woodbridge past Waldringfield to Felixstowe Ferry for some 10 miles. The channel is narrow and well buoyed until past Waldringfield when one just sticks to mid-stream. The rain began. This is the place to hoist the sails if the wind is favourable, which it was, so we, well Alex actually, did, whilst Gordon steered and I held on to sheets.

Samurai

The air turned cold, not just cold, seriously cold. The clouds overhead were deep blue-black. The rain switched from mild drizzle to drenching in a matter of seconds. There were four memorable sheet lightening flashes that lit up the dark clouds brilliantly. We took it turns to stay below for a few minutes. But still no wind to speed us on our way. The engine started making weird noises. The water pump? Fan belt? The noises came and went. Unlike the hail, which came and stayed. Really belting down. Not too large, say 1cm at best. But a lot of it. On the 2nd September? It was seriously cold. And still no wind to speak of. It must come, we said. And eventually a bit did, so we enjoyed a few minutes motor sailing at 45 degrees as we sped down river.

The bar at Felixstowe Ferry is very narrow and demands 100% attention. I had crossed the bar on the previous day in Lady Cate when there had been a strong 3ft swell coming from the east. This swell was the last of it. Today it was still there but only about 1 – 1½ ft. Unlike Lady Cate, who rolls happily, if somewhat inconveniently, with the swell, Samurai cut through the swell with ease, giving us a comfortable ride. But the rain was not making life comfortable.

We headed SSW well clear of Wadgate Ledge, the swell behind us, the tide against us, no wind to speak of. Plod. Plod. The rain stopped, which was a great improvement. We were uncertain however that we were leaving Woodbridge Haven buoy behind. Eventually it began to recede. The bummer was that there was a little bilge keeler whizzing along on a shore breeze about a mile to starboard. Alex broke out the victuals like all good skippers should.

The sea was most peculiar. As the tide poured over Wadgate Ledge it roiled and spun, giving us a strange ride. Trouble is we could not time it any other way as we had to leave near high tide Melton to get clear of the marina. The later we leave it the worse the coastal tide against us.

At last the River Orwell beckoned. There are some well named buoys on Harwich Approaches. We saw Pitching Ground buoy ahead but turned starboard to pass Rolling Ground buoy to port, staying out of the main channel all together. The container terminal seemed very quiet. Are we heading for another trade recession?

At last our destination was in sight, just as a the setting sun gave us a beautiful Turneresque display of richly coloured cloud set in a bright blue sky. That made up for everything. Even the engine had stopped complaining. 

Courtesy Suffolk Yacht Harbour.
Gordon and I had fish and chips with an Adnam's beer in the clubhouse, which is the former Cromer Lightship. Alex and Jane, who had driven down to take us all home, had more exotic stuff! Very welcome, as we began to dry out. A strange weather trip but a great day out. Thank you Gordon, Alex and Jane. 

Racing on Saturday!