SEA BEAR

 

A sailing blog about a skipper and his yacht

A few days on the boat

Jun 27, 2022

I had a few days on the boat in June. I had planned to go down to river Colne first then perhaps further south. However the wind was from the SW and strong at first. I had a look at going out via the Wallet but it would have been no fun so instead went up the Stour, anchoring first at Copperas bay then by Stutton Ness. Here I saw a deer going for a swim in the river, quite remarkable. At the height of the tide we went up for a closer look at Mistley. It appears that the fence is still up on the quay there despite the High Court order that it be taken down.

Mistley

The weather had calmed down and the tides were right so I thought it time for my first visit to the Deben. It is a bit scary first time with the waves (gentle in this case) breaking on the shingle banks and the channel passing close to the beach. But I entered under sail with a favourable wind and the tide still under me, whoseing me down the channel and I was soon proceeding calmly up the river.

Deben entrance

Deben entrance

I picked up a mooring by the Ramsholt Arms. Next day I went up as far as Waldringfield before turning around and heading back to Felixstowe Ferry and out over the bar.

Felixstowe Ferry

Felixstowe Ferry

The exit I found slightly more nerve wracking than the entrance surprisingly. I had timed it for HW slack so the exit took longer and from the red buoy by Felixstowe ferry  you cannot see the green marking the knoll spit so you just have to follow the shoreline as you do not want to stray too far towards the shingle banks. Just a few days before a yacht on exiting had done this and gone aground – a feat I did not want to repeat.

Thames sailing barge in the Wallet

Thames sailing barge in the Wallet

Early the next day I took the tide  down the Wallet to Brightlingsea, calm condition but no wind. But of course arrived to anchor in Pyefleet creek and the wind came. The next day forecast spoke of the winds veering to the NE and strengthening to F7 so I decided to head back early rather than having to beat up the Wallet with wind over tide. In the event I had a cracking  sail back with a nice F4-5 on the beam and the aft quarter.

Back on the mooring the wind departed and a peaceful eve was had before departing for home the next day.

A still evening at Pin Mill

A still evening at Pin Mill

 

The Cub

May 28, 2022

For quite a while I had wanted a rigid tender for Sea Bear. Something that would row better and didn’t involve all the faff of inflating  and stowage, preferably one that you could stow on the foredeck. Of course that was a bit of a problem with a small boat- lack of room and of course you wouldn’t want a tender that was too small and would feel unsafe in waves or if you had far to go.

Still I came across a picture of a Vancouver 28 with a rigid dinghy on its foredeck and had an email exchange with the owner so I knew it was feasable. After some research I settled on a Eastport nesting pram dinghy, one that would seperate into two halves – that would make stowage less of a problem. So started the project to build the Cub.

Boat kit

Boat kit

I could have course built it just from plans but an easier option, the one I plumped for was a kit with all the parts pre-cut. It dully arrived and so the build began.  I am fortunate in having a garage so the initial stitch up of the panels with copper wire of the hull took places here. 

hull wired up

Hull wired up

The next stage was epoxying it. Now successful epoxying requires a minimum temperature of at least 16 degrees but it was winter and the garage was cold. I decided that heating the garage was out of the question cost wise. The solution, clear out the living/dining room in the house, spread out a big tarpaulin over the floor and work in there. I was using eco epoxy which has little or no smell or fumes so that was OK.  

epoxying the seams

Epoxying the seams

Gradually it all came together, bulkheads filleted in, seats supports added, gunwales affixed and rubbing strakes and skeg added. Then it was time to give it coats of epoxy inside and out.

complete & ready for sanding

Complete & ready for sanding

The boat is built in one piece and then sawed in half so that it can become a nesting dinghy. A step approached with some trepidation.

sawing in half

Sawing in half

in two halves

in two halves

Before painting and varnishing it all need sanding down and long and arduous process as paint and varnish won’t stick to un-sanded epoxy. 

I made some built in bouyancy from polystyrene foam insulation sheets epoxied together, shaped, sanded, coated with epoxy and painted. 

The final step was painting on the name and so Sea Bear Cub she became.

sea bear cub

I think she looks a pretty little dinghy, let’s see how she performs. 

The completed dinghy

The completed dinghy

Fitting out 2022

May 6, 2022

I spent a week down at the boat yard. The big job was re-fitting the engine after it’s re-build.  After a clean up of the engine bay and a lick of paint the boat yard hoisted the engine aboard and it dropped straight in place. It was just a matter of refitting the alternator and water pump and connecting everything up. 

After bleeding the fuel system and with a pipe from pump to a bucket and hose pipe at hand we were all ready to start it up. Oops, turning the key and pushing the starter button – nothing. Obviously something wrong. An inspection soon revealed a wire carefully tucked out of the way of for lift-out not connected – soon remedied. Engine fired up – all well – what a relief.

Engine back in – all connected

Of course there were lots of other jobs to do.

Overhauling and re-greasing the furler, re-reeving the running rigging, up the mast to refit the wind instrument, re-fitting the sails and canvas work, plenty of cleaning, waxing the hull, re-greasing seacocks to name but a few. But eventually all done and now just wait for a launch date from the yard. Something to look forward to after all the hard work.

Sea Bear in Yard

Sea Bear in Yard

Rebuilding the engine

Mar 8, 2022

This off-season I had decided to tackle the engine. Although over the years it had been pretty reliable it now looked a little tatty, the paint particularly on the rear of the engine was gone with lots of rust showing. I considering getting a new engine, perhaps a beta marine instead of the Yanmar but decided to best thing was to hoik the old Yanmar out, strip it down and inspect it and then make the decision..

Once the boat was out of the water, shored up in the yard, It didn’t take long to disconnect it and then the yard hoisted it out for me and lowered into the back of my trailer. I could take it home and strip it in my garage. It would give me something to do over winter.

The engine before rebuild

First look  made me glad I had taken it out and I was soon stripping it down which revealed a few problems so a list of work and parts needed started. Digital photography is a great boon these days. Quick snaps of the disassembly process with a mobile phone give you a record of how things come apart and even of what they are! It helps  to have a nice spare bench to lay out all the bits in order, grouped together or in separate trays. As work progressed I reckoned that with a rebuild there was no need for a new engine, and the extra work and expense that would entail.

Rocker cover off – spot the missing valve cap

Dismantling the head and lifting off the rocker assembly, I at first thought I had dropped one of the valve caps but close inspection and I realised it had been assembled with one missing. Worse was on removing the injectors, one came out easily enough the other was stuck. Eventually I freed it and then the reason for it’s ‘stuckness’ revealed. It had been assembled without the essential domed top of the injector chamber and heat shield washers. There were some curses for the bodge artist who last had had the engine apart and put it back together with the parts missing. No wonder that it hadn’t been running so smoothly.

Cylinder head before cleaning

The internal water ways in the block and head were badly ‘limed” up so I cleaned these by sealing off the outlets and filling the passages up with cheap white vinegar. This fizzed reassuringly with plenty of bubbles so you knew it was doing it’s work. Flushed out after an overnight soak the passageways were nice and clean.

The block cleaned off and primed

With the block stripped of old paint, wire brushed and de greased, it was time to repaint. What to use? In the end it seemed a choice between tractor enamel or Rustoleum, I opted for Rustoleum as there were favourable comments about it on various forums. 2 coats of primer and 2 of top coat were used and the rest of the engine parts similarly treated. The resulting colour was a little more silvery than the original Yanmar paint. Time will tell if it is nicely durable.

Repainted block & head

Gradually the engine went back together, a new oil seal behind the flywheel, valves ground in, a new external oil pipe, new valve oil seals and cap, new injector nozzles, the correct ignition chamber parts and some other bits. I even built a sort of frame for the trailer to which I could bolt the engine so it didn’t slide around when I would take it back to the yard. By the end of January it was all done, ready to fit back in the boat. That would wait until later when the days were a little longer and hopefully warmer.

Engine on frame in trailer

End of Season catch up

Dec 8, 2021

August

I  had several long conversations with a friend, Ian, as he was in the process of buying a boat. For some reason he was looking to me for advice but also I suspect because talking with someone else over what to do with reference to sorting out an old boat can help decide one’s own mind about a course of action. He used to own a boat but years ago. Ian  is another of those climbers who have taken to sailing. It is amazing how many older or ex climbers take to sailing.

In August I went down to join Ian and Abi on their boat in Wareham as he, feeling somewhat rusty wanted me to help  them on a delivery trip to take the boat to its new home in Scotland. He had been down in the boatyard there for a month, working on and sorting out many little and larger things that needed sorting on an old boat. Anyway when I got there  it was obvious somethings still needed sorting but could be labelled minor tweaks or improvements  and the boat was evidently seaworthy. Ian was keen to leave on the high tide the next day so be it. The boat Duloe by the way was a Nicholson 31.

Ian on Duloe at Newhaven

We were dogged on this trip a little by the weather, lots of strong headwinds, rain but we proceeded by day hops, Wareham – Portland – Brixham – Dartmouth – Cawsand Bay – Fowey – Helford – Newlyn- Dale. I left them at Milford Haven as I had run out of time, needing to be back home for an important appointment. Anyways I reckoned that they were competent enough to complete the rest of the trip and it would boost their self confidence to do so and of course they managed just fine.

September

My next time on Sea Bear, the tides and winds were right for a gentle trip up to the head of the Orwell. My last trip up there was back in 2001 or 2002 in my Wanderer dinghy.  Anyway sailing up was fine, slow progress but relaxing but on the return beating back down the river I discovered how sluggish the boat was and barely responding to the tiller. It became apparent that  there was so much growth on the bottom and I needed a scrub.

Accordingly  a day later when the tides served I went alongside the scrubbing posts at Pin Mill. I must confess it was a pretty hard task to tie on to the posts single handed and I thought I was about to make a grand cock up and embarrass myself but by dint of a bit of lassoing  I was able to save the situation, phew!

Then just a question of waiting for the tide to drop and when the water was about knee deep with wet suit donned , splash about and give the hull a good scrape and  scrub. Job done, another wait which I occupied by cooking dinner. It was  around midnight when there was enough water to float off and motor back to the mooring but boy was it a dark night so that was no easy matter.

Sea Bear On the scrubbing posts

Towards the end of the month I was back on the boat. Relaxing in the cockpit I had a surprise call from  the Guardian  journalist who had interviewed me about my trip and now they wanted to send a photographer to take some pictures of me and my boat. I said I would meet them  next day. Alicia duly arrived and I ferried her out to Sea Bear in the dinghy. We chatted for ages and she took her pictures, never knew that posing could be such hard work.  

The Guardian photographer Alicia

The article about me appeared in the Guardian on-line in a series entitled “A New Start after 60” .  

Here is a link to the article

A new start

October

I had a couple of articles accepted and published in the yachting magazines, PBO & Yachting Monthly about my big trip &  solo Pacific crossing I was quite pleased about that . If you are interested you can read them here.

Pensioner solo across the pacific.pdf

Learning curve – I just decided to go alone.pdf

For what turned out to be my last sail of the season I had thought to venture to the Deben but out past Felixstowe the winds were all wrong and then died away leaving me to wallow about in a slight swell for a while. The wind did return but too late to make the tide for the Deben entrance so a change of plan and I headed back in and up the Stour. I found quite a nice anchorage by Sutton Ness for a peaceful night and was astounded by the number of swans around. 

Returning past Wrabness next day I was quite taken by the higgledy piggledy collection of bungalows and shacks. Thought it a shame that the beach here was private and landing discouraged.

Wrabness

Later rounding Shotley spit to get back to the Orwell  near low water I was a slightly confused that Shotley horse bouy was missing, it had been there the day before. I later discovered that they had removed it as it is a seasonal mark. It was scheduled to be removed on or around the 18th but they had taken it away by the 14th.

Still I had a nice beat all the way back to the mooring.

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