Rye to Eastbourne

After a long night on the harbour wall. I went to Camber Sands to get some over priced supplies from the holiday park supermarket. I left slightly before high water even though I had to sail agaist the tide a bit. Mostly westerly winds but, it was a pleasant sail. The seas state did get worse about 5 nm from Eastbourne. Heard a lot of panpans and a mayday a vessel was taking on water and the bilge pump was not working.

Finally got though the break water to be told to wait for the lock. Very little room to move it was a case of trying to stay in deep water without a collision with other vessels. Very much free for all as not everyone was using the radio.

When the lock did open every one seemed to go for it so I decided to go for it we had to raft up inside. I counted 12 boats inside the lock.

I requested a berth but, was told one would be given. I finally got a berth but, just could not find it and the fishing boats did not seem to have a care in the world about going past in excess of 6 knots.

Eastbourne itself was a nice place supermarkets and a large retail estate within walking distance of the mariner its an ideal stop. 

Rye oh no back to Rye

The forecast was a force 3 to 4 smooth or slight seas. Another sailor whom we met who was sailing round the UK for charity on a 22ft Westerly was also heading west. A short while after we left Peter sent us a text to say that he was turning back due to the conditions. Moderate seas with a good force 6. I decided to go for it but after an hour or so of making very slow progress had a difficult decision to make. Head south to France without Id or the SSR for Tallula head back to Ramsgate or enter Rye harbour is strong winds agaist the advise of the harbour master. I headed back into Rye and understand why no one should attempt it in strong winds. It was a very tricky entry with a spring eeb tide.

I did not have enough water to make for the town quay so had no other option but, to tie up on the harbour wall with shingle under Tallula it was along night hourly checks to adjust the lines untill she was aground what a night.

The ladder needed an extention

for all the Doctor Who fans.

I was able to inspect her hull and scrape the hull. But, never again. Rye was a nice place with one exception no where to get supplies.

Dover to Rye

we set sail for Brighton very light winds barely a knot. So we had to motor did not see any vessels for hours. It was very different compared to the Solent. Maintained a steady 6 knts under low revs. I decided to increase the revs as I had not pushed the Yanmar very hard. All was fine and Tallula was going well. Then I could smell some thing and just assumed that it was something from North Foreland.

Then I noticed black water and black smoke coming from the tell tail. I decided to turn turn the engine of and use the auxiliary outboard a Mariner 4 hp. She pushed us along at 5 knots so I was quite happy with that.

I could not find out what was wrong with the inboard so I decided to head to Rye but, the water level was too low. So we anchored in the bay. Very uncomfortable indeed. Little did I know at the time but, I would end up in Rye for longer than I thought. I had to make for the Town Quay as Rye is a drying harbour.

Under anchor in the Bay

Entering the River

Ramsgate to Dover

Had a very nice sail to Dover from Ramsgate only saw a couple of yachts. I was shocked how efficient Dover authority was makes Portsmouth look like a free for all well it is. I was expecting a lot more traffic.

The marina itself was a bit of a dive and Dover itself was even worse however it was a good and easy place to stop of in.

Inside the Dover harbour

John thd tiller pilot

Great sailing making good progress

The only ferry who I had to wait for.

Ramsgate then back to Ramsgate

The plan was to go on to Dover with a forecast of 3/4 and slight sea state I set of saw a lot of whit horses but, after 20 minutes of having the wind on Tallulas nose even with full throtle we could not even maintain 3 knots I took the decision to go back to Ramsgate. I was not too concerned with the moderate sea state with a good force 6 but, the very slow progress. 

I am very impressed how well such a small vesssel of just 24" can remain so stable. The life boat was launched twice and several other vessels turned back to Ramsgate. So I will stay in Ramsgate tonight.

Faversham to Ramsgate

Today I took public transport down to Oare Creek. I got a lift from Banbury to Oxford then the bus to London and then a train to Faversham and finally a taxi to my mooring. It was not easy and took double the time it took me last week by car.

I decided to walk into Faversham though a field with a bull in it to get some supplies.

 As the pontoon does not have any water on I had to carry a 20 litre can three times to fill up the tank. Talula needs a good clean and more but, that will have to wait till Ramsgate. I am currently sat in the saloon typing this as I am unable to sleep.

More to follow.


left at high tide strong winds were forecast as well as moderate seas. It was very tricky navigating in a different area with so many sand banks. Not only that a lot of the buoys were not where they were on the charts or not there completely. Saw seals and some very big waves. But, made it safely to Ramsgate.

Farewell Pandora

I have now sold Pandora to a nice guy from Norwich. It was really sad taking all my things of her. I filled a Nissain Micra with things from her and still did nit have enough room in the car. So on the day of transfer I put the rest of the things into the boot.

As she was going tobe transported by road I took the main sai and boom down she looked really different. I then brought her round so her mast could be unstepped. She was then lifted out but, she was too big for the trailer so the new owner will need to return to pick her up.

She looks so strange without her boom.

High and dry

Mirror Dinghy Project

I decided to buy a Mirror Dinghy with a crack in the hull. I towed her back on a very old trailer it was hard work as the mud guards keept failing down and it just did not feel safe. I stopped several times on the way back.

When I got her back I turned the hull over to see how bad it was. It was far worse than I thought so I sanded the hull down to get a beter look of the extent of the damage. As you can see from the picture it was quite bad. She come with oars, row locks all rigging and sails so I was still really pleased having paid very little for her.

I decided to cut out all the rot in the wood that I could find I was then left with a very big hole in my new boat.

More to follow

 An early Mirror 9220

British Seagull Project

I won a British Seagull outboard on ebay for just £25. The guy even delivered I could not believe my luck. I was told that she was brought new by an old man who had not used her for over 35 years. The outboard even come with an original flyer. The outboard is a Forty Plus with the serial number FP 2099JJ3 accroding to the  serial number she is a Forty Plus Mk2 rated as a 2-3 HP model. As you can see from the picture she is a very tidy outboard that appears not to have had much use.

A very rare flier in mint condition.

Original garantee

Spare parts

Below is my new Forty Plus Outboard.

After looking in the tank I could see a lot of old black gunk. So I removed the fuel tank and filled it with caustic soda. I will drain it out tommorow and then give it a good rinse. 

More to follow.

I put the fuel tank back on and tried to start her, but, she would not start. I changed the spark plug and checked for a spark and there was no spark. I then earthef the HT lead and attached a dril to the flywheel for a few minutes. Reconected the HT lead and the outboard started first time.

I am very pleased with thr outboard and will be keeping her.

Below is a link of her running 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EyJ2PNV9SQE

My third yacht

Yesterday I went down to view a Trident 24 in Faversham and brought her. The mooring she isnot very nice the boat yard does not even have a shower block or even toilets.

I spend the day in the sun giving her a good clean but, it was hard work as no water was available on the pontoon. The last owners had had only taken her out a few times for three hours at a time. I will be doing a few smalls jobs fitting a compass and an outboard bracket so I can use an outboard as an auxiliary engine.

I will then be sailing her back to the Solent I fully intend to stop on passage as I will be single handed I just hope that the nice weather stays.

RYA Coastall Skipper

Sailing back to the Rock from Ceata

I decided to do my RYA Coastall Skipper in a warmer climate as I did my day skipper in stormy weather in November. I choose Gibraltar as I really like the place and would have the chance to see a bit of Spain and Portugal at the sa'e time.

I flew to Malaga and then took the bus to La Liniea abd then walked over to Gibraltar. I used Rock Sailing for the course as the reviews were quite good.

I met the instructor who was an old fasioned English man who liked to drink. Onboard there was a German and Gibraltarian who were both doing there RYA Yacht Masters. The first day due to heavy rain and the decks being slippy the German fell in while trying to jump onto the pontoon.

I was not keen on the mooring system as it was not what we had in the UK.

On the first day we did a number of exercises that seemed very easy with the very weak tides. Not like back in the Solent. It was very strange sailing past the airport. Most of the time the weather was bad with lots of rain my cabit leaked a lot. We sailed to Ceata and around the Rock saw lots of dolphins and not many container ships like I was expecting. While enroute to Ceata we heard a mayday call coming from an inflatable dinghy full of people atempting to reach Europe. We did not assist as the skipper said if we do assist we will be boarded by armed immigrants who would not hestitate to shoot us. As he was familiar with those waters I did not protest. Other vessels beter equiped went toaid the dinghy.

I was pleased to pass my Coatall skipper and very shocked at how laid back things were with a complete lack of regard for rules or even simple things like wearing a life jacket. I was the only one who wore one the who.e time while at sea.

We are taking on water

20 June 2016

Fareham - Folly Inn

The plan was to go for a few days sailing round the solent but, it did not go the way it should have.
I left Fareham all was well the skies had become a little grey and the wind started picking up. My first stop was going tobe the Folly Inn and then onto Newtown Creek. A short while after leaving Portsmouth the seas started to get a bit lumpy the engine did not sound quite right at the time I had no idea that I was taking on a lot of water.

An hour later the seas had become quite nasty with big waves I was about 10 miles from Cowes and realised that I had a problem as I was taking on huge amounts of water though the prop shaft. I phoned my girlfriend to imform her all was well and that I expected to arrive at my destination soon.

The situation had now become worse the engine compartment was filling up and I was steering Pandora with my legs whiles I pumped the bilges. She become very unstable and I was not sure if I would make it the waves on our starboard side were now entering the cockpit. I thought that I was going to capsize due to the force of the waves and the extra water weight. I changed course to head into the waves and then changed back again when the waves got smaller.

I come alongside a pontoon by the Folly Inn and some fellow sailers assited in pumping the bilges I was exhausted. I rung seastart who arrived quickly. They found that I was taking on water though the propshaft and managed to stop the intake of water and moved me to anothother pontoon.

On the pontoon getting some cloths dry

The next day I had a lift out at the Kingston boat yard and saw the state of the stern gear. The cost to replace the stern gear washuge so I decided to seal the prop shaft hole and fit an outboard bracket.

Passages on Pandora

First passages on Pandora

Below is an account on passages that I made on Pandora

29 April 2016

First passage - Fareham to East Cowes 44nm

I sailed from Fareham to East Cowes it was my first single handed passage and felt great when I got there.

20 June 2016

Fareham to Wooten Creek 25nm

After talking to other sailors at the marina I decided to sail over to Wooten Creek, it was like going back in time. But, the contant wash from the ferry I did not get that much sleep. I awoke to an amazing sunrise.

28 August - 31 August

Fareham - East Cowes - Bucklars Hard - Fareham 58nm

Very light winds mostly motor sailing to East Cowes the sun was out and the weather was nice. It was an easy passage. We spend the night in East Cowes marina as allways the showers were great. but, it was a bit of a pain and long walk to get to Cowes via the chain ferry. The next day we set sail for Bucklars Hard  on the Beaulieu river. One of the very few private rivers owned by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Is is a very nice relaxing place to visit the tides do seem to run hard and it can be tricky to moor up on a pontoon. The same day we walked to Beauliu village and saw the wild donkeys and horses. Then the next day we set of before sun rise and sailed into lots of fog. One of my greatest fears when sailing in bizzy waters. Very light winds until we got back into Portsmouth then things started getting very gusty.

On passage to the Beaulieu River

The light house on the river make sure you stay in the channel and try to enter
during a flood tide.

Bucklars Hard Marina

Sailing into the fog can all ways be scarjy the fog horn was ready in hand.

The sun rise on the river