Departure : Farewell to Hartlepool

The weather forecast wasn't the best we could have hoped for; cold with a contrary wind, but we felt it was time to start moving. All along, the intention was to do a few short hops initially, so a passage plan for Whitby was worked through. I settled the final bills at the marina and then called for a 'lock out' just before 9-00 am on Monday 23rd April.

Approaching the inner lock gate.

'NJ' in the lock.

Lock Office from the lock.

Lock gates opening.

Farewell to Hartlepool, and.......................

.................... Hello North Sea.

The blast furnace at Redcar has just been re-started by it's new Thai owners, providing about 800 much needed jobs for Teeside, with the promise of more to come - a bit of good news in this gloomy financial climate.

We are finally underway, and at least the sun is shining - 

Now the adventure begins !

Lift Out Day

'NJ' was lifted out last Friday ( 13th ! ), the drawings supplied by Northshore for slinging positions were spot on, with the strops well clear of the log paddle wheel, and leaving the keel free to be retracted once the underwater sections had been powerwashed. We did lose one small area of the Copper Coat antifouling off the keel during the wash off, but not enough to get worried about - might touch this up in August if we have her hauled out then. We were very impressed with how little growth there was on the hull; just slime, and a minor beard of sea grass at water level, with a marked difference in growth between the sunny & shadow sides. The main hull anode unbolted with no problems at all, but many thanks to Paul & Ruth off 'Mettlesome' for the loan of a long socket set extension bar to allow the bowthruster anode nut to be removed. I was particularly pleased to find that the bowthruster anode was in reasonable condition, as this was my main worry ( having not had a bowthruster before )for lift out day. On our last trip up to Tynemouth the log was not working, this turned out to be down to one small barnacle jamming the paddle wheel. I spent 10 minutes cleaning the area around the wheel with a stiff wire to 'discourage' squatters! After only about an hour we were ready to go back into the water. All the boat jobs are now complete, so next weekend we will take up residence, and plan the first couple of legs of the 'voyage'

Above : 'NJ' being lifted out, with the keel fully extended ( 2.18m draught ) Right : After powerwashing, and the keel full retracted ( 0.72m draught ) Thanks to Ruth White for the photographs;

D Day approaching

I spent an uncomfortable night on NJ last week - a howling gale on Tuesday night, so didn't get much sleep. I have fitted a second stern navigation light, as the standard one is obscured by the dinghy when it is hanging on the davits. It was very useful to have the wind generator pole as a convenient location, with the cable fed through a glad on the deck adjacent to the power feed through for the turbine. I had the two new service batteries delivered to the marina which worked out well, they are now in place and were charging up nicely when I left the boat. The new Fusion Marine TV works very well, and has a built in DVD player and can also work as a PVR if a USB flash drive is plugged in. The really great news is that there is only one job left on the TO DO list, this is the lift and power wash, and is booked for next Friday ( 13th ). While the boat is out of the water I will change the main hull, and bowthruster anodes, and give the Kiwi feathering propeller a good clean and grease. All the new charts have now arrived, and an assortment of pilots and tidal atlases ordered. We just need to make out an exhaustive list of items we want to take to the boat now - and find somewhere to stash everything! We have provisionally penciled in the 22nd April for departure, but this obviously depends on the weather.

Shakedown cruise to Tynemouth

As the weather was fine towards the end of last week, we decided to grab a few days away. We locked out of Hartlepool on Thursday morning, and sailed East for an hour or so out to sea, then turned north towards Tynemouth. The wind dropped and the engine was started, a few hours later we passed through the impressive entrance of the River Tyne. The South side of the entrance opens into Herd Sands, which provides quite a good anchorage. We dropped the hook in 4.5m at low water, and the new 20Kg Delta did the business first time. After waiting for an hour or so to ensure that we were secure, the dinghy was lowered into the water, the outboard attached, and we motored over to the beach for a walk and general look around. We have anchored of Herd Sands several times in the past but never went ashore, quite interesting to see a different view of the anchorage, and the boat from the shore. Overnight, a bit of a swell started to make it's way into the anchorage, which got a bit 'rock & roll', the wind also got up a bit. By the time we were ready to leave in the mornng, the wind had reduced, but so had the temperature ! We ended up motoring into a light SE wind ( the forecast was for a NW 3/4 ! ) which was perishingly cold. As soon as we entered the lock back at Hartlepool the temperature seemed to go up 10 degrees, which made the berthing process much more pleasant. Back in the berth, we secured 'NJ' and then tucked in to a well deserved cottage pie. No major problems were found over the two days, however the service batteries were found to be a bit weak, so we have decided to change these out.

Davits, the last major job !

What a surprise last weekend was! We were expecting to be shivering in the forecast sea fret, while the rest of the country was experiencing record March temperatures - It was a little misty when we arrived on Friday afternoon, still very pleasant though, but Saturday and Sunday were just lovely! The point of this visit was to fit the dinghy davits, which I was expecting to be a bit of a job to put it mildly, spending hours worming my way into the machinery space behind the stern cabin, mastic gun, and spanner in hand wasn't my idea of fun. In the end the job was not as bad as expected, and with some help from Sue, holding a spanner on the outside nuts, the job was effectivly finished on Saturday, allowing the sikaflex adhesive sealant to go off overnight. On Sunday we inflated the dinghy and attached it to the davit falls - disaster, the blocks were hard up to the davits but the dinghy was still swinging free. After a couple of hours, and much coffee, we found a way around the problem, which would actually reduce the strain on the eyelet patches on the dinghy. The davits were supplied with a four to one purchase using double blocks, but by using two single blocks with snap hooks directly on to the stainless rings attached to the dinghy, we were able to pull it tight on to the davit arms. I just need to fit a couple of eye bolts to the bottom of the transom board to allow the same system at the stern, and all will be well. One unforeseen problem was that the stern navigation light will be obscured by the dinghy, so I will have to fit a second light to the wind generator pole at a suitable height, and arrange a switch from one to the other; not a major job though. Once we had the dinghy in place I could measure up and position a bracket for the outboard motor, and decide positions for the MOB sling. On Sunday afternoon we took 'NJ' out of her berth, and motored over to the fuel berth to fill up, then returned to berth bow in, to make the dinghy more secure. If the weather allows, we will take her out for a sail next weekend to make sure everything is working as it should, and arrange a lift out so that I can change the hull and bow-thruster anodes,and have the slime powerwashed off the hull and rudders ready for departure.

Final Push ( Update 2 )

What a glorious weekend, I hope we aren't using up all this summers' good weather ! We now have a fully clothed boat ! The new, small ( 105% ) jib has been run up to check fit, taken off, and the standard ( 135% ) genoa fitted. The new North Sails mainsail has been fitted ( after some confusion with how the batten pocket closures work !! ), reefing lines connected, and the sail hoisted and reefed to all three points. The stack pack and spray hood cover have also been re-fitted after valeting, and now look considerably less mouldy. While we were out of the berth to allow the main to be raised, we took the opportunity to find an empty alongside berth, and re-fit the life raft, which is now on the starboard side of the pushpit. New hoses, regulator, and changeover valve have been fitted in the gas locker, and a secure strap down housing for the printer mounted. Changing the engine battery isolator switch seems to have cured the starting problem ( new battery not required after all ! )with the iron sail bursting into life with no no problems at all. Still waiting for the backing plates for the davit mounts, but not in a desperate rush for these, as we won't get back to the boat for a week or so.

Final Push ( update )

I now have the new gas hoses, and the sails are back from cleaning - we might even get to have a sail this weekend ! The davits have been shipped, and should arrive tomorrow, so everything is starting to come together. I expected to have to go up the mast to sort out the masthead tricolour light, but having taken another look at the wiring from the mast it seems as if some rather odd colour conventions have been used - black is usually negative in a DC system, but in this case blue has been used ! The upshot of this is that I now have a working tricolour lamp, and an additional bonus of an all round white anchor light that I didn't know I had - all without climbing the mast - excellent !

NJ & Best friend Mettlesome in Hartlepool Marina