Vital spark?

On our first trip this year we found that the "house" battery was not charging. Shorting between the two red connections with a screwdriver appeared to solve the problem.

4021 visitors to Renegade website in 2008

There were 4021 "unique" visits to the Renegade website last year and 4013 visits to UFO News. Of course many of the visitors were commercial organisations but there were real people too. This is where they came from:


Netherlands 105
United Kingdom 87
Poland 64
Australia 45
Czech Republic 44
Switzerland 27
Denmark 24
Portugal 15
Germany 11
Belgium 10
France 6
Norway 6
US military 4
Sweden 4
Italy 3
Cyprus 2
Spain 2
New Zealand 2
Turkey 2
United Arab Emirates1
Argentine Republic 1
Canada 1
Finland 1
Croatia 1
India 1
Japan 1
Korea 1
Taiwan 1

New compasses

Renegade now sports a pair of Plastimo compasses, which have replaced the original Sestrels. We find the Plastimos easier to read, particularly at night. This may be more to do with the age of the crew than that of the compasses.

So, lot 1, a pair of Sestrel bulkhead compasses. Any offers to Renegade News.

2008; what a wash out.

So much for up to the minute news about Renegade! Where did she go in 2008? Almost nowhere. But, this is a new year with the possibility of good weather and we have plans. Of course we had plans last year and they were ambitious, but that was then and this is now.

So this is my prediction for 2009. The rest of the winter will be mild, with suitable weather for getting Renegade into better shape than she has been for years. An early spring will be accompanied by warm weather and Renegade will cruise the east coast and visit London before heading for the channel and Brittany, where the crew will spend several blissful weeks in perfect weather. Favourable winds will make the passage home a delight. Oh yes, and the pound will strengthen against the Euro or we will be eating aboard every night.

More than 3000 visitors in 2007

There were 3694 visitors to Renegaders.co.uk in 2007 and 4982 to UFO News.

Visitors came from all over the world including Mauritius, Tasmania, California, Israel and Poland.

Guests at Rye

Will and Margaret Rudd paid a visit to Renegade, well stuck in the mud in Rye harbour.

Avoiding steamers in fog on the Medway

A sure fire way of avoiding getting run down by something big when in fog, is to stay in shallow water, but Renegade's new radar proved to be invaluable when making our way up the Medway through the morning fog.

Radar reflections

The recent report on the sinking of the OUZO prompted an investigation into the effectiveness of radar reflectors, which makes disturbing reading. Follow this link to see the report and recommendations http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/Radar%20reflectors%20report.pdf
I have drawn the following conclusions from this report and that of the MAIB:
Radar reflectors perform badly when the boat is heeled and in rough water, beacause of "sea clutter".
Carrying AIS is not the answer, because commercial ships do not have to display AIS data on the radar screen.
Just because a ship alters course and appears to be giving way to you does not necessarily mean that you have been seen. (see MAIB report).
Gradual alterations of course can confuse observers on other vessels.
Having equipment which identifies a ship's AIS (including name, call sign and MMSI)might be of help, because a VHF call to the bridge is more likely to be answered.

Where's Renegade on 9th August?

Dennis reports the safe arrival of Renegade in Plymouth with Richard, Dennis and Mark aboard. The radar is now working and the rig has been professionally tuned.

The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'

The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'" first appeared in Fun 2 (3 March 1866): 238, and republished in the Bab Ballads, a series of humorous verses published in Fun and other periodicals between 1862 and 1871, with many illustrations by the author signed 'Bab' (Gilbert's nickname derived from his having been called "Baby" as a child). What distinguishes this particular poem is its having been rejected by the editor of Punch as "too cannibalistic for his readers' tastes" ("Preface" to Fifty Bab Ballads, p. vii). In its ballad metre, internal rhyme, and dual narrative voices, as well as its subject matter, it has often been compared to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798).

'Twas on the shores that round our coast
From Deal to Ramsgate span,1
That I found alone on a piece of stone
An elderly naval man.

His hair was weedy, his beard was long,
And weedy and long was he,
And I heard this wight2 on the shore recite,
In a singular minor key:

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite, 3
And the crew of the captain's gig."

And he shook his fists and he tore his hair,
Till I really felt afraid,
For I couldn't help thinking the man had been drinking,
And so I simply said:

"Oh, elderly man, it's little I know
Of the duties of men of the sea,
And I'll eat my hand if I understand
However you can be

'At once a cook, and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig.'"4

Then he gave a hitch to his trousers, which
Is a trick all seamen larn,
And having got rid of a thumping quid,5
He spun this painful yarn:

"'Twas in the good ship Nancy Bell
That we sailed to the Indian Sea,
And there on a reef we come to grief,
Which has often occurred to me.

'And pretty nigh all the crew was drowned
(There was seventy-seven o' soul),
And only ten of the Nancy's men
Said 'Here!' to the muster-roll.

'There was me and the cook and the captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And the bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig.

'For a month we'd neither wittles6 nor drink,
Till a-hungry we did feel,
So we drawed a lot, and, accordin' shot
The captain for our meal.

'The next lot fell to the Nancy's mate,
And a delicate dish he made;
Then our appetite with the midshipmite
We seven survivors stayed.

'And then we murdered the bo'sun tight,
And he much resembled pig;
Then we wittled free, did the cook and me,
On the crew of the captain's gig.

'Then only the cook and me was left,
And the delicate question,"Which
Of us two goes to the kettle" arose,
And we argued it out as sich.

'For I loved that cook as a brother, I did,
And the cook he worshipped me;
But we'd both be blowed if we'd either be stowed
In the other chap's hold,7you see.

"I'll be eat if you dines off me,"says TOM;
'Yes, that,' says I, 'you'll be, '
'I'm boiled if I die, my friend, ' quoth I;
And "Exactly so," quoth he.

'Says he,"Dear JAMES, to murder me
Were a foolish thing to do,
For don't you see that you can't cook me,
While I can and will cook you!"

'So he boils the water, and takes the salt
And the pepper in portions true
(Which he never forgot), and some chopped shalot.
And some sage and parsley too.

"Come here,"says he, with a proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell,
"'T will soothing be if I let you see
How extremely nice you'll smell."

'And he stirred it round and round and round,
And he sniffed at the foaming froth;
When I ups with his heels, and smothers his squeals
In the scum of the boiling broth.

'And I eat that cook in a week or less,
And as I eating be
The last of his chops, why, I almost drops,
For a wessel in sight I see!

* * * * * *

"And I never larf, and I never smile,
And I never lark nor play,
But I sit and croak, and a single joke
I have--which is to say:

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig!"

 
 
 
Here are some photos from Renegade's recent cruise from amongst the spritsail barges of the Orwell to Guernsey. Along the way we celebrated a birthday and a national day, visited some favourite places, ate and drank well and made some new friends. All in all a success, despite the weather.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Faulty Radar

Having spent many hours fitting Raymarine radar to Renegade we were disappointed to get the "NO DATA" message on the screen. After exhaustive checking of the connections and finally sending a technician up the mast, a new cable and display connected to the "dome" confirmed that the fault was in the Raymarine unit.

Heading for home

Renegade is back on her mooring following a little shake down (or up or out) sail to the Blackwater. We tried the new cruising chute, which flew well except on a dead run and we will experiment with Dennis's faithful pole another time. We witnessed a beatiful sunset off Stone, which you can see on the Renegade homepage.

As the rest of the country sheltered from the rain, we experienced fine weather for a beat out through the Swin Spitway, a reach to N.E. Gunfleet and a beat back to Harwich in SW 4-5.

With Walton Tower on the horizon ahead, we are heading for home.

New chute

Dennis and visitors