Parachutes

joined Ron and Maybe in Plymouth on 22 June last year. We spent two nights in Sutton Harbour Marina, which gave me chance to re-provision and tidy up below decks, before making our way up the Tamar, under the spectacular rail and road bridges to Parsons Quay where we spent two lovely lazy days on the mud.

Owing to the imminent confinement of my daughter I was reluctant to go any further west so on 26 June we decided to make for the River Yealm. We were afloat by 10.30 and motored down the river. As we approached the Chain Ferry a Police RIB came speeding towards us and, coming alongside, advised us to keep well to starboard as a warship was about to turn the corner. We didn’t need telling twice and as we put the power on to get inside the moorings, what looked like a grey block of flats turned the bend in the river off Devonport. It was JAMS Ocean, an Amphibious Helicopter Carrier just back from operations off Africa. She was a magnificent sight, accompanied by five tugs, her decks lined with Marines and preceded by two Marine landing craft manned by very sinister looking characters in black dry suits.

After this excitement we had an uneventful sail to the River Yealm, where we spent one night. We then went on to Salcombe, the River Dart, the River Exe and Topsham, mostly doing what Seals do i.e. sitting on the mud!!

And so to the return across Lyme Bay. There was little or no wind and we resigned ourselves to motoring. As we left Exmouth behind the visibility was hazy with the sun trying very hard to get through the top cover. Ron went below to have a nap and I sat scanning the horizon and occasionally giving the Autohelm a tweak. As the visibility got slowly worse it seemed we were alone in the world — I saw no other boats and could not see land. Then a bird appeared — it made a pass very close to the boat, turned, flew back behind us and then appeared to be flying straight at me!! It flew past my ear by inches and, landed on the coach roof I could see it was a racing pigeon and offered it some water, which it ignored, promply putting its head under its wing and going to sleep. It stayed on the coach roof for about two hours and then took off and flew north. By this time Ron had re-appeared and the visibility had deteriorated even more. When we heard the fog horn of a large ship we decided to follow the pigeon and turned north to Lyme Regis where we spent an uncomfortable, but safe, night on a visitors’ buoy outside the Harbour.

At 05.00 the next morning the fog had cleared and motoring at first and then sailing, we made Studland Bay by 13.00. I was down below making lunch when we first heard the Hercules making a pass right overhead. We are both suckers for anything airborne, and watched as this lumbering beast flew off towards the Isle of Wight at about 1800 feet. I went back down below to carry on with lunch when the engine noise started to get louder and round it came again. This time however, as it left Sandbanks to port, figures started to fall from the aircraft. Then four parachutes opened and as the figures landed in the water two RIBs sped towards them, took them on board and then onto a Naval auxiliary vessel, anchored a short way off. This pattern was repeated about five times over the next hour and a half, avidly watched by me and Ron, fighting over the binoculars. Finally it was all over and peace descended again over Studland Bay.

We were back home in a crowded Yarmouth Harbour by 12.30 next day. Ron had been away for a month and I had been away for two weeks. I was almost sorry to be back!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering — the baby arrived a week later so I am now Granny Barnes.

Mita Barnes
Parker 278 ‘Maybe’ 27/131

It had always been our intention to sail as far as the Helford River either with or without company, so on 18 July 2000 we said goodbye to Abacus and Zest and their respective crews, to continue on our way. We were sony to part company as we had had a very sociable few days, enhanced by a marked improvement in the weather.

However, we would not be alone it seemed, because we had been hailed on the previous day by Martin and Sheila in Shemar, who also intended to sail west. As the tides were right and the weather was by now calm and sunny, we agreed to rendezvous near the mouth of the Avon estuary and spend the night at Bantham. Once through the potentially tricky entrance (very dangerous in the wrong conditions) the anchorage was a delight, with crystal clear water, clean level sand on which to dry out, and a timeless feel to the small settlement. If one adds to these ingredients a warm summers evening, a mellowing visit to the Sloop Inn and one of Sheila’s excellent dinners — well, it was near perfection.

On the following day we left with the tide at about 0800 and with the anticyclone well established , had a leisurely motor to Fowey. We liked this little port and found it friendly and welcoming, its character augmented by the commercial shipping which remains active day and night. In the morning we met Tony and Wenna Tatham in their Parker 31 Venture from Poole. They had spent some days in Fowey and were also on their way westwards.

One of the objectives of our cruise was, weather permitting, to visit three friends all of whom lived near the sea. Our first success followed our night in Fowey when we made a lunch time stop in the attractive village of Gorran Haven. Protected from the west by the Dodman, the little harbour provides a good anchorage in the right conditions but would probably prove unrelaxing for an overnight stop. After lunch a fitful sea breeze took us some way to the Helford River, but much of the journey involved motoring over glassy water.

Altogether we spent three days in the Fal area; stuck there for two of them by a strong easterly. It was, however, no ill wind as it allowed us to catch up with Martin’s and Sheila’s friends, Andrew and Julie and their Benetteau 29 Flyaway, with whom at various times and in different conditions we visited Gweek, St Mawes, Mylor Basin, the Pandora Inn at Restronguet, Malpas and Truro. There was a considerable amount of eating, drinking and walking, culminating in yet another Sheila dinner in a now peaceful Percuil River on the Sunday evening.

Our return to Fowey on the following morning, Monday 24 July, was uncomfortable, as the winds of the previous days had left a steep lumpy sea through which it was difficult to sail. Nevertheless we made good time and at Martin’s suggestion anchored off the small village of Polkerris where we found a singularly good pub and then had a relaxing lunch at anchor. The Seal is ideal for visiting these lesser known fishing ports allowing one to add another dimension to a day’s cruise, which is not an option for a larger yacht.

After another pleasant night at Fowey we went our separate ways in the morning, Shemar and Flyaway to Salcombe and Ariel to Newton Ferrers where we hoped to visit our second friend. Another day of motoring was enlivened by an active Naval exercise, from which we all had to take avoiding action. The Yealm was looking particularly pretty that evening but it is a pity it becomes too crowded in high summer.

The following day we all met up again by chance at South Sands, Salcombe and then enjoyed a quiet light airs sail to Dartmouth in warm evening sunshine.

The weather by now had developed into an unsettled pattern with a series of shallow lows covering Northern Europe producing good sailing winds but showery conditions. Having said a final goodbye to Shemar and Flyaway we left for Topsham in grey conditions and light airs. However the latter steadily increased and we entered the Exe in a brisk sunny Force 5. Thanks to knowledge gained from the Jubilee dinner, we had a speedy but uneventful sail to Topsham where we moored alongside Trents boatyard. Here we visited our third friend from whom we collected some freezer packs left with them two years ago!

A falling tide meant an early start the next morning, but with the mudflats exposed, navigation was easy and we also saw the greatest number of waders and estuary birds at any time in the cruise. The Exe may not have the wooded charm of inlets further west but its spaciousness and distant horizons do tend to free the spirit.

Then on to Lyme Regis in a moderate south westerly. Halfway through the passage we were overtaken by a torrential downpour which for a time flattened the sea and obliterated all other noise with its persistent hissing. Within about three miles of Lyme we called the Harbour Master who was extremely helpful and guided us to a berth near the Cob. As it was the last day in the town’s RNLI week we were treated to a disco and firework display, before finally retiring to bed for a slightly uncomfortable night. Lyme Regis is an attractive place which despite the trippers has maintained its own integrity and character all set within some magnificent coastal scenery of great geological interest.

The return to Poole was one of the best sails of the whole cruise. A fast beam reach

sped us to Portland where, one reef in, we rounded the Bill in a Force 5. Conditions were lumpy rather than rough but now with a following wind, full concentration was necessary and indeed remained so until rounding Anvil Point. We eventually anchored off Goathorn in Poole Harbour having sailed the entire distance at an average of over five knots for the 50 mile passage.

The cruise ended with a calm starlit night and a fried breakfast the following morning.

It also ended a successful summer season in which we had rounded every headland between Dungeness and the Lizard and visited the extremities of many of the South Coast’s estuaries. We had also enjoyed a very good social time and had many memories of evening barbecues, interesting conversations, hospitality on board and a great deal of laughter.

A few weeks later I was to help a friend sail his Oyster 435 from Lymington to Plymouth. If I was just a little envious of this luxurious yacht, I soon realised that like their natural namesakes, Seals can go where Oysters can’t and undoubtedly have more fun!

A Seal in the River Exe

Bernard has been having trouble with his back and we really needed to change to a boat with full headroom. We wondered about motor boating so left the mast at home and chugged around the French canals for two months in May and June this year to see what we thought. Here are some of the things we discovered in 1000 miles and 500 locks.

You gotta have:

Central mooring cleats
4 or 5 extra fenders (large but scruffy is OK)
Cockpit sun awnings
Extra strong sun cream
2 extra 30 metre warps

Extra fuel and water containers. Main job is lowering loops over bollards, usually on tiptoe and with one hand.

List of Chomages (closing of canals for maintenance, mostly in winter). Available April each year from VHF. Amendments available later in year.

It would be useful to have:

2 short warps to use quickly from the centre cleats
2 rond anchors and rubber mallet
Passerelle. We made one 10 ft long by 20 ins wide (width could have been less)
from Y2 ins ply painted with non-slip on top, and framework useable as ladder
under. Can also be used outside fenders against piles. Aluminium versions cost £150+ in French chandlers.

You need the following, which were looked at several times (not the insurance) Boat licence — sometimes called circulation permit

SSR
Insurance
ICC "In conformity . . . Inland Water Transport" — this is issued by the RYA and needs an endorsement that the canal regulations (Cevni) test has been passed on the application. The old ICC won’t do

We obtained the Boat Licence from the VNF office in Calais, 45 quai de la Meuse. Mine Bertan was very helpful and speaks English, tel 0033 21 34 25 58. The licence is based on length x breadth, and is available for a year, 30 days (not necessarily consecutive), 16 days and 1 day. We are less than 25 sq.m and bought a year’s licence costing £65. For a bigger boat it would have cost about £135. There is a 10% discount up to 20 March. We were handed a VNF leaflet in Calais when we purchased our Licence, listing their offices and also a very useful chart of the Pas de Calais canals. We wrote off for further charts to offices en route and most of them sent one for their area. You could not manage on these alone but if you run off your detailed charts for a bit, it is just possible. The head office of VNF is 175 rue Ludovic Boutleux — BP820, 624 Bethune Cedex, tel 02 21 63 2424.

The Cevni regulations are set out in Marian Martin’s The RYA Book of EuroRegs for Inland Waterways. We did the test with Roy Newmg at The Boathouse, Grove Ferry Road, Upstreet, tel 860345. He charged £10, went over the important regulations with us beforehand and we had a pleasant evening out.

There are lots of overall charts for planning. Imray’ s Inland Waterways of France gives length of each canal with number of locks, minimum depth and maximum air draft. We used 2 different sets of detailed chart books, EDB and Navicarte. Each EDB chart covered a greater area than Navicarte, all the charts are N up on a full page with information on the opposite page and show the surrounding country, whilst Navicarte’s charts are on half the page and aligned to fit the space with a N arrow and information arrowed to the relevant site. We preferred EDB but it doesn’t cover Calais to Paris. Charts are more expensive in England and we got our EDB charts by writing to Editions du Breil, Domaine de Fitou, Le Breil, 11400 Castelnaudary, paying by Eurocheque. The address for Navicarte is Editions Grafocarte, 125 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, BP4O —92131 Issy-Les-Moulineaux Cedex. We didn’t have an address for them before we left so we bought these in France.

The European Waterways by Marian Martin is useful, if taken less than literally. This gives advice on how to proceed. Philip Bristow’s Through the French Canals gives details of all the canals, giving distances, locks, places to stop and brief descriptions of the larger towns.

We planned on 32 km a day overall, including stops, and achieved this. Some of the days were overlong (it’s sometimes difficult to find a stopping place). We would reduce the average a little if we were doing it again. Planning in detail is a bit inaccurate. Our best days were 60+ km but it took 2 days for 24 km when we were going through an "eschelle" or staircase with 44 locks.

Our route was along various canals in the Pas de Calais, Canal du Nord, Canal de la Maine south to Dijon, then northwards along the Canal de Bourgogne, Paris, Canal de St Quentin, back to Calais

The licence gives you free use of most moorings, except for the few marinas which are inexpensive by UK standards. Paris Arsenal, which is right by the Bastille, charged £8 a night including water, electricity, showers and security. Mooring alongside in the canals is OK in places but not everywhere. Some places have sloping sides and it can be difficult to get into the bank. We often just put our bows into the bank at lunchtime and tied to a convenient tree.

When going along the canals, keep to the middle to avoid as much rubbish as possible except when passing and do remember that light barges skid outwards on sharp corners and may invade your side of the canal. We actually bounced along the side of one, which went on to run aground on our side of the canal. Quick action may sometimes be necessary but in any case slow right down.

Quick action may also be necessary for weed patches — simply go into neutral and hope to slide through them. The Calais Canal as far as the River Aa is one of the bad offenders from mid June onwards, both for stopping propellers and blocking up engine intakes. We ran aground on a patch of weed which stopped us dead. When we lowered the boarding ladder to fit the outboard to get us clear, the ladder simply stopped on the surface and we had to use the boathook to make a hole into the water.

Locks are the thing that people worry about. We got through our 500 without bending a stanchion or popping a fender so they can’t be that bad. Commercial traffic goes in first. Keep back as far as possible going up and moor fore and aft. The circulation of water in the lock can be clockwise or anti, so you may find the current comes from aft. If you are going down, you just use the centre cleat. Don’t forget the cill. Fenders need to be at the right height going in and may need adjusting going up or down. When you are up, the water may be almost up to quay level and fenders will need to be right down. At other times, fenders need to be holding you as far from the wall as possible as it can be very rough if the water comes in fast.

Some locks are "automatic". You need to know where the ladders are and the lock controls. We used the binoculars a great deal to find this out as we approached. These locks are controlled either by a rod suspended over the canal which is turned to the nght or by a sensor across the canal a few hundred metres from the lock. Slow right down to pass the sensor. Sometimes you are rewarded by the lights changing to orange. Hang about and the gates eventually open. Don’t go in until the lights turn green. — if you do, this can fox the system. Go in slowly, there is another detector across the entrance. After lifting the blue start rod (the red is to stop operations in an emergency), the lock should operate. Go out slowly as well. There is usually a telephone or button to push if you need assistance and an operator will come quite quickly. Some locks have VHF.

Manual locks either have a resident lock keeper or one who accompanies you for a distance on — usually her — moped. It is appreciated if someone goes ashore on the opposite side to the lock keeper to close the other gate, walk to the other end to operate the paddle and open that gate. If you can’t do some or all of this because you can’t get ashore or back, it won’t faze the lock keeper. He/she will still be helpful but will obviously be slowed down by a lot of to-ing and fro-ing across the ends of the lock. They will give advice about where to stop, if requested. You do need to speak some French. (Two useful words are montant for upstream and avalant for downstream). If you have a lock keeper with you for a time, offer a cold drink or coffee, chat if you can. They don’t expect to be tipped. They are stood off in the winter but like to have the job.

Many of the villages are 3-400 years old and the canals are much more recent and follow contours, so they don’t go through villages. This sometimes means walking is required and bikes are said to be a good thing. We took two nice new folding bikes with a tailored cover and stood them on the foredeck, where they remained huddled for the whole two months. We don’t cycle in UK and somehow didn’t get around to it in France.

Camping gaz is difficult to find. Some supermarkets have it — yes, on the shelves with everything else. Other types of gas are available at service stations in a great big rack which contains every other known make, except Calor, of course.

Fuel is largely in cans from garages. There are a few places where you can fill up alongside, not many. Its OK to have red diesel in your tanks if you can produce a UK receipt. No red in containers though.

Water is OK in the marinas and can be had in some locks. The canal halts sometimes have it. Keep topped up. Electricity is no trouble in marinas and sometimes free. Not so good elsewhere, but you’ve been motoring, haven’t you! Showers are few and far between, and aren’t always available where they are indicated on the charts.  A mobile phone is useful. Some locks don’t have communications but give a telephone number to ring. If your mobile doesn’t work France-to-France, consider a French one,  £50-60.

We covered 1626 km in 56 days, Calais to Calais, and went through 452 locks. We enjoyed our trip and recommend it, although we decided that motor boating was not for us. Everyone was as helpful as could be although the organisation could perhaps be tidied up a bit. Patience is absolutely essential BUT wonderful villages, gorgeous scenery, bit of history. Go on, try it.

Superseal No. 29, Nasseem

Tuning the Fractional Rig

Click picture to enlarge

Tuning the Masthead Rig

Click picture to enlarge

By Walter Brown - Commodore

Results: -

1^st R Bond Seal 22 ‘Fraid Knot 6hrs 18mins 57secs

2^nd C & S Williams Super Seal 26 Saltheart Foamfollower 6hrs 23mins 33secs

3^rd A & P Hunter Parker 27 Valsolda 6hrs 24mins 08secs

4^th P Lovejoy Seal 22 Zalophus 6hrs 26mins 58secs

5^th R & F Naylor Seal 22 Shiraz 6hrs 27mins 03secs

6^th J Houston Parker 325 Tilikum 6hrs 30mins 24secs

7^th H & J Pye Seal 28 Sea Lion 6hrs 30mins 44secs

   Click  to see the spreadsheet time calculator

Saluja spends the week at the America's Cup Jubilee

Saturday 18^th August saw us set off from Emsworth bound for Cowes. A light easterly meant a nice spinnaker run. However on approaching Cowes it quickly became apparent that this was no ordinary regatta. For those of you who attended you will appreciate just what an enormous number of boats (I guess most valued in millions not 100's of thousands) were lying to moorings. With a big spring tide under us as well, and not wishing to have problems slowing down, a quick decision was made to drop the spinnaker. A sensible move because we were, within minutes, dodging hundreds of spectator craft looking at the spectacle. And the competitors hadn't even started sailing them yet!

Australia II		Endeavour with spinnaker

The Sunday saw the windiest day of the week with gusts pushing 30knots against a big spring ebb in the Western Solent. With two slabs in the main and the No. 3 headsail we had plenty of manoeuvrability to get in close to the action. No, you can't keep up with most of the super-yachts but by reaching backwards and forwards we just waited for them to run back under spinnaker. Wow! What a sight! - The classics, the three J's and Cambria, Stealth etc. with many of them being buzzed by chase boats. I guess the J's were going downwind in excess of 15 knots and the wash from them and the following RIB's made for some tricky handling. At one point we managed to fill the cockpit from the wash.

Crowds at Yarmouth	Spinnakers

On returning to Cowes, that evening, the engine packed up as we entered the harbour. A rapid picking up of a mooring under sail allowed us to bleed the diesel and get ourselves up to the Folly. The Harbour Master did come up to us slightly concerned as to why we were sailing in! Most of Monday was spent sorting the diesel supply which was a more fundamental problem than we had hitherto thought.

Stealth	Velsheda	Prada

Whatever else, Tuesday was to be the highlight of the week with every yacht re-enacting the original 1851 race clockwise round the Island. Trinity House even stationed a lightship at the site of the original Nab buoy which was to be a mark of the course. (That was before the Nab Tower had been built) We stuck around for some of the starts but, not surprisingly, things were pretty hectic in the spectator areas. The decision was then made, along with a few thousand other spectator craft, to go westward down to Hurst Narrows to meet the competitors as they rounded the Needles and ran under spinnaker back to Cowes. We anchored on the Isle of Wight side at the narrows and what a decision this proved to be! With one of the biggest spring tides of the year, some of the most priceless yachts in the world were cheating the tide by running under spinnaker through! the moored yachts. With anchor ball up we just sat there and watched what proved to be one of the best yachting spectacles of our lives, with the yachts literally passing within metres. I couldn't zoom the camera out enough to get full frame shots of the closest! Leading the whole lot, not surprisingly, was Stealth, complete with man being lowered down the forestay, then some more of the superyachts: Mari Cha II, Chernikeef, Timoneer to name but a few. Even with an entry list we had trouble keeping up with what was what! Not much later another highlight of the day was Australia II just metres behind South Australia trying to gain advantage out of the tide and wind shadow each other with their spinnakers. (More of Australia II later) And yes, some of them did touch bottom! Despite their age, and having one of the later starts, the J's were well up in the fleet. Firstly Endeavour, closely pursued by Velsheda. I managed my best 'J' photo of the week of Velsheda with spinnaker and the sun behind her. Then the middle pack of the fleet. All fighting for the best position out of the tide. It was like watching a dinghy fleet such was the level of competition to gain every inch on the next boat. The teamwork was a joy to watch and quite incredible to see huge spinnakers gybed with such ease. In the end we got quite blasé about what we were in fact witnessing.

The last of the ebb saw us beat down to the Needles to see the tail end competitors rounding. I think we had seen every one of the yachts throughout the afternoon. Jonathan, my son, and our guest, John Winton, had never seen the Needles from the Sea so that was the least we could do. Keyhaven was our destination for the night followed by a late start the next morning when we motored back to Cowes. Virtually no wind meant that all races were delayed, fortuitously allowing me some close up shots of the names on the J's and the bronze winches on Shamrock V.

Australia II	Johnathan Helms Aus II	Aboard Aus II

The late part of the afternoon saw us pull off the second unforgettable highlight of the week. Having entered the berths at Cowes Yacht Haven (officially "Berth Holders Only" but non-one seemed to mind such was the relaxed atmosphere after races) to take a few photos, we found ourselves helping with the lines to a RIB which was in danger of becoming tangled with Australia II. John Winton suggested asking to be shown aboard Australia II. "Yeah sure"! was the reply from Phil Smidmore, one of the original crew members from the successful 1983 challenge. As my Dad used to say to me when I was young - "If you don't ask you'll never get"! We couldn't believe it, and what a really nice guy. He let us photo what we wanted on the boat, look through the hatches into the stripped out interior, pose for a photo with Jonathan and me on the coffee grinders and finally one of Jonathan behind the wheel. As we left Australia II we just looked at each other with a grin from ear to ear. Australia II, probably so famous and priceless that she doesn't have a 'value' and would return to her museum never to be sailed again. That was her first outing since 1983 as it was! What a coup!

For the remainder of the week one night was spent in Beaulieu and the whole of Saturday 25^th in Cowes. We had only to sit down for a drink at the Beer Tent and within minutes we'd be talking sailing to someone from New Zealand, The States, Germany or wherever. At the other extreme from Australia II, which had multi-million pound sponsorship, we got chatting to a German lad who had paid his way to be aboard "Anita" - a classic 12 metre, built in 1939, and now used as a sail training boat of the Kiel Yacht Club. She had 300,000 miles under her keel and had already been to Norway, the Shetlands, and the West Coast of Scotland as part of her season's itinerary. He was due for a crew change the following day as a new team would be sailing her back to Kiel. Having invited us aboard we were able to see a very different boat to the modern 12 metres, and enjoy some rather nice German wine! This was another stroke of luck as we witnessed many of the other 12 metre fleet returning from their race - most being towed alongside with RIB's as they don't have engines: Crusader; Kiwi; Kookaburra; Enterprise; Freedom; Intrepid; Lionheart; Valiant- the list goes on and, in total, reckoned to be the largest collection of 12 metres ever likely to take place. As the evening wore on we were introduced to Anita's skipper who was a bit of a character, to say the least, and had never seen the Isle of Wight. He had heard of the Hoya "Round the Island" race and wanted to quiz us about going round the other way! We were all so pleased for them since they had had such a perfect day, the previous Tuesday, when they had gone round in the 1851 re-enactment. It could not have been better and they had a few good tales to tell. Not least Anita calling starboard on Endeavour who thought they were a spectator boat because there were only about two of the crew who didn't have a camera taking a photo of Endeavour!

The only fleet we didn't see much of was the modern America's cup boats as they were based in Portsmouth and raced off Bembridge. No doubt we will hear more of the GBR challenge and the Italians over the next couple of years. For those of you who didn't get to the Solent for the 18^th to 25^th August 2001, I hope this gives you a flavour of the event. For us it will certainly go down in history on a par with the '99 total eclipse and the Millenium evening 00/01! I guess the 200^th anniversary will be as good but as Jonathan said during the week: "Dad, I'll be 61 then and you'll be in your 90's". Let's hope he remembers a tale or two for his children and grandchildren!

David Holmes (16 9 2001)

Co-owner of Super Seal 26 No. 51