Bucklers Hard and hard labour

After the trip from Guernsey to Lymington, a short trundle along a benevolent Solent as far as Bucklers Hard was pretty tame. Funny to think that this sort of trip was a normal weekend run for us in the days when we were working....

The sun was out, we sat on the flybridge and all seemed well. Entering the Beaulieu river you get to see the little pygmy lighthouse:

and some rather nice bankside houses :

The village itself is a great timewarp in a stunning location:

Yes, there is some serious cash around here - and paupers like us. We found our way onto the mid-river pontoon just above the Bucklers Hard marina / boatyard area and happily settled in. Lovely views, dinghy needed to go ashore, sun, little wind, plenty of gin on board, all good.

Of course, that has to change a little. You cannot spend all your life having fun so we decided to polish the starboard side of the hull in between walks, lunch at the Old Bakehouse tea room in Beaulieu, collecting the Defender from Ann and Martin's etc etc. The weather was so kind to us - well, it allowed us to do the polishing - you can decide if that is kind!

The main reason for being in Bucklers was that the tenants in our house were due to move out mid month and we needed to reclaim the place and get it sorted ready for some new, very dodgy occupants. The toddlers, who you have met in this blog before, are moving in to enjoy the general atmosphere of Hythe and the New Forest area.

The house, of course, needs total redecoration and we had such fun removing thick limescale from the showers etc etc..... Enough said.

Then the boat decided to bite back, perhaps it was sensing that it was not the centre of attention for a change? The horrid horrid Jabsco bilge pump decided to fail again - another useless riveted diaphragm valve failed yet again. This is the ***** device:

Which is fixed in the most stupid position for access hidden away behind the genset. At least we knew what to do. It involves dismantling the end of the genset cocoon, impaling yourself on the end of the genset itself and the two raw water filters on the bulkhead behind it and working at full stretch. Rebuilding the diaphragm was OK as Andrew (Mr Zephyros) had kindly given us some nice tiny stainless bolts and washers to replace the stupid factory fit rivets. Repaired and rebuilt and tested the captain needed gin in copious quantities to recover. There is a dangerous theme building here.

St Peter Port to Lymington

The forecasts kept changing but Saturday looked OK. It would be roughest just north of Guernsey and then gradually calming down as we crossed to the UK mainland. Rough was a relative thing - predicted wave height of up to 3m, mainly a 2m swell that would be on our beam anyway. So. Saturday it was, a nice forecast for a run back.

The challenge was the optimum departure time to a) have enough water over the marina cill to get out and b) to use the tides to our advantage as far as possible and c) to avoid going through the known pot infested areas in the dark.

You guessed it - another 3:30 alarm to allow us to depart as soon as it was twilight from St Peter Port. The Morlaix race yachts were up and about preparing for the last leg of their race and so we had a big audience as we wriggled out of our little spot backwards and reversed to the marina entrance. Here is the entrance looking back as we left:

Not very light really was it.  We were well on our way to the Casquets area by the time the sun came up properly hence we saw it from the pilothouse side windows this time, normally it does so in the forward windows during this trip. We were early departing:

The tide roared us down the coast of Guernsey and gave us a good healthy shove pretty much until we reached the shipping lanes. We were lucky in the eastbound lane, our course avoided all of them quite nicely:

Naturally some speed freaks just whizz past burning obscene amounts of fossil fuel:

Between the shipping lanes we had three pot markers to dodge, then the westbound lane was another miracle of timing. Of course it could not last, once we were clear of the formal lanes we had a couple of diversions. The route looked like:























The usual S shape is due to allowing the tide to take us east and west as it wished and we ended up pretty much in the right place near the Needles fairway buoy:

As we got closer to civilisation and had a phone signal so the crew became busy:

This time the needles were more visible:

After a little bit of wing engine exercise and a wide open throttle blast for the main engine we were happy to moor in Lymington and fall onto some food and a teeny drop of white wine too.

Nice trip - a few 3m swells to start with but then calmer and calmer. We ran at 1800rpm to help optimise the tides and avoid the wind that was forecast to pick up on our nose later on. It didn't by the way.

No maintenance news to report from the run. Happy Lugger engines. However we did get a little reminder of our time in Guernsey,  we made it to the Sunday papers! A picture of us in the outer harbour was used by the Observer / Guardian, see this link newspaper article. We are not so sure about being linked to the subject matter at our advancing age though, all a little too close to home. The Picture was impressive, spot the Nordhavn 47:

but no royalties were paid of course...

Putting on weight

One of the reasons to visit Guernsey is for our annual fuel top up. We calculated that we would need about 4000 litres and that proved to be almost spot on.

With a 2pm slot booked at St Sampsons we headed out avoiding the many tenders from the two liners anchored off the harbour that were busy ferrying folks to and fro.

We had only about 0.8m under the keel as we approached the fuel berth around 1.5 hours before high water. Tide was closer to neaps and so we had to be careful. The pontoon was busy, one boat being fuelled by the Esso truck  (we have only seen that on the quay once before!) and a crane preparing to launch another boat. Kevin, the Rubis man, was on vacation but Marcus his replacement looked after us well.

The crane operation was cowboy central though. Big crane, single hoist point (no spreader bars or frame) and only one of the two strops was tied back to the feeble looking cleats on the sports cruiser that they were launching:

Once the boat ahead of us had finished getting fuel from Mr Esso, they lifted the cruiser over us and into the water:

and then one of the engines would not run properly. All in all something that would make the health and safety experts amongst us go a little bit pink.

We survived, tanked up and headed back to St Peter Port. The trip isn't far as you can see:

When we arrived in Guernsey, we had asked the mooring man if we could have a slot inside the marina because there was no fresh water on the pontoon (and we knew the Morlaix race yachts would be arriving in their droves). The nice harbour guy said that he would try but we didn't hear any more so it seemed not to be possible.

Knowing we were going to head off to get fuel, we asked again, 6 days later. Clint, the rather disinterested harbour man said that "they would see when we came back" and showed his lack of interest in the conversation as he just kept walking past to check our mooring fee receipt as I was talking to him.

We went for a wander around and saw some empty slots in Victoria marina in spots that had the required 2m depth so we popped into the office to ask if we could go onto one of those when we returned later on. We were blessed to find Clint in there who told us that one of the deeper slots was only for yachts (no idea why but...) and that we might get into the corner berth. He then walked away whilst talking to us to hide in another part of the building. How he got a job that is customer facing is beyond us, especially as we have always found all the other harbour team friendly and helpful in the many years we have visited here.

No matter, we think his colleague saw our lack of amusement at his behaviour and when we returned from fuelling in a shoal of racing yachts (the Morlaix race was arriving) we were shown to the little tight corner berth:

A nice move to slip into there avoiding the French yacht near our bow and the brand new Princess motor yacht that you can just see dead astern of us. No matter, shorepower and water on hand so the washing machine was busy....

Putting on weight - yes about 3327 kilos in around an hour. That is some eating disorder we have going on.

Liberation day fun

Whilst in Guernsey we always seem to enjoy ourselves, no matter what the weather. This trip, it was glorious! Sun, little wind and generally a proper holiday atmosphere about the place. In fact the Nordhavn rally thing really expanded when there were three of us here - Vesper a 68 arrived and of course made us and Zephyros look totally insignificant. We had just started the annual polishing and teak cleaning torture and so seeing the amount of gelcoat on a 68, we can live with being insignificant. For some internal images of her, look at launch information.

This is what a 68 looks like outside:

Big innit!

Wednesday 9th is Liberation day in Guernsey and we had to go and watch the parades and sample the stalls and activities. First up, the parade. The Gurkha guys looked as smart as ever:

and once the parade was over behaved with total dignity too. Impressive indeed.

The clerics seemed to be whispering to each other:

Way less discipline than the Gurkha regiment but as it is a church parade I guess they thought they could get away with it. Some military types looked very stern and carried large swords:

One band leader seems to be training for a job in the police directing traffic:

and one of the "civic dignitaries" appeared to have escaped from Men in Black:

More seriously it was great to see the island turn out en masse for the event and to celebrate their freedom. After the parade we retired to the terrace at Moores hotel for excellent coffee and cake. Andrew and Linda's mum who got a mention earlier having been expecting a trip to Dartmouth and ending up in Guernsey didn't seem too distressed:

We don't think she is a flight risk now and we reckon that we can call off the suicide watch. She seems to have come to terms with being whisked abroad. OK, "whisking" is hard at Nordhavn speeds.

During the day we enjoyed a most splendid Asian late lunch courtesy of Atan Ahan on board Zephyros. We also had the great pleasure of meeting Robert and Kathy, the owners of Vesper the Nordhavn 68 that was gracing the harbour. They are enjoying a serious cruising lifestyle, came over here via Greenland and Iceland, made some forays far north and are now heading to warmer climes.

They were moved into the middle of the harbour and asked to moor against a pontoon that is normally used by local boats awaiting the tide to get into their marina berths. Vesper looked quite majestic there - the pontoon is now known as Vesper island.

Walking around town afterwards there were all sorts of strange groups, uniforms and colours visible. Many locals were dressed in period costume and one couple were dead ringers for Mr and Mrs Churchill. These folks seemed to be having a Liberation deliberation:

We were treated to a flypast by an old Dakota but owing to the new safety rules it had to stay a little too far away for the camera lens:

Some retired lifeboats were open to visitors in the marina but Andrew refused to open Zephyros to TGT's (remember, TGT= the guided tour):

Some lovely old wooden boats were dressed for the occasion too:

As darkness arrived, Vesper the Nordhavn 68 looked at home attached to Vesper island in front of Castle Cornet:

To round off the day, there was a fireworks display from the harbour breakwater - with a population of under 70.000 people we reckon that the display cost them a few pounds each. Or the monthly entertainment budget of one of the local banks. It was a spectacular end to a great day:

A great day in lovely sunshine. Thanks Guernsey (and Robert and Kathy too)

An early Lymington start to St Peter Port

The forecast was very tempting. Gentle winds, little swell and a sunny weekend ahead to enjoy once we get to Guernsey. The only slight issue was the timing of the trip. To take best advantage of the tides, we would need to set off well before daylight, As there are often pot markers around Hurst Castle at the entrance to the Solent, that would not be smart, So, we prepared to leave at first light meaning a 3:30 alarm call. Lovely life this cruising one.

The route looked like:

and it is about 87 nautical miles. We had rocket assistance from the tide as we headed down the side of the Isle of Wight. We also had a call from the Saga Sapphire, a small cruise liner which was heading into Southampton to agree tactics for the narrow channel near the Needles rocks and lighthouse.  She looked quite ethereal in the first morning light:

if a little bit elderly (very Saga liner-ish!). Since her launch in 1981 she has enjoyed 6 different names with various operators and was infamous for having a major mechanical breakdown on her inaugural cruise for Saga after a refit. That was followed by an electrical fire a couple of years later that meant anchoring with a load of passengers whilst repairs could be completed. Probably one to avoid when booking our next cruise.....

The Needles were looking mean and moody too, even the lighthouse seemed to have a red beam:

Running across the channel was pretty calm. No big dramas. We allowed the west going tide to take us that way and had a roughly calculated course that should have brought us nicely back to our intended waypoint as the tide turned, Unfortunately we had to divert even further west to avoid a commercial ship so that upset the calculations a little - you can see the result on the track above. We then nicely just avoided the corner of the traffic separation zone and amazingly didn't have to divert for any ships in the shipping lanes - we just sped up a little once to give plenty of clearance (1 mile) ahead of a tanker. As you can see, a gap opened up nicely for us:

Heading past the Casquets and down the Little Russel channel was lovely. Sun out, little wind, sitting on the flybridge and enjoying the ride. As we approached St Peter Port we saw the regulation liner (Queen Victoria this time) anchored off:

Their radio conversation with Port control was interesting:

Queen Victoria: Yes, hello port control, we were trying to call the pilots to confirm that we would like them to board at 17:30 as arranged  (it was around 17:20)

Port control: Well, they are not on the pilot boat yet so unsure of their timing

Queen Victoria (somewhat huffily) : Thank you for that information......

Even the might of Cunard cannot get people working on "Guernsey time" to conform to their wishes. We doubt they got a discount because of the pilot's late arrival either!

There was space for us on the outer harbour pontoons and we happily moored on the end of one. The crew then noticed that the water tap was laying flat on the pontoon and clearly had not been connected (our pontoon was the only one not linked to the shore either). She suggested we move. A tired captain declined. Then the harbour guy came over in his dory and told us that they hadn't got any water connected yet, even to the taps that were standing up. Guernsey time at work again perhaps.

During the evening, after falling on food, we admired the usual views from the pilothouse across to Castle Cornet:

Andrew and Linda on Zephyros made the same trip at the same stupid time. They had intended to hit Dartmouth but decided to make it a Nordhavn Rally and come over to Guernsey instead. Andrew's mum who was on board with them and expecting a ride to Dartmouth might have felt kidnapped but didn't show it. We haven't spotted her making a run for sanctuary or the Condor ferry back so we assume that all is well.

Escaping Shamrock Quay and revisiting Lymington

After a blowy night in shamrock and some Defender delivery the next morning we waited for the wind to abate a little and the tide to go slack so we could wriggle out of the work berth between two more boats. Another interesting little manoeuvre.

We witnessed another bunch of boats being loaded onto a ship for warmer (we expect) climes:

The Solent was pretty choppy with the wind over the tide causing the typical local series of short sharp waves. We managed to kick up some spray and watched an Aquastar motorboat submarining as she headed west too. Arriving back in Lymington it was as if nothing had changed in the couple of weeks since we left. Zephyros, with Andrew and Linda (and Andrew's mum this time), was still in residence and the town was as inviting as ever. A good jumping off spot for Guernsey.

The annual maintenance ritual

After checking that our little extra underwater addition (the rope we had picked up) hadn't done any damage, we got going with the normal routine:

• Cleaning up the hull where the lift strops were and hence the pressure wash didn't remove any growth or slime
• Checking / changing the anodes as needed
• Removing, cleaning up the rope cutter assembly (in a little bath of descaling fluid) and replacing the bearings
• Cleaning and antifouling the thruster props and through hull fittings (the boat is Coppercoated but these areas are not)
• Cleaning the stainless steel on the lower rub rail
• Polishing and sealing the bottom area of the hull, below the rub rail
• Cleaning up the props and wing engine shaft and P bracket

as you can see, a fun activity:

At least it was done sitting down. The end result makes it all seem worthwhile:

What else? Well:

• Making copious amounts of tea
• Cleaning up the keel cooler and hydraulic oil cooler
• Drinking copious amounts of tea
• Greasing the through hull fittings
• Drinking copious amounts of red wine to free off the shoulders
• Drinking copious amounts of tea to rehydrate

We also had a visit from Brian George, the  very nice TRAC stabiliser expert. He pronounced the system to be in rude health and suggested just a filter change. That made the bank account so happy.

The weather was kindish - we started really early each day and then rain stopped play and saved us from physical harm owing to over exertion around mid afternoon. However, come relaunch time the wind really picked up and was on the edge of the "operating window" for the hoist team. Careful prep by the lift team before becoming airbourne:

On the way to the lift bay, a few tons swinging under the hoist in the wind:

and finally back where she belongs. Of course, something had to play up after a few days in the air. When we switched on the LPG panel it didn't fire up.  Please don't let it be the panel which would be a nightmare to remove and replace (and probably wildly expensive too). Multimeter out and it was clear that the feed from the 24v to 12v converter was still working. The cheap to replace bit was OK, things looked grim.

Luckily, a poor connection was found and after remaking it, the system fired up OK. Sometimes things are sent to try us. This time it was more of a tease but not what we needed after a busy day.

For once the boat was not covered in grit and grot from her week ashore. We were put onto some concrete rather than normal gravelly hardstanding which helped. It rained a lot to help wash the stuff out of the cockpit. Also we had nobody bar Brian the stabiliser man doing any work for us so there were fewer folks traipsing in and out of the boat.

It is really nice to be afloat again. Now it is time to plan the next stop.