About Us The Story So Far
How did it all start
we used to meet up on a stall on grey mare lane market Manchester about 6 years ago
I think we all met each other through that market at one time or another
don turned up one day and said I have bought a
boat
think my answer was you bought a coat
no I bought a
boat he said
well it turned out he bought 2
boats
no problem where are they don barrow in Furness
its 100 miles away don
yes I know its 100 miles anyone fancy a jolly boys outing to see the
boats
we were always ready of an outing to break up the days
so five of us set out one morning to see the boats
well when we got there we were seeing the boats for the first time
even don had only seen the pictures of them on eBay
to say the first boat was a ship wreck might have been a bit insulting to ship wrecks
it was more than a wreck and would never see the sea again
mind you where it was we were lucky to see the sea
to give you an idea of barrow beach ok its not a beach more of a field that gets wet once a month
the boat was about 800 meters from the
water
looked like the
water came up once a month maybe once a year
so working on it would have been no problem
like I said she was well gone but under a wooden cover on the
deck there was an immaculate
diesel engine and
gearbox and heat exchangers all made of stainless steal
we then turned to the boat next to her this was also in the deal
now this boat had promise apart from the snapped
mast and no
engine
the idea was to use the other boat as a donor for the engine but sadly there was no where to fit it
this boat was designed to have an
outboard on a type of rail that folded up back into a neat little place for the engine
so that was our first and last time going there don put the pair of them on eBay and
sold each of them separately and still made a profit on the pair of them
it wasn't long before don got the itch again
he turned up one day I have bought another boat don where is it now
we were used to dons exploits by now
he seems to go on eBay and change the preferences to distance farthest first for some strange reason
Cardiff he said
don its 188 miles from here how are you getting it home
well the plan was to sail to Conwy 250 miles by sea only problem it was October
winter was setting in
still don had it in his mind he wanted to sail it back and was not taking no for an answer
up to this point the rest of the Crew and I say crew
had never been to sea well not in a
small boat and none of us had the bottle to undertake such a long first trip
so don made arrangements for his nephew to sail with him back from Cardiff to Conwy
me and Alan said we would go with don down to Cardiff to check the boat out the day before he was going to set off from there
once again don or any of us had not seen the boat before
buying don was told she was sea worthy
more about that later
well we went down to Cardiff the day before he was setting off back Conwy
the boat was on a swinging
mooring about 30 feet out in the closed off bay behind the lock gates leading to the open sea
now to anyone that's not been to Cardiff bay or sailed the Bristol channel that's the little bit of water outside the bay
I say little its one of the most dangerous places around the united kingdom for tides and big waves
again more about that later
we went up to the office of the marina again this was our first contact with the
boating elite
yes turned out it was moored at the best marina in town
full of the type of yachts
men that wipe there arses on £50 notes for fun
most of them have never sailed in more than a light breeze in the bay
most would never venture out into the sea
funny thing is with most of the places we have been seems no ones using the boats for sailing
yes I know for most
men its a shed at the end of the garden syndrome
well by the look of the boat from 30 feet away don might need a few more days maybe 2 weeks to sort it out
first thing he asked was what was the possibility of the boat staying there for a couple of weeks
the commodore or
captain or who ever was in charge looked at us as if we were a lump of dog **** on his boots
we were not the kind of people they wanted in there club
no problem he said you will just but have to join the club
now if you have ever seen carry on camping that film springs to mind
the scene where they get to the gate of the campsite and are confronted by the farmer that owns the site
in the film everything was £1 each per person per night per week
funny film
well this bloke was even funnier
£2000 per year you will have to pay in advance
I had to help poor don up from the floor don't know if it was shock or he had a fit of laughter and fell down
ok no problem any chance of a
lift out to the boat so we could check it over
we had made provisions to sail the boat away at least to the council short stay
mooring across the bay
the council moorings are next to the nice big shiny building they have built there
nice place Cardiff shame about the
marinas
yes no problem if your taking it away go down to number 1 jetty and ill send a man to assist you
like I said we had brought all we think we would need down with us in the car
so we went and got the tools and
fuel we thought we would need to get the engine going
the engine was an
outboard an old
evinrude about 10 hp
we waited on the jetty I say jetty more like an aircraft carrier god they have nice jetties down there well they should do for 2 grand a year
2 nice men came over in a nice
inflatable dingy me and don jumped in and Alan stayed in the jetty
we got out to the boat and both got on
we had a look around the yacht not bad at first sight so I set about the engine
spark
plug out give it a few pulls of the starter
rope cleaned the
plug
then set about trying to start it
well it had been sitting there for about a year now so the
fuel would be stale
after a few minuets no luck so I pulled out a few tricks of the
trade
we had filled up the
fuel tank by this stage I took the spark plug back out and dipped it in petrol
and put it back
after about 3 pulls she sprang into a sort of life
chug splutter splutter it had been a year and most of the fuel that was already in the was off
she would be ok with a run and it would give the good fuel time to come through
so we shouted over to Alan we are good to go
can you drive around the bay to the council mooring and meet us there
I think Alan had foreseen the next bit
don did one of his springing jack routines and went up to the front of the boat and let loose the mooring strop
now ill explain just where we were in relation to the jetty the jetty was 30 feet behind us
and the boat was in the middle of what I can only explain as the battle of Trafalgar
there was 20 boats I say boats yachts Big yachts shiny yachts expensive yachts
no problem ill just put her in reverse and pull back and make our way along the 30 foot
track along the jetty turn left at the end and go around the armada
well the engine had other ideas when I put her in reverse putt putt stop
well unknown to us the
wind and what little tide there is in the bay started to
push us back to the jetty great no problem Alan's standing there just throw him a
rope
what rope there's no ropes in sight don jumps inside the boat looking for a rope
well the
wind had other ideas in stead of in to the jetty it stayed 15 feet from it and 15 feet from the yachts but was still moving FAST at the end of the jetty was ROCKS big rocks
the jetty was about 100 foot long and that dam tide and wind only wanted to take us one place
the ROCKS
well don came out with what I can only describe as a rope it was a rope but the last man to use it was black beard
(Dons rope)
I took the rope and wound it around my arm a few times to give me a decent bundle to chuck to Alan
at this time laughing his balls off on the jetty
now I am about 18 stone dry never mind wet and I can throw like a shot putter
now bearing in mind Alan's only 15 feet away 1. 2 .3
this ancient relic of a rope had other things on its mind
it might have thought it was a bird or a feather
might as well had of been
it did feel like I was throwing wool very thin wool at that
it went about 5 feet
no problem ill try again at this time were about 20 feet from the rocks
1. 2 .3 well you guessed it 6 feet this time I am getting better
20 feet from the rocks and dons pulling his socks off trying to start the outboard
1. 2 .3 were now ten feet from the rocks still no luck
well in what I can only explain as one of them strange slow motion moments I jumped into the back of the boat
thinking about it now I should have jumped for the jetty
I moved don out of the way ok maybe chucked him out of the way
and gave the engine one last almighty pull
I think if she had not had started the force of my pull would have turned the prop enough to take us across the bay
she sprang to life a sort of life that only a mother could love
but she was running well I looked at don and don looked at me I think we both looked for GOD to thank him
in a split second we decided well don decided the easy way would be to plough ok make our way through the armada
that was the direction we needed to go to get to the council moorings
well God had helped once he must have been sat back laughing his balls off now
no problem we got through the first 2 nice shiny boats or had we
what we did not know was this yacht had a long long
keel
yes you guessed it she picked up the mooring chain for the 2 boats behind us
well like I said I had never been on a boat before my excuse
I turned around and said to don why are those boats following us
well it looked like that to me
the boat on our left seemed to be
racing towards us
after about 20 feet don give the engine a bit more throttle
bad idea
I don't think there was anything he could have done
it looked like the other boat was trying to Rodger our boat if boats do that
from Alan's viewpoint it must have looked like 2
dogs mating at sea
well when the other boat had had its way our bitch decided to slap him and he went off in a huff
and a crash
we must have slipped the chain off luckily and he wend back sulking to his moorings I think
all this time the 2 men were sat on a floating pontoon laughing the socks off
don't think they wanted to get involved
so off we go to the council mooring across the bay
and very nice moorings they are
wood structures with
power on tap
they were shaped like a letter e
when we got there I was quite proud of myself mooring the boat up for my fist time
nice and slowly but as we got there don sprung up and made a run to the front of the boat
and again in one of them slow motion type films he jumped over the front of the boat
trying to land on the jetty and grab the rope
only dons an old man he might have been able to do such super human feats years ago
not this time one leg went over no problem the other leg had different ideas
he was left hanging in mid air and almost got crushed by the boat
but luckily he survived to live another day
well we went home soon after
now tales from the trip
the young lad arrived that night don had made sure they had provisions for the 300 mile trip
this consisted of 2 sandwiches and a bottle of water
not one to spend a lot of
money don
and 1 gallon of fuel plus the one in the tank for some strange reason he had looked up
the spec of the engine and had taken some claim of a forum that it would do 1 hour per litre
and as he said in his own words we will stock up on the way
funny I have not seen many fuel
service stations at sea
nor supermarkets come to think of it
I forgot to say the day before when we were docked up at the council jetty as we were walking
back to the car we came across a nice man in full captains uniform he was boarding the
ferry boat they have there that takes people out of the gates and into the Bristol channel
what's the
weather like out there don said
weather you wont see us out today 20 foot waves out there
forecast for a few days he said
well next morning don and the lad setoff about 7 in the morning through the lock gates into the sea
with the wind in the wrong direction most of the way he decided to use the engine well abuse the engine full whack for about 6 hours what do think happened then yes
putt putt stop out of fuel so he made the decision to beach the boat luckily there was a beach at hand and he went and got fuel
then off they went on there merry way
after about an hour the lad said have you seen inside the boat don took a look
well unknowns to don the previous owner had took the
bilge pump out to replace
but had not put a new one back and had left just the pipe that Leeds to the
pump
lying in the bottom of the boat
again not a problem if under sail but when your gunning it on the engine alone the stern of the boat tends to sink into the water and left a nice tube that sucked up the water and deposited it into the boat
so don had to block the pipe up and made his way to the first port they could safely get to
the tied up over night and did the
repairs
next day they set off for Swansea well luck was not on there side nor was the wind and I forgot to say the fuel again but could have just been the engine had decided it was time to go to that engine graveyard in the sky
it packed up and would not start and then the sea did the rest the waves as big as houses he said
well there was a port on there map just a few miles away don got onto the coast guard and asked if the port was open
what port was the reply
(Dons map)
what map are you using said the cost guard that port was closed years ago
there's nothing there now not even a mooring buoy even the light house have been
sold for a holiday home
ill send the RNLI out to you they wont be long
well about 30 minuets later there arrived 4 nice men in a bright orange
rib with a 300 hoarse
power mariner on the back
the sea was rough by now so one of the men jumped in with don attached a rope and said where are you going
don said we were going here but seems like its closed
yes been closed years he said we will take you to Swansea 20 miles away hold on
well as don describes it they setoff at some speed don said he just closed his eyes and thought of
England funny that he was in WALES
WELL THEY MADE IT TO SWANSEA JUST
the boat was stored there for about a month and transported overland to Conwy cost £1000
this boat was seal song and it give us loads of experience of sailing and caused loads of headaches
seal song had a lifting
keel handy when you hit sand banks we hit a lot just wind the keel up and away you go to the next one
I bit like the modern car stop start technology
outboards we went through about 5 before we realised you get what you pay for and we were not paying a lot
if you have the
money buy a new one and
service it when it needs it
our final outboard was a
HONDA ill just say the others were not Hondas
Hondas are the rolls Royce of the outboard world silent reliable great on fuel
this is reflected in the
price you have to pay
but all things come to an end and the season ended to soon for us fair weather
new sailors
and the thought of paying for a boat you could not use for 4 months was enough to make don sell his boat so he did
well it must be the thought of not having a boat for a few months that sparks a funny part of a mans brain and we were soon looking for the next adventure
and soon along came Gabriella long long keel we had not remembered the last long keel that part of our brains must have not been working and she had an inboard engine BUT it was a vire 7 petrol
single cylinder 270cc a bit like putting a lawn mower engine in a articulated lorry
and about as reliable as a stack of jenga stack in a
hurricane
now this baby could
motor well for about 5 minutes at best
but did sail well and we got a lot of experience out of her and fun fixing the engine
we even took the engine out took it home did a service on it painted it and put her back
lasted about 2 trips then back to her old ways it was 30 years old and had an hard life
next came dalwitch apart from the fact we could not even pronounce the bloody name its a Welsh name a bit like Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch ok if you live there
to us she was the blue yacht
still no
toilet inside ass over the side ok that was just don we did it the more civilised way bucket and chuck it
but she did have a nice
diesel inboard
yanmar engine spot on reliable
and a deep fin keel
were not
learning by our
mistakes yet I see
only problems we had were that the front
roller furling went on us and we had to order a snap furl replacement from the America about £500 all in and what a piece of crap to fit
instructions say unfold the 30 feet of curtain track that had been rolled up for years and years and
it will straiten its self out on a hot day on the jetty only needs about 75f
not much chance of that in the united kingdom standing with 2 billion gallons of cold water coming down from the mountains in Conwy
and then place the 2 bits along side each other and just snap them together yes right sure
but we did it and it worked ok
our last day out was the most eventful day
a nice sunny day a day when you forget all your troubles and the rules
off we set to puffin island
sails up going like a steam train wind in our hair well my hair the rest of the crew have about 3 hairs between them
well it was time to
head back to Conwy and we were late and the quickest
route was a strait line
the quickest routes not always the best
route at sea FOLLOW the rules STAY in the marked buoys
WHAT buoys
yes we found out after about 10 minutes sea looked perfect calm well it was only about 4 feet deep
and dropping fast
Conwy has a sandbank outside the mouth of the river on both sides
hitting sand at 9 knots is like someone tying a rope around your body and giving it a tug
then a big tug
we soon stopped and tried to put the boat in reverse but to no avail we were stuck fast
and then the panic sets in (looking back we were then in about 24" of scary water it would have not come up to our knees)
but sand is sand is sand
try asking the Chinese cockle pickers in Morecombe
and when wet could suck you down in seconds NEVER GET OUT OF THE BOAT
so we chickened out and called the RNLI what made it worse was the long keel made the yacht
list to one side and seemed more scary than it should have been
the RNLI came to our
rescue saying that the ride back to Conwy was the scary bit 25knots in a
rib
but we survived
then came the lady Helen
Westerly Centaur 26ft of beauty with a real
toilet in a real
cabin
now this centaur is a special edition a one off
it has 3 port holes on each side
and a
Volvo inboard diesel with loads of power
and has a roller main sail that can be operated
single handed
the adventure continues
p.s the lady Helen has a
bilge keel yippee
Re: second chance sailing story so far
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