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Spring
2006
Articles in
this newsletter
Final Preparations Now Being Made for
this Summer's Round Britain Voyage
Beautiful Scenery and Fine Sailing
Grounds
An Account of Breakfast on the Schooner
Trinovante - or The Ship's Chef Houdini of the seas
Anchoring Under Sail on the Run
The Thames Estuary's Explosive Secret
Er...what was that sail called again?
Fascinating Facts
Trinovante's Run Riot with the British
Queen
Sun, Moon, Stars and ...Cloud?
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Voyages onboard the Schooner Trinovante in
2008
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| Final
Preparations Now Being Made for this Summer's Round
Britain Voyage
Spring is here, the daffodils are out
and Trinovante’s refit is nearly over. At last
there have been a few days where it is enjoyable to
sit in the warm sunshine on deck and watch the light
sparkling on the water as the tide comes in.
A lot has been happening on board over the last few
months.
In addition to all the usual maintenance on the rig
and hull, Trinovante has been treated to a brand new
130HP Perkins diesel engine and a new up to date radar
and chart plotter in preparation for this summer’s
voyage around Britain.
This year’s new sail is a
super strong storm jib traditionally made with lots
of hand stitching. It will mean that we can carry
more sail in stronger winds if the crew are up for some
excitement!
Thanks to Tony Gibson for coming out from the Stone
Sailing Club and taking the photo used on the front
cover of this newsletter.
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Trinovante Sailing on the River Blackwater
(photo courtesy of Tony Gibson)
John the skipper putting up the new radar
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| Beautiful
Scenery and Fine Sailing Grounds
This year Trinovante embarks
on a voyage to explore some of the most beautiful parts
of our coast.
Sailing to a new place by sea always
feels so different from any other form of travel. We
are always delighted if we see puffins enroute. Often
miles from land, and all on their own, they remind us
of tiny clockwork toys.
Very often the whole crew are on a
bit of a high when we arrive in a new port or anchorage.
It could be
the sense of achievement at having met the challenge
of sailing to a new destination by working with the
wind and tides or, the satisfying
feeling of having pulled together as a team to make
it all happen or, for some perhaps simply sight of the
local pub!
Harbours are often the central focus
of a community or town and Trinovante becomes a transient
part of the local scene when she arrives to tie up alongside
the harbour wall.
John and Su
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An Account of
Breakfast on the Schooner Trinovante
- or The Ship's Chef Houdini of the Seas
Its an unproven but widely held
belief that tea drunk al-fresco tastes better than when
taken in the comfort of indoors: a week’s voyage on
Trinovante was all it took to convince me that the same also
holds true for a full English breakfast.
As we sped down the river Stour, the
stately homes flying past and autumn creeping across the countryside,
we little thought that the force seven winds making the morning’s
sail so thrilling would jeopardise our meal, which had been
postponed until we were out at sea so that we could take full
advantage of wind and tides.
Through the busy harbours of Felixstowe
and Harwich, the entrance to the twin rivers rapidly dissolving
into the haze of the flat Essex geography, the sea began to
get rough just as breakfast began to get cooked.
What happened below during this time,
is perhaps the stuff of horror movies and only the metal frame
that had been constructed around the gas hob bore witness.
Perhaps it is a secret on a par with the tricks of the great
escapologists, but slowly and surely, one-by-one, plates
full of plump sausages and quivering eggs, began to appear.
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Balancing this feast on our laps, the
movement of the sea turned eating into a skill that we’d
not had this much trouble with since childhood and ultimately
made every mouthful more rewarding. Wolfing down mouthfuls
in-between waves, began to fortify us and set us up for the
rest of sail back to base.
The fresh air, the taste and the assault
course style of eating led to the best breakfast I have ever
eaten and the fry-up at my local greasy-spoon just hasn’t
been the same since
Melanie White
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Anchoring Under
Sail on the Run
With the wind and tide together boats
usually anchor by luffing up head to wind and tide, and then
letting go the anchor to drop back, but if we are approaching
down tide we occasionally anchor on the run and use the anchor
to turn into the wind and tide. However, this requires both
a reasonable level of skill and co-ordination on the part
of the crew and a user friendly way of dropping the anchor
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Sufficient sail is carried to maintain steerage
way over the tide. In this case foresail and mizzen are enough.
The jib and staysail are down to keep the
foredeck clear for the anchor crew.
The helm is put hard over and the mizzen is
sheeted so the wind will blow the stern around and maximise
the rate of turn.
The anchor must not be let go until the turn
is well started
As soon as the anchor touches the bottom the
bows are pulled up into the tide increasing the spin still
more
The chain break is eased on as soon as the
required amount of chain has been let out.
The rate of spin increases dramatically but
there will be no sudden snatches if the timing of the manoeuvre
has been right.
Trinovante now drops back on the tide with
the anchor nicely dug in.
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Thames Estuary's Explosive Secret |
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1500 tonnes of explosives
still lie undisturbed in the entrance to the River Thames
in a legacy from WW2.
They are still in the
hold of the wrecked Liberty ship the Richard Montgomery. She
dragged her anchor and broke up on the sands after travelling
to the UK from America, in a convoy of ships bringing war
supplies. The anchorage in the Thames was to have been a temporary
stopover while she waited for a convoy travelling to her final
destination in France, but it became her final resting
place.
The masts sticking up
above the water at all states of tide are a local landmark
and a clear warning to ships to stay away.
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Attempts were made to unload her cargo immediately
after she ran aground but only half of the munitions were
unloaded before she broke in two and it was considered too
dangerous carry on.
She has been surveyed several times over
the years but it has always been thought safer to leave the
explosives where they are.
Some people say that if the ship went up it
would be the largest non nuclear explosion ever.
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Er...what
was that sail called again?
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Fascinating Facts
Neil Ashdown
The Trinovante’s
motto for 2005 was Carpe Snoozum, literally ‘seize
the snooze’. Being able to sleep whilst on deck, at an
odd angle and preferably whilst coiling rope is a Trinovante
tradition
Useful Terms for Crewmembers
Anchor
Winch
The piece of machinery used to raise the anchor.
Anchor
Guilt
The feeling that you get when, upon being confronted by the
rest of the crew, you realise that it was you that didn’t
fully release the brake on the winch.
Black Anchor Balls
A medical condition affecting male crew members that adopt
the wrong stance whilst lifting the anchor.
Boom
The lower yard on the sail. Named after the noise it makes
when you jybe.
Boom
crutch
A piece of equipment that supports the boom when the sail
is not being used. Not to be confused with boom-crotch.
Boom-crotch
Verb meaning to purposefully jybe so as to catch a passer-by
in the crotch with the boom. As in: ‘He boom-crotched
the skipper, who was not amused.’
Bulwarks
The cry of one who has been boom-crotched.
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Trinovante's
Run Riot with the British Queen
We often get asked what the name Trinovante
means. Occasionally we meet someone who recognises it
as a local name and knows that the Trinovantes were the tribe
in residence in Essex when the Romans first arrived.
Just about everything we know about the Trinovantes
comes from the writings of the invading Romans and the little
that can be deduced from coins of the time.
We know the Trinovantes fought with the Romans
against the Cantevelluni, a neighbouring, and possibly stronger,
Celtic tribe.
It seems the Trinovantes enjoyed the benefits
of co-operating with the Romans until retiring Roman soldiers
started to take more and more of Trinovante land from in and
around Camulodonum (Colchester).
When Boudicca revolted in 60 AD the Trinovantes
joined forces with the Iceni (Boudicca’s tribe) to march
on Colchester and together they burnt it to the ground and
massacred most of the population.
London received the same treatment, but once
the Roman legions arrived the tribes were totally defeated
and the Trinovantes all but disappeared from history.
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Sun, Moon,
Stars and ... Cloud?
As I hauled
my bags along the quay on a beautiful bright sunny Saturday
afternoon there she was, the three masted Schooner Trinovante.
Soon I
was ensconced aboard and being made very welcome.
What immediately impressed me, the “yachtie”, was
the space on board. I was used to narrow confines of racing
and cruising yachts and having no room to store anything.
As I had
recently completed my RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory Course,
my prime aim for sailing onboard was to take some sextant
readings. John and Su and the rest of the crew were
all sympathetic and, more importantly, helpful. I found the
running of the day to day sailing on board Trinovante very
different from my previous sails. I was used to, I suppose,
a more regimented watch bill. However, the relaxed running
of Trinovante was down to the obvious professionalism of both
John and Su.
Cloud
cover meant that sextant sights were not as plentiful as I
would have wished. I did however get some sights on the trip
across the North Sea which proved surprisingly accurate.
To ensure
that I would be able to do the astro navigation workings I
had brought everything but the kitchen
sink and then forgotten my essential Sight Reduction
Tables! That meant all the workings for the sun run sun etc,
except the meridian calculations had to be completed at home.
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At least
I had brought the correct Sight Reduction Tables for star
sights. I dutifully worked out when to look and which stars
were best. There is only a narrow twenty-ish minute window
just before dawn and after sunset, when star sights can be
taken and the horizon is still visible, so timing and knowing
which way to look are essential.
On one
occasion Nick (another crew member) and I were on watch as
the magical twenty minute period approached. A clear sky,
yippee! Wait a minute, what’s that approaching? In the
distance a black line could be seen on the horizon. Within
minutes the sky was completely overcast with low stratus.
It makes you wonder how the mariners of old managed before
the advent of GPS.
Bob
Livingston
Taking a sextant reading
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