It does not matter how much sailing you have done, you continue to learn new things everyday you're afloat. Here are a few notes about the main things I learnt or confirmed:
Navigation and Pilotage
When sailing short-handed it cannot be over stressed the need to do as much preparation before hand as possible.
Information: I don't mean go over the top, but Silverwind has two wipe clean information boards on deck, just below the instruments. These are in direct sight of the whole cockpit. The information I normally liked to have displayed is:
- Tidal heights for all ports within practical range on any particular passage.
- Port information for all harbour within practical range (radio channels, call signs etc)
- 12 hourly diagrams illustrating the tidal flow, hour by hour for the whole tidal cycle.
- Any pilotage diagrams and Waypoints.
This system worked well, saving trips away from the helm when not desirable.
Weather Information: I tried to use as many sources as possible but used the inshore forecast as my base forecast. Information came from:
- VHF: there was a dedicated alarm set for the early morning Coastguard forecast (this was my main source of information).
- Phone: there are a few text message and WAP services that I used a few times. However, only to get a general feel for the current weather system or to get a second opinion on the Met Office forecast. If all else failed I could phone someone with a forecast, normally someone with a computer or TV in front of them!
- Internet: nice when I had it. The main advantage being the ease of getting multiple forecasts and access to charts to make your own mind up.
- Navtex: a fail safe way of receiving the forecast without having to remember to tune in or grab a pen and paper.
- LW Radio: the shipping / inshore forecasts on Radio 4 can be useful in areas of poor VHF and phone cover. I wish they would give the full (48 hours) inshore forecast each time.
Navigation Log: You never know when the GPS might fail. For example, one of the main batteries started to break-down towards the end of the trip! I kept an hourly log based on GPS positions but confirmed these by traditional methods (sights, depths, EPs etc). This seamed to be the best of both world while in open water allowing easy fall-back onto none-electronic system if the need arouse.
Traditional methods worked best inshore and in close quarters, with the GPS useful for confirming movement over the ground. For example, going through Jack Sound in southwest Wales the GPS was little use for telling me were in the 100m wide channel was safe. However, it did instantly confirm a two knot tide against us (in conjunction with the log).
Port Entry: It is always best to get local up-to-date information. Although, I often had information from a number of sources (charts, almanac and pilot) they often disagreed. A quick phone call to the harbour master BEFORE leaving port would quickly solve the problem.
Boat
Silverwind preformed very well throughout. Whether motoring mile after mile on the west coast or beating into a force six in Scotland, there were few problems. However the smallest shortcomings can cause irritation when living onboard for weeks on end.
Leaks: not from below, but even the smallest leak when raining can cause irritation at best, not to mention damaging equipment. Most of the leaks were solved with sealant carried on board. However, the remaining leaks came from original deck fittings and the aging front hatch.
Antifouling: Silverwind was antifouled early in the year, before this trip was planned. The one coat of racing antifouling was not up to the job. Luckily the fresh water in the canals killed off any weed halfway around. The worst bit for this protection was taking the ground on the stones in Stonehaven. A number of layers of hard antifouling would have been more useful.
Engine: not because I was not happy with the outboard engine. However, a diesel inboard for this trip would have been very useful. Apart from a quicker start up time, most harbours in the UK store diesel but NOT petrol. Of the ports we visited only Pwllheli, Royal Quays (North Shields), Yarmouth, Torquay and Queens Ann Battery (Plymouth) had petrol on site. On a couple of occasions a long trip to collect petrol meant missing a days sailing!
The lifting engine did however save the day when the fishing net engulfed the boat. It also allowed easy, regular inspection.
Keel: the lifting keel was a great asset on this trip. Part of the motivation behind this adventure was to explore new places. When you can go pretty much anywhere that has at least eighteen inches of water, it helps! It also makes port entry more flexible. For example, on arriving at Amble early, we were able to jack up the keel and go in just after low water.
Drying: drying anything onboard was hard, an mains electric heater fan made a huge difference.
Spares: on a long trip you cannot carry too many spares - OK don't sink the boat! We had spares for most things but not the gas regulator or the log paddle wheel! You have to think ahead as in some areas spares might be hard to come by.
Rig
Sails: The sails all worked well but with hindsight there is too big a gap between the No. 2 and the Storm Jib. There is now plans to commission a new No. 3 and new storm (both in Orange).
The other challenge is to get them all secured on the foredeck at the same time with separate sheets and leads. This limits the amount of deck work.
Roller Reefing: Of course roller reefing would mostly remove deck work. However, this is a race boat at the end of the day and we all need a challenge! On Silverwind the foresails are perfectly manageable, on a larger yacht roller reefing would be a must.
When to Reef: it is said again and again but the best time to reef is when you start thinking about it! It is also far easier to leave a harbour under-canvassed and pull sails up, than to leave with full sail and struggle to pull them down.
Equipment
Lifejacket / Lifelines: Silverwind is fitted with jackstays and three large eyes in the cockpit. I worked with a policy of being clipped on, when on deck, until one step from land. Two separate lifelines were used:
- The main lifeline was 2m long and clipped in the middle of the cockpit. Without removing it I could sit anywhere in the cockpit, reach the mast and get to the chart table and radio.
- The second lifeline was elastic (up to 1.5m) and used for deck work.
I would have liked a second set of jackstays outside the shrouds. The inner jackstays, on the coach roof, could limit movement with the spinnaker pole up, for example.
Navtex: Silverwind is equipped with a Silva DSC VHF with integrated Navtex receiver. This is all well and good and for day sailing it is fine. However, what it does not say in the handbook, is that it only receives 518MHz Navtex messages. So you don't receive Inshore Waters forecasts, which would have been useful.
It is not possible to turn the Navtex alarm off, which is very loud. This is not very sociable at night in port. If you can leave it on, you get woken up frequently, meanwhile, the radio has to stay on all night draining the batteries.
VHF: There were no problems with voice reception at sea. A few ports in Scotland were known black spots to the Coastguard where a quick phone call would need to be made instead.
Autohelm: the first two autohelms died the same death. Water got inside and then it was all over. It was not so much sea spray but rain water. A flexible, waterproof cover for the new autohelm might be a good idea.
Handheld Radio: this was very useful for coming into port but I had problems with charging it in the early weeks. In the end I permanently installed the radio's charging stand and hard wired it to the main battery. This allowed the radio to be always ready.
Solar Power: Silverwind has two flexible solar panels (30W and 5W) which worked well even in overcast conditions. However, they lost there use towards the end of the trip. The shorter days meant less sun but more importantly more lights used so a greater charge was required.
Wind power would have been the only real option had it not been for top-ups from the mains power supply. Having said that, we only use the second battery once for a short period.
Mobile Phone: we carried one phone with a "in-car" and mains charger, we also carried a spare (old) handset. There was also the option of protecting the handset in an Aqua Bag, but it was normally safe enough clipped to the chart table.
I never had problems with the phone battery which needed charging about once a week. As for reception, this was surprisingly not a problem, even in the more remote areas. Of course, I was not looking at the phone constantly. However, the only times I picked up the phone with no reception were:
- at sea ten miles west of Fishguard (reception was gained a few minutes later).
- at Crinan at the north end of the Crinan Canal, were I took a twice daily walk to the "perfect spot" for reception!
In very poor reception areas, text messages can be more successful than voice calls (my phone used the "Orange" network).
Internet Access: useful for keeping in touch with people and weather reports. The best access at the moment if you are traveling through an area, is via public libraries. The only problem was that most had the "ftp" function disabled which is needed for updating websites!
Many marinas are now having Wi-Fi internet access installed but this can be expensive for a short period.
Ultimate Wish List
There was a few pieces of equipment that would have made life that little bit easier.
Diesel Engine: as above, just because diesel fuel is so easy to get hold of. It would have also been safer to hold larger quantities of fuel on board.
Heater: although the electric heater was great in port, a diesel heater which could be used at sea would be useful.
Fridge: Like fuel, having to buy fresh food almost daily, slowed up the trip. A fridge would have saved some of this.
Bike: A folding bike would not take up much space, however would have allowed easier transport when in port.
"...goals are dreams with a timescale..." © S Kent 2004