A new boom tent

Bit of a clumsy design sketch. (I should hide the fact I am a professional designer!), but after improvising a bit over the summer and as we've got a new sprayhood being made up I've just asked for a boom-tent to be made up for us that will fit around our lazy-jacks.

Blooming expensive this yachting lark!

Great new website

I can't remember where I found this site, but I've got hooked in a slightly geeky way to watching shipping traffic around the UK coast.

It is an online AIS repeater, showing the movements of ships carrying AIS transmitters.

In absence of the funds to buy an AIS radar for Shoestring just yet, I'll see how this works on the Milford Haven on my laptop as a yard-stick test.

Have a look at www.shipais.com

Made in Solva

I have to confess, for the last six months with Shoestring we've used Sainsburys Basics blue mugs... Shocking I know. 

We've been on the lookout for some nice handmade mugs for ages, we both love craftsmanship in all forms, as reflected in our day jobs, and of course, having a wooden yacht.

On a visit to Solva last week we found the perfect mugs to compliment Shoestring's craft. At £9 each they were not cheap, but these beautiful blue mugs were made by Bobbie Jacobs, whom we had a long conversation with on her work as she found us four of a similar size. -The mugs are thrown and spun instead of being cast. Her work is a wonderful reflection of the area with her bright blue hues and tones setting a theme in their work. You can visit the Solva Pottery page here.

Solva is a wonderful little town, accessible for 2 hours either side of high-tide, and it's quay drying completely. It has a great, dog friendly pub: The Harbour Inn, which serves great food, next door to another great café 'Number 35' where Michael enjoyed a locally caught crab salad. (Which was caught by the café's own boat).

We had a browse through the "Window on Wales" store there, both purchasing a fine pair of Wellington Boots. Then went off to visit the local Woollen Mill.

About one mile away from the harbour is the Solva Woollen Mill, another traditional crafts-place. Their workshop forms part of their retail store where visitors can literally walk up to the looms and discuss their workings with the crafts-people there.

More than a tourist attraction the mill is a working company and offers a fine variety of rugs, blankets and throws. -Their 'Skomer' pattern is particularly nice!

Sadly, the Sock-Knitting-Machine pictured above was out of order. But made me want a Sock-Knitting-Machine of my own nonetheless. 
The Woollen Mill is currently raising funds to restore its water-mill workings, some of which can be seen turning both outside and inside in the tea room area.

We've still to explore the quayside and harbour area fully, but can definitely recommend the town to visitors by car or sea. -We've not tried yet but previous owners have managed to dry Shoestring out alongside the quay wall there.

The wrong lead!

I was just sitting down here, under our improvised boom canopy, (a tarp sheet with off cuts of rope), Rum and coke in hand, (Havana Club of course!), and thought, i'll put those great photos of us sailing, the sails up, the beautiful views of the upper reaches of the River Cleddau, of Shoestring heeling gracefully under canvas...

Got the laptop ready, got the camera out, then realised I had the wrong camera lead in my bag so can't connect the blasted thing!

I'll call into Mum tomorrow and ask her to post me a spare one... THEN i'll say how great our sailing went until we hit a sudden Force 7 with wind and hail! All fine, Julie and myself at the helm with sails down, motor on and a cup of tea in hand.

But i'll wait until I can download the photos!

Review: Standard Horizon c180 chartplotter

We purchased and installed this excellent little chart plotter on one of our first projects on Shoestring, we chose this one for three important reasons, 1) Cost, at just £314.99 it met our budget but also had more advance features such as AIS expandability and compatible with Cmap Max cartography cartridges. 2) It was easy to install and had a very clear and easy operating system, and lastly, 3) It is a good size with a not so small screen. -Perfect for a Folkboat's navigation area.

We opted for the external GPS unit, in the understanding that gaining a signal through a wooden cabin roof would be optimistic, however this was not the case, and I now get a full signal with the GPS receiver unit simply sitting on a shelf.

Using it at first is quite daunting, -to the point that at present I still accidentally put way-points in, and also struggle to delete them, but I am sure with time I can get the hang of this.

It has a very useful tracking feature and combined with the CMap Max information such as aerial photography and port information it makes a great makeshift pilot guide if needed.

On the whole a very well made quality product, one that is making me look at more Standard Horizon products in the future. Well worth the money.

Sevylor Hudson KCC360: Our new yacht tender.

After spending literally weeks looking at yacht tenders, dingies, even small optimist sailing boats we could use a yacht tender, we eventually settled on the Sevylor Hudson KCC360, an inflatable canoe.

The reasons for this are simple:

1. Easier to handle under paddle/oar than a tender
2. We both have experience of kayaking and canoing
3. Stability, as opposed to a normal tender, this design offer a lot more stability in rougher weather.
4. We can use it for a different water sport while away from the yacht.
   

Coming from a background of canoing with plastic hard hull kayaks I was resistant to the idea of an inflatable hull, but considering this as a yacht tender inflatables are really the standard, we went to Decathlon in Surrey Quays, London as our past experience there was generally good. After looking at options this model impressed me, not just for overall size and solidity but also for its folded size.

We bought it was a package paying £319.99 for the canoe and a buy one get one free on a set of collapsible paddles and two buoyancy aids. Bringing the total to £475, an extra £40 on the alternative on a 'conventional' yacht tender. Plus an additional £4.96 for a foot pump.

I got home and opened the box, included with the canoe is a good quality storage bag, repair kit, and pressure gauge. Fully inflated it is just over 5 meters long and around one meter wide. It is capable of seating three adults comfortably in the fitted chairs with back-rests. With one or two passengers it has ample storage space for any provisions or cargo. They even sell an out-board bracket as an optional extra if we wanted.

Getting in and out, from pontoon or yacht is quite simple and stable in the marina, we're yet to try it in rougher seas and waves, but I don't anticipate any problems.

Underway I was surprised by the speed and maneuvering, for a large canoe it handles very light and with two paddlers we easily managed a good 5-6 knots down stream. We're still experimenting with paddling techniques, the maker's recommendation is for two kayak paddles, but we also found using half paddles as oars very reasonable and efficient.

Overall we're both quite pleased with the purchase, and will see how we get on with it this year, i'll be adding "T/O Shoestring" (Tender Of..) in vinyl soon.

What I like most is we're also using it away from the yacht, with short canoe trips on the River Medway at Upnor or picnics along the Regent's Canal in London. I'll post some more images here as we get them, together with any more notes on using these as yacht tenders.

As free as the wind?

I was reading an article at Cruising on the Thames about the costs associated with owning an inland water-ways boat. Its interesting to compare this to our own costs for a 'coastal' boat.

Below is approximately what we currently spend a year (quite literally a shoestring budget)

For our 27(ish) ft Folkboat:

£1440 Mooring costs (8 meters)
£115 Insurance (Third party only)
£500 Servicing and repairs budget
£150 Fuel (for inboard diesel)
£1000 One off equipment (GPS, new sail, etc.)
£250 Lift out/in and anti-fouling

Total annual budget: £3,455

There are of course other costs, petrol to and from Neyland, visiting dues if we stay in another marina for harbour while cruising, books, pilot guides and charts, food and drink, clothing and other smaller costs that are hard to account for.

On the whole the largest dent in our shoestring budget is the marina, yes we could move somewhere cheaper or switch to a swing mooring somewhere, but we are simply happier to swallow the extra expense for what we get in return. (Hot showers and friendly neighbors.)

This will give us, minus petrol costs for the car (around £80 return from London to Neyland and back), a good years worth of sailing, with an average of 4-5 days each month spent with our little yacht and the odd 1 or 2 week cruise.

As we really see this as 'holiday' or enjoyment time, that £3,455 per year to keep her starts to make a lot of sense, its cheaper than the equivalent in weekends away.

But what does money matter, having a yacht like Shoestring is not a fashion statement or status symbol, its a feeling that you could sail anywhere, a sense of freedom and fun.

I would also mention the last look over your shoulder and "I love my yacht" feeling, but that would just be too smug.

Review: Decathlon 'Sports' deck shoes

Getting comfortable shoes is a challenge these days, (middle-aged pipe smoking moment) and getting ones that you can wear while soaking wet, trying to walk at odd angles and climb over teak fittings, bits of seaweed, running water, all the while ropes and sheets are trying to trip you up at every moment.

So while looking around for some new deck shoes recently I found these in Deacthlon, priced at £24.99 they seemed like good value, and they are. While durability is still being tested they are comfortable dry out quick and provide lots of grip on Shoestring's wooden decks.

While colour options (and even sizes) maybe limited this range of deckshoes using modern materials and 'odour-free' designs seem to be good value. One word of note with all Decathlon / Triboard clothing is check sizes before you buy, sometimes they do come up a little odd.

Available from Decathlon Priced at £24.99 -Decathlon stores vary in their stock (and sometimes their prices) so be sure to call in advance.

The cooker and the toilet

Our Taylors 029 cooker did start off as a total nightmare but only because we were doing it all wrong!

Find the saftey cut off valve for the paraffin and open it.

Under the burner (where the gas comes out) there is a little dish where you put some meths, ours has a little soak pad type thing but yours might be different.

Don't be stingy with the meths! It needs to burn for a while for it to heat up the paraffin and turn it to gas. We found this out the hard way.

Once your ample amount of meths has burnt out, turn the cooker knob and gas should come out, if it does you can light it with a lighter. If there is no gas its not hot enough. Alternatively you can also turn the knob just before the meths is just about to die and this should light the gas. Do not turn it on too soon as the meths goes mad and you get a huge flame.

This should now be burning with a nice blue flame that can be controlled with the knob.

When you have finished with the cooker, first turn of the safety valve and let the gas burn until its all gone, then turn off the cooker knob.

I managed to make chilli, steak and veg and a cooked breakfast. It also heated the boat up lovely with just the one burner on.

The toilet was a lot less complicated. Firstly, remember to open both of the toilet sea cocks. Once you have done your business close the lid and push it so it forms a seal. Then pump fully 10 strokes, wait 5 seconds and then do another 5. Lift the lid and if there is any water left pump until it is all gone.

The first weekend. Featuring a pirouette in Milford lock.

After arriving late Friday night we set loaded ourselves up and walked along the pontoons at Milford Marina to Shoestring.

Our next course of action was to get the stove on, both to heat the cabin and to make a cup of tea. Packed (or stowed) eveything and then set the front bunks up for sleeping.

Saturday morning we spent going over the yacht, checking systems, equipment and all the other associated parts that make us move, stop, turn, or simply stay still.

We checked in at the Marina to sort our mooring out for the week, then decided to test the freeflow through the port's lock to head out.

Checked over once more, hanked on the headsail, uncovered the main, made ready all sheet lines and equipment. Engines on.

We radioed out for permission to depart. Granted quickly by the Pierhead control. Then had the fun of un-docking. -Shoestring, does not like reversing under engine at all!!!

Then after rounding the marina (and missing another boat moored up opposite), we headed out through the lock.

We didn't expect the tide and current to be quite so against each other, and we had a lot of fun side onto both and being thrown around.

Wind picked up quickly, and with both an unfamiliar yacht, a 'rusty' skipper, and beginner crew, I decided to head back to port after 1/2 hour. -Also a jammed mainsail.

Radioed in for permission to re-enter the lock. Granted after a tug left, so we proceeded.

Upon entering we were told there would be a 1 and a half hour wait for the next lock, no problem.

Halfway through sluicing the lock the jammed and we were stuck there until the next freeflow at 10.30ish that night.

Moored up in the lock we spoke to the Skipper of a Dive charter moored up behind us, who seemed to like the look of the old girl. (shoestring).

After a trip to Tesco, involving a climb up a very precarious ladder from the lock pontoon, and the trip back down we made dinner, and waited until the lock opening.

At last after the an out going tug, we made ready to enter the Marina. Got permission, then left, almost... Classic schoolboy error... We let off the bow mooring line, into the wind before the stern.

A pirouette performed in lock under wind and power followed, without incident, then we headed in for a thankfully uneventful mooring on our birth.

The following day we spent sorting and servicing. We drove to Neyland Yacht Haven in the morning to use the Brunel chandlery, we met Mrs Haynes there, who was both very helpful (showing us which deck cleaners to use, and advising on charts), then we used the lovely café there for a coffee and cake.

We then drove off to Haverfordwest, for the nearest DIY store to buy more paraffin and other equipment. When we returned I fitted our new Standard Horizon Chartplotter, while MW gave her a good clean and scrub down.

We spent sunday night relaxing onboard after quite a busy day, MW cooked us Steak and vegetables on the Taylors cooker, (I believe he is going to post full instructions on this soon.), and we laid down to read and rest as a small gale blew up outside pounding the deck with rain, but stopping quickly.

Monday morning we secured all the sea cocks, isolated the battery supply, and then got ready for the journey home to London. One nice surprise was that the amazing team at BoatShed Wales, had managed (with a bit of wrangling), to get us a birth at Neyland Yacht Haven. We simply need to move her there this week.

Stuff onboard

Im going to use the cooker and toilet lots this weekend and write here exactly how they both work as we didnt find anything that really helped online to tell us how they worked.

The cooker is a Taylors 029 and the toilet is a Lavac, I dont know the model.