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November 2020 - Commodores Newsletter

(To view the PDF copy with photos please click here)

Dear Fellow Elizabethans,

I hope those of you with boats managed to get some sailing in this summer. If you got out on the water the water early enough, we had good weather this summer in my part of the world, although most of us are now tucked up for the winter, ashore or afloat. Evadne is safely ashore, although we had a shock when she came out of the water – see below.

The other big news from the EOA this summer was, of course, the new website www.eoa2.org . If you’ve not had a look, please do so: Stuart has done a brilliant job, and has put a lot of time into getting it to work smoothly, and filling it with new photographs and videos. Please send him anything you are happy to share, especially if it’s a photograph of an e33 or e35, and any videos under sail.

For those currently locked down in England, I hope you’ve got a nice project at home, or are lucky enough to live close enough to the boat to count as a local. If you are building, restoring or making something for the boat this winter, please consider sending me a note and pictures: I am converting one of Evadne’s shackle drawers, having relocated the metalwork to a waterproof box in the bilges. It will hopefully become a fitted wineglass storage drawer, for the set of glasses I received for my 60th birthday. If it comes off, pictures will follow.

Down here on the south coast, things never really got back to normal this summer, but most of my local harbours in the Solent were accessible, albeit with many requiring advance bookings. It was very patchy on the whole, I think. This tended to put off voyagers from outside the area, although the Solent has many safe anchorages if you’re not bothered about going ashore. Talking to people from other areas, I would say that it got a lot closer to normal, the further you went from Southampton. Unless the harbour depends on mass rafting for its capacity, such as the Cove in Weymouth. Here’s hoping for a less interrupted spring, with timely launching, and a more normal sailing summer in 2021.

Membership news – boats and people

Ken Bradshaw – e33 “Kazbek”

Ken bought Kazbek back in March, and she then languished in Ardrossan until he could move her. Actually, he first had to reduce her carbon footprint by removing the small kelp forest that had accumulated on her hull. The first attempt to leave was thwarted by the engine surging and overheating, but on 1st June she finally left on the 30-mile voyage to her new home. Ken is on the right, and below is a lovely night shot of Caladh harbour, Kyles of Bute.

Sadly, for us, several people have left having sold their boats, although some still keep in touch; e33 “Treoggin II” and e30 “Valsa II” have new owners now. Details of any boats advertised on the EOA website are set out below.

e29 weather helm

Jack Pombroy’s e29 “Greensleeves” seems to suffer from severe weather helm under the 130% genoa and full main. He has been asking if anyone else has ideas, or similar experience. Both Stuart (“Aelana”) and I have had a think about it, without really coming up with a silver bullet. The e29 has some weather helm, naturally, but you can normally hold on to full sail in a F3-4. Pinning the sail in too tightly to the centre line, insufficient kicker and too baggy a mainsail are the things that have come to mind so far. Rudder shape seems unlikely, and it doesn’t seem as if the mast step has been moved.

Haul outs: flying boats and a missing rudder

Two quite different flying boats. Craning out can be stressful, and many owners choose not to watch their pride and joy flying through the air with the greatest of ease, however much they trust the crane operator. By chance, both e29 “Freyja” and e23 “Holly Blue” were snapped in flight this autumn, pictures left and overleaf.

Left, more of a horror story. Being retired now, I can bring Evadne from her mooring to the slip on a weekday, rather than paying someone to tow her, a journey of about a mile. And, the yard do not need to use a crane to lift her out. This year, on the mooring, we noticed that the steering was remarkably light. Putting the engine into forward and the rudder hard over, I could see from the wash that she was steering OK, so we set off. She steered under power, as well as usual. As she came out of the water, the full extent of the damage was revealed (above left). We think the rest of the rudder is sitting on the seabed at the mooring buoy, so a new one is to be made. How and why it broke is a matter for speculation and deduction. More details next time.

As many of us have noticed, the one advantage of going into the water late is less fouling. Both Freyja (above right) and Evadne spent the summer in Chichester harbour, or out sailing, and both pictures are before any jet washing took place. Evadne had an algal beard around the waterline, probably due to more wave splashing on a swinging mooring. Otherwise, all we had was a bit of slime, and some weed around the underside of the keel.

Old friends, and other news

Apart from the new website, the other big thing in the EOA for me, this summer, has been finally getting on top of the mailing list. Several old friends, who have been wondering why we don’t talk to them anymore, have suddenly heard from us, now that Stuart and Charles have picked up on the holes in my old mailing list.

People I’d lost off the bottom of my mailing list include Ned Cook, over in the states. Ned still lives on board his Liz 29 “Resolution”, and was happy to fill in the many gaps in my knowledge of the Wauquiez forums, which include the Liz 29 and 35.

Lorraine and Tom Owen, previous owners of Liz 33 “Souena”, were asking for news of their old boat, and if any subsequent owners could share photographs of the boat with them.

John Baynes sent us pictures of Liz 23 “Holly Blue” being launched and (back on page 2) being put to bed. John usually makes it up to the south coast Raleigh from his base in Topsham, but had to give it a miss this year. Largely due to a shortage of berths in Weymouth and the western Solent, or worse, having to pre-book and pre-pay for a berth over two weeks in advance.

Stuart “webmaster” Harrison has been busy on Liz 29 “Aelana” too, fitting a full set of 24-inch stanchions (left), as well as a new stove, a companionway seat, a Perspex washboard and more mast cleats.

If you have any news or photographs of your boat that you’d like to share, either at home, or visiting somewhere scenic, please do send them to me and I’ll try and include them in the next newsletter, or else send to Stuart on webmaster@eoa.org.uk for adding to the Gallery on the website.

2021 plans

“Plans” is perhaps overstating things, “aspirations” might be more accurate under current circumstances.

When Dave Currie (below) mentioned his intention to enter his Liz 29 “Lady M” in the Jester challenge, Stuart rashly mentioned that he might enter Liz 29 “Aelana” in the Baltimore leg. He can, of course, realise the folly of that and back out, with huge loss of face. Or, of course, he might not have been talking about 2021. If anyone else is inspired to do the same, or to set off round Britain, or round the Isle of Wight, (or Man, or Skye), and would like to share plans, tips and so on with fellow Elizabethans, then please get in touch. Stuart may be able to set up something on the web site, if there’s enough interest, but just sharing email or a Whatsapp group might be helpful. We don’t publish your contact details, so please let us know and we can put everyone in touch privately.

Actually, the same goes for racing. Most of our boats are elderly cruisers. Many of the owners too, but even so, some are keen handicap racers. If you’d like something on the website to share results, events, hints and tips, then please contact Stuart on webmaster@eoa.org.uk.

We would usually have a south coast pre-Christmas pub meeting, and Monica and Alastair have sounded out the Duke of Wellington in Southampton, but that does not look realistic this year, sadly. If things pan out well, and the Rule of Six is relaxed, we’ll look at an Easter or earlier fitting out bash, and a summer 2021 Raleigh. The reason we have south coast events, by the way, is that the commodore, the secretary and now the webmaster all live and sail down here. There is also a small community of fellow Elizabethans who can meet up in a pub in the same area. We are more than happy to help anyone who’d like to do the same anywhere else, supplying contact details of nearby members and so on, but local knowledge is key when it comes to selecting venues, which means a local organiser. So, if you long for a

Raleigh in your own cruising ground, or just an evening in a pub, and you can write emails and make the odd phone call, then that is all it takes.

Boats for sale

“Black Bess” and “Zett” are pictured here. All these boats are on the website at https://www.eoa2.org/forsale

e23 “Black Bess”

John Philips is selling “Black Bess” (ex “Caprella”), a very smart looking Liz 23. She was still for sale last month, but the advert on the website had generated some interest, so we may have a new member soon.

e30 “Zett”

Daniela Wroblewski is selling Victor Mitchell’s Liz 30 “Zett”. Another well-loved boat, Victor has been with the EOA for many years and is reluctantly selling her.

e30 boat cushions

Jeff Tregenza has replaced the forepeak and two saloon cushions on Liz 30 “Snowbird”, and if anyone wants the old ones before they go to the tip, please get in touch (soon!)

e23 “Hydag” (Now Sold -Webmaster)

New members

We have had a lot of enquiries from people looking for Elizabethan boats, and several new owners have joined us over the summer, including someone who is still looking for his Liz 29, and the American owner of the first Elizabethan 35.

Jack Pombroy – e29 “Greensleeves”

Jack bought “Greensleeves” last year and officially joined us last month.

Mark Linney – looking for a e29

Mark has joined us in anticipation of finding an Elizabethan 29. Preferably one of the newer ones with an encapsulated keel.

Roger Ela – e35 No. 1 “Arion”

Roger has bought “Arion”, and keeps her on Lake Champlain in Vermont, not far from the Canadian border. Originally “Liz of Lymington”, she was built and sailed by Peter Webster before being sold to a Mr Hill, with the name changed to “Arion”. He sailed her around the world, ending up in the USA, where she has been ever since.

Matthew Grey – e23 “Red Swan”

Matthew bought “Red Swan” and had to transport her to her new home in Chichester harbour. We failed to find anyone with a trailer, at least one with wheels that go round and without a resident boat, so the last I heard he was going to use local transport company Squirrel Marine, which was also recommended independently by a local boatyard.

Rob Platt – e31 “Elizabethan Phoenix”

Rob rescued his boat after she’d suffered fire damage to her stern. He’s completed that repair and is refurbishing the rest of the boat. Her thinks she was rescued from a farmer’s field ten years ago, in Anglesea or north Wales. That was after a circumnavigation, and he has been told that there are pictures of her in Australia. Rob hopes to get her back in the water soon. The plate says she was built in 1969, and one sail bag seems to have the name, or part name “nair”.

Paddy Halton – e29 “Gammy Bird”

Paddy bought “Gammy Bird” in August and moved her from Sligo to Connemara. She is a 1984 boat from Bergqvist, and he plans a full refit.

Paul Conway – e31 “Sula of Llangwm”

Paul bought “Sula” recently, and he has based her on the Wirral. He has carried out a lot of work on the rigging so far, with more planned. She has quite a history, with a transatlantic voyage followed by a circumnavigation, with a blog on the web, if you google her name.

Dave Currie – e29 “Lady M”

Dave bought “Lady M” from Windermere, and brought her to Liverpool where he fitted her out and refurbished her. Originally “Ebony”, she was built in 1969, which makes her a Peter Webster boat, and is now afloat in Whitehaven marina.

Dave has sailed singlehanded for over 20 years, including two UK circumnavigations. He’s sailed “Lady M” around the Irish sea quite a bit, including to Conwy and the Isle of man. Next year he is planning to enter the Jester challenge, which goes from Pwhelli to Baltimore (the Irish one) via Fastnet, and then to the Azores.

David White, EOA Commodore - “Evadne”, Elizabethan 29 No. 11