Dandelion 4

 

A shaft of sunlight lances through Stargazer's forehatch. Waking me, in my bunk below. Silence bathes the marina. The wind roar gone, folks yet to stir.

I check the (ever evolving) forecast. There may be a brief window, in which to leave the Kent shore and head down Channel. Certainly breezes are northerly, thus favourable. Less assured is their strength. But at least, once around the North Foreland, they should be from astern.

Stargazer hoists full sail. Coming to life after her long hibernation. Helm tugging communicatively in my hand, as gusts roll down river. I ease the mainsheet. Her helm steadies. Seaward we sweep, the tide beneath us. The rush of water, and trill of birdsong, filling my ears.

A powerful spring sun warms my upturned face. As I steer, tucked down behind Stargazer's windscreen. Checking tide times, on the iPad, as I go. By mid ebb we are nearing the confluence of the Medway and the London River. Too late, to carry a fair tide around the Foreland, today.

But well placed to sound in among the sheltering shoals of Sharfleet Creek. To await tomorrow's down Channel tide; and the new day’s forecast.

Dandelion 3

 

Out in the river, forty knots of breeze sends moored boats bucking and pitching. The waters churned white, as tide fights wind. Atop the castle keep, the Union Jack strains upward, reaching for the scampering clouds.

Within the granite walls and tall lock gates, of the (former) naval dockyard, in which Nelson's Victory was built, Stargazer lies sheltered. Astern, on the Chatham Heritage Berth, the famous Lively Lady rests.

On July 16th 1967 Alec Rose, a retired greengrocer, set out to circumnavigate the globe aboard her. Singlehanded. He returned triumphant, to Portsmouth, on July 4th 1968. Launching a national celebration. A flotilla of wellwishers escorted him past The Forts. Whilst a crowd of 250,000 cheered his homecoming, from the quaysides. A week later, the Queen knighted him.

The diminutive, thirty six foot, cutter was built in Calcutta, in 1948. Stoutly, of old growth, forest teak baulks. Intended as railway sleepers for the Assam Bengal Railway. Now, Lively Lady has been lovingly restored, by the volunteers of the Around & Around charity.

To provide life skills and sail training, for disadvantaged young adults. And joy and inspiration, for her young-at-heart custodians.

Since Easter, three vigorous lows, have brought warm sunshine and strong headwinds. Now a change is in the air. A cooler, more moderate, northerly flow appears likely to set in. More conducive to progress down Channel. As are next week's tides. Soon, Stargazer's patient wait may be rewarded.

Credits

Picture 3: Sir Alec Rose, arrival in Portsmouth, 1968 - courtesy of Getty Images

Picture 4: Lively Lady, interior restored - courtesy of Paul Wyeth

Picture 5: Lively Lady, in her element - courtesy of Paul Wyeth

Dandelion 2

 

 An unbroken horizon, sedge buffeted by wind, the warbling trill of Curlew. The sea wall. Neither land nor water. Combining the solidity of one with the open skies of the other

A succession of low pressure systems spiral in from Newfoundland. Chasing across the Atlantic, on the jet stream. Bringing strong southerly winds to British shores. Confining Stargazer to port, yet a while.

I duck into the shelter of a wood. As a bruise-black cloud pelts hailstones, mischeviously, for a moment. Dark green ivy scales bare branched trunks. Yellow lichen gleams, in the innocent shafts of sunshine, which follow. White cumulus clouds, of petals, float serenely overhead.

The wind roar falls silent. Replaced by the silvery chatter of countless songbirds. Hidden amongst myriad new shoots, in bud.

The thunder cloud sweeps by, carried on the breeze. To leave a crisp blue morning, on which to continue my walk.

I follow a, tree lined, sunken lane. In the lee, of the grassy shoulder, of the sea wall.  To either side, sprays of pink and white confetti celebrate spring's arrival.

 Goatham's neatly ordered orchard offers a short cut, down to Otterham Creek 

The apple trees are dressed in their Sunday-best finery. The better to woo passing honey bees. Pollen tipped stamen, poised above tempting, golden, pots of nectar.

The season is yet young. Stargazer and I must wait patiently, like the apple blossom, before our long nurtured cruising hopes bear fruit.

Credits

Synoptic Chart courtesy of  The Met Office.

Dandelion

".....I held a dandelion

That said the time had come 

To leave upon the wind...."

Stargazer is afloat once more. The evening sun warms her cockpit. Where I sit, mug of coffee in hand. At peace with the world.

Delayed delivery, of spare parts (seals) for the sail drive, meant that we had missed our allocated relaunch slot. With the crane booked solid, beyond Easter.

But, we are blessed with two still, dry, days. On day one, Taylor (Marina Manager and crane driver) conjours a gap, in his hectic pre-Easter schedule, in which to return Stargazer to her natural element. On day two, I bend on the sails. Alan and Sarah (from Wilkinson Sails) arriving with a set of tapered battens, for the new genoa.

On day three, the March wind doth blow. An equinoctial gale, out of the south. I manhandle the long-life provisions, stockpiled over the winter, aboard. They fill the saloon. And I wonder if I have overdone their quantity.

But, by midday, the mound of tins, jars and packets has been persuaded into lockers. Or the aft cabin storage bins. Followed by my clothes and bedding. The spring relaunch rush is over. Stargazer feels like home once more. My racing mind slows to 'sea tempo.'

Idly, I scroll through a week's backlog of e mails. Including one from Helene, on the Passeport Escales team, who sends a preview copy of this year's brochure.

(See ‘French Connections’ post)

Which features ‘Doug de Chatham’ (yours truly) and a fine portrait of Stargazer, at anchor, on the La Penze river, in 2020.

CREDITS

"Curtains" (Dandelion quotation) by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, 1975. 

 

The Jigsaw

 

The 'new' Wilkinson Sails loft is an unassuming structure, clad in corrugated sheet. It is located above the reach of the highest spring tide. A five minute walk (uphill) from its picture-postcard, Kentish clapperboard, predecessor.

Which was built beside Faversham Creek. Flooding, with increasing regularity, as the channel silted. (Due to a decade-long wrangle, between Peel Ports and the County Council, over responsibility for maintenance of the town's sluice gates).

The ‘new’ loft may be less picturesque, than its predecessor. But, it provides a more cost effective and practical location, from which to operate a burgeoning sail making business. The move thus embodies the Wilkinson philosophy, of providing simple and pragmatic solutions.

The door groans theatrically, as I open it. Causing Sarah to look up, from the sail which she is repairing. She calls, to alert Alan, who emerges from the store room, bearing Stargazer's new genoa. Completed, after much over winter design discussion. It is cross-cut and in Contender Vectran.

One more piece of the jigsaw, which is the readying of Stargazer for her summer cruise, slots into place.

In the boatyard, meteorological spring announces its arrival, with sudden showers and languorous bursts of sunshine. Whilst the tide ebbs and floods with a more predictable regularity. Work, on Stargazer, occurs in opportunistic fits and starts, as conditions permit.

Day by day, the ratio of sunshine to showers rises. One by one, refit tasks are completed: polishing, antifouling, anode renewal, engine servicing and water pump replacement. Pieces completing the pre-season preparation picture. Until Stargazer is ready for her relaunch.

In Tension

 

In the still of Friday evening, I bring Stargazer alongside the crane dock. Ready for her annual lift out, arranged for Monday.

Weekend long, the weather holds.

But, on Monday, forty knot gusts race one another, along the length of the river. Squalls scurrying from winter into spring. Crane work is cancelled. Carefully laid plans are thrown awry.

Tuesday and Wednesday are forecast to be fair, before the next system rolls in. But both days are already fully booked. And the 'rules,' of the crane dock are that boats, which have their lift cancelled, must queue for the next vacant slot. With Easter in the offing, such openings are in short supply. 

Tension mounts.

The 'rules,’ however, rely on human interpretation. With Stargazer already alongside, and myself on hand, to unship her backstay and aid sling placement, she would be a quick lift. 

On Tuesday I arrive at the yard early, to see what opportunities the day may bring. Chatting agreeably, in the sunshine, with nautical passers-by. Lured outdoors, by the welcome prospect, of a change in the season.

The benign conditions speed the morning's work. And apply a balm of benevolence to proceedings. Taylor, multi-tasking Marina Manager and crane driver, ambles over to our conversational knot. "Reckon we can squeeze Stargazer in next, if you like?"

Stargazer is swung ashore. A growth, of underwater slime, testament to a (largely) mild autumn and winter. Pent up breath can be released. Preparations, for Stargazer's summer cruise, may proceed. 

My visit, to the French Visa centre, had yielded a six month Visa de Long Sejour, in yesterday’s post. (See French Connections). I have my ticket to summer.

Now it is time to ready Stargazer's hull, rig and engine. Whilst Sarah and Alan complete her new genoa, in the loft at Wilkinson Sails.

French Connections

 ONE

A fine drizzle glosses the pavements, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. As I step off the train, on my annual mission to seek a French Visa. That vital ingredient in the heady 'Asterix' potion, which will fuel Stargazer's summer plans.

Back home in Kent, the silhouettes of bare-branched, skeletal trees stand sentry on the horizon. Colours are muted. Sunlight winter-thin and palid. Soon, though, it will be time to perform the first rite of spring. The bringing of Stargazer ashore, to prepare her for a summer at sea.

TWO

Last May, whilst Stargazer was in Concarneau, the one hundred foot, foiling, Ultim (short for Ultimate) class trimaran 'SVR' was in port. Readying for a single handed, round the world race, against five sister ships. The first time that such a feat has been attempted.

On the seventh of January, the fleet left Brest. Making thirty five to forty knots, as they smoked south, toward the Cape of Good Hope. There SVR struck a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object). The violence of the impact driving her dagger board aft. Slicing open the hull. Watertight bulkheads averted a sinking. But her race was ended. Five competitors fought on in the ‘Big South.' Gitana building a commanding lead, through the windswept wilds of the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties.

Sufficient to enable her skipper, Charles Caudrelier, to back off for thirty six hours, whilst a storm blew through. Before tackling Cape Horn in more benign conditions. Now on the homeward leg, he is nearing Recife. The only one, of the 'flying boats,' not have to pitted to repair damage (predominantly to foils). Now he ekes out his remaining six days' provisions. With the doldrums between him and the finish line.

THREE

The company behind Passeport-Escales is based within the city walls of Vannes. This is a scheme which Stargazer makes extensive use of. It grants five 'free' nights, in each of one hundred and fifty French marinas. In return for allowing others to use the vacant berth, of a boat away on passage, from a participating home marina.

Stargazer, the Passeport-Escales team inform me, has benefitted from more 'free' nights, since my retirement, than any other British boat. They therefore wish to conduct a short interview, for their house magazine 'Pass-Ports.' Its purpose is to publicise the scheme and, as Jean my interviewer explains, "to help people to dream." An endeavour which Stargazer wholeheartedly supports.

Picture Credits:

4.Gitana in flight                        courtesy of  Yann Riou polaRYSE  Gitana SA

5.Gitana rounding Cape Horn   courtesy of  Yann Riou polaRYSE  Gitana SA