Tim Bizzey's blog

Thursday the 2nd May was to be the big day of departure, but not before weeks and months of planning, preparation and checklists.  Well of course anyone who has done a trip of any significance knows about the lists, checklists and interminable double checklists.

So on the evening of the 1st May we were faced with the execution of our first passage plan, a very tricky operation to get Storm Petrel torn free from her happy home in Southsea Marina.  She really didn’t want to leave and the wind had got up making life very difficult indeed.

Storm Petrel - a 38ft Moody - was never designed to career around a course at fast speed, but in the February Fast  Cruise at the end of the race, we were surfing down waves at over 9 knots - quite exhilerating!

Weymouth marina is screwing its visitors during the Olympics. How does £220 per night sound?

The January Fast Cruise proved for us to be one of the most interesting in the several years that this challenging winter series has been conducted. The weather forecast had been looking dire nearly all week and there must have been those who were planning to forget the whole thing and turn up at the Castle by road with some muttered excuse about the weather.

Oh no! Not in this Club! Saturday morning dawned mild and noisy around the rigging, but certainly not as the Met Office had predicted. So down with the porridge, off with lines, and out to the Cambrian Wreck where familiar sails could be seen with bleary eyed anxious crews, stop watch in hand.

‘Twas a dark and stormy night in Langstone Harbour on Friday, the Friday night before the Christmas Fast Cruise. Storm Petrel’s crew had decided that due to their advancing years, (well actually the advancing years of their crew), they would arrive at the marina on Friday afternoon, put the boat out on the waiting pontoon and get out the whisky bottle.

The Easter Rally looks to my crew to be an opportunity for some creative sailing mixed with a liberal helping of social company and in the prospect of languid spring days with gentle following winds.

The winter has done its worst but our new copper coating is now finished and despite the appalling January weather Storm Petrel is now back in the water waiting for the mast to go up and then we can sail away in to the blue, or more probably the grey yonder.

The work looks excellent and we are optimistic that this expense will stand us in good stead for the next ten years or so. If Malcolm can slip down to the Carribbean with it and Chris can aspire to race results then it has to be good.

The secret is always preparation and whilst rich Malcolm opted for a slurry blast the poor Le Verrier-Bizzeys had to opt for a sand blast. Luckily that did no damage, the danger is always that it will damage the gel coat but we got away with it! Slurry is pretty much guaranteed to be gentle on the hull.

When Anne and I fell in love – with a boat, our stout Moody S38 Storm Petrel – we realised that at some time soon she would have to have her bottom properly cleaned. Years of caked anti fouling were curling at the edges and ready to peel off at the first hint of another seasons dressing. We decided to have our summer of sailing so launched at the first opportunity and had some wonderful days of local cruising and familiarising ourselves with our new acquisition.

The warm summer days turned to autumn and with the offer of a cheap lift out we resolved to address the problems of our pitted hull.