More top kit:

I'm really quite impressed by the arrival of a new hands free vhf which arrived during the festive season.

As far as I can see it incorporates two ideas whose time has come:
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Firstly: handheld VHFs are devilled by not being charged sufficiently or completely flat just when they're required - which is often an emergency. The distinguishing feature of this kit is USB charging - which means it can be charged in the car, in the boat if you have USB charging (  :-) like we do) from a 12v / cigarette lighter, from a pocket phone charger or just about any where on land.
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Secondly: A soft aerial which substantially reduces the risk of "antenna ear / eye syndrome"  which is guaranteed to make any emergency worse.

It also does all the usual stuff and does not have DSC incorporated - which I see as an advantage.
I will carry out a radio check with the marina office next time I'm at the boat to see how that works.

Thanks to the First Mate and Mrs Clause - just to say, this post is not sponserd by Standard Horizon or anyone else.

22 December at last!

Like sailors everywhere, the heart is cheered by passing the winter solstice, when the sun declination reaches its southerly maxium and begins to decrease.

Hurrah - the days are getting longer!

End of the season - back on the hard again !

That's it - that's all there is.
We'll be out of the water by the end of the week and up on sticks in the customary place. Many thanks to those who sailed with us - we slipped more than 600 nm under the keel - and those who helped in so many other ways. Here's to the winter work !

Last time out this year

A super end to the season with light airs on a crisp autumnal day, with a relaxing trip around the islands. Light easterlies all day Saturday, although they threatened to fill an any point, but Sunday turned out to be too much of handfull.

Good sailing with an old friend, a new friend and my trusty boat

One more weather post

Wow, just look at that low in the bottom right corner of next Sunday's chart ....

















....not that we're going anywhere near there. It will be interesting to see how it fills as if crosses the Atlantic. (I'll be interested anyway)

Weather tracking again...

Don't get excited - an easterly blowing all week and has been quite strong at times.

With that amount of fetch from the east, you should be able to surf up the channel at Pwllheli  !

Sunday 03 October

...of course Sunday was a beautiful day.
Sun shining and light airs not strong enough to turn the wind
generator.

















 

Post match - Saturday 01 October - "a good day's sailing that was nice when it stopped"

A day of sailing that really offered everything:
There was rain, a tricky mooring to extract oneself from, low water, light airs, more rain, then rather suddenly heavy airs that seemed to lack sense of direction, then more rain, then another tricky mooring.
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Many thanks to JH for a  day's sailing that was so good at "building confidence"  that I'm thinking of getting a reef in the mizzen.
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And thanks to Jonathan of JKA for that deep third reef - worked again!

Weather tracking for 01 and 02 October (27-09-16)

Looking a bit more promising...

... but what's with the sudden northerly? The surface pressure chart for Saturday doesn't seem to indicate it

We need to look a bit further.

Weather tracking for 01 ansd 02 October (26-09-16)

The weather for next weekend is looking better, although we still need to track it.

How does Sunday sound anybody ?

Tracking the sailing for 24 and 25 September - Saturday

Good call then...

On the other hand, next weekend is looking more of a proposition...

Tracking the sailing for 24 and 25 September - Friday

Looking better, but not much:

 

But more or less consistent with the surface presure charts.















Maybe next weekend wil be better

Tracking the sailing for 25 September - Thursday

Not Saturday then.
Surface pressure (top) vs grib derived  forecast (bottom) both for sunday

It's still conceavable that the wind speed on Sunday will drop off to something which is sailable, which is what the surface pressure might indicate. If so expect we could expect some fetch from staurday's strong southerly which will be "enhanced" by the change in wind direction.

Oh, and cold.

Final call tomorrow - but it would do no harm to look for jobs to do in the garden over the weekend...

Tracking the sailing for 24 and 25 September - Wednesday - later

Sunday looking more like it might be sailable.  Lets see if its confiemd by surface pressure and the 5 day forecast.

 

Tracking the sailing for 24 and 25 September - Wednesday

Not looking very much better in today's forecast !

Let's see if it improves tomorrow.

Tracking the sailing for 24 and 25 September - Tuesday

Gents 

Not sure I'd even want to row accross the harbour in this wind...

Let's keep on watching the weather !