Hi and welcome to my channel about dinghy cruising a John Welsford 'navigator' standing lug sail around the coastal waters of SW England. I dreamt of building a small dinghy and learning how to sail it. Now the boat is built and the learning to sail bit - ……well let’s call it a ‘fun work in progress’. Videos on my channel cover my continued learning journey towards enjoyable dinghy cruising. From building galley boxes, to passage planning, from learning how to anchor and reef to exploring hidden creeks and bays, come subscribe and join me and Arwen as I learn new skills and complete coastal cruising voyages. I hope you gain further inspiration and encouragement to continue seeking beauty, adventure, new skills and fun dinghy cruising and sailing in the coastal or inland waterway communities where you live. You can also follow our adventures together at www.arwensmeanderings.blogspot.co.uk Thanks for dropping by. Steve (Plymouthwelshboy) sjparke44@gmail.com
a dilemma - everyone has a right to enjoy the water - and the families were having fun - just at everyone else's expense - i try to keep an open mind but.....!!
Yo be honest I have absolutely no idea. Given that there is a inlet valve just above the prop and an exit stream of water when engine is running....then I'd expect dribbles of water to appear anywhere below the engine but that's just me. I always thought that cooling water went up the shaft ....but as a very amateur sailor who has only done his engine service twice ....I truthfully don't know...sorry 🤔🙄😔
Just wondering, would an electric generator, water, solar or wind, be a good idea for a sail boat? Really liking the Jon Welsford, Navigator, from an observer’s perspective only. Wonder where one might buy a Jon Welsford set of plans? I too am 68 yo and feel myself dying, growing weaker, arthritis with the pain getting worse, memory…well, what was I saying?
I don't know anything about generators on small boats ...sorry....as for plans....depends where in world you are ......can get sent direct from John's own website. Sorry to hear about your arthritis. It is painful. My sympathies
I’ve just managed to split the leg on mine (same engine). I should have done this yearly, it took a lot of persuasion to get the leg away from the power head. The issue was not the drive shaft seized into the head as I thought. It was the steel stud at the bottom seized into the aluminium casting. This only released after quite a lot of heat on the stud from a mini blowtorch and some enthusiastic whacking with a large hammer and a piece of hardwood. (Careful not to break the cavitation plate!) hit it near the front. - also try hanging the leg upside down and spraying a load of releasing lube in there - leave overnight or even longer.
Yeah depends on sailing conditions. I get easily seasick and so tend to keep it loose in benign conditions and tighten it up if it gets choppy. Not best practice must admit
You can buy a long fork and eat straight from the bag, the fork would reach right into the bottom of ready meal bags quite easily, for zero cleaning up or spillage. You knew that, right?
We have a phrase in the UK...teaching granny to suck eggs.....I'm an ex mountaineer, outdoor instructor and expeditioneer. Now I have leisure time, I find eating out of bags totally uncivilised and somewhat heathen like 😁😁😉😆
You might consider insulating the food storage compartment? Sheets of foil backed cushioned material of some sort, could be cut to fit and stapled to the inside of the compartment. An inner lid similarly insulated might be useful too. It might not keep food cool but may prevent it getting hot? Just a thought. Thanks for the vid.
I have another galley box which is food provisions and I use insulated picnic boxes in that one. The main galley box tends to carry camping meals boil in bag etc as I'm normally only going for a couple of days. Might take another long ok at it though. Thanks for the suggestion 👍
@@plymouthwelshboy I was going to suggest that, but didn't want to overwhelm you. The black rubber ones get flat spots. we have red for glass, and blue for aluminium. I'd tend towards what ever is softer. In our case it is the red ones. which are also less affected by the grease. Now I'm convicted I need to grease mine which are black :-( A case of do as I say, not as I do!
I really enjoyed this! I live very close to the Lynher and have kayaked on it a few times. Barely made it back in to Forder Creek on that spring flood this year! My dream is to get a small boat myself and do exactly this, get out on the water and explore our beautiful home. Thank you for sharing.
You are most welcome. I'm toying with getting a decent inflatable kayak to tow behind arwen but also to take on our motorhome travels as well. Glad you enjoyed the videos take care now
@@plymouthwelshboy we also kayaked back to Forder from Cotehele this summer. Highly recommended. Any top tips for a new sailor looking to explore the Tamar/Lynher/Sound and nearby coastlines? Many thanks!
depends on what kind of boat you have. If you are using a dinghy and towing - explore your local slipways in advance before launching always helps. Get a good navigation app like navionics and if exploring up river - an OS map of the tamar valley is also useful.
Thanks Steve. I see you can now let the centreboard rest on the roller while travelling in its new position. I have one in that position on Trim’s trailer. One difference is that I have a cylindrical roller with the larger diameter at each end rather than the V roller. I don’t know if that is better but food for thought. My hull is in desperate need of attention and I am planning to flip her and redo the hull this year. Take care. Josh
Those sorts of trailer always liable to damage the boat. A combi trailer would have been a better choice and you'd never have to immerse your road wheel bearings. When I looked at the Navigator specs a few years ago the weight was similar to a GP14 so well within the scope of a combi trailer.
Yeah it's not bad for northerly skies but because we are on the side of a wooded hill. .skies to the south are often obscured hence I drive 20 mins to nearest beach area
Absolutely lovely! And i often think about the "ancient people" who could see these skies lit up always as part of their lives, how they created myths and navigation methods based on these 'constant stars," and how so many of us--especially city-dwellers--are deprived of this splendid display. Thanks for sharing.
I've been privileged enough to travel through truly dark sky areas in Tanzania, Namibia and Arizona ..... The heavens hold truly spectacular sites and wonders to behold.
It is a lovely boat of John's. Take a close look at his designs. The 'pathfinder' is a bigger version of my 'navigator'. But there is also 'Long Steps', 'Scamp' and the about to emerge 'Scallywag' - which is much anticipated.
Oh you are most welcome. It was a breezy day and I struggled most of it......I am, as everyone knows, not the most skilful sailor🤔😆 and try as I did I couldn't keep up with Polly. But, as they say any day in the water is far better than a day in the office .....thanks for stopping by...take care now 👍
Love your videos. Do you have a down haul on the luff of your main sail? Can't help thinking tightening that would sort out that crease. Thanks for sharing
hi - the crease is due to either of these issues - firstly the srit boom attachment i use slides down the mast occasionally - it should be set at half way between the tack of the mainsail and the lower forward end of the top yard when it is fully hauled up. OR its because i haven't tied the mainsail halyard on at the correct point on the top yard - it needs to be very aft heavy and i always untie it after every trip and never seem to get it back in the same place next one out it is one of the issues to sort permanently during winter maintenance. the downhaul on the tack is pretty tight
Something as simple as a small bit of wood screwed onto the yard at the right spot will give you a place to aim for and a way to keep the halyard from sliding down. In the video you were only using the part of the sail below the crease. Take a look at the jib luff tension, I think you need more. Stays to port and starboard off the end of the bowsprit might help too, I remember watching mine sag off to leeward before adding some. Small tweaks, one at a time and take notes as you go, it will come together eventually.@@plymouthwelshboy
Nice topside on the hull -- part decked with combing and sensible sheeting systems - and what looks like a nicely balanced rig. Altogether better than the open dinghy we have seen sailed by Roger in France. Good to be based in Plymouth with fair weather access to Newton Ferrers etc. as well as the creeks above Plymouth itself.
the rig is brilliant when i have it set up properly and i'm not doing stupid things like sitting on my jib sheets or forgetting to release the appropriate one after tacking and backing the jib. John welsford's navigator is roomy, stable, safe, versatile, seaworthy. My standing lug yawl rig can be used in several ways. when balanced the boat sails herself with tiller locked off. There is good freeboard and you physically sit in the boat with a higher back coaming which makes it a dryish boat when going to windward. Plenty of lockers which also act as watertight buoyancy chambers. big locker under that foredeck. Everything happens in slow motion even in brisk breezes. And plymouth is brilliant - the yealm, avon and erme; all the creeks up the tamar and lynher. a relatively easy day sail to salcombe or to fowey. and all of plymouth sound to play in as well.
Great pleasure to receive your engaging response. Morwellham Quay was the furthest I managed to get up the Tamar. A potential father-in-law took us up to the museum on the quay and into the tin mine. All in a lift keel Southerly yacht.His house was overlooking the arm of the Yealm which dried out on low water springs at Newton Ferrers.@@plymouthwelshboy
Thanks for making this series Steve. Anchors, ergh... I nearly lost Trim once when my 10lb plough anchor didn't hold in sand, and I was off doing other things on shore. Good samaritans saved her. I now have a little danforth aft and the big plough anchor forward, and not shy about throwing both in even for a short stopover. Don't feel bad about the mistakes, only the brave put them on camera for others to learn by. You looked pleased as punch belting home again, you have to love a Navigator.... Josh.
Kick myself because it's the first time I have ever not carried the huge plough anchor that I have. Have never had to use it up that beach before...🙄...I'm always pleased if I manage to show how well a navigator can go.....most of the time my poor sailing skills just don't do the boat justice....you well Josh?
Hi, just a thought. Anchor design has moved on from the Danforth to focus on loading the pointy bit. Apart from poor mud holding, I guess yours didnt want to reset after releasing either, possibly initiated from the shift in the current and rode loading. Rocna, Mantis and Spade offer alternatives and prices can be reviewed via Jimmy Green. If you think of an effective anchor as a safety item, their cost is low in comparison to what can happen in the wrong conditions with an inferior model. Regrds, Peter
Hi Peter. I do have a huge bruce anchor which has never failed on any ground but I didnt bring it on this trip. in all the times i have visited this beach I have always used the lighter danforth successfully. So it came as a bit of a shock!!!
@@plymouthwelshboy I know that people get very 'het up' about anchor types and weight but few it seems have much actual experience of anchors simply not setting or dragging through soft mud. There are several places in our rivers where he have the dual problems of soft silty mud and strong tides. Just near where you were is one place where I dragged a decent sized ( I thought) anchor and the same thing again just downriver in Sandacre bay on a very windy day. Many of the modern anchors seem to 'float' in the soft silty 'soupy' top layer of silt/mud and won't bite through to the harder layer below. Worryingly I used to find that even among the JW members there were some very fixed opinions about anchors where actual experience was lacking. The way I got around anchor problems with my 3 and 4 Ton Frances and Deben (with high keel area) was to go up one or 2 sizes just to get the weight needed.
From my very limited knowledge of anchors it's not simply a matter of size. The design matters too as some anchors are better is a given substrate than others. For mud a favourite amongst East Coast yachters seems to be the aluminium Fortress. It's a bit pricey though at around £330 and the lightest weight seems to be 4.5KG.
Yeah....I used a Danforth which in the past has held up there no problem. But this time ....wow. Interestingly as I am replying to you now, I am watching a live report on local news about the spring tide flooding in looe. Flat calm, no wind, no rain and no surge and yet the most water they have seen across the harbour and town streets for some time. It seems to be getting far worse
