Classic_Boat_2016-04

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38 CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2016

ROMILLY


Coloured lines
Use different colour lines for running rigging
(especially reefing lines) to make identification
easier, especially for non-sailors.

Reef early
Reef early, to make things more comfortable but
also because the boat will probably sail better
and faster.

Reef in cockpit
When reefing the mainsail, lower the sail past the
tack line to allow the reefing points to be tied
more easily from the safety of the cockpit. Use the
tack lines to keep control of the sail while the
halyard is eased.

Rig a preventer
Use a preventer, on a loose-footed sail, to steady
the rig and improve the shape of the sail on a reach.

Tie bitter end of the anchor chain
Don’t forget to tie off the bitter end of the anchor
line before throwing the anchor over the side!
Hanging on to the bitter end in a strong current is
surprisingly tiring.

Pre-mix oil in outboard fuel
To find out if the outboard fuel already has oil
mixed in it, dip your finger in and let it dry. You
should see a slight shine if there’s oil in it, and none
if there’s not.

Seagull deterrent
Our current seagull-preventer is a length of bunting
tied between the main and the mizzen masts, just
high enough to make it impossible for them to land
on the boom. It’s about 75 per cent successful.

RAMONA
MY LESSONS
LEARNED SO FAR

Below: Coming
into Dartmouth
at dusk

pack of sweet and salty popcorn I had grabbed from my
larder at home and which was consumed at one sitting.
As the wind eased, the boat started to wallow and
become sluggish. This time I took the initiative and
shook the reef out of the main and unbrailed the
mizzen, and Ramona was soon back in her groove. One
of Nigel’s guiding principles when sailing these luggers
is to use the mizzen to steer and balance the boats.
Thus, if there’s weather helm, ease the mizzen. If
you’re overpressed, drop the mizzen before you reef the
main. If you need to heave to, drop the main and set
the mizzen on its own. He’s also a great advocate of
using the mizzen to manoeuvre out of a tight space
including, if necessary, backwards!

RELIEF AND REGRET
We reached Bolt Head by early evening, as planned. It
was slack water and the tidal races on both sides of the
Salcombe estuary should have been quiet. But Bolt Head
is made of stern stuff – Lower Devonian schist, to be
exact, the oldest rocks to be found in Devon – and the
southwesterly swell was bouncing off the cliffs and
creating a confused sea even half a mile offshore. We had
discussed stopping at Salcombe for the night if
conditions got difficult, so Nigel rang the coastguard at
Prawle Point (east of the Salcombe estuary) on his
mobile to check the state of the race there. After a
friendly chat, they gave us the all-clear and we carried
on, squeezing the last of that friendly little tidal eddy up
the coast across Start Bay.
By the time we reached Dartmouth it was almost
dark, and a huge moon squeezed up over the horizon. It
rose higher and higher as we wound our way up the
river, lighting our path all the way home. Twice we ran
out of fuel, and twice I overfilled the tank and drenched
the spark plug (bizarrely located right under the fuel
tank). By the time we reached Stoke Gabriel, the
current was running fast and it was with relief mixed
with regret that we slipped a line on to our mooring. In
the previous 12 hours we had experienced rain, mist,
sunshine, wind, calm, sea and river, somehow ending
up back home on a tranquil moonlit night. A perfect
homecoming. “One to remember,” wrote Nigel later,
and indeed our journey had followed such a perfect arc,
it would have been hard to better it. It was an
auspicious start for my new family boat.
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