A Foolish Voyage: Self-Discovery At Sea by Neil Hawkesford

Author:Neil Hawkesford [Hawkesford, Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Neil Hawkesford
Published: 2015-12-23T22:00:00+00:00

TEN

A NEW YEAR

I spent Christmas and most of January with my folks and it was February before I got back to 'Mor Gwas'. It had been a fantastic year of adventure and experience, my self-confidence had grown and I now felt more certain of my sailing ability. I came back to ‘Mor Gwas’ with a list of improvements and modifications I wanted to make and I wasted no time getting started. Over the holidays, I’d reaffirmed my decision. I was going to take 'Mor Gwas' South across Biscay and down to Portugal. I had a clear goal, my bank balance was healthy again, and I wanted to be ready when the Spring arrived.

The major modification I wanted to make to 'Mor Gwas' was to add a staysail. At some point in the past, a 3ft bowsprit had been fitted which worked quite well, but I wasn’t completely happy with the roller jib. It’d jammed on me in the past and even when it was working it wasn't ideal. In common with all roller jibs, it didn't reef well. This was because as it rolled up, the reduced sail area gradually climbed the forestay and left a poorly-set inefficient sail. I'd decided to fit a baby stay and have a far smaller storm jib made that could be hanked on. Simpler and far more efficient. I also wanted to improve the anchoring set-up by adding a larger Danforth type anchor, 20m of chain and 100m of warp. I bought a trailing Walker log like the one we’d used on 'Abraxis' but with remote readout. I also started looking at electronic autopilots. My wind vane worked well, but my experience on 'Abraxis' had shown me the difference a reliable autopilot would make to my single-handed sailing. In anticipation of the extra battery power it would need I upgraded the onboard 12-volt battery and fitted an LVM wind generator. In the event I never fitted an autopilot, the funds wouldn't stretch. I added a proper cockpit spray hood with big windows and the side dodgers I’d wanted. By the time I’d finished, 'Mor Gwas' was starting to look like a proper cruising boat albeit a scaled down one.

It was quite tough living and working aboard during February and March. Winter that year was harsh even for Cornwall, with freezing temperatures, frequent gales and even a few days of snow. I moved the boat around quite a bit depending on the weather and my mood.

I spent time tucked up a lovely little sheltered creek near Mylor Bridge. I moored to the pontoons at Mylor Yacht Harbour and sometimes alongside the pontoon at The Pandora Inn, Restronguet.

The latter was the most enjoyable spot if not the most productive. The inland side of the pontoon was sheltered and dried out at low water so it was comfortable in all but the worst weather. I could walk ashore and there were toilets and showers available at the pub. Many a cold Winter evening was spent supping a pint of HSD by the roaring log fire in the bar.

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