Editorial
Chairman’s Chat
Ratings, Motors and Lightning Strikes
A Mark II to Iberia and One for Sale
An Encounter with Hurricane Belle
A Woman’s Tale
Water - How You Want It
Auto Pilots and more Condensation Problems
Thoughts on This and That
After the Work - the Rewards
Position of Paint Line and Chocking Positions supplied by
Sail Craft Ltd
Equipment for Sale
The Chesapeake Spring Gathering
Passage to Spain
St Peter Port Harbour
Chairman Dr. Reg Crampton
Secretary/Treasurer/Editor Harry Faulkner
Reg White’s gold medal in the Tornado class in the Olympics came too late for the Summer Newsletter, so I’d like to start this one by offering my congratulations - and I’m sure those of all Iroquois owners - on his outstanding performance.
Although the rain and gales of September and October make it seem a long, long time ago now, most of us sailing around the coasts of Britain have had a superb season as far as weather goes. It would be carping to complain about the occasional frustrations of flat calms. On Taquamenaw we had a week or so in the Channel Islands, including the obligatory visit to Cherbourg to stock up with ‘duty free’ and vin du pays, and later spent two or three weeks in the West Country; our first visit to Cornwall and Devon for about five or six years.
On the subject of so called ‘duty free’ I’m sure one gets much better value in wines (and beers for that matter) at the local ‘Reunis’ and ‘Prisunic’ supermarkets in Cherbourg than at Joseph Ryst’s where it is hard to avoid the impression that the mark-up goes on almost as fast as the duty comes off. Or maybe there isn’t much duty on wine to start with. They do however have a slight edge over the supermarkets on spirits. Presumably the duty is higher.
St. Peter Port, Guernsey, is as charming - and its harbour as crowded and chaotic - as ever. This year however the harbour authorities appear to be conducting a vendetta against multihulls, banning them from the inner harbour and banishing them into the outer darkness, there to swing from three yellow buoys. For this privilege they are still charged the full harbour dues - plus an extra 50% for being a multihull. But more about that later.
As usual on these trips we met several other Iroquois, renewing old acquaintanceships and making new ones. What super people Iroquois owners are (but then I’m preaching to the converted) always great fun to meet, and indeed one or two of them were even volunteered into writing articles for this Newsletter. It’s significant, I think, that every Iroquois owner I meet has an interesting story to tell, or a modification to describe. I can’t believe that those I didn’t meet, by a strange coincidence, have nothing to say. So can I get in my customary bit of badgering and ask you all to write something? I’ve used up all the articles I’ve received, so there’ll be no more Newsletters until some more news or letters come in - from you.
The annual meeting this year will be held at 6 pm on Friday, 7th January 1977 at the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W.l. We’ve been extremely fortunate in that Reg Crampton, as a Fellow of the Society, has been able to make this booking, and thus make the meeting possible.
And now, finally to come back full circle to where I started - to Reg White. Reg has, under pressure, agreed to risk schizophrenia by being not only host, but also guest speaker on that occasion and will give an illustrated talk on the Olympics Since this is bound to be a great attraction, and since the Royal Society of Medicine need to know fairly accurately the number to expect, please complete the reply slip on the last page (not reproduced here - Webmaster), and return it to me by 20th December at the latest.
I look forward to seeing you all there and meanwhile I hope that you all have a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year.
from Harry Faulkner
Taquamenaw, 60
For the cruising man, 1976 presented an almost ideal weather pattern; sunshine galore and enough calm to ensure that his engine did not suffer non-use atrophy. Vahine’s itinerary covered over 30 ports, havens, creeks, etc. from the Deben in the east to Lezardrieux in Brittany, winds from 0 - 8, but (so it seemed) always from ahead, but always warm (age sensitive). Fluid intake reached record levels. Inevitably, there is always the unplanned episode or misfortune. One of our most memorable was the sudden fear induced by a fire on a large motor cruiser moored alongside in St. Peter Port (obviously they hadn’t started the ban on multihulls in June? Ed.). Fortunately the fire was contained without explosion, with the aid of the town fire engine. Had it gone up in such a crowded harbour, with no escape possible, the consequences could have been quite disastrous. In such a situation there is little one can do, except hope and pray. Another misfortune when sheer effort saved the boat occured nearer home, at midnight, when an anchor failed to hold and we were blown (force 8+ at the time) against a concrete slipway; and it was sleeting with rain. By fending off most of the night, we escaped any significant damage. Mishaps can have beneficial aspects, as we found during the months which followed the total and irremedial failure of our engine, a Johnson 33 o/b. As many Iroquois owners have similar engines, the sequence of events of this tale may be of interest. In all probability it started about midnight (in June) when we were negotiating the tortuous channel leading to Issigny in Normandy. For those who have not visited the place - don’t bother. At one stage we had to stem a 6 knot tide, with the engine at full power. Suddenly the engine over-revved, for a few seconds, then reverted to norma1 full throttle. During the next few days, this over-revving syndrome occurred more frequently, until the engine stopped, finally and irrevocably. After dismantling - on return to the UK - what seemed to have happened was (a) some major impact with a solid object, (b) the splines of crankshaft and drive shaft damaged, (c) over-revving engine without water cooling as the water pump is driven by the drive shaft, (d) scoring of cylinder bores and pistons, (e) oiling of plugs and burnt oil residue on bearings. The end result is a somewhat useless engine.
For the remainder of the season I’ve sailed without an engine, and learned a lot. The only real problems are entering a very tight marina (often with no wind) and getting out of shipping lanes in dead calms. Otherwise, the sailing qualities of the Iroquois (with a clean bottom) are more than adequate.
This tale of technical woe stimulates some comment on the nature of the Iroquois Newsletter. It is largely technical, only rarely does it contain accounts of voyages to places of scenic beauty or colourful communities. In spite of the great interest in technical matters, few suggestions were received to which Sailcraft could respond by sending a contribution. Many questions which appear in the Newsletter can be answered by reference to back numbers (for those few who have them). I wonder how many would welcome a re-issue of a complete set of these, bearing in mind that each set would cost several pounds. Let us have your reactions. (You now have it for free - Webmaster).
Because of the interest shown in the Newsletter in other people’s boats to compare the numerous ‘one-off’ modifications, might I suggest that as many owners as possible try to make the trip to Calais at Whit. I’ve been to this ‘event’ for the past four years, and it really is one of the highlights. For those for whom the trip is too long, I’m sure a number of east and south east coast boats would be willing to offer a ride. I certainly would. Perhaps we could discuss this further at the Owners’ meeting this coming Boat Show.
An extension of this idea is that of boat swopping (with or without crew!). As time is usually the limiting factor in planning cruises (my own longest trip has been to Spain), exchanging boats is a means of enjoying new cruising grounds within a limited time. The Newsletter seems a good medium for finding possible partners, so if you’re interested write in with appropriate details.
Could I invite those with practical experience to write an account of:
Finally may I reiterate that this Newsletter accepts all contributions from owners. It does not practise editorial vetting. To those who have yet to contribute, please make the effort. It’s a bit of a sweat, but quite satisfactory in the end. Whatever subject you write about will be read by all. To those who do contribute, keep it up; it’s your personal views, personal experiences, and your knowledge which others wish to acquire or read about. The range of topics is inexhaustible.
Hope to see many of our Association at the meting in January.
Reg Crampton, Vahine II, 74.
It was nice to get the Iroquois Newsletter again. We missed it very much last autumn. Am enclosing £3 to bring my subscription more up to date. It would be a shame if the Newsletter stopped because of lack of funds.
We now have a second Iroquois sailing in the Midland (Canada) area. Jim Muir of 121 Manchester Road, Kitchener, Ontario. bought the Iroquois previously owned by Dr. Hays of Travers City, Michigan, USA. I am sorry I do not have the sail number. Would you please send him a copy of the current Newsletter and charge it to my subscription, as I know he would be very interested in it. (Done. Ed.)
Would you let me know when the AGM is? I don’t know if we could get over, but would like to very much. Does it not tie in with the London Boat Show?
I note with envy, the Iroquois owners who race with Portsmouth numbers of 82 and 84 etc. Our club here has a thing about Cats, and we have to race with 79, actually giving time to a new C and C38 with all the go-fasts and goodies. This was raised recently to 79.5, but we are not allowed to remove our motor, which is an Evinrude 33hp with a long, long shaft. This motor is actually too big and heavy, and I was wondering how much smaller motor I could use, and even if anyone has used the largest British ‘Seagull’, and if so, what speed they got in calm water (‘Seagulls’ are virtually non-existent here, so I can’t try one). I would like to have a motor to give us up to 6½ or top about 7 knots, but would sacrifice some speed to reasonably reduce the weight. It certainly doesn’t do an Iroquois any good to have a big heavy motor hanging on the back. In the sharp, steep waves that often occur here it definitely increases the amount of hobby-horsing. In one quite long race last year, we took off the motor, and were so impressed by the improved sailing and smoother motion of the boat. Hence the quest for some motor, as light as possible. The Iroquois is a tremendously responsive sating boat, and it seems a shame to so mutilate its performance with a big engine, which really has to be used so little.
One more question, has anyone satisfactorily grounded an Iroquois against lightning. There have been a couple of monohulls struck by lightning here in the last couple of years, and it has made me wonder how an ungrounded Iroquois would fare. I haven’t been able to think of any reasonable way to accomplish this.
James Playfair, Errant, 80
Editors comments: On the question of the motor, I use a Yamaha 15hp petrol/paraffin (kerosene) model. This gives something over 6 knots, weighs about 75lb, has been in use since 1971 and has been very reliable. Hand start, but nearly always goes first pull, so that’s one thing less to go wrong, and from a safety point of view I’d rather carry a lot of paraffin about than petrol. It’s cheaper too! Other views and experiences with motors would be welcomed.
Regarding grounding this would be easy on my Mark I which has aluminium centreboards dipping into the water. Anybody with ideas/experience of earthing a Mark II?
Thank you very much for the "Iroquois Owners’ Association Newsletter" of summer 1976.
I’m the owner of an Iroquois Mark IIA, built 1973 in Brightlingsea. I sailed last year from Keil to Vilamoura (Portugal) and this year to Spain without any damage or injury. I left my boat in the marina of Ibiza, where I have a place for this year. My Cat is in a very excellent condition and looks like a new one and I find it hard to separate me from the Cat, but, perhaps, I am looking for another Catamaran, because I need more space for living on a boat everytime.
If there’s anyone interested in my Catamaran, please write or phone me:
Mitteisstrasse 9, 8 Muchen 45, West Germany. Telefon: 089/3132062.
Jurgen Martin, Bally Mena II, 168.
The following article was sent in by John Owens, Dawn Breaker, No.34. It was published in The Mail - Star on Wednesday August 11th 1976.
A 35ft catamaran was upended in Halifax harbor Tuesday and its owner, John Owens, pulled from the water by an Atlantic Salvage Ltd. Harbor craft operator Harold Partridge.
Atlantic Salvage president Walter Partridge said they spotted the floundering catamaran "about 1000 feet off the end of our wharf" at 12:57pm and dispatched a boat to help the crew.
Mr Partridge said they also notified Halifax Traffic who in turn contacted the inshore rescue unit, and their boat arrived just five minutes later, picking up two other men who were still on board the catamaran.
Dave Hunter and Vernon MacDonald, the two crew members, were unhurt, and Mr Owens went to the Victoria General Hospital as a precautionary measure since he had swallowed some water.
The catamaran tipped over just north of George’s Island, and the harbor craft arrived at the scene minutes later.
Mr Partridge praised the quick action on the part of the inshore rescue unit following their rapid arrival at the scene of the accident.
Atlantic Salvage righted the vessel and towed her into their wharf.
The catamaran sails out of the Bedford Basin Yacht Club, said a spokesman for the rescue unit.
There was also a photograph enclosed but unfortunately the quality was not suitable for reproduction. The caption reads:
BOAT OVERTURNS - This 35 foot catamaran, which capsized Tuesday afternoon in Halifax Harbor, was righted by the harborcraft of Atlantic Salvage Limited and towed to the Atlantic Salvage wharf. The three men aboard the yacht were rescuued by the harborcraft, and by Halifax Traffic’s inshore rescue unit. (Wamboldt - Waterfield)
Then this letter from John Owens
I started to sail my Iroquois as Hurricane Belle was in Southern Maine and moving towards the maritime provinces of Canada. I should have been more cautious and determined the exact location of this hurricane. I thought the hurricane was moving away through the province of New Brunswick.
The surface winds were southwesterly 15 - 18 knots as I proceeded towards Halifax harbour, Nova Scotia. Vandals had disturbed the tillers so I was concentrating on steering with another chap who was steering the second rudder. Unbeknown to me a huge gust of wind struck downtown Halifax and everyone passed a remark about it. I estimate that a gust of 40 - 50 knots struck my catamaran when I had a large genoa and mainsail set. Within 3 seconds my feet were in water as the boat turned on its side. I immediately dove overboard as I thought the boat was going to turn upside down. Fortunately the ‘Flying Saucer’ float on top of the mast worked and only one foot of water entered the cabin in a 15 minute period. I was without a life preserver and the cat started to drift away from me with 2 other sailors in the cabin. Rescue came quickly as yachtsmen thought the gust would overturn my boat.
A rope was placed around the bottom of the mast and over the high portion of the hull. The cat was pulled sideways and within 5 minutes was righted. There was no damage to the cat and I will wear a life jacket from now on and look for wind gusts disturbing the water.
I replaced the steel halyard for the mainsail and the outboard motor well a few years ago.
An Iroquois cat from the United States was sighted off the coast of Nova Scotia a few years ago. I have never sailed the cat in unsheltered waters and have never reefed the mainsail or used any jib other than the genoa.
One of the fascinations of sailing is that no matter how experienced, well read, or how much one benefits from the mistakes of others, there is always the unknown, unexpected situation and new problem. Some happenings are hilarious, others quite dramatic, even in the ordinary weekend sail there is rarely a dull moment. Of the whole summer cruise two of those ‘moments’ left me a memorable impression for different reasons.
The first one occurred after we left Cherbourg with very light winds causing a loss of the tide to St. Peter Port. At 07.00 hours we were just off Sark, say 6 miles from Peter Port, with a force 1 - 2 following wind. At 11.00 hours in spite of pulling spinnaker, the log reading 2 knots, in the four hours we had lost about ½ mile. However, the morning weather being Caribbean style, the boat well stocked with food and drink, made the sail very enjoyable. While we waited for the ‘change of scenery’, we estimated that the alternative was to have gone backwards most of the way to Cherbourg. At this point, and near entering Peter Port, everyone seemed highly amused at my appreciation that being unable to anchor (during the full tide) we had successfully achieved the same result using the spinnaker. I must admit I never thought of that ‘anchorage’ before.
The second moment was finding Le Port Chambre, on the south side of the Ille Brehat, which lies off the entrance to the river Lezardrieux in Brittany. The surroundings are so beautiful that words cannot do it justice. Ashore at the village of Le Bourg we became involved in a 21st birthday party, all male, all young and all Breton fishermen. The party ‘took over’ the cafe, much wine and cognac flowed but at the end the Bretons gave a splendid performance of the British National Anthem which was just one example of the anglophilic attitude we experienced.....
Consuelo Agrelo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vahine II, 74.
(Can we hear about the others sometime? Ed.)
My Iroquois IIA - Cat O’Lafite - had been plagued by an intense fishy smell in its water supply. Addition of various tablets when filling up had no effect. The cause was finally traced to the clear plastic supply pipes which had grown a healthy culture of algae even where the pipes were down in the bilges. I removed the pipes and fitted new ones after first wrapping them round with black sticky tape. Since then I’ve had no bother. When removing the pipes, don’t forget to leave a string messenger.
Another little problem which I solved was dealing with the condensation which forms on the inside of the windows which look out forward. Water used to collect in the aluminium channels thoughtfully provided, but, when full, they emptied themselves accurately on the heads of anyone sleeping in the forward bunks. I drilled holes in the channel over the back rests in the bridge cabin and fitted small plastic trays underneath. I now sleep undisturbed.
Denis Marrian, Cat O’Lafite, 183.
(Editor’s comment - In view of the name of the boat I thought Denis would only consider liquids from bottles shaped like this.
Joking apart, his point about the effect of light on the growth of algae is an interesting one, and may be especially significant for many Mark I owners who have had this problem. The Mark I has a fibreglass tank moulded in as a step between the cockpit and cabin, and this is translucent. Having been forewarned, I have always added about one bottle cap full of Milton for every four gallons of water (I should think any of the other sodium hypochlorite bleaches would do equally well) and this has kept the system completely free of algae. Mind you, the water still tastes pretty horrible - but of chlorine, which is perhaps preferable.
Reg Crampton tells me he has had this problem with his Mark II, but extending right inside the black plastic storage tanks. He thinks I use more bleach than necessary, and just adds a little every month or so, which seems to have solved his problem.)
Well, I have finally got around to letting you know how my autopilot performs. I have used it a lot this year and found it a great help. It is the Autohelm Plus made by Nautech Ltd. and it is such a simple device. It is very light and the complete thing can be fitted or removed in a matter of minutes. It has afforded us a lot more leisure time while making long passages and for night sailing it steers a steady course without effort. It also takes the drudgery out of steering under power when there is no wind.
The instrument can be used on either wind vane or compass, but I find I use the compass foremost, even when going to windward. The power consumption is only 3 watts when operating, so the drain on the battery is negligible. The course is set simply by turning the staff. I have put a slot bracket on the back of my outboard when it is in the ‘up’ position and this keeps the wind vane in clear wind. I have got another bracket on the transom beam for when the engine is in use. The motor unit sits on a bracket on the starboard side of the port rudder and the actuator clips onto the tiller arm with a pin provided. (See drawing and photo for further details.)
Another problem I encountered with the Iroquois is condensation from the windows dripping onto the bunks and table when the wells fill up. I cured this by drilling 3/16" holes in the bottom of the wells and fitting 3/16" plastic pipe to drain away the water. I find my boat has a list to starboard, (they will all list slightly one way or the other), so I drained the port front window into the anchor box, starboard front window onto the galley’ draining board, starboard double cabin behind the sink unit onto draining board and port double cabin through the toilet.
This works very well and keeps the window wells dry, hence no drip.
Fred Boyd, Scarper, 180.
(Ed. See also Denis Marrian’s solution to this same problem in previous article.
A photograph taken just as Scarper passes the old jetty on arriving in Alderney in very light conditions. Fred - in rubber dinghy - does the towing while the glamorous crew looks on. Mind you, he didn’t tow it all the way across the Channel like that …….. he assures me that the crew took turns! The small, neat fitting of the wind vane can be seen here in proportion to the whole boat.
Incidentally, Fred is another owner who built his Iroquois from a shell - and he really has made a superb job of it.)
I have lots to write but no time to do so:
Dr. M. Cocheme Mbote, 69.
In case somewhere there is a hopeful sailor still facing the long haul of home finishing an Iroquois, I hope he will take heart from our experience. Janet and I worked on ‘Kawa’ for 3 years and its all worth it. Our first season with her has been sheer delight. The weather, of course helped, but the boat is a beauty. We were awed, suddenly, by its size - in the first hour after it was launched. We do not have a lot of cruising experience and had then only been afloat in an Iroquois twice.
However, we had the foresight to launch in a Marina and it was Janet’s idea to stay there for 2 weeks to make sure that everything worked, bend on sails, do trials, etc. In the event we needed 4 full days to cure a leaking loo - all Waterloo bolts need to be done up snugly - reshape the outboard box (home made like almost everything else) so that the propeller could reach the water, get the motor to run reliably etc. etc. On April the 9th we sailed in F2 from Gillingham to Slangale Creek. We anchored for lunch and motored back in a dead calm. All panic was now behind us. After several more trial sails we left Gillingham at 0600 hours on Easter Sunday in fog of 100 yards visibility. We felt our way down the Medway from buoy to buoy, passed Sheerness which was going mad on her hooter, as we, a large Ro Ro from Scandinavia and a motor cruiser all converged in the narrow entrance. Still no wind so it was a motor all the way with the ebb beneath us and we arrived off Faversham Creek at 1100 hours - 30 miles in 5 hours using a Johnson 18 at ½ throttle.
In the months that have followed we have been to Ramsgate in a Force 7, been around Sheppey in a day that has winds from Force 3 - 7, spent nights anchored at Slangale, or in our own Faversham Creek (so we could get away early in the morning as our moorings are half-tide ones).
Our accomplishments have been modest - we haven’t yet lifted a hull - but Kawa has given us enormous pleasure and confidence, to be aboard, to live in, and above all to sail. My own moment came when I took her out single handed. John Peacock is right to say that this is when you learn fastest and most. Under full main and number 1 jib in Force 3 - 4 she will hold her course unaided for 10 - 15 minutes at a time. So I was able to settle her on a course and go forward, sit on the pulpit and admire the sweet curve of her sails as the water gurgled at the forefoot - pure happiness.
On our holiday cruise - in home waters - never out of sight of the Isle of Sheppey - we enjoyed meeting Dennis & Biddy Marrian in Cat O’Lafite and seeing how their Iroquois worked for sailing and living - both our cockpits made entertaining easy.
We want more foresails, and a battery charger (wind-driven) and if we were really flush we might spring an Echo-Sounder, but that’s all. Our scheme of minimum gadgetry, maximum traditional methods has been economical and reliable.
Our objective is Peace and Quiet after a days sail. Kawa has made this not only possible but a real pleasure with her speed, ease of handling and general good manners.
Good luck to all Iroquois owners, particularly those still building.
If you can scrounge it - don’t make it.
If you can make it - don’t buy it.
Doug Mackay, Kawa, 153.
(Ed. Congratulations on the successful outcome of your efforts Doug. Now for the pleasure of sailing her.)
(This answers point number 5 in Dr Cocheme's letter - Ed)
I have now sold my Iroquois no. 206 and have for sale an alloy cockpit winch pedestal complete with all fittings and a Lewmar no. 44 self tailing winch, all brand new and unwrapped, which I was going to fit myself. The pedestal was made by Sailcraft. The whole outfit cost £350 a year ago so would be a good bargain at today’s prices.
J J Macklin, formerly owner of Jonathan Seagull, 206.
Ted and I read (with pleasure) the summer issue of the IOA Newsletter. It also reminded us that we didn’t write about our gathering, or send you another cheque (which is enclosed).
As it turned out we had a rainy, but delightfully breezy three day weekend, and only Bob and Bitten Krentel could come with their Iroquois, but they brought along two unihulls and we all had a fine time and good things to eat. Most of the other owners were either in, or on their way to, Europe.
Next year we plan to have our ‘get together’ a little later in the year, but don’t want to set a date now. If any readers are interested in joining us, please have them write and we will fill them in next Spring (address and tel no provided - Webmaster).
We have been chartering the Lady Rachel since the first season we had her, and have met some interesting crews. Susan and Charles Dennis may be interested to know that Bill Daly who chartered Snoopy in March 1975 from Antigua, also chartered ours.
The number of Iroquois on the Bay seems to stay more or less the same from year to year. At this time we know of 5 within 50 miles of the Baltimore area, and another has been sighted in the Sassafras River, to the Northeast.
A request from the more comfort loving sunbathers in our crew for you to pass on to Sailcraft to change the angle of the front cabin window. It slopes just a bit too much and one’s posterior tends to slip forward on the foredeck. It would also give a little more head room inside the cabin for those sitting forward at the salon table.
Once again, we extend an open invitation to your readers to write or call us if they plan to be in, or around, the Northern Chesapeake Bay - with or without their Iroquois. We have enjoyed meeting those owners close by and would be interested in meeting those from across the sea as well. Good luck with your next publication.
Carol & Ted Boyle, Lady Rachel, 75.
There were four of us, Ann and I, co-owners of Dandelion, with my son Michael and his wife Juliet. We have been sailing the Irquois for 5 years. The furthest we have managed until this summer was Ushant, - the last port of call on the NW corner of Brittany. We developed a psychological block about going any further. It was like Ultima Thule. This had to be overcome, and so we took the month of August off - an unprecedented step - resolved to cross the dreaded Bay, to Spain.
Mike and I sailed from the Hamble in a leisurely way to St. Peter’s Port, Guernsey spending nights in Yarmouth and Alderney. Ann and Juliet flew to join us in Guernsey. Water, petrol and paraffin containers full, plenty of Calor gas, piles of tins, stacks of greens, tomatoes and fruit with an eye to the problems of decay versus the cost of food abroad. We had shipped aboard a good range of admiralty charts, but had forgotten the admiralty tide tables, which could have been awkward. Reeds, marvellous though it is, does not reach Spain. We had remembered to renew the assortment of batteries for torches, echo sounder, RDF device, clock, chart reader and emergency navigation lights. We had installed an extra 12 volt battery and both were fully charged. In the event they lasted the month helped by the occasional slender boost from running the 32hp Johnson outboard.
We were intrigued to find out how we would fare living for several days and nights on passage and how our watch keeping system would work. We all agreed that normal watchkeeping rotas displace sleep patterns too radically, take a long time to adjust to and from, making people bad tempered and depressed. We determined the critical change point at 03.00 hours which meant that one watch pair turned in late all through the voyage, and the other watch pair got up early. In detail, the system worked like this; we had our evening meal at 18.30 hours all together. Ann and I turned in at 19.00 hours sleeping until 03.00 hours, a full 8 hours, while Mike and Juliet kept watch. At 0300 hours we changed and they slept until 11.00 hours, also 8 hours. From then on we lived ‘communually’ taking 2 hour individual turns on watch until 19.00 hours came round again. This was the best period in the cycle and passed happily reading, fishing, swimming in calms, doing repairs and dozing.
Conversion to normal life timing is painless by this method. Everyone is more relaxed and cheerful. The 8 hour watches are quite bearable because there are two on duty all the time and they can take turns at the helm, navigating, cooking and snoozing. On the return passage Ann and I took the 19.00 to 03.00 hours watch. Of the two this has the longest period of darkness. 11.00 to 01.00 hours drags but for some reason the last two hours go quickly.
For about 80% of the voyage the self-built self-steering gear took over. This was a great boon. It was ineffective under force 1 and over force 5/6. We had a lot of the former, and little of the latter. It works satisfactorily for all points of the wind, though running is a problem unless there is some relative wind. It does not hunt at high speed being a flip-flap, rather than a servo type.
We started in a flat calm, full of needling anticipation. After several hours of painful motoring the wind came up from the NE and we ran towards Ushant keeping a careful log of our direction. Next morning, through the haze we made out the silhouette of the leading lighthouse on the rock guarding the entrance to the inner channel round Ushant, the Chenal du Fours. Unknown territory ahead. The tide just right and beginning to go with us. The wind freshened to 5 - 6 and we reached along 12 - 14 knots in great style through a fleet of French yachts in a race, to us a most surprising and cheering sight in this rock-strewn tideway. It is said that this 40 mile channel is no more difficult than the Solent, it needs an equivalent amount of study and care. It is certainly very well marked. In the late afternoon we emerged from the south end and set course for the Ar Men beacon at the west end of ‘The Saints’ reef thus avoiding the Point du Raz inner passage and the strange things that happen there where the two tidal systems meet.
We just caught a glimpse of the beacon in the evening light enabling us to set course for Santander 400 miles away to the south across the Bay. We ran most of the way. A mysterious electronic surveillance trawler circled us one day. Fishing vessels with bright lights sailed on erratic courses near us a couple of times on the third night. Porpoises escorted us for a time, disappearing as soon as the cameras came out. Biscay had a light swell coming in from the west which the Iroquois rode with an easy stride - much more comfortable than a channel chop. I had been conscientiously keeping up the met charts. We had done a met course at the Cruising Association the previous winter. 1500 metres LW got fainter and fainter. The French met broadcasts couldn’t be found, but the highs stayed put, and the isobars didn’t crowd; so our nervousness on that account evaporated.
3½ days out of St. Peters Port through the haze, Cap Mayor loomed miraculously in the right place. Our DR progress across the Biscay chart was verified. We found a berth in Santander old port marina and repaired to the Royal Yacht Club for a celebratory dinner. But there we met a tall comely young blonde. She had recently sailed there from Falmouth through bad weather in a 27 footer - single handed.
Santander was full of bustle and crowds, rather dusty and confusing, but the people were friendly and helpful. It needed a determined effort to get Intrada stamps in our passports. We failed to get our mainsheet track repaired which had been broken in a violent gybe. We were given a free set of tide tables for the north coast.
The weather stayed settled and so after three days we set out to explore the coast to the west. First call was at Souances. Robin Brandon’s excellent South Biscay Pilot (Adlard Coles) has fearsome pictures of seas breaking alongside the entrance to the trained river entrance. We had no difficulties and moored upstream of the fish quay clear of the vessels going upstream to the quarry. Brandon rates each place as to ease of approach, quality, and facilities. We agreed broadly with his judgements except that he gives towns too good ratings. Souances is a holidayvillage with several camps and a long surf beach. Rather crowded. The police inspected our papers gravely and then with smiles, salutes and waves.
Next day we sailed on to Tina Mayor, a steep gorge covered in eucalyptus woods. The entrance is narrow and dramatic. We anchored inside just missing propeller damage from a fisherman’s mooring cable stretched across the river below the surface. The river gets shallow and uninteresting further inland.
Next port of call was San Vicente de la Barquera and was a high spot of the voyage. A prosperous fishing and tourist town with squares, arcades and steep alleyways leading up to the castle and church dominating the scene. The entrance to the river has training walls but is well marked with lighthouses. Nearby, accessible by dinghy, is a splendid surf beach. We moored up to the bridge pier as suggested by Brandon. The fish restaurants were scruffy, the atmosphere very friendly and the food marvellous.
Our last stopping place was Niembro, a narrow winding steep-sided estuary which at tide became so shallow we had to leap out and wade Dandelion up into a sandy tidal lake, beautiful and secure. I would not like to enter with any sort of sea running. We stayed for a week, made several friends, explored nearby beaches and the rocky coast. We went inland to the town Posada for provisions. The countryside is lovely, rich in wild flowers like England only more so. The backcloth is a magnificent range of limestone mountains.
We were locked in by 3 days of high winds. Time was running out. I even phoned Bracknell to check the situation. Eventually the weather eased and we bid a sad farewell to Spain. Towards Ushant the wind headed us, and visibility closed down making the inside passage impossible. We decided to cross the shipping lanes to the west and take the outside course round the peninsular. Next morning we tacked again and in light airs by next evening picked up the Isle de Vierge light. The wind headed us again but the visibility remained poor so we decided on N as our course. During the night the wind remorselessly backed and we found ourselves off Salcombe next afternoon, but the visibility improved. Big temptation to have a large dinner and luxurious beds in Salcombe but sterner policies prevailed, to tack into Lyme Bay and then make Portland, but the isobars were getting tighter. The 17.55 forecast said force 7 later. Within 10 minutes it had arrived. Gusting 8, rain, short steep seas off Start Point, and a spring tide against us. A miserable night 7 days from Spain. In the dawn we ran for Dartmouth and blessed relief. We were soon cleared by a ‘friendly’ customs man who instructed us on how to complete the declaration form having inspected our stock of bottles. We went off for our first British breakfast for a month - a disappointment. When we returned a customs rummage crew was waiting for us. They took us to pieces in spite of the earlier advice of their colleague. I had a severe dressing down by 23 year old for having one bottle too much of brandy.
Then another Iroquois owner hailed us from the town wall and the sun shone. It was, after all, great to be back.
Ray Moxley and Ann Scampton, Dandelion, 90.
Reg Crampton and I have written to the harbour authorities at St. Peter Port about the points made in the Editorial, and sent copies to the RYA and to MOCRA. We shall publish the letter, along with any reply we receive, in the next Newsletter.
Harry Faulkner
