So far so good...

[John Denney]

Hi all, I am now sat safely in Kinsale marina reflecting on my first solo sail from Holyhead to Kinsale and boy have I a lot to learn! The forecast was for sublime weather and I did not mind the prospect of a lot of motoring so I loaded up with deisel and made sure the cruising chute was tied on in all the right places!
It is weird setting off on a longish sail - one of many new experiences for me. I could not really relax and I was checking everything evrey ten minutes - I eventually calmed down and the sun was shining and the winds were light. The Navik would not work with a tail wind so I was using the tiller pilot but it worked loose from the fitting in the deck and I had to use the spare while I epoxied it back in. (came loose again later so I will do it properly in Kinsale)
I still cannot get used to how slow a yacht is... I will have to get used to the idea that 5kts is "fast"!!! I was checking the engine reularly as the wind had died and I was motoring and found that there was oil and water in the engine compartment - oh dear.... The water was leaking from the water inlet/filter thing so I tightened up the hose clamp but that did not help - I ended up tightening the fittings a bit and then put some "plumber's gold" on it and that worked a treat! Magic stuff that seals leaks even when wet - glad I brought it. The oil was leaking from the rear oil seal and I think I have over filled the gear box - it was only a bit of oil so I will have to live with it and hope I wont be doing so much motoring in the future.
NOTE: remove your life line when buggering about with the engine - it nearly got caught in the flywheel when I started it up... would have been interesting being "wound" into the engine compartment!
I saw a couple of dolphins at about 18.30 - they were heading in the opposite direction and going faster than me - bloody show offs...
I filled up the fuel tank before it went dark and managed it ok but I think I will "heave to" next time - as soon as I learn how to "heave to" that is!
It was a flat calm night with a bright moon and at about 2.30 am I was overtaken by a massive tanker - I called them on the VHF (my first radio call!) and some foriegn twerp just babbled on in some Greek so I just told him I was 1 mile off his port bow and hoped for the best!

(should I contact on 16 and then tell them to go to another channel - say 68 or just stay on 16?)

I was just sat watching the tanker steam past about half a mile away when I saw a huge black line coming towards me - what the efin hell is that? I soon cottened on as a massive tsunami swamped me and nearly rocked the boat over - lost a fresh brew of coffee and stuff all over the place. lesson learnt!

Needless to say I got no slep and the next day I raised the sails and carried on... I had a biscuit and a filling fell out - why now? Of all the times to need a dentist! The day was pretty uneventful (boring) and my back was sore and my arse was sore and my head was sore.... I have a small dent in the top of my head due to banging it every ten minutes while wearing a baseball cap with a little bobble on the top - will cut the damn thing off soon before it pushes through my skull.
By 1600 on the second day i was fed up and it started to rain and the man on the VHF told me to expect F7 - eh? That was not in my plan .... anyway I reefed the sail (then reefed again for good measure - what a tart I am!) and left the genoa as it was - the boat went at the same speed and was just about upright so I think it was a good move.

I had been sailing non stop for 32 hours by now and I was very tired and I was not enjoying the worsening weather so I worked out that I would arrive in Kinsale just as it went dark - not too bad... Silly me - forgot to take the tide into account.. I hate tides! The next part of the trip was not good - I was very tired and had trouble doing simple sums and remembering the name of the place I was going to - I was SO tired.

I need a coffee and a smoke ...... John Kinseela is visiting this pm so I need to go and buy some cleaning stuff "Cif?" so I can clean up a bit! The cockpit is a disgrace due to the oil leak and me spilling coffee everywhere... a sailors work is never done!

..... more later....

Cabin Boy John

 

[johnadenney]

part 2. night of the 6th July 2012

Sailing along the south coast of ireland - heading west in rotten weather with spray over the sprayhood all the time and raining like mad. I was now convinced that it would be dark before I got to Kinsale so I went for plan B - anchor in Kinsale harbour - there are a couple of places and although I have never anchored yet - how hard can it be to throw a chunk of metal over the side? I spent ages studying the chart and worked out the depths etc and fely ok about it. I was worried that I would run out of fuel so I accepted that it would be dark on arrival and just let the Navik steer me west at whatever speed I could get. The tides are horrendous - progress against it was so slow. I was feeling pretty miserable at this stage and the rain and worsening weather did not help so I went below and had a recline on the bunk... it is really hard to relax because I was worried about sailing into something so every 10 mins I would go out and have a good luck... I did this for ages ..... then.... I awoke with a start and saw someones face! Frightened me to death!!! It was the bin bag looking at me - weird but for an instant I would have sworn it was a face. I rushed on deck to see were I was and was relieved that the Navik was still steering me and all was well. I am ashamed to admit that I had slept for an hour and a half - what a plonker! I felt awful and made a coffe, cleaned my teeth and had a wash to wake myself up. It was so cold and wet now - horrible!
Cirrus just kept pounding on regardless and seemed much happier than myself. It was grey wet and windy everywhere. Then a tiny hole appeared in the clouds and the sun shone through on me... it was a strange moment and I was convinced it was my dead father (he died when I was a kid) telling me everything would be ok and he was keeping an eye on me!!! I actually spoke out loud to "him" which is not like me - I am far from religious and not very emotional in any sense of the word....... it was a VERY strange moment!
Back to reality.... well it did go dark, although I was hoping it might not and I started to study the charts more closely as I got near to Kinsale. The GPS is a truly wonderful piece of kit and I had everything charged up - 2 hand held GPS, laptop GPS and paper chart all made ready, anchor checked and all seemed ready. I eventually saw a flashing light and worked out it was the headland at the entrance to Kinsale and the Navik was taking me straight to it - wonderful thing. I now fired up the Volvo and rounded the headland and was shocked to see how much slower I was going - just under 2 kts. It was as black as hell and all I could see was the outline of the hills and a few lights on the coast. I motored into the estuary and slowly made my way to the anchorage with a careful eye on the depth and the GPS (s)... have to admit it was a bit frightening - the wind was about 20 - 25 kts and the tide was making it difficult to steer. I got to the spot marked as an anchorage but the wind was blowing me onto the shore and I was worried I would come to grief while trying to drop the anchor so I decided to go a bit further to another anchorage nearer to Kinsale. It was horrible... I was so apprehensive and it was so black with wind rain and tide to cope with. I eventually came to the second anchorage option but that was no better and I circled around wondering what to do.... this was a low point in my sailing career! Problem was that as I turned a circle the tide took me sweeping down stream and I lost a lot of ground - life was getting tricky and I was so tired... I could not even roll a smoke - I tried twice but the wind just blew it all away!
What to do?
Sod this anchoring lark - it is a pain pulling it up again anyway - I shall go to the marina and park Cirrus on that nice long jetty I had seen on the photographs. Back into the tide and motor past some pretty red lights... er.. "red right return" Neil told me.... or was it the opposite of that... in America it is red on the right.. is it.... going in or out??? My mind was a bout as useful as a chocolate teapot! Anyway I decoded that the lights should be on the left and off I went through a deeper channel and decided it would be a good idea to get the fenders and ropes out. I won't relate what happened but it was a pantomime.. I could not let go of the tiller and I was leaping about like a whirling Dervish trying to sort myself out. Got it all done then thought - maybe I will need to park up on the other side?... so repeated everything and I now had a spider's web of ropes all over the place and fenders hanging everywhere. I was sweating like a pig and worn out but the rain had stopped!
At last - the lights of Kinsale Marina. I motored closer and closer trying to see a spot to land. All my pre-landing checks were complete but I could not make out an entrance - it was so dark. I got as close as I dare and saw the long visitors pontoon but I was dejected to see it full of yachts 2 abreast... I could have cried. Do I crash into one of them and apologise for 2.00 am arrival or what..... or what indeed! I has spotted another anchorage on the way in and thought it was best to go back to that so I turned around (praying the engine would keep going!) and set off back the way I came.... as I turned I saw a yacht through the gloom that appeared to be anchored so I moved towards it but it was moored - it was too dark to see if a spare mooring was available. I set off again back the way I came and saw a black round shape in the water... is it a mooring bouy? I was nearly running over it so I frantically looked for the hook thing but it was still in the locker.... I was past the mooring before I had retrieved it and I could not spot it again... oh gloom.... then another one appeared and I motored for it determined to grab the damn thing... needless to say the wind and current had different ideas and I could not get close enough to it and I was getting very frustrated when another one appeared - a bloody great big monster of a bouy about the size of a small planet. A burst of power a bit of left hand down and it was within reach.... DO NOT miss this one John ... I saw it had no rope attached to it - nothing to get the hook around except the big ring on the top so I got the boat hook in the hole and pulled with all my might... I had it! I nearly pulled it out of the water (adrenalin had kicked in - is adrenalin brown?) I got my hand on it and held on for dear life. The boat swung around and we seemed to have stopped but boy was it hard to hang on... my shoulder was pulling out of it' socket so I searched for a rope... damn it is on the other side. I swore.... a lot.... my free hand found the genoa sheet and I "fingered" my way to it's end and then with a mighty effort leaned over and threaded it through the hole, wrapped both ends around the winch and I was secure. Such a relief.. I just sat there for a moment to get my breath back and check that I was stationary - I was! Yippee...
It was then easy to attach a proper rope and tie it to the front of the boat which swung round nicely and I was safe. One final check... turn everything off and go below for instantaneous sleep.

 

[TJBurkett]

John,

Welcome to the world of single handing. Sound like you've learned about the most important thing in a singlehanders toolbox-sleep!

It'll get better and you should be proud-you've already done what most never do.

Tom

V-398 Pagan Baby

 

[Vega1447]

Great report John.
Good to meet up this afternoon.

As I expected, your Vega is in excellent shape and very well equipped. You should be proud of her and of the passage from Liverpool to Kinsale.

All the best for the rest of the voyage - look forward to hearing about the next leg.

John V1447 Breakaway

John Kinsella
Mathematics and Statistics Dept
University of Limerick

Phone 0035361202148
Web jkcray.maths.ul.ie

 

[stevebirch2002]

Great bolg John, keep it up...

Steve BFrom: John Denney
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 12:34 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Re: So far so good...
part 2. night of the 6th July 2012

Sailing along the south coast of ireland - heading west in rotten weather with spray over the sprayhood all the time and raining like mad. I was now convinced that it would be dark before I got to Kinsale so I went for plan B - anchor in Kinsale harbour - there are a couple of places and although I have never anchored yet - how hard can it be to throw a chunk of metal over the side? I spent ages studying the chart and worked out the depths etc and fely ok about it. I was worried that I would run out of fuel so I accepted that it would be dark on arrival and just let the Navik steer me west at whatever speed I could get. The tides are horrendous - progress against it was so slow. I was feeling pretty miserable at this stage and the rain and worsening weather did not help so I went below and had a recline on the bunk... it is really hard to relax because I was worried about sailing into something so every 10 mins I would go out and have a good luck... I did this for ages ..... then.... I awoke with a start and saw someones face! Frightened me to death!!! It was the bin bag looking at me - weird but for an instant I would have sworn it was a face. I rushed on deck to see were I was and was relieved that the Navik was still steering me and all was well. I am ashamed to admit that I had slept for an hour and a half - what a plonker! I felt awful and made a coffe, cleaned my teeth and had a wash to wake myself up. It was so cold and wet now - horrible!
Cirrus just kept pounding on regardless and seemed much happier than myself. It was grey wet and windy everywhere. Then a tiny hole appeared in the clouds and the sun shone through on me... it was a strange moment and I was convinced it was my dead father (he died when I was a kid) telling me everything would be ok and he was keeping an eye on me!!! I actually spoke out loud to "him" which is not like me - I am far from religious and not very emotional in any sense of the word....... it was a VERY strange moment!
Back to reality.... well it did go dark, although I was hoping it might not and I started to study the charts more closely as I got near to Kinsale. The GPS is a truly wonderful piece of kit and I had everything charged up - 2 hand held GPS, laptop GPS and paper chart all made ready, anchor checked and all seemed ready. I eventually saw a flashing light and worked out it was the headland at the entrance to Kinsale and the Navik was taking me straight to it - wonderful thing. I now fired up the Volvo and rounded the headland and was shocked to see how much slower I was going - just under 2 kts. It was as black as hell and all I could see was the outline of the hills and a few lights on the coast. I motored into the estuary and slowly made my way to the anchorage with a careful eye on the depth and the GPS (s)... have to admit it was a bit frightening - the wind was about 20 - 25 kts and the tide was making it difficult to steer. I got to the spot marked as an anchorage but the wind was blowing me onto the shore and I was worried I would come to grief while trying to drop the anchor so I decided to go a bit further to another anchorage nearer to Kinsale. It was horrible... I was so apprehensive and it was so black with wind rain and tide to cope with. I eventually came to the second anchorage option but that was no better and I circled around wondering what to do.... this was a low point in my sailing career! Problem was that as I turned a circle the tide took me sweeping down stream and I lost a lot of ground - life was getting tricky and I was so tired... I could not even roll a smoke - I tried twice but the wind just blew it all away!
What to do?
Sod this anchoring lark - it is a pain pulling it up again anyway - I shall go to the marina and park Cirrus on that nice long jetty I had seen on the photographs. Back into the tide and motor past some pretty red lights... er.. "red right return" Neil told me.... or was it the opposite of that... in America it is red on the right.. is it.... going in or out??? My mind was a bout as useful as a chocolate teapot! Anyway I decoded that the lights should be on the left and off I went through a deeper channel and decided it would be a good idea to get the fenders and ropes out. I won't relate what happened but it was a pantomime.. I could not let go of the tiller and I was leaping about like a whirling Dervish trying to sort myself out. Got it all done then thought - maybe I will need to park up on the other side?... so repeated everything and I now had a spider's web of ropes all over the place and fenders hanging everywhere. I was sweating like a pig and worn out but the rain had stopped!
At last - the lights of Kinsale Marina. I motored closer and closer trying to see a spot to land. All my pre-landing checks were complete but I could not make out an entrance - it was so dark. I got as close as I dare and saw the long visitors pontoon but I was dejected to see it full of yachts 2 abreast... I could have cried. Do I crash into one of them and apologise for 2.00 am arrival or what..... or what indeed! I has spotted another anchorage on the way in and thought it was best to go back to that so I turned around (praying the engine would keep going!) and set off back the way I came.... as I turned I saw a yacht through the gloom that appeared to be anchored so I moved towards it but it was moored - it was too dark to see if a spare mooring was available. I set off again back the way I came and saw a black round shape in the water... is it a mooring bouy? I was nearly running over it so I frantically looked for the hook thing but it was still in the locker.... I was past the mooring before I had retrieved it and I could not spot it again... oh gloom.... then another one appeared and I motored for it determined to grab the damn thing... needless to say the wind and current had different ideas and I could not get close enough to it and I was getting very frustrated when another one appeared - a bloody great big monster of a bouy about the size of a small planet. A burst of power a bit of left hand down and it was within reach.... DO NOT miss this one John ... I saw it had no rope attached to it - nothing to get the hook around except the big ring on the top so I got the boat hook in the hole and pulled with all my might... I had it! I nearly pulled it out of the water (adrenalin had kicked in - is adrenalin brown?) I got my hand on it and held on for dear life. The boat swung around and we seemed to have stopped but boy was it hard to hang on... my shoulder was pulling out of it' socket so I searched for a rope... damn it is on the other side. I swore.... a lot.... my free hand found the genoa sheet and I "fingered" my way to it's end and then with a mighty effort leaned over and threaded it through the hole, wrapped both ends around the winch and I was secure. Such a relief.. I just sat there for a moment to get my breath back and check that I was stationary - I was! Yippee...
It was then easy to attach a proper rope and tie it to the front of the boat which swung round nicely and I was safe. One final check... turn everything off and go below for instantaneous sleep.

 

[johnadenney]

Many thanks John - thanks again for the great company and driving me
to the garage etc.. really was great to see a friendly face. The
Irish are a wonderful people!
I am just fixing the oar that I stood on and off to the dentist you
showed me in the morning.
Take care.

John

 

[johnadenney]

Will do Steve... I have never had so much time to sit and write and
chat and just be a big kid again. John Kinsella is a great guy and we
had really fabulous afternoon chatting about boats and stuff and had a
great fish and chips as well! My favourite!

Just a question about the Combi...

I think I overdid the grease in the combi - my oil leak is from the
rear oil seal (just a bit) and it is thick - like black grease! Will
I have done any harm by putting too much grease in?

Also, If I want more "thrust" earlier - ie a coarser prop at a "lower"
throttle setting do I just move the little fan shaped cam round a
bit... I seem to remember it was just an interference fit on tapered
shaft?

Have to say the engine has been fabulous apart from the little oil
leak and I think (touch wood) it will be ok as long as I take care of
it. I have 12 oil filters and 15 fuel filters plus a load of other
spares! I think Mr Volvo and me will get to be great friends after a
while.ps - I hope people are not thinking I am foolhardy or dangerous!
Falling asleep was unforgivable, I know - but the rest was just
inconvenient rather than dangerous to me or anyone else! I know some
yachty people will frown on my inexperience but in my defense I have
done a lot of navigation and learnt a lot about looking after myself
in the RAF. It may come across as worse than it was!

Anyway, off to sleep now - dentist tomorrow - yuk!John

 

[rolyatad]

Congratulations. Better safe than to practice anchoring on a lee shore. A
low tech "anchor alarm" I have rigged is with a fishing weight cast in the
direction of my anchor. Depending on the reel, I would set it to make the
"clicking" sound when line was pulled from it. Generally the rod will bend
untill the drag allows 2-3' of line to peel off resulting in a very
annoying sound. Best of luck and keep up the reports!. .Craig

 

[j.hunter9999]

John - Great reading your missive. I think I experienced all of those issues when I first started single-handed sailing. Worry not, it all gets easier. It sounds like you are already past the biggest potential issue, being alone at sea. After you get past that, everything else is manageable!

Ps. During my first longish (16 hour) voyage on Bella I had an extremely sick crew member on board. Based on his increasingly diminished condition, I decided to motor the last 3 hours to our destination. Unfortunately, I didn't tell the stuffing box, which leaked enough water into the bilge to come within 2 inches of the batteries! After a flurry of pumping to empty the bilge we set back on our way.

Pps. Yes, red is on the right in the states...but only while entering a harbor or channel.

Jack