Yachting Monthly – September 2019

LETTERS

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The importance

of checklists

I enjoyed the article ‘Essential

spring checks’ (YM May 2019)

and the 55-point skipper’s

checklist. A complete checklist for your yacht

is a living document. You add things you

learn. Making your own checklist on a

spreadsheet allows you to keep a record of

what you have done. A checklist avoids

forgetting essential gear and actions; takes

the stress out of leaving; summarises

learning; lists what is appropriate for your

activities; enables sharing tasks; documents

action and makes your boat and crew safe.

Sharing tasks is an often forgotten

advantage. I always have the checklist on

the chart table, usually while getting ready

for the season or getting ready to sail

offshore. It allows the crew to see what

needs to be done, work on it and then sign

the tasks off. It helps to develop a good

crew as well. Maarten van Hasselt

Another way?

Whilst I certainly agree with James Stevens’

answer in a Question of Seamanship

(Calamity strikes and a lee shore looms, YM,

July 2019) there is possibly one last straw to

throw into the wind. The mast is still up and

reasonably secured with the spinnaker

halyard. When the forestay parts, the yacht’s

position is downwind into the North Channel

so it may be worth re-hoisting the main to a

third reef as there will be less strain on the

jury rigged forestay as sailing downwind.

It’s well known that the North Channel is a

very much safer option entering the Solent

in strong westerlies. Yes, they may have to

stem the tide to get

through Hurst but surely

this is worth a shot?

You might also have

mentioned that it wasn’t

a great idea to sail to

Poole in a WSW Force

5-6, occasionally gusting

Force 7, and that the

North Channel is always

a good option for yachtsmen arriving at the

Needles in rough weather, whether from the

west or south. Ramsay Mason

James Stevens replies:

Thanks for your reply. Almost all Questions

of Seamanship have more than one answer

and hoisting a heavily reefed main is

certainly an option. I think the skipper in the

real incident was worried that the mast might

not survive the reach just before entering

the Solent, but if it didn’t the result would

have been the same anyway.

And yes the passage plan with that

forecast wasn’t a smart idea and hopefully

the outcome makes that point.

Local Millport

knowledge

I read with interest Dag Pike’s article

(Anchorage, Millport, YM, May 2019), and as

much as I would be fearful of questioning

anything Dag says on the subject of sailing,

he clearly has not been in the east side of

Millport Bay in a hard southerly.

As an ex Millportonian I can confirm from

personal experience that when it blows

from the south, the

otherwise very attractive

bay is not somewhere you

would wish to be.

Local moorings which

are, in the main, inside the

Eileans, have gradually

moved eastwards over the

years. I would certainly not

want to spend a night at

anchor there if there is more than 15-

knots forecast from anywhere between

south-east and south-west. We regularly still

visit Millport from our home base in Largs

Yacht Haven and thoroughly enjoy the east

side of Millport bay, anchored in 5-10 metres

with good holding in firm sand.

Neil Wilkie

Dag Pike responds: I bow to your local

knowledge, but I do mention that

anchorages ‘are a bit exposed from

the south’ which is fairly obvious when

looking at the chart. Little Cumbrae is too far

away to give good shelter when the wind

freshens. I have not been there in a fresh

southerly, and it is not an anchorage I would

choose in those conditions. I guess I should

have made it clearer about the southerly

exposure but thanks for your local

knowledge of this.

Wrong map

I would just like to point out that in The

Knowledge: Cruising unfamiliar waters (YM,

Summer 2019), Aberdaron is not in Cornwall

as the chart suggests. It is indeed on the

Llyn Peninsula. There has obviously been

an error in attaching the right chart. I’m not

even sure if the photo in the article is of

Aberdaron. I live in Pwllheli and sail the

area often. Caroline Moncrieff

Caroline is indeed correct and we apologise

for inserting the wrong map. Editor

Send us your questions in less than 200 words by email [email protected] or by post Yachting Monthly,

TI Media, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF

Systematically ticking off

those pre-sailing tasks is

crucial to safety on board

Millport can be uncomfortably

exposed in a southerly

The Solent, boringly

familiar to some, but

still full of challenges

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