Sheets to the wind

Quite the storm blew through this past week, with winds topping 45-50kts at the yard and 99mph off the Needles. The boat came through relatively unscathed but the same couldn't be said for the tender..... on the plus side, I only insured it all a week ago, so that'll be a new tender and outboard, thank you very much....

Anyway, that storm produced some interesting weather but blew through pretty quickly.

Having taken half the week off to get some sailing in, it was looking like we weren't going to get a window... until Saturday morning dawned. We had a 3 hr tide window, the promise of a tad breezy afternoon and a fishing fleet dredging in Chichester Harbour, but out we went and unfurled the sails (the engines stayed ticking over and in neutral just from a safety perspective). The main slid out of it's track and will need replacing, but with the genoa and mizzen out, the performance was:

45deg off the wind - blowing 12kts
2.5 kt tide against us
genoa only - 1kt progress

On the return leg, with the wind off our port aft quarter and a 2kt tide behind us, 2/3 genoa and mizzen, 4.5 kts.

So, what does this equate to? In a good breeze, we should see 5.5-6.5kts which is about spot on for a solid bluewater cruiser. Excellent.

The rest of the 1/2 week off was also successful - Mikuni diesel heater fitted, aft shower sump repaired (bl**dy float switches) and one wind gen wired up and spinning away.

This now means the first motoring test has been completed, the first motorsailing test has been completed, and now it's a case of waiting for a weekend when we can leave the harbour and get the sailing testing done. Winter is coming but with the diesel heater and wheelhouse, things should stay toasty warm. Progress....