Civil Service Sailing Association - Channel Sailing Division
SKIPPERS NEWSLETTER – Yacht Sea Essay of Hamble
Newsletter No 04/12
Introduction
This is an occasional document issued by the Yacht Secretary, which will be placed on the
CSD website and/or sent to all CSSA approved Skippers in CSD when there is new and/or
important operational information to promulgate. There is no intention to produce
newsletters on a regular basis. Each one is numbered in sequence every year so recipients
can identify if any are missing.
This newsletter is issued just prior to the Summer Cruise to highlight points to assist whilst
Sea Essay is away from base as follows:Ventilation
Solar powered ventilators have been fitted in place of the static ones in the saloon and
forecabin overhead deck hatches. These are rechargeable and should be switched on at all
times. However there have been reports of leakage in rain or rough weather at sea – to
minimise this it is suggested that the vents are closed in rough weather by turning the
baseplate anti-clockwise and pulling it down.
Reefing Lines
Stiff Reef Lines have been reported and in order to avoid pulling the leech of the sail it is
recommended that all reef lines are fully slackened off and pulled through when lowering the
main. Please check that the reefing lines are slack when hoisting the mainsail.
Mainsail Damage
One crew recently tore the luff of the mainsail by a combination of poor planning, poor
briefing and overenthusiastic winching for putting in Reef 3. Do remember that winches can
induce very high loads and cause damage unless the reason for the load is understood and
is appropriate for the intended function.
Portholes
Both aft cabin portholes have been replaced with new Lewmar units which have locking
catches which are easier to use and hopefully will not leak rainwater into the bilge.
Oil Changes
The Volvo engine fitted to Sea Essay has a 200 hour oil change interval and we estimate
that this should be sufficient to return to Mercury from the Summer Cruise without exceeding
this figure. If it is exceeded by, say, 10% there will be no adverse effect.
Anchor Chain Marking
We have several times marked the anchor chain colour marking code on the underside of
the anchor well hatch. Every time this has washed off despite using a ‘permanent’ marker.
The code is as follows and will in due course be put into the O & TM:Single red:
Double red:
Single green:
Double green:
Single blue:
End of chain:
5 metres
10 metres
15 metres
20 metres
25 metres
30 metres
Fuel Receipts
The Chart Table Folder Part 1 now includes a sleeve for fuel receipts in case customs
require these. Skippers should make their own arrangements for copying receipts so that
fuel cost can be reclaimed.
Martin Bellamy
CSD Yacht Secretary
1 June 2012