Dear Member,
Another marvellous summer in the Baltic! Not quite as hot as last year, thank goodness. We also had equipped ourselves with mosquito nets so we could join the Scandinavians and shut ourselves in at 21.00 hrs when the mossies come out to play. But then those of you that stayed at home in UK waters also we understand had a good summer.
We started our sailing from Stockholm where R38 CALICO MARTLET had spent the winter ashore and , with a crew sailed through the Stockholm Archipelago to the Aaland Islands. The ferries between these islands and Stockholm are incredibly cheap so combined with Ryan air this makes for a suitable crew change point. The second crew (Jane and David Ashe) had a short cruise in the islands, cut short by the misfortune of Southampton getting into the FA cup final! They were unfortunate in copping one of the two days that we have had fog in the two seasons in the Baltic.
Barbara joined ship in the Islands capital, Mariehamn and after waiting for a fair wind we did an overnight passage north to Sundsval on the Swedish east coast. The weather was acceptable but had not got into its summer stride as it was still only the end of May. There were very few other yachts about although most local boats had been launched. Other foreign boats were mainly German and one sudo Brit who was actually Swedish ( who lived in Farnham!) The coastline is fairly low with small old fishing harbours and some anchorages. Most harbours were not officially open until mid June and so did not charge, and those that did were 50 Sek (about £3.50) for the berth. (showers and electricity extra)
A feature of the coast are the paper mills every 10 miles or so, and of course at Lulea
The export of vast quantities of iron ore. When in the Aaland islands NAVTEX talked about having an escort through the ice in the Kvark (the narrow strait between Finland and Sweden) Fortunately it had all gone by the time we got there. We eventually reached the vicinity of Haparanda the furthest north you can go in the Gulf of Bothnia and turned south on mid summer’s day.
We made a 200 nm passage south back to the particularly attractive area called the Hog Kysten ( High Coast). This is an area of relatively high hills (300 m) with natural anchorages and small harbours. In passing it must be said that anywhere that you could stop was provided with earth closets ashore and rubbish bins. We are not enthusiastic about the former, and so our holding tank was in constant use. And as there were no discharge facilities we dumped it at sea.
Saying “sea” was a bit of a misnomer as the water north of Stockholm was nearly fresh. This had some surprising effects on the boat. I think she must have been about 30mm lower in the water and as a consequence the sides were pushed in very slightly and some close fitting floorboards were very difficult to get up. Now we are back in salt water all has returned to normal.
Family holiday commitments made us hurry south, and of course we arrived back in the Stockholm area too soon, but this did enable us to sample the delights of the Archipelago in detail, albeit with a flood of Swedish, German and Finnish boats. The weather by now had really warmed up and swimming twice a day was normal. Barbara became so enthusiastic that she continued right through till mid September, but it was a bit of a trial at the end as we came under the influence of the North Sea and the water temperature dropped to 10 degrees from a high of 22!
Family holidays over we sailed over to Gotland, the large island between Sweden and Estonia. We chose to cruise the east coast and thus missed out Visby, which is on the west coast. We visited this World Heritage Town by bus, and it is well we did as it was full to bursting with boats.
From the south end of Gotland we did a night passage to the south east corner of Sweden and we were thankful for our Channel training as Barbara had 18 ships going in all directions, mainly converging with us, on her early morning watch. Shipping in general had been light in the open sea, with about five a day up north, but the number going around southern Sweden was an eye opener.
After more family holidays we sailed through the Smalands in Denmark, north through the Great Belt to lay up on the Limfjord at Aalborg in northern Denmark. Again we have managed to lay up at a reasonable cost i.e £100 per lift out and in, and £25 per month storage in the open. I had to do some of the shoring myself but none the less still pretty reasonable.
Yours,
David Jones
NOTE for your diaries – AGM and Annual Dinner , Friday 9th January 2004
As usual at this time of year we are making an appeal for articles for our house magazine. The response last year was as usual just enough! However a large proportion was supplied by one stalwart contributor. Please make the effort to come up with your article and you may be the winner of the Peter Brett trophy!
You are asked to keep within 3500 words with a small map if possible, and one or two photos or drawings. Short trips, incidents as well as long cruises are welcome. Contributions on floppy disc and/or paper, to our President, Jane Ashe at Penhale Cottage, Shoe Lane, Upham, Southampton, SO32 1JJ, by e-mail jane#ashe396.fsnet.co.uk by 5th November and definitely before 1st December. If you need more information ring her on 01489 860396.
Peter Austin R36 TRIVAL Lymington
Martin Corrick R34 TENACITY II Chichester
Alan Dowie R34 REDWING Medway
John Everard R32 KALINDI Plymouth
Mark Goodin R36 WISHFUL Gosport
Andy Hill R36 HANDS OFF Southampton
David Wray R32 MOONFIRE Gillingham
John Burgess was lost at sea whilst sailing his R41C CUCHULAINN of ORWELL across the Bay of Biscay in early April 3003. Only scant details are available but it appears that he was lost during the transfer from the boat to the liferaft during a helicopter rescue in 100mph winds and 8m seas. The remainder of the crew who went first were lifted to safety.
The yacht was towed to La Corunna. No reports have been made as to the reason for the abandonment, although the mast, sails, rudder and do not appear to be damaged.
Our thoughts are with John’s wife Madeleine and family.
Once again the weather threatened to blow the boats off the Folly pontoons or at least rain on us. However the Gods smiled and the rain stopped an hour before the food was due to be served. This year 12 boats braved the high winds in the Solent bringing 36 members and friends to the Meet. Everyone had a good time looking at new ideas on other boats and chatting, so much so that it was hard to keep track of people until the surface for more drink. The evening was rounded off with mulled wine fruit cake and cheese. This was despite Southampton playing in the FA final that day in Cardiff!
Thanks once again to Barry and his helpers for making this, the original venue such a continuing success.
Autumn Meet
This will take place on Saturday 18th October at Landers restaurant at the Haslar Marina complex Gosport. Please contact Barry Thunder direct on 01793 826697 or mail#barrythunder,freeserve.co.uk He needs to know numbers so please contact him urgently.
The Salcome Meet on Saturday 27th September will take place just before you receive this letter. It is hoped that the present good weather continues for them.
Andrew is continuing to build on the original input to the site. After the original input, photographs seem to be slowing up, but the forum has some interesting subjects. In particular in my case the comments regarding older boats and insurance, or rather difficulty in insuring boats over 30 years old.
I have had a note from Ken Scaife (R36 RAIN GOOSE) concerning the use of reversing away from a lee shore. He says that some years ago when caught at anchor on a lee shore, first make sure the wash boards are in, then try putting the egine in reverse. The boat will arc backwards up into the wind and away from the shore. The anchor can then be retrieved with the boat steady weather-cocking stern first into the wind. The key to the manoeuvre is that there enough wind for the weather-cocking to overcome the prop walk.
As a further note to this useful piece of advice is the advantage of the Autoprop propeller , where the prop walk at low revs is negligible and going backwards up wind is a very viable manoeuvre even in light winds.
Incidentally the Autoprop on CALICO MARTLET gives us about 0.75 of a knot extra speed for the same fuel consumption, so it is well on the way to paying for itself.
Mike Smith R34 WILLIWAW, has replaced his volvo with a Beta Marine 28 HP engine and has been most impressed with Beta’s quality of service and the quiet running of the engine itself. He also fitted an Autoprop supplied through First Marine Propulsion of Southampton. They appear to be very knowledgeable and had the latest software for performing propeller calculations.
BOATS AND GEAR FOR SALE
For Sale