2005 Articles

Magazine Articles for 2005

Commodore's Report

Saluja Goes North Part 1

Commodore’s Review of 2004

Dear fellow members

As the National Committee again opens its books and actions for scrutiny by you our members, I am on this occasion reminded of a recent IBM advert on TV. It is the one where a board of directors are in animated debate to determine in just whose particular area of responsibility a specific topic of concern falls. The conclusion reached by the one rather hapless soul at the end of the table is “that would be me!” Suffice it to say, I can readily empathise with that individual. I do however, take great comfort, both in the capability of the Association’s executive and that its efforts, thus far, appear to be directed in a manner approved by the membership, as amply evidenced by rising numbers and a healthy participation in organised events.

At the risk of seemingly repeating what I have reported on previous occasions, the Association’s 2004 season proved to be another successful one. Last year’s AGM, held at the Royal Cornwall Y.C., Falmouth, attracted an excellent attendance of over 50 members, this despite the uninteresting formal agenda, with no changes of officers, no contentious matters to debate, and the considerable distance many had to travel. I am sure that the opportunity to tour the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth the previous day was the real reason for the fine turnout. My thanks go to our Secretary, Margaret Reeder for her great organisation of the whole weekend and to the Club for its generous hospitality,

As for the 2004 season generally, well supported shore events were held on the East and South coasts, whilst on the water, rallies saw good attendance with a near record turnout of 21 boats at Beaulieu and almost matched by the 18 that went to Bembridge. A notable first for the Association was the joint East Coast/South Coast cruise to Holland , which attracted a nucleus of 7 boats and saw others join in the festivities. From the stories brought back by those fortunate enough to have participated, I am sure it will not be long before the Association organises a return to the Netherlands , a country whose aquatic features seem ideally suited to Parkers and Seals. My traditional thanks are again extended to Peter Lowry, our Sailing Secretary, to all our hard working Area Officers and to the various event organisers for executing a great programme. Despite a further disappointing turnout for the 2004 Round the Island Race, a result was achieved in boisterous conditions. Congratulations go to Nigel Walbank sailing his Parker 31, “Ocean Wings.” As I have been again tasked with the organisation of the 2005 event, I have some new ideas to raise greater interest in this event, which in past years was amongst the best supported. I will defer to my fellow officers to pass further comment on this year’s programme.

The Association’s Newsletter and Website continue to receive many plaudits and attract the envy of other similar societies and clubs. We are the benchmark against which all others strive to emulate. It is wonderful achievement of which we all could be justly proud. Long may Cathie Cunnison and Don Harvey respectively, continue to weave their magic on the articles and information provided by you our members. It is particularly gratifying to see so many of you contributing to these publications by paper and PC. My thanks to you all and especially to Cathie and Don.

As I step down as Commodore I am pleased to report that, after 4 years of modest decline, our membership again showed an increase during 2004 to reach 342, up from 321 and back at its highest level for five years. A warm welcome is extended to our 55 new members, a healthy increase on the 38 who joined in 2003, whilst concurrently non-renewals were down. The Association’s full membership statistics are set out at the end of my review.

Turning to the Association’s financial position, our Treasurer’s report on the accounts to 30 September 2004 will confirm a modest surplus of income over expenditure for the year, whilst his careful stewardship has ensured adequate reserves to meet our projected needs during 2005/6. Your approval to maintain Association subscription rates for 2006 at existing levels for a sixth consecutive year will therefore be sought. Accordingly, I remain confidant that we continue to have a strong financial base and that the “purse-strings” are being well protected, thanks to Ken Surplice .

The news from our builder, Bill Parker, is that he is particularly busy at the present time with a new Parker 285, number 67, about to be delivered to Walton, a Parker 335, number 49, to East Germany and that he can’t build enough of the little Parker 235’s, with an order book for this popular marque stretching through to October when he will have reached number 40.

Also retiring at this AGM, is Margaret Reeder , our Secretary. I should like to record my special thanks to her for her sterling work in keeping me prepared and focused on the job, as well as so efficiently attending to all those things that seem to come the way of secretaries. It is with mixed emotions that I present this my last report to you as Commodore, sadness at stepping down, happiness that the Association is thriving and in excellent hands, at the same time as a sense of relief that comes with the shedding of responsibility; relief that is probably shared by the rest of the committee in having finally got rid of a particularly aggressive thorn in their side. My thanks to all those past and present who have worked with me and last, but by no means least, to my wife Chris for always being there to support me.

To conclude, no sailing related report covering the last 12 months would be complete without mention of Dame Ellen MacArthur’s incredible achievement in becoming the fastest solo round the world yachtie. However, few are aware that during the voyage she faced one additional challenge, since it was not widely picked up by the press. Indeed, I am indebted to the same unfortunate chemistry student, of whom reference was made in my report last year and in whose examination paper, when called to define the equator, wrote, “the equator is a menagerie lion running around the Earth through Africa, South America, & the Atlantic ." Congratulations Ellen in avoiding the lion!

May the sun shine on the endeavours of both the Association and you our members in 2005 and I hope to see you on the water.

Walter Brown

Commodore

Saluja goes North (Part 1)

(Posted 14 May 05)

I really ought to be putting a few words to paper about last year’s cruise in Saluja. Round the Brittany Peninsula to the Glenan Isles in one hop and then back through the canals to St Malo, and home by the end of August. However it is our latest project which is fresher in my memory so I will say something about this first. I have also taken a few photos to accompany the article.

Having chartered extensively on the West Cost of Scotland for the past 25 years it had always been in the back of our minds to get Saluja there one day. For those of you who have not sailed on the West Coast it is simply the best! We had in fact purchased a road trailer for a Super Seal before we bought the yacht in 1998 – so convinced we were that the only design we wanted was a Super Seal. Although the trailer had been used for various transportation projects, ranging from taking Jon’s Series 1 Land Rover to the 50^th anniversary of Land Rovers, to moving a steam engine cab, it had never been used for Saluja.

So, towards the end of last season we decided that we would give it a go. In addition to the usual winter maintenance on the yacht, we also took time to completely refurbish the trailer with new wheel bearings, tyres, mudguards, lights and a proper pin and eye tow hitch - the old 50mm ball being rated at 2 tons not the 3.5 tonnes needed! Instead of being craned into the water at the crane-in we (simply) loaded the yacht from her cradle to the road trailer and strapped the mast on top. As is usual with the ESSC crane-in, one is always a bit rushed, and encouraged with plenty of shouting to get it right first time. This was the first time!!! In hindsight, we should have asked for an extra 5 minutes to remove the chocks from the rear support. Along with the Range Rover’s tow hitch being too low, and the yacht sloping forward on the trailer, the whole rig looked positively out of balance! My first firm application of the brakes, to see how quickly it would all stop, resulted in the front wheels locking up and squealing such was the excess weight on the back of the Range Rover. At least we only had to get as far as Chippenham, park the whole lot in Jon’s front garden and make some adjustments to the trailer and tow hitch. Reversing into gateway did involve stopping the traffic both ways, on the A4, with the help of Lee, one of Jon’s pub mates, who had had a few beers by the time we got there!

Equally, the extra time meant we could finish the winter maintenance which hadn’t been done in time for the crane-in. The engine hadn’t run since September and Jon was still re-bushing the folding propeller. Now that we are accomplished at jacking the boat off the cradle, we were able to get the whole thing level by removing the packing under the rear support. With Jon’s help, my son Jonathan used a drop plate, the wrong way up, to raise the tow hitch height on the back of the Range Rover.

There is nothing like such a project to catch the interest of others. So much so that my head-teacher allowed me to slip away early on the Friday of the May-Day weekend for the long journey north. We were quite a spectacle as we left ‘The Lysley Arms’ car park which is next door to Jon’s house. One guy even came out to see us off! We had stocked up with sandwiches and flasks so that we could keep moving by taking it in turns while the other one rested. 45 mph is boringly tedious, but if you only stop for fuel it is surprising how much distance can be made. Jon runs the Range Rover on LPG so we did stop whenever it was advertised (37p per litre is quite attractive given a fuel consumption of 12.8mpg for the round trip)

The evening traffic up the M5 and M6 was light but I was surprised at the huge number of parcel lorries. Of course they were faster than us and, when overtaken, their ‘bow wave’ would sometimes make the trailer twitch. All credit to the commercial drivers who would flash their lights and move out in their lane as far as possible to minimise their effect. Keeping up the pace, we were determined to make it north of the border before we stopped for a sleep. Driving into the early hours also meant that there was very little traffic for us to hold up as we climbed Shap and Beattock summits as slow as 25mph at times! At 4am we decided it was time for a few hours sleep so parked up in the lorry park at Annan Water services on the A74(M). The yacht can double up as a caravan on such occasions, but sleep was difficult with lorries coming and going with surprising frequency.

Onwards north at 9am and the only real hold up for the whole trip was for road works on the A80. Unbelievable but we watched in horror as an impatient driver went the wrong way up a slip road, to get out of the queue, narrowly missing a head on smash with a lorry! Leaving the motorway at Stirling , we were conscious of our speed and the tail back behind us on a single carriageway road. Just 15 minutes until the first lay-by resulted in 51 cars ready to pass. We stopped as often as we could to let other traffic pass and the vast majority of drivers were courteous in waving as they went by. If you have never been to Scotland , then the scenery just gets better and better as you go through Crianlarich, Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy and onwards over Rannoch Moor, down Glencoe to Fort William . Stopping places are distinctly lacking when crossing Rannoch Moor so the tail back had to wait until the top of Glencoe before we could let them all pass. We took the opportunity of taking a couple of pictures to show Saluja in her new environment while being slightly embarrassed by the queue of traffic stretching behind us as far as the eye could see.

We stopped at Fort William having just made it without switching from LPG to petrol. At least Jon now knows he can do close on 50 miles with the red warning light showing on the LPG gauge. (and that’s at less than 12mpg!) The last part of the journey is the final 50 miles on ‘The Road to the Isles’ which ends at Mallaig. We were booked to have our mast lifted at Arisaig Marine on the Sunday morning and it was great to travel along this road past Glenfinnan and Lochailort in beautiful weather. A couple of hills were steep enough to need 1^st gear High Range so for the last section, which is still single track with passing places, the Low Range box was used. We now appreciate what a fantastic tow vehicle the Range Rover is – doing what it is designed to do ie: climb a 1:7 hill in 3^rd Low Range, with an all up weight estimated at 5 tons, and still have two lower gears in hand. It is a pity most Range Rovers are used to pose with and do the school run!

Saturday evening saw a quick dash to Mallaig for a couple of beers followed by fish and chips. We stayed overnight with a long standing family friend in Morar and manage to grab a couple of photos of the sun setting over the Cuillin ridge of Skye. Next morning we had the mast lifted by making use of Arisaig Marine’s Hymac digger bucket. It wasn’t really high enough but luckily we are now adept at winching Saluja’s mast up to the vertical using the foresail halyards. It was mid-afternoon before we had finally sorted everything out and Saluja now sits on her trailer, at Arisaig, awaiting her launch in time to join our annual charter trip from Ardvasar, on Skye, at the end of May. This year we have 23 people and 3 Charter yachts in addition to Saluja.

Further plans are to do the Classic Malts Cruise which involves visiting the Oban, Talisker and Lagavulin distilleries and to compete in West Highland Yachting Week. Beyond that we may cruise through the Caledonian Canal and, having gone to all the trouble of getting her up there, we might just want to do next season as well. I’m afraid the Solent and the Folly Inn don’t quite have the attraction of the West Coast of Scotland!

If any of you are contemplating towing a Super Seal and need advice I would say:

Even a Range Rover is at top of its weight limit for towing a Super Seal – I wouldn’t entertain it with a car no matter how powerful the engine;

Make sure it is level on the trailer and check the nose weight with bathroom scales. I did manage to ruin ours by not realising that the dial had gone once round at 120Kg before registering a further 80kg. Our final nose weight was around 80 to 100Kg;

A 50mm ball hitch is totally inadequate for the weight of a Super Seal;

Ensure that all the running gear is in perfect condition – I am convinced that the reason we had a trouble free journey was because all the bearings and tyres were in tip top condition. (The tyres were running quite hot even in the coolness of night with pressures of 55psi);

Allow yourself plenty of time and do be courteous to the drivers in the tail back behind you – the total mileage of approx. 550 miles took 17 hours ie: an average of just 32mph. The return journey took half the time!

Let your insurance company know what you are doing – Navigators and General had no worries about us towing Saluja but they do want to know where she as moored as the season progresses. I have to tell them each and every time she is moved.

Contact me at djh5439y@ntlworld.com for any further details.

(to be continued)

David Holmes (co-owner of Saluja)


Drop plate to raise the tow height.	Leaving the Lysley Arms		Abington services in The Borders

Top of Glencoe		Sunset over the Sound of Sleat with the Cuillin Ridge in the background