JMC 2015 by Tessa Murphy

24 Apr 2015 20:03 | Anonymous member

Friday 17 April 2015

Hamble to Bucklers Hard

 After arrival and introductions at Hamble it was clear that there was diversity in the crew and a wide variety of experience. As we set off on Tres Jolie it was clear that the skippers plans ran the length of the alphabet as he expertly manoeuvred out of a tight spot at the marina using plan A, B, C and a bit of D – our only disappointment was that the weekend ran out before we got to plan Z!

 Heading out of the Hamble Tessa and Diarmuid the inexperienced crew were lulled into a false sense of security by being given bingo. Tessa discovered an unexpected desire to call house first which obsessed her throughout the weekend!

 More serious matters followed as we had to find a particular unlit post in the dark – despite being able to see it clearly!

 The next challenge was to navigate to Bucklers Hard using Krzysztofs’ navigation plan counting posts and watching the bar at Beaulieu river entrance.  Tessa called up Purple Mist for instruction which was to moor in the gap between Purple Mist and another boat; later Kate gave different instruction that we needed to raft alongside another boat as the gap had been taken. When we arrived we could only assume it was a ghost boat - since the gap was clearly there. A touch of early confusion on the part of the Commodore? Or the sun was long gone over the yardarm! 

 Such an enjoyable and humorous evening fuelled by a few after mooring drinks with dinner.

Saturday 18 April

A beautiful morning at Bucklers Hard but another envelope advised a problem with the mast necessitating Jack to be hoisted aloft where he diagnosed the problem was only bird poo! Tessa followed unconvinced the sling would take her weight despite assurance from Andy - good job it did! Tess was heard murmuring to Diarmuid “does my bum look big in this”  

We considered the best way to leave the mooring after watching the departure of Purple Mist and Apres le vents J  Skilled use of a spring saw us away uneventfully. Throughout the journey crew Denis the skipper, Krzysztof first mate and Jack in particular shared thoughts and experience to achieve tasks and this made it a great learning experience as well as a challenge.

Lunch was spent bobbing on a buoy outside Yarmouth harbour which Denis was tasked to sail to and which Krzysztof skilfully lassoed first time – perhaps we should have had additional points for avoiding the harbour masters fees!

After sailing off the buoy expertly we all were tasked with telling jokes for another envelope and the wind dropped as we had to use all the sail controls to achieve the fastest speed through the water.  Discussing which controls could be used was really useful for Tessa.

Krzysztof planned the next task navigating a sail into Newtown Creek which at low tide was a challenge but Denis gave it a go and successfully sailed into the entrance and out.

The day was finished at Cowes Yacht Haven where communication via radio was challenging and we found another boat on our designated mooring. Krzysztof created spaghetti junction on the chart as he went up and down waiting until we were told to moor up beside a non-existent boat with a French name leaving us to take the decision to raft alongside another Fairview yacht with a different French name.

A very good meal was had at Island yacht club where stories of the events so far were exchanged and Tessa delighted in spotting the burgee for the bingo. This was becoming an obsession!

Sunday 19 April

The first envelope of the morning set first mate Krzysztof with the task alongside the least experienced crew member to get the boat off the mooring on their own, which was achieved with no problem at all.

Out onto the Medina the skipper was set the task to moor single handed onto the training pontoon where by now Denis was beginning to make things look easy. Mission accomplished we set sails for some “slow” tacking down the Medina and back out to the Solent.

Envelopes then appeared quick and fast …we needed to record the fastest of 3 tacks in half hour which sadly we only managed as 8 knots with little wind. Then deciding what to do with an imaginary Chip pan fire on board which resulted in an imaginary abandoning of the ship…good job Tessa remembered that the handheld radio was in the table so she could call a ‘Mayfair’. It’s her age and she was getting tired!!

In the middle of all this activity we had what appeared (at least to the least experienced members of the crew) we had a very close shave with a racing yacht who insistently screamed that racing had priority over cruising while Andy quietly advised them of the correct COLREGs and that we were “starboard”

After a few man overboard tasks, Denis was given final envelope to get back to Hamble writing his name Denis in the water to show on the GPS track – great effort especially avoiding putting a longer track onto his D

Finally it was back to the visitor pontoon for the presentations, but not before Tessa called in bingo after spotting a Grimaldi ship at Southampton – success!


Winning skipper was Denis McFaul – a very well deserved accolade

 

 Winning boat - Apres le vents, Peter Bromwich and crew

 

A big thanks to Andy who was especially patient with the least experience crew members, and to our fellow competitors on Apres le vents and Purple Mist skippered by Bethany, for helping make it such an enjoyable weekend.

For new and relatively inexperienced members Tessa and Diarmuid (crew on Tres Jolie) the whole weekend was enjoyable and a real learning experience to be highly recommended to anyone who hasn’t yet taken part.

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software