Bembridge Shakedown

A shakedown voyage in a Mirror Dinghy from Chichester Harbour to Bembridge, Isle of Wight, after some time ashore during the CV19 lockdown.

[@claussalt4140]

Thankyou so much for sharing. I share these with my Father who no longer sails his Mirror Little Lemon. I personally went out in a Westerly Fulmar 32 the following weekend. F7 gusting 8. Different sea. No sun, but still enjoyed myself!

[@msf60khz]

Thank you, Claus. I do hope your father enjoys the videos. D

[@briggspayer42]

Great to see you out on the water again and enjoying a wonderful sail in the intrepid Curlew! Thank you for sharing your adventures. Briggs

[@msf60khz]

Thank you, Briggs, my pleasure.

[@backtothebarky]

Nice to meet you today sir wonderful to see Curlew in the flesh and thanks for the chat and use of your tools for the rudder downhaul fix! Hope you made it home OK? Saw the barky pulled up on the road out...

[@msf60khz]

Nice to meet you both, Tom. Had a puncture on the way home. I managed to get to nearly Camber Beacon, but then a rain squall came through and I headed home.

[@backtothebarky]

@@msf60khz Unlucky with the tyre. Goes with the territory doesn't it... I've had an unreasonable amount of those myself on boat trailers. Good going, glad you got back out - it was a bit too windy out there today but we survived so fun none the less!

[@CorinNelsonSmith]

Nice video. I spotted Curlew at Cobnor last Saturday, and then was sailing just behind you in a cream and blue Drascombe around past Cobnor point. It was pretty gusty and I saw you beached Curlew to put a reef in!

[@msf60khz]

Hi Corin, nice to hear from you. I think I remember seeing the Drascombe. Maybe you saw us launching at Cobnor on Saturday. Actually, the reef was too much and we had to shake it out to get up Itchenor Reach.

[@CorinNelsonSmith]

Mirror Cruising Yup, spotted her in the Dinghy park as we were leaving to get some lunch at Itchenor, then saw you launching as we were returning in the tender, and then were behind you as we both sailed up the harbour a bit! We had one reef in the main, full jib and no mizzen but were still dipping the gunwales on occasion heading upwind!

[@msf60khz]

@@CorinNelsonSmith Yes we needed to shake out the reef to beat the slight ebb, which we managed to do in amongst the moorings. Good sailing. D

[@CoolBreeze640]

Your boat looks very sea worthy! Impressive how well it handled the waves.

[@msf60khz]

Thank you CoolBreeze. The limitation is the sailor!

[@andrewsmith5451]

Good to see you out on the water David. It is on my list to cross from Chichester to Bembridge so very interested to see your passage plan.

[@msf60khz]

JHi Andrerw. Thank you for commenting. Just pick a nice day with the wind not on the nose! Leave around HW. You can navigate very easily for the most part by taking sights on Horse Sand Fort and Hayling Hotel. Good sailing. D

[@Captain_Bartolo]

I really enjoyed your sailing trip! 😃 Thank you for sharing and fair winds 🍀

[@msf60khz]

My pleasure. D

[@OldDadProductions]

Great sail, thanks for posting M8

[@msf60khz]

Glad you liked the video, davilia7. D

[@chrisleggatt3240]

Nice heaving to method! I've been way over complicating it!

[@msf60khz]

Worth practicing heaving-to I think.

[@anthonyfuller6740]

Always great to see you out on your adventures! Hopefully see you out there one day!

[@msf60khz]

Thank you, Anthony.

[@johnstarkie9948]

Hi David, Social (and physical) distancing in the best possible way.

[@msf60khz]

Of course, John! I didn't think of that.

[@miguelangel909]

There is something sort of odd and terribly funny about walking your boat to the anchorage 🤣

[@msf60khz]

It is very odd to be standing in the water so far out!

[@romantiachristiana5147]

@@msf60khz Without you or I in the boat, it will stay afloat in shallower water. I have done the same thing myself at times.

[@davidmeijer1645]

Any adventures planned for 2024? I recently retired and am chomping at the bit to get Mirror Cruising! Would love some video inspiration.

[@msf60khz]

Hello David. We are going out in the Mirror quite often. Yesterday we went for a seven hour cruise from Warsash to Northam Bridge, in Southampton. Last week we launched at Itchenor, Chichester Harbour, in the evening, F5, and sailed for an hour to a sandy beach for a BBQ. Then sailed back in the night. I am not making videos at the moment as I feel I have covered most of the material. Good sailing. David

[@lightprint348]

great to see what a mirror is capable of , could you explain the move with the jib as you took down the main. it seemed you back filled it for stability. I am currently setting up a Pacer for cruising and i am interested in how to manange when reefing etc

[@msf60khz]

Thank you Light Print for your comments. When I needed to take down the topsail I hove-to. You will see the following steps:- 1) Let the mainsheet go, or at least let it out quite a bit. 2) Pull the jib fully to windward 3) Push the tiller to leeward and secure it in position. I have a helm impeder device which holds it where I put it. The boat will than lie quietly, preferably pointing slightly upwind, and make very little forward motion. Heaving-to is essential for any sailor. Good luck with the Pacer. D

[@lightprint348]

@@msf60khz ... i learnt to sail in a mirror as a kid with my dad cruising about some estuties in Australia ... great boats and have that boat as a repair project... thanks for you for your advice. I will play with this info

[@hughfollett1913]

Nice video and watched with interest as you walked the dingy in ... I made the same trip a couple of weeks ago in my Lune Pilot gaff sloop and really had to stick to the small channel to get in to Bembridge just before high tide ... my main concern was the shipping lane but they were all anchored at Nab anchorages except for a warship which gave me an interesting ride from It’s wash ! By the way, where did you get your main sheet ratchet and does it have adjustable release mechanism. ? Cheers Hugh. (DCA member also😀)

[@msf60khz]

Hello Hugh Thank you for interesting comments. Lune Pilot sounds lovely. The anchorages are confusing because they occupy a big area. I nearly made a serious error coming back because one of the anchored ships wasn't. I called him on Ch16 and he just gave me the sound signal for turning to stbd and turned to Stbd a bit for me! I did say thank you! The ratchet block is a big reliable one by Holt, and it has a hexagonal sheave, which wears well. It has a switch for on and off. In calm weather I keep it off. I did not want one which is load sensitive. D

[@hughfollett1913]

Mirror Cruising yes she’s nice and solid even though a grp clinker ... I was very glad of the vhf radio crossing the shipping lanes as you can hear the chatter and pick up the coastguard stuff as well. I resolved to wait until I had the radio before crossing to the island and was glad I did. I’ll research the ratchet block as I want something to take the edge off of the main sheet on longer windy trips but also to be able to let fly should the need arise ! I’ve only had her a year or so and still getting to know her but I’ve been out a lot in Chi harbour and she’s quite forgiving if you keep an eye on the sea etc. Thanks for the info. I’ll probably see you out there at some point no doubt !

[@estarriol4710]

Just aquired a mirror for sailing with my children. I entirely blame you for this! Your boom seems to sit lot higher than mine, is this a happy accident of your Gaff rig, the effect of your topping lift, my imagination or a sign I could rig mine more efficiently?

[@msf60khz]

HI Breccan Thanks you for th comment. The usual issue is that (a) the mast must not be sloping back (b) the Gunter yard must be very up close to the mast and (c) the sail must be held down close to the boom at the outer end, the clew. This usually happens with a shackle and a slider on a short track. If not present, tie an additional piece of line under the boom to hold the clew down to the boom. (d) do not tighten the kicker until the sail is fully raised (e) I also had a bit cut off the foot of my sail! Good sailing. D

[@chrisleggatt3240]

Excellent tips thanks I too have found this useful 👍

[@jerry3972]

Hi David. I have crossed from Langstone Harbour to Bembridge a couple of times in my Mirror, Seahorse. Next thing I want to do is stay there overnight ( maybe 2). Is camping on the beach on the left as you enter Bembridge allowed? I don't have a boom tent yet but this will be next winters project so it will be a small land tent.

[@msf60khz]

Hi Jerry I don't think anyone minds if you camp there. I have camped at the official camp site at Nodes Point.

[@jerry3972]

@@msf60khz thanks. I'll probably camp on the beach for a night. Hopefully it'll be OK

[@stevenschubert4911]

Loving your videos, as I'm dreaming of getting out while in lockdown in Melbourne. May I ask what are the limits you would sail in on an open sea, in terms of wind, sea and swell? And how would that compare to a closed body of water? I watched your video about why you altered your mainsail... would you sail in the open sea with a standard sail, and reef it?

[@msf60khz]

Last weekend |I was sailing with a crew and we were fine in winds of F5 gusting to F6. We used reefed gaff mainsail and slab reefed jib. When it got to F7 I used the motor and reefed mainsail alone. It is very difficult to go to windwad very much in F7. On the open sea I think the waves are usually manageable in F5 but you can get local wind-over-tide, races and lee shores which are more of a problem. The waves start to be significant when they interrupt the horizon. If you have a safe haven down wind (without a bar) then of course you can run off under bare pole if necessary in very strong winds. D

[@sebitaingalls]

Thank you for all the great videos, I've learnt a lot with them. I have an idea to sail my mirror dinghy without the boom. Setting the mast on the forward mast step and only using the main sail. Do you think it can work fine? I also want to set the mainsheet as close as possible to the transom. I live in Catalonia and here we have the "pati catala" a catamaran rigged more or less like that. Thank you, greetings from Premia de Mar.

[@msf60khz]

Thank you Sabastian. The difficulty wih no boom is that you need very great force applied to the mainsheet and, even so, the boat wil not go very well to windward. Tacking is a problem due to handing two sheets. D

[@williamokeefe918]

Great video! I would love to get my dinghy out into the sea sometime. I noticed your DCA pennant flying from your starboard shrouds. How do you hoist it? Have you put in another halyard, or is it permanently flying there? Thanks

[@msf60khz]

Thank you for the comment, Captain Kidd. The burgeee is just tied on, I can't have yet more string on the boat! You will see that the topsail rig is simplified, that's why I have to lower sail to take it in. Good sailing. D

[@williamokeefe918]

Mirror Cruising Thanks for the clarification! I’m planning on putting a classic Jolly Roger on my boat, so I’m seeing how different people hoist their flags. I love your modifications to the rig; I’m hoping to make a simple topsail like yours for my gaffer in the future! Thanks

[@OldDadProductions]

@@williamokeefe918 Really easy and fast way to attach a flag to shrouds is these spring loaded clips. They are also great for hanging a small lantern or anchor light. Bit pricey here, but may be cheaper over there www.whitworths.com.au/search?q=Flag+clips

[@williamokeefe918]

Davilia7 thanks for the suggestion. I see they can be used on flag halyards, because there’s a slight problem; my boat has no shrouds! I’ll definitely research this option! Thanks, CK

[@msf60khz]

@@OldDadProductions Hi Davilia, thanks for your nice comment. But I can't see how the spring clip works!