Ramsgate to - err - Ramsgate!

Hi everyone,
Yesterday morning we departed Ramsgate in light winds under cloudy skies.  We motor-sailed due to the light winds.  As we were approaching North Foreland the gas alarm went off.

I went below to investigate.  No gas smell.  Knowing that one of the gas sensors is in the bilge I lifted the floorboard where it is located and found the space was full of water.  Not good!

The water was warm so was obviously coming from the engine.  We shut down the engine and I got to work pumping out the water using our small hand pump.  There was only about 20 litres - enough to fill the engine bilges and the small volume into which they overflow.

We decided to return to Ramsgate to fix the problem, so tacked and slowly sailed south again.  While doing so I finished bailing out and noticed that a jubilee clip (hose clamp) had failed on the hose between mixing elbow and wet box.  We have two hose clamps at each end of every hose, and this incident shows why!

I replaced the hose clamp with a spare and we started the engine which ran fine.  There was still a slow leak from the hose so I suspected the hose itself was also failing.  It is four years and 1000 hours old and works in the harshest environment - immediately after the mixing of very hot exhaust gas and warmed raw water.

We then motored gently back into Ramsgate marina and secured the boat.  We kept Ramsgate Port Control advised throughout while making clear there was no emergency.

It didn't take long to find a local mechanic (via Marlec Marine) who came down within an hour.  He agreed with our diagnosis and we agreed a schedule of work.

Lessons Learned:

1. Never use hose clamps with holes (vice indentations) - I'm amazed there was one aboard, and it failed
2. Install an engine bilge water alarm (gas sensors are expensive alternatives!)
3. Replace all "hot" hoses every 2-3 years or 500 or so hours running.  Visual checking is clearly inadequate.
4. Keep fighting complacency!

It's interesting to note that several diesel mechanics have given us "if it ain't broke don't fix it" advice recently.  We do all the regular maintenance but I always wondered if expert eyes might detect emerging problems I don't.

That afternoon the rain started.  It continued all night and by this morning was quite heavy.  Yesterday evening we were quite glad to be ashore in a cosy pub instead of motoring through it.

Trust all's well where you are!

Cowes to Ramsgate

Hi everyone,
On Wednesday evening we finally departed Cowes.  We were stuck there due to poor weather.  But there are many worse places to get stuck!  We enjoyed our 3 day stay which included several memorable pub lunches.  We also enjoyed watching the many sail training yachts come and go, plus the Clipper Venture yachts which are presumably training crews for their next round the world event.

We departed Cowes at 1800.  Here are the usual plots for the passage...

Zen Again Track

Zen Again Speed

And here are the usual statistics...

• Distances/Speeds
• Route Distance = 135nm
• GPS Distance = 130nm
• Duration = 21 hours
• Average ground speed = 6.2 kt
• Weather
• Minimum wind speed = 15 kt
• Average wind speed = 20 kt
• Maximum wind speed = 28 kt
• Apparent wind angle range = 120 to 180
• Seas up to 2m
• Mostly broken cloud with sunny intervals.  Occasional rain showers.
• Engine
• Total = 1 hour
• Driving = 1 hour (in & out of marinas)
• Charging = 0 hours

Our ground speed average is one of our best ever.  That's due to our catching two tides - one flowing up the channel and the other flowing from the channel into the North Sea.  We had the tide with us from Selsey Bill all the way to Dover.  The speed plot shows just how constantly the tide was in our favour.

The sail was good with little traffic to contend with.  We were under double-reefed (trisail side) main and well-furled yankee all Wednesday night, then under well-furled yankee alone on Thursday.  The regular Gale Warnings on the VHF made us a little nervous!  Storm force 10 winds were forecast for Thursday night further north, and gale force 9 for our area.  We thought about stopping at Dover at one stage when rain showers were dampening our spirits but the sun came out and we pressed on.

We arrived at Ramsgate at 1445 on Thursday afternoon.  The weather was partly cloudy and blowing 20-25 knots.  As the photo below shows, the finger jetty at our berth is very short so we spent some time preparing for the oncoming gale.  We then staggered into town for a pub meal, having met the main objective of our holiday - reaching Ramsgate.

The overnight gale kept us up minding our lines during the small hours of the morning.  Some pretty good bullets came through.

Zen Again in sparsely populated Ramsgate Marina

Today (Friday) we had another walk around town and lunch at the Royal Temple Yacht Club.  A great lunch in very nice surroundings.

Royal Temple Yacht Club overlooks the harbour

Excellent Ploughman's at the RTYC

Tomorrow we plan to sail towards the Medway.  The winds are forecast to be light westerlies so we may stop overnight at Queensborough before heading up the Medway River to Chatham on Sunday morning.  That will be a homecoming since I was born in Chatham and sailed there while back in the UK in the 1980s.

Plymouth to Cowes

Hi everyone,
We are now soaking up the atmosphere at the capital of UK yachting - Cowes on the Isle of Wight.  We had a great overnight passage from Plymouth, completing the 120nm in under 24 hours.

Here are the usual plots for the passage.  The effect of tidal currents on our speed over the ground is clear.  The dip near the end is between the Needles and Hirst Castle.

Zen Again Track

Zen Again Speed

And here are the usual statistics...

• Distances/Speeds
• Route Distance = 121nm
• GPS Distance = 123nm
• Duration = 23 hours
• Average ground speed = 5.3 kt
• Weather
• Minimum wind speed = calm
• Average wind speed = 12 kt
• Maximum wind speed = 18 kt
• Apparent wind angle range = 60 to 150
• Seas up to 1.5m
• Mostly sunny with occasional high cloud
• Engine
• Total = 4 hours
• Driving = 4 hours
• Charging = 0 hours

On Friday evening we took the train from Paddington to Plymouth.  It was packed, including along all aisles.  Thankfully we had reserved seats.  A quick taxi ride got us to Queen Anne's Battery and aboard Zen Again.

The weather forecast for the weekend was variable (light) winds becoming 10-15 S later.   Before departure we discovered the engine start battery was dead.  We can start the engine using the house battery so decided to replace the dead battery in Cowes.

On Saturday morning we departed QAB at 1000 under sunny skies, motoring out of the harbour in near-calm conditions.  Within an hour we were motor sailing, and a couple of hours later we were sailing.  We sailed all the way from there - a very nice change from recent passages!

Sizzling Wake

One thing one notices here in the UK is you're never alone.  There's always a jet plane in sight.  The sky is permanently littered with contrails.

Contrails Galore

The sail along the coast was very pleasant.  It was nice to see the coast in clear weather.  Overnight the sky was occasionally clear so we could see the stars and watch the jets strobing their way across the sky.

We were under full sail all Saturday.  Overnight we put a furls in the headsail and then a reef in the main as the wind got up above 15 knots.

We had expected to arrive at the Needles - the western entrance to the Solent - at low tide.  We had such a good sail we arrived in the middle of the ebb - despite the reef and furls!  Thankfully the wind was about 15 knots by then and with the headsail unfurled we could make 2 knots over the ground against the neap tide current of 3+ knots.  We entered the channel at 0500 when it was still very dark - quite interesting with wind over tide!

Entering the Medina River

Breakwater

Zen Again hasn't visited Cowes previously.  I did Cowes week here in the early 1990s and it now has a substantial breakwater across the river mouth and several new marinas.  We are moored at Cowes Yacht Haven which was there back then.  I remember helping to manoeuvre 10-boat rafts out in the tide when inner yachts departed.  It was a whole new world for a young Aussie sailor!

The Solent is well known for its Red Funnel Line ferries.  They pass us by regularly here and woe betide any yacht which gets in their way.  Five short blasts on the horn.

Red Funnel Ferry - Don't Mess With Them

Since arriving we have cleaned up the boat, had lunch at the nearby Anchor Inn, extracted the dead engine-start battery and arranged for it to be exchanged tomorrow morning.  We expect to spend two nights here.

Alongside Cowes Yacht Haven Visitor Jetty

 Trust all's well where you are!