Oyster News 52 - Oyster Yachts

A TLANTIC DELIVERY
We found a space at the end of the ferry pontoon. Berthing was the quickest, most perfect
textbook stuff I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t time to do it again!. It was now 2245, 15 minutes
till closing time! By the time I had locked the boat, Mike, Jo and Jeff were already out of
sight. We just made it as last orders were being called.
Next day, after a rig check, Wednesday the 18th of June was a day off in Dartmouth.
Warrant Officer Danny Maxwell very kindly gave us a tour of HMS Hindustan, a
decommissioned minesweeper permanently moored at the Britannia Naval Collage.
Dartmouth is a beautiful old port with a long maritime history. Dartmouth museum is well
worth a visit.
DARTMOUTH TO IPSWICH
A study of the tidal atlas revealed the best time for the remainder of our trip to Ipswich was
to leave at 0200 the next morning, Thursday 19th of June. Everyone was up just after 0100
and ready to go. We cast off at 0145. The wind was WSW F5 and a bit cold. As the sun
rose, the English Channel we all know and love revealed itself, cold and foggy.
We arrived at the SW Shingles buoy at the Needles channel around 1300. As we entered
the channel Crackerjack was surfing at over 13 knots on a broad reach. I was especially
pleased with this, since Mike had stopped ranting about his 12 point something knots in
the Atlantic!
As we approached Cowes a familiar sight appeared in the distance. J/K7 Velsheda!
The magnificent J-Class yacht tacked ahead of us and sailed down our starboard side.
It was like a pretty girl walking past a building site. Crackerjack’s crew, goggle-eyed,
watched her powering gracefully past.
Phoning ahead to Gosport Marina secured us a berth for the night. We tied up at 1520,
plenty of time to get the ferry over to Portsmouth and HMS Edinburgh for the tour and Tot.
I had never been aboard a fully active warship before and was really looking forward to it,
as were the others.
Captain Robinson met us at the dockyard gate and escorted us to the Edinburgh. She’s a
Type 42 destroyer of 4800 tons, with a crew of 300 officers and men. Edinburgh is equipped
with Sea Dart surface to air missiles, a 4.5in gun, Stingray torpedoes and the Vulcan
Phalanx system as a last line of defence. Her helicopter, a Westland Lynx, also carries Sea
Skua anti-ship missiles. Her combined Rolls-Royce gas turbine engines - two Olympus and
two Spey - give her a top speed in excess of 30 knots.
She was in the midst of a refit. Men seemed to be working everywhere. Because of the
amount of work going on, and the near arrival of Admiral Snelson, our tour was quick but
informative. How the Captain can know exactly what’s going on, in every corner of a ship
of such complexity is truly awesome. The only disappointing part was that Captain
Robinson didn’t seem too keen on letting any of us fire any of the guns! The Vulcan Phalanx
system looked particularly exciting, being able to fire thousands of round per minute from
its rotating barrels.
Captain Robinson invited us all to his cabin for drinks and await the arrival of the highest
ranked Tot Club member. Rear Admiral and Mrs. Snelson (David and Ruth) arrived a few
minutes before the Tot was due. Even though he wasn’t in uniform, and I have never served
in the forces, I still felt like saluting with both hands and a foot when he entered the cabin.
The formalities done, everyone sat down for another drink while Mike prepared the Tot.
Captain Robinson, of course, knew the history of the rum Tot, issued daily to British sailors
prior to July 1970, but Chief Petty Officer Mike Rose RN (Retired) and the Royal Naval Tot
Club of Antigua and Barbuda was something new. Who was this guy who looked like he’d
just stepped off the front of a ‘Players’ packet and commanded the presence of Admirals?
Mike gave a short history of how he had revived the tradition of the daily Tot in civilian life,
of the Tot Club and how he and David Snelson had met in Antigua.
What a day for Crackerjack’s crew. A sail from Dartmouth to Portsmouth, a 13 knot-plus
blast past The Needles, a sail past by a J Class, invited aboard a British warship, met and
entertained by the Captain and dined with an Admiral. I have to say, that doesn’t happen
every day. Perhaps I should get out more.
52 www.oystermarine.com
LOG
Total miles logged:
4396.3
Days at sea:
23
Average speed:
7.96 knots
Days Ashore:
5
Max speed:
13.4 knots
Best noon-noon:
224.1 miles
Best midnight-midnight:
226.9 miles
Best 24 hours:
230.3 miles.
Engine hours:
235.6 (bearing in mind
this was a delivery trip).
Generator hours:
44.2.
Watermaker hours:
34.5 (approx 2100 litres).
Fuel taken on:
1000 litres.
Fuel used:
710 litres.
Average consumption (engine RPM
kept to 2400. Assuming generator
50% consumption of engine):
2.76 litres/hour.