Single Handed Back to Devon

Unusually, Victoria Marina provides a good WiFi internet connection. So, over the next few days, I spent a lot of time studying weather sites on the web. One of the best ones that I have found is: http://www.passageweather.com/ which supplies predictions of the likely wind and waves to expect during the following few days. It indicated that Friday morning should give me a suitable weather window to get back to Devon. However, to get the tides right through Little Russel, I would have to leave at 6:00 am. The sill at Victoria Marina was only open around midday so I left the comfort of the marina on Thursday ready for an early start on Friday. Handling Jomima on my own (38 feet long and 10 tons) required a lot of planning to make sure that, in particular, I could safely leave a mooring and then arrive at the new pontoon with fenders, ropes etc ready for mooring up as required. I again checked the weather, before turning in for the night, and it seemed as though it should be ok.

I got up at 05:00, cast off at 06:00, and before I left the harbour stowed all of the ropes and fenders. Little Russel was quiet and a one metre swell made its presence felt as I headed across the Channel. Fortunately the autopilot was able to keep to the course that I had programmed in advance, despite the swell. I passed the mid Channel light Vessel and crossed the two large shipping lanes without too many problems. The swell then began to subside as the tide changed and I began to relax and enjoy the 75 mile journey. The conditions allowed me to average 15-16 knots and the English coast appeared as a smudge on the horizon at 09:30. At 11:00 I entered Brixham harbour and, using the VHF radio, asked them for a mooring and checked which side I would have to place the fenders. I then put the engines into neutral and drifted while I set up ropes and fenders. Fortunately the mooring was quite narrow, and there was little wind, so that once I had got Jomima into the mooring she did not drift away while I attached ropes to the pontoon. It was a great relief to get back safely before the weather changed that afternoon.

A Short Story

On the last evening before we left St. Quay-Portrieux, I was walking back along the visitor’s pontoon and noticed a massive boat coming in to moor. I commented to some people sitting in a reasonably large yacht, fairly close to Jomima, that I hoped the boat was not about to moor between the two of us. We fell into a brief conversation and the lady sitting on the boat suddenly said, in a loud voice, “I know you. You rescued Sooty. Come and have a drink with us”. This took me a little by surprise but, needless to say, I accepted the invitation. The lady then explained. Last year Jomima had been moored next to their boat in Oban, Scotland. As I was leaving the finger pontoon between us their dog “Sooty” jumped off their boat, missed the pontoon, and ended up in the sea. The lady and her children panicked and all hell broke loose. Her husband was on a telephone conference call at the time so “Sooty” was left to swim for himself. Without thinking, I knelt down on the pontoon, grabbed “Sooty” by his harness, and hauled him out and then promptly forgot all about it. However, they had not.
It is amazing how you meet people, which you have met before in far flung places, when you lead a nomadic boating life style like ours.

On The Move

At last the day has arrived for me to move Jomima, with the help of a large truck, to her new home at Mayflower Marina in Plymouth. The truck arrived at 8:00 am at Newark, where I had stayed overnight on Jomima to avoid an early start and the heavy commuter traffic. I gave that sort of thing up two years ago when I took early retirement.

There was already a boat on the truck when it arrived and that was quickly unloaded and put in the water. Jomima was then lifted out from her home of the last six months and placed carefully on the lorry. While all of the straps were being fitted I took the opportunity to anti-foul the six places where supports had been placed to support Jomima during the winter. I had carefully kept the remains of a tin of paint for this purpose because, if I did not complete this work, we would have been trailing six clumps of weed within a fairly short period of time.

The journey to Plymouth, at a steady 55 mph, was uneventful. However it did rain quite heavily half way down which liberally coated Jomima in dirt and traffic film, some of which remained in the usually covered helm area. After a short wait, outside Plymouth, we met the escort vehicle for our wide load. We then proceeded into the unloading area at the marina to park overnight for unloading tomorrow.

Waiting for a Truck to Plymouth

Jomima is at present out of the water so that I can do some jobs on her hull. So far, she is anti-fouled and the hull is polished. I have also replaced the anodes and cleaned the propellers and rudders - she has two of each. She is scheduled to be moved by truck to Plymouth, Devon on 6 April 2009. If the weather is suitable then I may start the long job of polishing her top sides before she goes. Otherwise that will have to wait until she is in the water.

Once she is in the water I will service the engines. This is quite a big job because they are big engines. I have 25 liters of oil ready along with various impellers and filters. Let's hope that the sun shines this summer and we can enjoy our cruising in 2009.

Trucking Back to Newark on Trent

On the 6 August at 0800 prompt, the crane arrived. It was an enormous 60-ton capacity machine that they had hired for lifting a large steel boat. It was easily big enough to lift 10 tons of Jomima. Normally, she is lifted by a specialist boatlift, which straddles the boat and lifts her on two adjustable straps. When they came to lift Jomima with a crane with straps that were a fixed distance apart, they realised that they would have to lift her nose down. I am not usually nervous when they do this but today, with an ‘ordinary’ crane, I was. I actually had difficulty watching as they made the lift and raised her comparatively high in the air before putting her on the back of the truck. I should not have worried, they certainly knew what they were doing and the process went relatively smoothly.

By 10:15 am, we were on our way south and into the heavy rain. Jomima was clean when we set off but she was covered with a traffic film very soon afterwards. The route south down the A9 was magnificent – or it would have been if it had stopped raining. Still, from my position high up in the passenger (second man) position it was possible to see a good deal more than you normally can from the seat of a car. The rain continued all of the way to where we stopped for the night at Penrith. This is a secure trucking stop where we were able to get a good meal, and limitless tea, for a very reasonable price.

I slept in my usual bed on Jomima but was woken at 05:30 by the roar of trucks leaving for their next destination. We left at 07:00 and were in Newark for midday where she was safely unloaded and returned to the water.

Back to Scotland

The start of the second part of our Scottish cruise this year was unfortunately delayed by two days of high winds. We drove back to Inverkip on Monday and had planned to set off on Tuesday. However, two days of high winds and heavy rain meant that I had no excuse and had to tackle one of the indoor jobs: repairing the heads. For those of you not familiar with boating terms, the heads are the toilets. We had a leaking pipe and this turned out to be a split in the 4 metre long by 1.5 inch diameter plastic pipe. I appreciate that I have mixed metric and imperial dimensions here but that is how you have to buy it.

No photographs, but I can report that after a three hour struggle we now have a new pipe and normal operation has been resumed.

Returning Home

Unfortunately, following the death of my father's lady friend, we have been forced to return home for a period. Hopefully, we will be back on board Jomima in July 2008 to continue our journey around the west coast of Scotland.

Loch Ranza, Arran

The forecast for today was some sun and, more importantly, less wind. There are only really three places for us to moor Jomima on Arran and none of them have a marina and they are all likely to give us a sleepless night in high winds. The closest point is Loch

Ranza and that is where we headed for. We managed to find a buoy, some distance from the all too regular ferry and its wash. We then lowered our tender and headed for the shore and a visit to the relatively new, and only, distillery on Arran. This proved to be a very pleasant visit and a suitable bottle was purchased. After a tasting we wobbled back to the dingy and

rescued it from the rising tide. The wind kindly dropped completely and we were able to enjoy the incredible sunset before heading for bed.

Rest Day in Kip Marina

The mooring that we have, at present, in Kip Marina is rather splendid. Jomima (third from right) is moored to a pontoon that is nearly twice her length and the boats nearby are magnificent. Tomorrow we plan to leave Kip Marina for a while so we generally cleaned her and prepared for our

journey around the islands in the Clyde area. Now full of food, fuel and water we are prepared to visit more remote areas where these things are less available.

One of the nicer things that happened today was the hatching of a signet to two swans that had nested very near the entrance to our pontoon. They apparently nest there every year despite the general noise and problems with high tides. Isn’t nature wonderful.

Loch Long

Derek and Julie are very experienced sailors having previously sailed around Britain and Ireland. However, they have very little experience of motor cruisers and today was the day to correct that oversight. The selected cruising area was the full length of Loch Long, largely because it would have been a difficult sailing area with much tacking between the nearby shores. They were surprised by how much more you can see from Jomima with the higher helm position and lack of obstructing sails. I don’t think that they are ready to convert to power yet but, perhaps, the thought is now not so onerous.

Unfortunately the truck ride to Scotland, which stirs up any sediment, followed by treating the diesel tanks with treatment to kill any bacteria and algae, meant that the port engine stopped abruptly with a blocked filter. I had planned to change the filters in two days time, in Kip Marina but was now faced with having to do so at anchor at the top Loch Long. Spare filters and equipment for changing them was all on board. So, with the experienced help of Derek, we changed the primary and engine filters fitted to that engine. Air had been drawn into the pipes, by the fuel starvation, so the engine needed to turn over for some time before it finally started – much to the relief of everybody. The diagnosis of the problem was confirmed when we made it back to Holy Loch Marina without any further problems.

Kip Marina

Ann had agreed to drive our car from Nottingham to Kip complete with the final items of packing and also the essential outboard engine for Jomima’s tender. This had been too heavy to load onto the boat while she was out of the water at Newark. Ann left at 8:30 am and had a good journey, apart from heavy Friday afternoon traffic in Glasgow, covered the 300 miles by 3:30 pm. That afternoon we were welcomed to Scotland by Margaret and Morrison, who are also members of the Broom Owners Club - with a boat very similar to Jomima. That evening Morrison had arranged what proved to be and excellent meal for us all at the local hotel. However, by 10.00 pm Ann was fading fast, after her long drive to Scotland, so we were not long out of bed.

Travelling to Scotland

After months of planning, Jomima was just about going to be ready for lifting onto a truck, for transporting to the west coast of Scotland, by Thursday 15^th May 2008. On the Tuesday before she was due to go I received a call to ask if we could be ready a day earlier because the truck was ahead of schedule and they could then bring a return load back

from Scotland on the Friday. The return load saves me having to pay for the truck to travel back from Scotland empty and therefore saves me money. So, after a busy 24 hours, we were ready for the off a day earlier than planned.

Jomima is nearly 4m wide and is therefore a “wide load”. This means that the driver needs a “second man” and an escort vehicle for the last few miles of the journey to Inverkip from Greenock near Glasgow. I had agreed to be second man so, once Jomima was loaded after lunch, we headed north up the A1 from Newark and then across the A66 to Penrith. The A66 is one of the highest roads in England so the views were great. At Penrith is a secure truck stop where we were able to stay the night with the driver sleeping in his cab and me sleeping high up on the back of the truck in Jomima.

Winter Storage

Boatyards can be fairly bleak places in the winter and Newark is no different. Most of the boats look dirty and neglected and Jomima is no different. However, spending a few months out of the water will have done her hull some good by allowing it to dry out after several years spent in sea water. We have also treated her to some new covers so, once we have cleaned her fibre glass hull and she shines again, she should look like new again.

We are already planning our 2008 cruise to Scotland - starting in May 2008 so watch this space.

Cruising Back by Truck

I had originally planned to take Jomima back to Newark on Trent, which is near our home and where we bought her from, via a cruise up the east coast of England and then down the river Trent from Hull. However that is a journey of about 400 miles by water and, even if the weather was perfect, would probably take at least 3 or 4 days. Unfortunately, based on our recent experiences, the weather would have been diabolical for two out of three days so it would probably have taken us two weeks! If you then factor in the cost of the diesel and moorings the other way back is more appealing i.e. by truck.

Jomima is 13 feet wide so a second man is required to help the driver. I had to get back to Newark myself anyway, so I became the second man. The day was planned to with an early start but the yacht that they had to lower in first, at Swanick Marina, went straight into the mud and would not move away from the crane. We therefore had to wait for the tide to come in sufficiently before Jomima could b safely loaded onto the purpose built trailer. I do admire the skill of the crane drivers when they manoeuvre 9 tons of boat and lower it precisely onto the supports on the trailer.

When we got underway it was great to watch the traffic from my lofty perch in the passenger seat of the truck. I rapidly began to appreciate the problems that truck drivers encounter as they steer such a wide and long load through the traffic. Suddenly lamp posts, pedestrian refuge signs and other tall objects become a hazard that have to be squeezed past. Main roads and motorways were relatively easy. However, as we got nearer to Newark, we negotiated a traffic island signalled left and swung out to make the turn. At that point a car then sped through the inside of us and nearly ended up under the port side of Jomima’s hull.

The last hazard was a low bridge and, after careful measurement, I was assured there would be two inches of clearance. As we swept under the bridge I listened for the crash of Jomima’s windscreen hitting metal and was greatly relieved when the hazard was passed without problems. Jomima was then unloaded and returned safely to the water.

Back in the U.K.

At last the weather forecast showed signs of improvement and we were able to set off back to England. The chosen destination was Brighton, largely because it was the closest and has a safe harbour with a good marina. The tide goes up and down the English Channel so, because we were going straight across the tidal stream, it was not possible to time our departure to gain any speed advantage. We therefore left at 09:00, which was convenient for us and also meant that we were likely to arrive in Brighton when the tide was suitable for an easy entry to a marina that was new to us. As usual, half way across, you meet the big ship traffic lanes. These are charted passages for large vessels going up and down the Channel – of which there are many. The rules of the sea are that you travel on the right so the first vessels that you meet are heading east. We could see a number of ships on the radar and, because of some fine rain and mist, they appeared on the radar before we were actually able to see them. We then had to carefully time our passage so that we went behind one ship and well in front of the next one. A little while later we met the traffic heading west and played the same game with them. However, between the two was the reassuring site of the Greenwich Light Ship which marks the middle of the lanes at the place we travelled across. I had marked a waypoint on the plotter just to the west of the light ship and it is always reassuring to be able to confirm that you have arrived at the correct spot in the middle of a 70 mile crossing.

At 12:15 we arrived safely at Brighton marina. We then refuelled and, after some discussion about who actually owned Jomima (the previous owner was already registered on their computer) we tied up safely for a few days rest.

Time to Catch Up

Jomima is now settled in at the Paris Arsenal marina and we are very tired after a lot of walking yesterday. So, it is time to catch up with some jobs. For Ann that means finding two empty washing machines, that actually work, in the marina launderette. We had accumulated rather a lot of washing, since we last had the use of some machines, so Ann needed some help from me to carry it all. After setting the machines in motion, that firstly required doing battle with the French instructions, I decided that it was time to give Jomima a good check over. I regularly check the cooling water filters and, when at sea, rarely find anything in them. However, despite having only checked them the previous day, the filters had accumulated a great deal of weed and litter after the journey through Paris. The Perkins engines use very little oil and water and their 2 x associated starter batteries require little maintenance. However, as usual, the domestic batteries (4 x 6v @ 175ah) used nearly 2 litres of water since we left Brixham. The domestic batteries work hard because they are being constantly discharged by the fridge, lighting etc and then topped up again by the engines and battery charger - when we can find an electricity supply to plug into.

In the afternoon we explored the interesting side streets that surround the marina and we were able to top up the food and wine supplies from the excellent range of shops nearby.

Crossing the Channel (Part2)

The first part of the journey was good with us averaging 17-18 knots and, with the wind behind us, any spray was kept off the boats. However, the wind and waves increased slightly as we reached the half way stage. At this point I thought that I noticed a slight drop in the port engine revs for a few seconds. A few minutes later the port engine revs dropped from 2,100 to 1,300 and stayed there. This was worrying so I warned the other members of the team and we all slowed down. I altered the throttle settings and managed to get the port engine to run at 1,600 and the starboard one up to 2,000 revs. This gave us a speed of 14-16 knots with an ETA at Cherbourg of a further two hours.

My guess was that the rougher seas had disturbed some dirt in the tanks and this had reached the filters. As a result the engines were unable to draw as much diesel as they need at the higher revs. My hope now was that we would be able to continue at this speed for the rest of the Journey. Fortunately, Jomima got us there without further difficulty.

Folly Inn, Cowes

Good friends, a warm Sunday, a boat and a pub to visit. What more could you want? Today was one of those days. John and Brenda joined us at Hythe for a trip up the river past Cowes to the Folly Inn. Fortunately, we were able to set off early and arrived at the pub by 12:15. By 13:30 there were thirty people in the queue to order lunch.

Cowes is full of history and it was interesting to see Helen McArthur's yacht B&Q painted grey and waiting for its next owner. The weather was kind to us today. Let us hope that the sun will continue to shine on us for a few more days yet.

Goodbye to Brixham

They say that patience is a virtue but I know that I am not very patient. However, if you rush to go somewhere in a small boat, when the weather is not ideal, then you may not live to regret it.



The end of April came and went. On the evening of the 15th May we finally saw a potential drop in the high winds that have plagued us for so long. This, we hoped, would enable us to cruise the 85 miles to the Solent. We set off at 7:00 am to catch the tide in the right direction and programed in to the GPS a stop at Weymouth. The weather was not perfect but good enough to keep going. After 20 miles you can't see land in any direction and we had reached the point of no return. It was as close to continue to Wemouth as turn back to Brixham - so we carried on. As we approached Portland Bill we could see a very large ship on our route, but not on the radar. As we got closer we could see that it was a Naval Warship. It did not actually appear on our radar until we were only 4 miles away, by which time we could see it very clearly indeed. I don't know what they paint them with but it makes them look like a small fishing vessel on the radar. We chose to go around it.



The sea had calmed down so we decided to head for the Solent in one hop. Five hours after we left Brixham we were mooring in Lymington; greatly relieved that we had finally managed to travel past Portland Bill without incident. If you have watched the air sea rescue program you will know what I mean.

Wedding Aniversary

By lunch time Jomima was back in the water and ready for the return journey to Brixham. However, Ann had taken the bus to Totes for a visit one of her favourite shops, Stone Fabrics. This would be for the last time for a while so some summer fabric was added to her collection. Ann arrived back by 2:00 pm and we had a rapid journey back to Brixham. With a clean hull and calm sea Jomima hit 25 knots as we rounded Berry Head. This is the way that all motor boating should be.

Today, is our 36th Wedding Anniversary. I had arranged for us to have dinner at the Royal Castle Hotel in Dartmouth and, to get a table by the window, I had let them know it was our anniversary. By the time we got to the last course we were already full but finally settled on a local ice cream and two spoons. When it arrived, the chef had gone to town and produce the above specimen. What an excellent way to finish the evening.