So, I thought, it’s about time the satnav carried aboard Whimbrel was updated while I had the time.

The unit, a Garmin GPS Map 557, was purchased back in 2014 and it has served alongside the traditional charts carried aboard, kept updated annually (Which reminds me!) for I have never relied upon the electronic unit alone.

Last season, I finally decided that the update was necessary for there had been a number of changes which were of importance, even though I use it for cockpit observation on the whole.

I had the unit updated a few years back now some while after some major buoy position changes made in the Swin Channel, including a movement of the Maplin Sands firing range boundary eastwards. That was a waste of money!

Last summer, sailing with my youngest brother, we strayed over the line. We were steering for a green ‘dot’ away beyond the bow. A fast launch was seen astern. It was clear that it was curving our way.

The vessel morphed into the Firing Range Patrol!

‘Are you aware yo are fifty metres inside the range…’ a call floated across the gap.

‘Well yes..’ I said, adding, ‘I am on course for the Maplin Middle…’

‘You know you need to keep outside the Maplin Bell…’ the caller said.

My crew and I looked at one another. ‘Been sailing this passage for over forty years,’ I called, grinning, and adding, ‘so, yes!’

I got a wave … then the launch careered away…

While laid up nursing my new knee I have settled to dealing with all sorts. One being this update.

Easy, one would think. NO!

I trawled around and kept finding that the unit had been discontinued and was no longer supported. Garmin searches kept directing me to the ‘American’ web site.

I remembered I had a Garmin log on, and surprisingly I got on after many years of non use. Again, I saw the ‘557’ was no longer available.

All very strange as units were clearly still on sale!

I eventually alighted on a company based in Peterborough, Active GPS, which seemed to have what was required.

See: https://www.activegps.co.uk/garmin-bluechart-g3-uk-ireland-map-update-card.htm

An email discussion with James at customer services confirmed that the 2022 (current) update was available and he gave me details of Garmin UK based in Southampton, to check on the quality level of the update.

Email: marinesupport.europe@garmin.com

An email produced a telephone number and a very nice chap, Rob, confirmed that all chart corrections up to when sd cards were updated in 2022 were included. With that came a navionics link to the charts loaded onto the new card.

I ordered a new card from the very helpful Peterborough firm. Within a couple of days it duly arrived.

This last Saturday was a fine day with an early afternoon tide allowing me to comfortably board Whimbrel with my good mate in attendance.

The update instructions are short and sweet. The sheet stated it would take up to thirty minutes … in actuality, it was all done in less than ten.

While the machine whirred internally, I was able to sit back and enjoy the ambiance of being afloat on the dear old girl…

Three separate four-oared skiffs rowed past, bound, I assume for the Island YC, something I know they do from time to time. There are three rowing clubs in the Lower Thames. I didn’t see which.

I was handed a mug of coffee and sandwiches as the GPS screen went to start up – all done.

A few clicks, while sipping and munching and I was checking the Swin Channel…

A bouy marked up years ago was bang on the current charted position. I deleted the ‘mark’ for it is no longer relevant. There are others to delete as time progresses.

I then went to an area where I knew there had been a pretty drastic change to the position of the low tide mud edge over the past decade – Sharfleet Creek, which is off Stangate Creek on the River Medway system.

Last summer, after a ‘brush’ with the mud in Sharfleet, I marked the edge while enjoying a coffee and waiting for the tide to lift us…

It is clearly as good as bang on!

Lastly, upon returning to current position, the Garmin actually showed me to be sitting in the correct mooring (ignoring orientation!)

One of my club’s work boats on the way to a task on the fine afternoon.

So, now all there is to do is get out there and use the darn thing. When? Well, I’m looking to get afloat for a sail at six weeks post op, on a quiet day…

My sincere thanks to James at Active GPS in Peterborough and to Rob at Garmin UK in Southampton.

It was just so great to get such positive helpful advice. Priceless. Bless you both.

Down the Wind appeared from beneath the Christmas tree some months back – kind of Father Christmas, I thought at the time. So, I took it into hospital with me to give sailing succour when disabled with a new knee!

Have I read it before? Not sure: couldn’t find a copy on my well stocked shelves, but may have done a very long time ago.

Down the Wind was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1966, and is a compilation of articles from varying magazines from the obscure club type to the public and excerpts from books dating back to the germination years of sail cruising with the likes of R T McMullen, Claud Worth, Sir Alker Tripp amongst others. Many pieces are by authors from club annuals, such as the Royal Cruising Club and the Clyde Cruising Club etc.

The book begins with excerpts from sailing fiction. Few will know that the Hammond Innes yarn, The Mary Deare, was spawned from an encounter at sea in real life… whilst most sailors of a broad reading spectrum will know, We Didn’t mean to go to Sea, by the inimitable story teller, Arthur Ransome – the excerpt covers the ‘realisation’ of their situation after losing the anchor and being swept out of Harwich Harbour…

There are two sections of yachts in action pictures – mostly in a bit of a blow! A few are of the tranquil ‘normal’ type…

The first thing that is clear is that it is a ‘man’ book for women are barely mentioned. There is the odd piece where a woman features, apart from the couple written by women. Racing off-shore features heavily, in conditions in which the majority would avoid or not contemplate to cruise in.

A touching piece comes at the end of an excerpt from, A White Boat from England, pub 1951, by George Millar. he and his wife depart in the hours before dawn, quietly down the Lymington River (before the advent of plastic and massed marinas) bound across channel to France. It was a good passage but with rising wind they slipped into the Pointrieux River to anchor in seclusion above a village.

After discussing differing passages, good a anchorage, warmth and comfort below, the author says, ‘It is to enhance such contrasts with the sea and the wind that the truly wise yachtsman sails in the company of a beautiful or intelligent woman- it may be his wife.’

Setting aside a tendency towards misogynism, indeed. It is the reason I have always tried to ensure the cruising comfort of my mate, not overtaxing her, that I have a dear mate still sailing with me.

How many wives/partners actually sail? Not many…

Women writers or otherwise don’t feature greatly apart from two writers in pieces from from a novel by E Arnot Robinson, The Regatta, a great yarn based around Pin Mill on the River Orwell in Suffolk.

The other, Felicity Ann in New York by Ann Davison ‘laughing’ about chauvinistic attitudes of men discussing her boat and whether or not it could be sailed across the Atlantic and certainly not with the author, a woman, who had…

Just once are children mentioned – in Dawn at Crinan by ‘TEW’ where the author has spent a lazy half-hour watching the dawn while his crew get up, commenting on the chattering excitement of two young boys with their father heading towards the anchorage and their dinghy…

Then, as he re-boarded his boat with the waft of bacon emanating from the hatch, he pauses to watch as two, ‘little girls exploded out of the fore-hatch of a boat lying three out astern of us, shouting with laughter and calling to each other…’ they scrambled ashore and raced to the sea lock.

An excerpt ‘Fitting Out‘ from, A Capful of Wind, by Aubrey de Selincourt, 1948 struck a chord. An owner is fitting out with a friend who is clearly of more robust stature and probably younger. He discusses fitting out done by owners and those tasks left to a yard. A paragraph about antifouling too…

‘Now scrubbing and antifouling a yachts bottom … is hard work. It has to be done against time, to get the paint on before the tide is up again.. The composition works extremely stiff, and certain parts of the boat’s bottom are difficult to reach. The work gives one a crick in the neck, an aching back and a numb wrist.’

I bless my dear mate: she has for so long done most of ours, leaving me to cut in and do boot top…

Most owners thee days antifoul in the boat or club’s yard, but many still use a slipway, or even the beach.

So, did I enjoy the read. Yes, I did.

Like may books in this genre, dating back to over a hundred years ago, and less, the language can be ‘old fashioned’ and, don’t be surprised to find sexism or views of a misogynistic tendency. We’re ‘better’ people now, hopefully, in inclusivity…

If you have a copy lurking on your book shelf, give it another airing. If never read, well, you’re missing out on a myriad of sailing mignons, which may set you off on finding the books from which the pieces have been taken…

Enjoy!

The Calor Saga has developed a little, but don’t become euphoric: it remains bad news.

I began to ‘worry’ about this nearly two years ago now and contacted the Royal Yachting Association (waste of space) and the marine leisure press – only one outlet initially interested the story – and eventually decided I had but one choice.

I looked at diesel cookers – problematic in fitting of a flu, and briefly considered old fashioned paraffin and even methylated spirit – sorry, but these on a boat used for long periods of the summer are not suitable.

The back story:

Calor Gas slashes bottle sizes: Ditch-crawler comments…

So, a Facebook post from a sailing friend popped up with news from the Boat Safety Scheme people(BSS) in which is an announcement from Calor of a suspension of their original public statement, however, the small 4.5/3.9 kg cylinder will be going, but in a phased manner as cylinders reach life-time limit.

The BSS main statement is copied below.

‘Our advice to boaters is to take advantage of this new Calor position and use the opportunity it affords to, if changes are necessary, find competent expertise  in local boats yards or through the Gas Safe Register www.gassaferegister.co.uk/find-an-engineer-or-check-the-register/ and ensure any changes are safe and compliant with boat LPG Codes of Practice and BSS Requirements.’

I just love the bit, ‘ find competent expertise  in local boats yards…’ presumably this would be for redesign and changes to locker access and the like.

As said in my original posts, for many wooden boat owners, a complete redesign of cockpit/locker arrangements would be required associated with problems in maintaining locker bottom drainage…

So, a major cockpit reconstruction. Are Calor going to pay for this?

Is it even possible?

See: Calor new position of filling small capacity LPG cylinders welcomed by BSS | Boat Safety Scheme | Go Boating – Stay Safe

This changes absolutely nothing for so many people in the boating and caravanning world, as the only alternative remains changing to Campingaz. That is a 2.72 kg butane cylinder at twice the price of Calor’s 4.5/3.9 kg butane/propane exchange prices.

Great!

Many east coast sailors know and love the pretty little marina at the head of Woodrolfe Creek at Tollesbury. But, how many realise that just up the road, a little beyond the tide line, sits a world beating innovative company.

I didn’t, but I have known of Tollesbury’s connection to the wider maritime world in a communications company and a ‘control’ engineering company going back to my time at sea.

Last summer while we were berthed aboard Whimbrel in Fox’s Marina, I spotted a strange looking vessel.

Upon talking to the harbour master, I discovered that it was an autonomous boat built in Essex for ocean exploration and survey work. ‘Down the coast…’ he said, presumably not knowing where.

I later found the company on a web search. It is based in Tollesbury, Essex, just up from the old fishermen’s sheds.

Information about the Essex based company, Sea Kit, can be found here: https://www.sea-kit.com/

The company manufactures these craft to exacting parameters which enables the oceanographic scientists to do their jobs…

I ‘forgot’ all about the event, however, reading a recent copy my Marine Engineering Society magazine – Marine Scientist – I alighted on an article about the autonomous survey of one of the world’s undersea volcanoes in action – described as the biggest eruption man has witnessed or recorded.

The eruption was near the Pacific island of Tonga.

Sadly, for me, the article was light on detail of aspects I thought should have been expanded upon.

The Tollesbury Company has been expanding its output to cope with an increased demand for autonomous survey vessels. See Sea Kit’s press release.

On the company’s site there was a press release. See: https://www.sea-kit.com/post/press-grelease-sea-kit-expands-production-facility-to-meet-growing-usv-demand

And another that caught my eye:

https://www.sea-kit.com/post/press-release-sea-kit-triples-production-and-expands-r-d-with-new-facility

So, the next time you pop into Tollesbury, remember that this is not a sleepy little Essex waterside mud-hole, but a place at the heart of the Tech Community, controlling autonomous vessels on the other side of the world, built metres from the mud…

Fascinating and fantastic to learn that a marshland ancient centre for boat building, repair and fishing is still producing craft.

Well worth a visit, if allowed!

Having a professional maritime background, I knew that when the media picked up on Government attentions being drawn to the activities of the minority, then it would not be long before the associated department, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), acted.

The law of the sea around the coasts of the United Kingdoms has changed – the law will be taken aboard by devolved governments.

I wrote about this during the Covid-19 pandemic, having been troubled by watercraft, and witnessing crass stupidity which resulted in Essex Police being called to the Leigh-on-Sea waterfront by members of the public.

The troubles around the waterways were raised by the Times Newspaper in a leader too. See attached posts etc…

Ditch-crawler has more on safety… | Nick Ardley

The crux of a legal case brought up the terms within the act regarding personal watercraft and whether or not they were constituted ‘a ship’ as we know we all are under the Merchant Shipping Acts, the COLREGS and SOLAS instruments that lie at the heart of ‘the sea’…

Personal Watercraft (PWC) are designated vessels and must comply to same rules as the largest container ship!

This is going to be a shock to many owners of PWC’s where owners can live far inland, have little knowledge of area trailing to, or, more importantly the hierarchy of the sea and those upon it.

So, now the law has been changed by Parliament, it is the job of the MCA to discharge and disseminate.

See:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mgn-684-m-safety-of-powered-watercraft/mgn-684-m-safety-of-powered-watercraft

Harbour authorities or their sub-acolytes Queenborough Harbour(?) in the first instance will be required to act and deal with. Sitting above are the police, and the law – MCA.

Confiscation and fines will be imposed, as they have by some authorities over past few years.

Many will applaud this long overdue action…

I suggest reading through all the links within the MGN684 link. It is interesting reading!

I was sitting in hospital with time, I thought, to get on with a blog I had earlier prepared. The plan was to use up those boring hours of waiting with time to muse and think…

It wasn’t to be for I was in and out after having a total knee replacement that there just wasn’t the space. Visits from doctors, nurses administering pain blockers and coping meant time ran away.

So, my earlier thoughts on a couple of news items that popped up on Leisure Marine News had to wait.

Wherever one walks around the coast of Suffolk, Essex and Kent, the story is the same. A plethora of plastic waste can be found washed up along the tide lines…

In many respects this problem has become worse over the last decade. Why?

Well, the simplistic answer is essentially obvious – it is thrown aside by the uncaring folk of the neighbourhood or from vessels. The latter is not the norm.

Some of it will be from wind-blown material, especially up within the headwaters of the waterway.

This is not just an East Coast – Thames Estuary – problem. Sailing some years ago in the Western Isle of Scotland we came across one particularly badly affected beach in a bay. In particular, I remember fish boxes from Portugal and plastic bottles with non-English labels. Never mind the rest.

To say the least, the media has been pretty forward in promoting the cause against plastic pollution but it goes on, seemingly unabated.

The vessel pictured in my own local waters has been strung with plastic bags for years – over a decade at the least – and when they shred, as they inevitably do, they are ‘quietly’ renewed.

One has to ask the question: Is the owner stupid (unlikely) or just damned uncaring of the environment. The latter is the probable.

I could not possibly condone the graffiti, but clearly a boat owner, boarder or canoeist has seen fit to make a point… Forward of the ‘D’ for DICK is a crude drawing of an erect male member! The picture was taken in October 2022 and recently when passing that way the message was still in situ but the flying plastic bags have completely shredded into the local waters.

Some years ago I landed on Burntwick Island along Saltpan Reach on the River Medway in Kent. I was looking at the old remnants from a military boom defence establishment. The ‘land’ is being eaten away by the rising tides and poking out of a metre high edge some distance from the surface there was plastic! How long it had been buried, I wondered…

Evermore dire reports are floating into the media to be read by those who are interested and ignored by, probably, the majority whether or not they condone pollution or not. Most water users are as good as gold, but we have all seen some pretty bad behaviour going on.

So, what did I read that prompted these thoughts?

From Leisure Marine 9th March 2023:

The item said that:

‘Scientific study has found that there are now 171 trillion pieces of plastic estimated to be floating in the world’s oceans. The data suggests this is an increase from an estimated concentration of 16 trillion pieces in 2005.

Plastic represents a huge threat to marine life, as it can kill fish and sea animals who mistake it for food. Plastic can take hundreds of years before it breaks down into a less harmful state.’

A recent UN treaty of the seas is signing up nations to designate protected areas around the coast – the UK is part of this system already – and around 30% of the world’s oceans would become protected too.

The article went on:

‘The reasons behind such a sharp increase are not confirmed, although researchers say it could be explained by legislation around pollution being replaced by voluntary agreements. It could also be linked to larger pieces of plastic breaking into smaller pieces — or the amount of data collected.

Prof Richard Thompson at Plymouth University, who was not involved in the study, told the BBC that the estimate adds to what scientists know about marine pollution.

“We are all agreed there is too much plastic in the ocean. We urgently need to move to solutions-focused research,” he says.

Authors of the study argue the best long-term global solutions involve standardised monitoring frameworks to track global trends, and creating binding and enforceable international agreements to prevent the emissions of plastic pollution.’

Read more about it here:

Microplastics in global oceans rise tenfold to 171 trillion pieces

There are things that yachting folk can do to help cut the volume, other than not throwing overboard. Also, in a yacht yard, wind-blown material becomes a watery hazard.

From Leisure Marine 16th March 2023:

See:

New study shows microfibres stunt mussel growth

The study said:

‘The team, consisting of scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory, University of East Anglia and the University of Plymouth, exposed juveniles of the mussel species mytilus to three treatments of microfibre, which reflects both current and predicted future concentrations of polyester and cotton microfibres in the natural environment.

Studies suggest that as much as 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic enter the global ocean every year.

Fibres are one of the most common forms of microplastic identified in environmental studies, accounting for up to 91 per cent of the total identified microplastics in some studies.’

The microfibres are small at around 0.01mm – 0.5mm in size and this sizing was used in an experiment with mussels in a laboratory.

The results howed slower and small size growth of maturing molluscs.

A team member said:’

‘Additionally, “Reduced growth rates could alter the energetics of food webs, as smaller mussels are less nutritionally valuable, both to their predators in the natural environment and to us as consumers of seafood. Microfibres and other microplastics expose marine animals, such as mussels, to an additional risk in an environment already at risk from other challenges such as climate change.”

Note here, plastic bag flyers:

‘Fibres that are less than 5mm are termed microfibres. These tiny fibres are predominantly generated from the fragmentation of textiles, stemming from the day-to-day use and washing of clothes, and from the weathering and abrasion of marine infrastructure, such as netting and rope.

Microfibres are typically composed of polyester, polypropylene or nylon. However, numerous studies also report the presence of naturally derived and semi-synthetic microfibres (e.g. cotton, bioplastic) in environmental samples, which have received relatively little attention compared to their plastic counterparts.’

So, to combat household washing pollution, micro-filters are being developed. The retrofit and integration of a filter to a washing machine and captures and recycles microfibres as small as one micron.

As said previously, the general public have a lot to answer for and could, at a stroke, contain much of what ends up in the seas around our shores.

Food for thought and concrete action eh!

Would I have an electric motor?

The answer to that is highly probable. If I was ordering Whimbrel this year, and not forty years ago. Times were hugely different then. We were just getting away from the petrol or diesel fit, scenario.

My main use is for entering and leaving marinas, leaving my mooring and returning, making/completing a passage when the wind has expired and a number of incidental uses. Sails are Whimbrel’s main source of motive power.

I leave and return from my creek mooring as often as is possible. Any engine use is minimal. I have sailed into a marina, once, and sailed out of others on a number of occasions – usually early in the morning…

Now, for a new vessel, the most difficult question is, do I fit diesel or electric drive? The answer to that sits with what type of vessel, what is the main use and where – area being navigated.

So, to RS Electric Boats in Marine Industry News:

RS Electric Boats’ Pulse 63 takes to the water on Lake Garda

New sailing yachts will be powered in this way as a norm before too long.

The news item reminded me of a Finesse 21 based down in the west country which has been converted to electric drive. The conversion work took place during a major refit after the vessel was sunk during a flash flood – fresh water from heavy rain – at the boat’s tidal mooring.

The boat was originally powered by a Yanmar 1GM diesel unit. It had a stated torque of around 34 Nm and it was replaced with an electric motor of 32 Nm torque at 1550 rpm supplied from 2 x 24 volt batteries. These were charged from solar chargers fitted on the cabin top.

The owner reported achieving 4.5 knots in slack water and against a gusty 20 knot head wind. Apparently, the 5kw unit and uses around 1.8 kw to achieve cruising speed.

Thanks to The Finesse Facebook Group for information.

So, that has been a successful conversion.

The duration is relatively low – reported to be around five hours. That would not suffice for east coast cruising, however, if one is able to sail up to a marina or whatever, requiring minimal use then, bingo. Slip in and plug in…

But, in the media there has been a growing number of all electric vessels coming onto the market. These, in the main, have been launches and ‘speed-boats’ with an occasional sailing yacht build being announced with electric drive.

The big problem with operation away from shore for long periods is the ability to recharge at a rate acceptable for use. When that happens, then we will be there…

There are, of course, weight considerations of the battery packs, but like their growing use in the automotive industry, these constraints are waning with technological progress.

Another news item caught my eye. This was about a maritime innovation hub which is returning to a spring boat show at MDL’s Ocean Village Marina in Southampton.

South Coast & Green Tech Boat Show 2023 confirms Innovation Hub lineup

There is a host of interesting events and companies taking part.

Areas such as low carbon fuels – hydrogen and methanol, sustainable sails and sails acting as charging units. as well as ideas on protecting the marine environment.

All very interesting giving much food for thought in these ‘end days’ of winter!

In the dark days following the New Year, a rerun of the ‘Sailing’ programme Howards’ Way, first filmed and screened in 1985, was advertised on Drama Television. The series originally ran from 1985 -1990.

My mate laughed. I smiled, for a spark of nostalgia was ignited…

I was away at sea at that time and apart from the odd episode, I did not see much of it. So, purely for historical research, I have been sporadically watching some of the first series and rather less of the second. The series appear to be running consecutively.

The programme was based around an ‘old style’ boatyard – The Mermaid Boat Yard in the Southampton area. The yard in reality is the Elephant Boat Yard.

For those that have never heard of the series or know anything about it or the boats the programme was built round, look at the following web source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howards%27_Way

In an early episode, I clearly saw the shapely hull of a Finesse 24 up on the yard’s hardstanding. Amazing! To cap that, a friend took his ’24’ to the yard for keel bolt renewals last autumn, showing that ‘Jack Rolf’ the Mermaid’s owner was right: there will always be a place for a good honest traditional yard…

The Elephant yard survives. See: www.elephantboatyard.co.uk

The series opens with yard problems and a growing ‘community’ where sex, family infighting, double-dealing and financial intrigue swirls back and forth at every twist and turn of the tidal eddies…

However, it was the boat, the Barracuda, that has always interested me: one of the class has been in our yacht club for a number of years.

The boat, herself, has had a bit of a murky past of late, being involved with people smuggling for which the perpetrators are residing at His Majesty’s pleasure…

The boat was severely ‘stripped out’ by HM Customs & Excise at Ramsgate after their ‘collaring’ before eventually being placed on the market. I have to say, under new ownership, she looks a treat.

Apart from the people and the rather dubious fashionista content, central to the plot were the yachts from the yard and those early flashy motor cruisers then beginning to infest the waters marketed by ‘Ken Masters’ … a waterside dodgy dealer similar to the oft lampooned car salesman type!

The boats: The Flying Fish, a Laser 28, was the family owned yacht of the Howard. Then along came the Barracuda of Tarrant, the prototype of the Sadler Barracuda 45 a vessel which came from ‘Tom’s’ drawing board after being made redundant as an aircraft engineer. Another was the Spring of Tarrant, the prototype of the MG Spring 25. Both the Barracuda and MG Spring were in reality designed by the inimitable Tony Castro!

See: Tony Castro

Sadly, the programme makers had the boat – the Barracuda – designed and built in just a few weeks worth of the first series. Of that, very little appeared on the screen and I was too slow to grab a camera shot of the first boat being laid up in resin bonded cedar round her formers. It is a system used by Ipswich builders, Spirit Yachts.

The boat’s hull, when GRP sheaved was used to make a plug used for the production of following craft in GRP. There were a few shots of the boat’s hull being laid up. Then, as if by the waft of a wand, she was launched and sailing!

She had a lifting wing keel, carrying a large part of her ballast. The boat certainly shifts and can broad reach at well over 20 knots. Her twin rudders were a bit of a rarity back in those days but it wasn’t long before they became common-place, especially from the big French yacht makers who ‘grabbed’ the mass market that grew exponentially during the 1970s and into the 1990s. Now the mass of gleaming white GRP has reached saturation: marinas are overstuffed with oversized and underused craft!

I missed an episode or so and came back in with the daughter of the boat’s fictional designer on her way across the Atlantic, sailing to New York, on a stunt. It made great television and publicised the boat. However, in reality, the yacht did not take off and fly… Only around a dozen boats came off the ways, as it were.

There was an ill-fated catamaran – it sank and blame was inferred with the designer. It turned out to have been an accident, exonerating the yard. The craft seemed to ‘disappear’ into the ether…

Most people know of the MG class of yachts. Many are still seen sailing around, although as with cars, the class boats grew in size, leaving behind a market tapped by the French and German industrially built boats, until they themselves went into ever larger craft.

Now, there are few ‘pocket’ cruisers for the first timers, who, in any case, become dazzled at boat shows and slick marketing executives, buying a 35-footer as a first yacht!

Two of this countries casualties were Sadler (the actual builders of the Barracuda) and British Hunter based at Sutton Wharf, Rochford in Essex – just down the road from me. I used to know the company’s sales executive!

Nostalgia eh.

History, perhaps, in a way.

Whatever, there is an absolute plethora of ‘stuff’ on the web about this series, dubbed, Dallas on Sea by the media. Take just a little look and let yourself smile your way into spring, and into real boating…

I have been forced to be very selective about when to go for a sail with a knee that is a little unreliable … therefore the number of times I have got out has been reduced. I am pleased in a way that the weather has helped in my decision making!

So, after helping out at our club for the early part of the morning until ‘tea break’ we readied Whimbrel and slid out as soon as the boat picked up. The tidal cycle was neaps, rising, however the tide seemed to take forever to come in and we floated later than usual for predicted tide…

It was a bit of a grey day but there was a decent enough breeze to make sailing worthwhile.

It was good to hear the rustle along the boat’s sides as we forged over the flooding tide. We cleared the creek and ran eastwards to abreast of the Crowstone before making a long tack inshore taking us to the Essex Yacht Club, which seemed devoid of life.

A further long close reach took us out close into Canvey Point, passing two of the Lower Thames Rowing Club boats.

Bird life was a little like the weather, devoid! There were a few Brents about but I suspect many of them were in amongst the winter wheat under the Hadleigh Downs. There were a couple of swooping flocks of waders in the distance over the Canvey saltings. I mused to myself about the nearness of spring: it’ll not be long before the terns are back in residence … I’ll be ‘on the beach’ by then ‘banned’ from sailing until my new knee allows.

Whimbrel was still sporting its temporary main hatch while the actual unit has been undergoing a small repair and a complete strip down and recoating. (It is now back in place, looking resplendent after nine coats of varnish)

We sailed up into the Ray to the Two Tree Island slipway where the mate took the helm. As Christobel brought the the boat round, I slipped the main down as we came through the wind, stowing it while she ran back towards the creek. A well practised procedure, as many of my crews will vouch for.

Upon entering the creek a bee-like buzzing had me searching the sky around – annoying to the extreme – and i found the source. A drone hanging just off to our starboard filming us close to. So bloody rude.

Pity the drone wasn’t around to shots of us on an earlier January sail – they never make contact and offer a picture, unlike this person did…

Thank you David.

It was good to get out, especially with the mate. Bless her.

Happy Valentines Day dearest, and I hope you enjoy our ‘dirty weekend’ in Faversham … I promise not to gaze too fondly at boats!

This is no longer a joke. Boaters and caravanners to an extent will be champing a the bit in frustration at the news from Calor that the small 4.5/3.9 butane/propane cylinders are discontinued as of now.

The size that has replaced these are 7kg/6kg butane/propane which are appreciably taller and will not fit most locker compartments built into boats especially. A new regulator will also be needed for the butane cylinder. The larger sized bottles are 495 x 256 mm whilst the smaller 4.5/3.9 kg butane/propane bottles are/were 340 x 240 mm. A bit of a difference.

Now, I launched a ‘campaign’ last year, following on from problems of the previous year, and I asked the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) to investigate and put pressure on the gas supplier.

The RYA could not even be bothered to respond to my letters (emails) so it was clear that an organisation that is supposedly looking after boating interests is not interested in the problems of its cruising members one minute jot. Gold medals is the only thing that activates them.

I terminated my forty year RYA membership in response.

See:

Royal Yachting Association did not respond, but Ditch-crawler learns more about gas…

During 2021 whilst away for the summer cruising on the east coast we had to change to propane due to acute shortages of the 4.5kg butane cylinders at all marinas we enquired at. Propane 3.9kg was little better, but we managed…

The available bottles from Calor are ‘huge’ in comparison to their small bottles and there is absolutely no way for me to fit one or even two with a locker bottom above the waterline to achieve gas drainage.

See range and Q&As:

https://www.calor.co.uk/cylinder-range-faq?fbclid=IwAR0TyiVibXjNzX5_BQxj68Jw7DleIHw6yXMqlzxBr9VKfYucGwkGv9QRc9g

Calor says: If you’re unable to increase your storage facilities, an alternative could be found through Campingaz (907 = 2.72kg). We recommend reaching out to a local gas safe registered engineer who can safely advise on any changes required to your gas cylinder set up.

Wonderful!

Camping Gaz R907 holds just 2.75kg of butane (they do not do propane) and will keep a two burner cooker going for just eight hours. Bloody wonderful.

Yes, the bottle which has a diameter of 203 mm will fit into gas lockers specifically designed for the Calor 4.5/3.9 (butane/propane) bottles, but this is not the point.

Aboard Whimbrel, our Calor bottles have consistently lasted around three weeks when away summer sailing. The Campingaz will need changing almost weekly in comparison and at around twice the price.

New camping gaz bottles with an exchange agreement cost around £90.00 and a refill costs anything up to £45.00

Yes, one could turn to diesel cookers. I investigated these and as a flue local to cooker is required, it would be under water when sailing….

We could go backwards and use a paraffin cooker, but, bloody heck, they take time to get going. Methylated spirit is needed – dodgy stuff – or even a meths cooker. Meths and cooking do not make good partners. No thanks…

My good mate says that tomorrow whilst out for a sail on the tide we will take a look aboard and decide where to keep a third campingaz bottle!

I will follow up…

This is the response received from Calor Gas after I sent a complaint:

Since writing the above, I have looked at other gas bottles on the market of the smaller sizes.

Flo Gas: has a 5 kg (patio) cylinder measuring 384 mm in height and 305 mm diameter.

Flo Gas has a Leisure 6 kg cylinder measuring 495 mm height and 256 mm diameter.

Calor have a 5 kg patio cylinder (propane) 314 mm in height and 306 mm diameter.

I found a BOC 4.5 kg propane cylinder: height 390 x 270 mm diameter, but BOC are not easy to obtain other than online/direct. Again, size is a problem.

None of the above could be fitted without major cockpit reconstruction!

It would appear that Flogas has a ‘calor’ sized bottle: Propane, height 340 mm x 240 mm diameter. It would need marinas to stock these to be of any real use.

However, I am currently investigating the possibilities of a ‘Calor’ sized cylinder with a different supplier. I will follow up…

The only alternative, as Calor say on their web site, is a Campingaz 907…

Update 17 Feb 23: Company I wrote to failed to respond – well what a surprise!

Practical Boat Owner has an article in its April 2023 issue which gives the ‘Calor Line’ but does not cover the other issues I found by talking to the marina outlets and other suppliers over the past two summers.

It is a great shame that the media and our industry did not take up this issue when it first surfaced. We have been failed by all those that supposedly look after our interests.

Good luck to this coming summer. Be prepared to rejig systems, change regulators and cylinder size and ‘lash’ a bottle wherever it can be safely fitted!