Force 5 at Killington

Jeff and I had a great days sailing on Monday, with thanks to Dave for lending the wetsuit, and to Pete and Gareth for giving us the confidence.
Pete had been teaching some beginners in the high winds all weekend, but had reached the limit of what he could show them, and had decided to postpone for a quieter day when they would be able to take the helm. They were disappointed, and so were we as we hoped to have the benefit of them being on the lake. But Pete encouraged us, so with a reef in the mainsale, (thanks to Tony last week), the jib furled but ready for use if needed, and the centre board only half down, we set off to see how it went.
We were not alone on the lake, for as Pete and Gareth had predicted, the high winds did bring two windsurfers out. We were glad for their company and glad that there were other users on the lake.
The wind was strong and coming from the North East. I had only seen a northerly wind once before, on Easter Monday, but then it was nearer North, and was blowing down the channel on the other side of the island. This day the channel was in the lee of the island, and quite calm.
It was a great day sailing.  After some tacks to and fro across the lake we headed up wind, the north east corner seemed to need repeated short tacks to get there, but we managed it OK each time.
There was definitely less healing with less centreboard, but even so there were some interesting moments with the gusts.  With no jib, there was less for Jeff to do as crew, but he got the hang of moving about OK.  It was generally quite easy to see the wind direction from the waves, and the gusts from the darker patches of water, although sometimes the gusts started with a change in wind direction, causing the sale to flap before hitting it with force.
It was a sunny day, and when the wind eased off and we had time to look around there were some glorious moments, with the sun shining across the water.  We had two or three breaks, and I am glad to say I did a better job of brining the boat into the jetty that the previous week.  Most of the time we stayed fairly dry, but when the wind was at its strongest there were a few splashes coming over the bows, which added to the fun.

Toward the end of the afternoon, the wind grew stronger again, and it was even more of a struggle to keep the boat steady, so we came in and called it a day. A great Day.

Weekend Sailing

Some folk who are thinking of buying a Wanderer borrowed my Wayfarer to see what a similar boat was like, and seemed to get a favourable impression, even though one of the bungs was broken, and the boat started filling with water!
What was worse is that the front buoyancy tank filled with water, possibly from two no longer used screw holes that are now covered with Duck tape (thank you Ian).  The result was that on Saturday the boat was impossible to move, or tip back and drain, until some serious bailing had been done.  I am grateful to Ian and Geraldine who leant their support and strength to get the boat tipped up and starting to drain. It went on draining for quite some time.
The boat was on the path rather than in the berth, which is not surprising; it is harder to move on the gravel of the berth than the concrete of the path.  What is amazing is that they managed to get the boat up the slope at all. When they told me of the problem, I did not think that much of it, as I expected to be there within a week or so. With Ann being ill last month, the boat was blocking the patch for a matter of five or six weeks. How embarrassing!
When I realised the bungs Ian had leant me were not the right shape for the fittings, I decided to buy replacements later, and sail the club RS Feva instead. There are days when no-one else is sailing at Killington, so I was glad to be sailing while Ian & Geraldine were around as well.  The winds were light, and they were making good use of the Spinnaker, which I hope to learn next season.  I packed up when they did.
Just before I left Myles arrived with a group from Sedburgh school, and I was tempted to go back out. I enjoyed watching Myles skilfully talk a lone sailor back to pick up her partner, when she had unintentionally drifted off without her.
On Sunday morning I found that the replacement bungs I had bought fitted fine, and I would not need to replace the fittings they plugged into as well. Everything was fine, except that there was no wind, and the lake was as flat as a mill pond.  This did not deter the group that had come to go canoeing, but it was a show stopper for me.

The lake was as flat as a millpond

I was at a bit of a loss, and I had not brought my walking boots with me.  I went to Kendal and bought some inexpensive ones, but I noticed walking back to the car that there was a little breeze now.  I decided to walk on Farleton Fell, but call at Killington on the way. I was just in time to see the canoeing group pack up, and there was a light pleasant breeze, so the sailing was on.
Even though the winds were light, sailing the Wayfarer is an enjoyable experience and gives a good impression of speed.   It was good to be out on the water.  It rained briefly, but I did not mind. The sun came out briefly, and it was beautiful.  I heard yesterday that there was a fishing competition today, there were certainly a lot of them, so I kept away from that shore.
I thought the wind must be getting stronger, as it was really hard to keep the boat from turning into the wind, but after a while I realised the rudder down haul had come loose.  When I took a longer look at the sail, I realised that it was not that the kicking strap was too long ( I had tied a know to shorten it) but that the goose neck, boom and mainsail were too low.  I stopped in the middle of the lake to make an adjustment, then realised it was not enough, and stopped to make another, and another. I think it was quite good by the end.

This had been my first time sailing the Wayfarer alone when there were no other people using the slipway.  It is hard work pulling it up with just one other person, and mighty hard doing it alone. I was glad to reverse the car down and tow it up the slope.
Now I have checked the diary it is nine weeks since I had the boat at Glenridding, and I was very pleased to be out on the water again.

Combi-Trailer

I had a great afternoon yesterday sailing the Wayfarer single handed in a force 3 wind at Killington. The boat zipped along very nicely, and I had no idea that 2 hours had passed when I came into to sort the problem with the goose-neck.
I went up simply to swap the boat from the original trailer onto a second hand combi trailer I had bought. Pete Lawson was teaching a level 2 safety boat course, so it was quite comforting to know that there was a safety boat on hand. They were the only other people there when I arrived, although a couple arrived after me and took out their Enterprise later on.
When Pete had finished teaching, he showed me how to attach the launching trolley to a tow bar, which makes it easier to get up the ramp, and how to load the launching trolley on the road trailer. I may leave it off the road trailer most of the time, as it was a little awkward.
We also ran through the procedure for taking the mast down. 1. Make the boat level, 2. undo the side shrouds, 3. undo forestay keeping it tight until you can get in and hold the mast, 4. secure the stays to the mast with tape, 5. lift the mast and place it on the ground, 6. hold it vertical against the side of the boat as you get out, 7. hold the bottom in place with a foot as you lower it to horizontal. It is easier with two people at 3 5 6 & 7.

Weekend Sailing at Killington

Another Great Weekend Sailing at Killington.
I did not want to capsize on Saturday, not least because I was not wearing a wetsuit, in solidarity with my crew, who joined me on the spur of the moment that morning.  Rod, a volunteer with Cockermouth mountain rescue, a keen walker, rock climber and trail cyclist, is particularly sensitive to sloping floors, does not like the movement on ferries, and rarely if ever sails, but he chose to join me on Saturday. I am pleased to say that we did not get wet.

I am grateful to Pete Lawson who showed me how to reef the sail, and even with the reef we still managed a good turn of speed in the blustery conditions. Rod was a great crew, alert and responsive to the need to move about the boat.  He also managed to take a few pictures.
On Sunday I was quite happy to capsize, and took out the club RS Feva. Again I was grateful to Pete for showing me how to rig it. Definitely more tippy than the Wayfarer, it felt very precarious for the first half an hour.   I was glad that it did not blow up as strong as it looked it might, and glad to get used to the boat with a single sail.  As to how easy it is to recover after a capsize, that I will find out another time.

I had lunch with Pete and the couple from Edinburgh who were learning on the timber decked Seafly he was selling to them.  Just before lunch I had set off from the jetty to bring the Feva round to the slipway, as Pete was going to use it in the afternoon, so they could each sail a different boat single handed.  He used my example of how not to do it to teach us all how to get out of irons.
There was just a short session after a late lunch, and I had a brief sail in the Wayfarer before packing it away ready for next time.

Wonderful Weekend Sailing at Killington

What a wonderful weekend sailing.  It started off slowly, fitting the floorboards and seats after their stay in the shed over winter. Then Ellie arrived and we had a cup of tea, before fitting the main sail to the boom and seeing how the goose neck worked on the new bracket attached to the mast. When all the sails were up satisfactorily..... we took them down again while we got changed.
Then the sailing began.  It was a beautiful day, bright sunshine and a steady force 2 wind.   We sailed back and forth and up and down, round the buoys, and practised our man overboard procedure.  Ellie had just been on a rudderless sailing course, and demonstrated how to turn the boat using the jib and leaning the boat. We had the lake to ourselves in the morning, and at lunchtime we were joined by one laser and one scorpion - a beautiful boat with polished wooden deck.  The sun kept shining, the wind kept steady and it was glorious afternoon.

The next day looked dark and gloomy, and quite uninviting, but I was glad to give my new spray top and salopettes an outing.  The wind was a little stronger and there was a group kayaking from the nearby Bendigg centre.  There was also a group from the scouts getting their boats ready, and they got on the water while we came in for lunch. It is great now that there is more water and we could leave the boat in the water tied to the jetty. The wind was stronger after lunch, and the scouts had already capsized some of the of their smaller boats.   We sailed amongst them for a bit and then charted our own course up and down the lake, while the wind grew stronger. There were more white horses about so I guess it was force 4, and the waves were coming over the bows and giving our spray tops a run for their money.

It was me at the helm when we capsized. The annoying thing is that it is difficult to remember exactly what happened. It was just after going about.  With Ellie's dry suit and the thermals under my wet suit it was no great shock to slide gently into the water.  We were both well trained at Glenridding, and righting the boat, and getting both of us on board went like clockwork.  Limping back to the jetty with the boat full of water was not too difficult. The real problem was when the boat was on the cradle pulling it out of the water.  Even with a lot of help it was no mean feat. we got it up enough to bale water out without it flowing back in, and then, when it was light enough, up further to let the water drain.  Thank you to all you helpful people at Killington Sailing Association.

Altogether a wonderful weekend