SEPTEMBER 2013

AFFILIATED TO THE
SEPTEMBER 2013
THE
bURGEE
PORT SOLENT YACHT CLUB MAGAZINE
WWW.PSYC.UK.COM
Send contributions to the editor:
tony.firth@talk21.com
1
From the Commodore’s Cockpit
Ian Reed (Reflections)
Welcome to the autumn issue of the ‘The Burgee’. Thanks again to the various
contributors. If you haven’t contributed this year don’t be shy - sail or power,
there are challenges or experiences worth sharing with members. The other
weekend my wife Sandra and I went to a Cruising Association meeting in Canary
Wharf (their HQ). This included a great lunch buffet; no, the meet is not free but
on this occasion was overall worth the fee.
I mention this because one of the speakers, Paul Heiney (a well-known
circumnavigator), gave a twenty-minute narrative having recently returned from
South America via Cape Horn to Dartmouth. The theme was to be comfortable
in yourself however you want to be on the water. In summary (my take) he had
a position that instruments can spoil actual sailing, giving us too much
information to worry about). In Antarctica he had met two contrasting boats: one
owner, a Swedish ex-industrialist, was very wealthy and the other boat was crewed
by a hard-up band of travellers. The industrialist on retirement had gone to a
well-known Swedish sailboat-builder and said ‘What is your largest build?’ ‘‘60
ft’ was the reply. ‘Build me one!’ It was his first boat and, after a year, he and his
wife arrived where Paul Heiney was in Antarctica. The Swedish industrialist’s
immediate problem was that his broadband had gone down so he had an IT
expert fly there who sorted it out in 15 minutes! In contrast the other boat, untidy
and worn-looking was there with a crew (similar) with very little money but a
leisurely life style. Nonetheless both had thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the
last year. What we took from this was if you’re comfortable with the way you
spend your time on the water, keep doing it that way.… being comfortable
includes being safe and knowledgeable about what you are doing.
That brings me briefly to the PSYC Training coordination programme. This has
been emailed to you and is also on the PSYC web site - register now. All these
courses are very useful and, in the case of VHF/DSC, mandatory for licensed use.
We did this successfully several years ago as, like Navtex and the other parts of
the GMDSS system, VHF/DSC greatly adds to your comfort and sense of control
of the boating situation.
Book now for the Posh Frocks event on Sat 21st September. Optional day on
the water followed by dinner and the chance to get rich at The Grosvenor G
Casino Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays for £30 inclusive. Berth in Premier Marina
Gosport, catch the Gosport Ferry over to the event and back afterwards. If you
would like to attend this event please email apw007@btinternet.com
Oct 5th-6th: The ever-popular East Cowes Rally. The final on-the-water event
of the season. Contact Andrew Martin anmartin@blueyonder.co.uk
Our Annual General Meeting is at Quayside on Sun 24th Nov, coffee at 1100,
start at 1130, so please put that in your diaries. Lunch will also be available at
special rates for PSYC members. Watch the website for the popular ‘Winter
Meet’ dates which include talks by various marine industry experts (Sundays
1100 for 1130 then lunch at the special PSYC rate) .
2
Swanwick Rally
Andy Wigley (Blue Hoolie)
had arrived in a spaceship. Poppy the
dog added a je ne sais quoi with her
special aroma of Hamble mud,
acquired within a nanosecond of
touching land - we are still trying to
remove the smell from the boat.....and
ourselves.
Twelve Port Solent YC boats clashed
with a Swanwick-based boat show, so
unfortunately our number were
scattered across the whole marina, but
this did not stop everyone finding Blue
Hoolie on X pontoon for a Hawaiianthemed drinks and nibbles party.
Everyone made a fantastic effort with
revolting, garish and loud shirts,
shorts and pink hula skirts (Gary), that
would have make Steve McGarratt
proud!
We watched the tide turn and start to
ebb in the river and then watched the
second flood push for less than two
minutes before the second ebb. Time to
go, but unfortunately Cliff had clearly
not been able to hold his drink and
started a very childish water fight with
some of our number in which, of
course, I didn't want to get involved!
The Blue Hoolie crew tried to stop the
Dreamcatcher and Yolo crews, but
unfortunately there are no winners and
losers in water fights! Cold, wet and
stinky, Cliff eventually realised he was
out of his depth and once again found
himself to be tail-end Charlie.
At 1630 we had to leave our 'Hoolie'
party and jump in the tenders for a
saunter up the River Hamble to the
Horse and Jockey at Curbridge for a
swift couple of pints. Clearly the pub
doesn't get many Hawaiian visitors in
lifejackets as they looked at us as if we
The climax to our day was a lovely meal
in The Navigator’s hospitality suite.
Having
recently
rebranded,
The
Navigator has a upmarket feel and the
food and service was very good and
reasonably priced. We shall go there
again, especially as the Jolly Sailor over
the river from Swanwick Marina didn't
want to accommodate us at all and in
fact were quite rude when we tried to
book. A shame as they have missed out
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noise of squealing pigs. Curiously,
opening the engine door revealed no
stowaway livestock. At this point I
remembered that I had replaced the raw
water pump a few days earlier which
required slackening off the alternator
belt. Tightening this up abolished the
farmyard noises and we were on our
way again. Within a couple of hours the
breeze shifted to NW 3-4 so we
on our business! For those still
standing after either the alcohol or the
Commodore's speech had sent them to
sleep, the brave and foolhardy visited
the palatial Yolo (Andy and Alison's
boat), for a nightcap, hard gambling
and lap-dancing. I wish I had gone but
was still in a coma (see above).
In summary, the PSYC Swanwick rally,
continues to be one of the jewels in the
crown of rallies but it’s the effort put
in by the participants that make the
rallies special, so please support any
rallies you can - you never know but
you might actually enjoy it and make
some good friends - Wendy and I
definitely have.
Late May Cross-Channel
Tony Firth (Amoret)
The first thing is to get the tides right.
Our planned departure time on
Saturday morning (0500) was ten
minutes before low water, but I’d
overlooked the small point that the tidal
range was 4.2 m. My call to the lock
elicited the unwelcome news that there
was less than a metre in the fairway.
Something over an hour later there was
enough water to stay afloat, so
Somerled, Blue Hoolie and Amoret
headed off for Bembridge Ledge and
points beyond. Part of the plan had
been to link up with Paw Buoy (who was
leaving from the Southampton area) but
Nick and crew, seeing no sign of the rest
of us, sensibly pushed on for Cherbourg.
returned to comfortable sailing.
These various delays had put us behind
our passage plan. The sun had set
before we entered Cherbourg West
entrance (yes, an underestimate of the
tidal streams on the French side meant
that the West entrance was nearer than
the East). Being a bit anxious about the
availability of a berth, I called Somerled
on VHF and, as usual, got an answer
from Blue Hoolie instead. I think that
there is still something odd about
Somerled’s VHF reception, or perhaps
Cliff just switches his VHF off to avoid
having to listen to CROSS preceding
their routine weather forecasts with an
ear-splitting DSC alert and Solent
Coastguard answering radio check
requests (both totally unnecessary).
Anyway, Andy assured me that there
was a free alongside berth on the
outside of Q pontoon. As we
approached, Andy was waiting by a
space between the shiny bow of a large
Sailing across Sandown Bay in a light
NNE breeze was fairly unsatisfactory
with the genoa completely blanketed by
the mainsail. By 1100 we were not yet
south of St Catherine’s Point so we
started the engine. The roar of our
mighty diesel was accompanied by the
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motor-cruiser and the menacing
bowsprit of a large gaff-cutter. Despite
my doubts, I managed to tuck Amoret
in with at least 50 cm clearance at each
end. We had missed eating ashore with
the others but soon organised an onboard pasta supper and vino colapso.
a strangely quiet city towards a cheap
but cheerful lunch. They were shut!
So were most other restaurants except
for the posh ones on the waterfront, so
we settled for the Café-Restaurant de
Paris which provided an elegant and
excellent lunch well worth its quite
modest price. Exploration after lunch
showed that only the patissiers and
florists were open. Light dawned – 26th
May must be La Fête des Mères! The
local traders had closed shop, bought
Mum a bunch of flowers and taken her
to a stylish lunch followed by a little
patisserie.
Late morning saw the traditional
attempt to sink the smallest boat
We sailed off late in the afternoon, a
pleasant westerly 3-4 getting us to
Priory Bay at about 0600 where we
dropped the hook for a few hours sleep.
Summer Cruise to North
Brittany
Cliff & Flicky Laxton
(Somerled)
(Amoret) by everyone sitting at the aft
end for drinks and nibbles. Having
survived that, our crew headed through
Somerled, Shiraz and Blue Hoolie were
the Port Solent YC contenders this year
to try to find fair winds and blue skies.
We set off by sailing down to Portland,
having a good run down with the wind
behind us, arriving at 1500 and
enjoying a good meal in the marina
restaurant.
We left around 0700, with plenty of
wind, heading for Guernsey going
outside the Casquets. The race at
Portland had set in well by the time we
crossed the east end of it and the sea
was boisterous with a large swell some
of which was breaking over Somerled.
(Confession by skipper of sloppy
seamanship: I had not checked the
forward hatch and a good proportion
of the race found its way into our bunk.
5
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if you like uncertainties; you have a
low bridge with a fast tide at times, the
river has no definite depth information,
and you know that if you don’t make
the lock at the other end you won’t get
back before the tide goes out. Don’t be
put off as this is a lovely trip. You have
a steam train 50 m above you, the
driver is blowing his whistle and
waving at you, a beautiful Chateau on
the riverside and lovely scenery.
Flicky was not amused, so the lesson
was learned!)
After the normal dodging of shipping
we were rewarded with a great close-up
view of the Casquets with its fast tide
slewing us down towards the Little
Russell and on to St Peter Port arriving
at 1630. We had a bit of a lie-in next
day, not leaving until 1030 then
enjoying a steady sail and a bit of
motor-sailing down to Lezardrieux. The
river Trieux is quiet and beautiful with
its huge navigational marks, some very
desirable riverside properties and a
scattering of original old French sailing
vessels. We stayed here for three
nights, exploring nearby Paimpol,
playing, eating and doing the things
that you do on holiday.
We made it to the lock with only a few
problems (Hugh found a rock and got
stuck for a few minutes). We found the
water upstream of the lock only just
deep enough, but we were met by a
waving harbourmaster, excited as he
had not had three boats this big
together for some time.
We visited Chateau La Roche Jagu, with
excellent views, garden and history and
enjoyed a BBQ on the riverbank and
walks into town. Next point of call was
back down river to Lezardrieux then on
to St Cast, a new marina (and a very
good one) with a long, sandy beach with
trotting horses and a good town,
though half-closed as we were out of
season .
Enough of that, so on now up-river to
Pontrieux. This is a good exercise to do
Looking ahead at this stage we could
see the weather deteriorating towards
the end of the week so we had to start
7
heading north soon! We decided to go
up to Jersey (St Helier) and on the way
a large pod of dolphin surrounded
Somerled. This was not the first time
on this cruise we had seen them, but
on this occasion we got a few good
pictures to show the unbelievers!
A Dilemma and a Collision
John Crooks (Entropy)
At 1030 on Friday July 5th I was in
Entropy quietly chugging south in the
Small Craft Channel to leave
Portsmouth Harbour, with my mainsail
up. It was a bright, sunny morning, the
wind was light and the tide was slack.
I was abeam of Gosport marina when I
suddenly saw a motor boat coming
directly from dead ahead towards me
at speed, with a bow wave. I had a
dilemma as to which way to turn. If I
assumed the vessel was coming
straight on, I should turn to starboard
so as to pass port-to-port, according to
the Collision Regulations. However
something about her suggested she
was going into Gosport marina – she
seemed to be slightly edging to my
right. If I turned to starboard and she
was going into the marina, she would
ram my port side. If on the other hand
I turned to port, I would be going
against the Collision Regulations and
my starboard side would be rammed if
the other vessel held her course. I only
had a few seconds to decide, and
turned to port but too late. I rammed
the other vessel’s starboard quarter. My
bow roller punched a foot-wide hole in
the other vessel’s hull and then
snapped off. The photos show my
broken-off bow roller and the bent
bracket for the jib roller.
The wind came round as we progressed
to Jersey so I rather fancied a night in
St Catherine’s anchorage over St Helier
and everyone else decided to join us.
We had a good, calm night and a walk,
once again in sunshine, the next day.
We set off to Alderney next morning,
running up with the tide; a good sail at
first then an increasing north wind set
in against the tide making heavy going
of it. As the sea got up and we slowed
down, it became obvious we would not
make Alderney under sail before the
tide turned so we had to motor-sail and
just made it in time. We spent a very
good day in Alderney walking, eating
and sitting on the beach (note to self to
spend more time on Alderney).
We left Alderney early in fog and rain
that persisted for the first half of the
crossing, but made good use of radar
and AIS arriving home safely and more
importantly just ahead of a very nasty
storm that had wind to 60 kt the next
day. We finished our summer cruise
with a very nice BBQ at Sue and Nick’s
house that they had laid on having had
to cancel their rally due to weather.
The two boats circled each other, and
we exchanged telephone numbers. We
then had a phone conversation on
Sunday. The skipper of the other vessel
said that I was “in his blind spot” and
that a radar aerial obscured his forward
view.
In summary, it would have been nice to
have more time for exploring around
Brittany. We had a little sun every day
but also used heating on a number of
occasions! We did around 500 M, had
some good sailing and the company of
friends so, all in all, a successful cruise.
Mark Goodacre of Goodacre Yacht
Services, who has looked after Entropy
8
that, in a head-on situation between two
vessels under power, both vessels are
required to alter to starboard so that
they pass red-to-red (Rule 14) provided
that they can do so without creating
another
close-quarters
situation.
However, since John says that he only
had a few seconds to decide, the
collision risk was clearly imminent and
the responsibility of all concerned was
to act as necessary to avoid a collision
(Rule 2). If the other vessel was indeed
altering to port, John’s decision that he
should also alter to port would be the
best option available. The fact that
Entropy collided with the powerboat’s
starboard quarter supports the view
that it had indeed altered to port,
crossing Entropy’s track by doing so.
The other helmsman’s remark about
Entropy “being in his blind spot” does
little to inspire confidence in his
understanding of his responsibilities.
from new, came to inspect the damage
on Monday morning. Apart from the
snapped bow roller, the damage
included bending the jib bracket and
Cowes Fireworks and Gins
Farm
Andy Wigley (Blue Hoolie)
with photos by Jen (Brilliant)
For once, the Weather Gods were
smiling on us when we visited Cowes
for the Red Arrows and Fireworks. Blue
Hoolie was first on the scene (with Hugh
and Marian on board as Shiraz had been
holed on an oceanographic shallow
water exercise in France) and got the
hook in nicely ready and waiting for Paw
Buoy to raft alongside, when we were
reminded that most RIB users have been
lobotomised! As Paw Buoy came
alongside, a RIB chose to pass within a
few feet at speed, creating a wash of
tsunami size. It was too late to
manoeuvre, so Paw Buoy’s spreaders
and shrouds became entangled with
those of Blue Hoolie..........Oh how we
laughed - not. Once disentangled with
the pulpit.
The cost of repairing the damage is
over £2000. My insurers are happy to
pay up, and hope to get the other party
to admit liability, and save my £200
excess. With hindsight, I should have
realised that the skipper of the other
vessel had not seen me, and got out of
his way well before. But what would you
have done?
Editor’s comment:
Bad luck, John – I hope that it all gets
sorted without cost to you! These
situations in crowded places such as
Portsmouth entrance are often difficult.
John is of course quite right in saying
9
no apparent damage we decided it best
not to raft as we assumed there would
be many more near passes by the same
tribe that evening.
and Brilliant. Twenty three PSYC sailors
were fed by Michael and his team at the
clubhouse and we all had a good
evening, rounded off by watching a
meteor shower.
At around 1930 we were treated to an
We all headed back around mid-day on
Sunday, straight through the path of
the Fastnet Race - luckily we were on
extraordinary display by the Red
Arrows who on several occasions flew
very low, right over us.
The sound rattled right through our
bodies. After the display finished, Hugh
nearly had a nasty accident through
over-excitement when out of the blue
starboard so were able to get up close
and personal with a few of the race
boats. Hugh is thinking of entering
Shiraz next year as he thinks he has a
fighting chance, so if anyone wants to
crew you know where to email.
Can you write an article for
The Burgee?
ŸThe editor is always looking for new
contributors. If you would like to
write about:
ŸAn experience at sea (funny, serious
or merely a normal cock-up)?
Passing on a seamanship or technical
tip?
A practicable and enjoyable galley
recipe?
An idea for a Club activity?
Anything else within the bounds of
legality and decency?
yonder came his childhood dream
plane - a Sea Vixen. Twenty minutes
later and after dealing with Hugh’s
atrial fibrillation, the Vixen had gone
and we settled down for a night on
anchor.
The following day we went across the
Solent to the Beaulieu River and up to
Gins Farm. We met with Paw Buoy,
Manana, Yolo, High Time, Reflections
Then send your text and any pictures
to tony.firth@talk21.com
10
Will you be a Rally organiser next year?
(A Message from the Commodore)
In the 2013 season we have run some fifteen planned on-thewater boating events. We thank all those Club Members who have
undertaken the organisation of a Rally in the past year.
We always welcome new volunteers to help in this simple but very
important way. The role involves:
Ÿ Pre-booking a place for a meal for up to 30 persons
Ÿ Arranging with the restaurant the final meal numbers and
possibly menu choices plus any special dietary needs
Ÿ Issuing an email notice via the Honorary Secretary to all
members (and copied to the Web Master) on dates, tide
times, harbour constraints on depth etc.
Ÿ Updating the marina on numbers, names and sizes of
boats taking part. (The Rear-Commodores Sail and Power
pre-book 10 marina berths at the start of the season and
notify the Honorary Treasurer of any deposit payments
required, so the organiser doesn’t have to do those things.)
Ÿ Running a reserve list if an event is over-subscribed
Ÿ Informing booked participants of any late changes to plans
If you like the idea of being a Rally Organiser, please let Hugh, our
Honorary Secretary, know so that we can meet you to chat about
what needs to be done and how the Committee can support you
- we will welcome your help.
All other Club Members should note that they can make life
simpler for Organisers by:
Ÿ Booking a place on the Rally in good time
Ÿ Avoiding pulling out within 7 days of the event (as anyone
on the reserve list may not be able to take up a free place
at very short notice, and you will have to pay any marina
deposit if the gap can’t be filled)
Ÿ Providing boat and meal information in good time
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