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Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video. I think you're very brave to take Hurst on in a Mirror. We were more concerned with the wind than the tide. To be tide free we should maybe have started earlier - in the dark ! :-( or later. But I was concerned by the forecast of even more wind later, so we went as soon as we were up and made the best of it. It was boisterous trip but Zephyr IV is very seaworthy, you just have to try and keep her going in the right direction and hang on :-) We never even got any water on deck. Fair winds for you ... Best wishes Dave

Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video. I think you're very brave to take Hurst on in a Mirror. We were more concerned with the wind than the tide. To be tide free we should maybe have started earlier - in the dark ! :-( or later. But I was concerned by the forecast of even more wind later, so we went as soon as we were up and made the best of it. It was boisterous trip but Zephyr IV is very seaworthy, you just have to try and keep her going in the right direction and hang on :-) We never even got any water on deck. Fair winds for you ... Best wishes Dave

Hi William, I suppose I'm reasonably experienced. I took a Yachtmaster back in the 1970's, pre GPS etc and sailed along the South Coast mainly, with occasional trips to Channel Islands and some crewing on bigger boats. I packed up sailing in the early 1980's and took up Gliding. I bought Zephyr IV in 2020 and started sailing in 2021. Big learning curve with modern navigation but the harbours and coastline and tides haven't changed much, so I'm pretty happy with charging round the Solent and channel. I still have charts and use them when in doubt. My advice would be to do short trips and build up your experience and skill set and before you know it you'll be comfortable. Where are you based ? I take people out fairly often to show them the Solent harbours etc.

@@davesailing thanks Dave, that’s really useful to know. I live in Bristol and would love to join you for a trip sometime.

Hi William, give me some dates when you expect to be available and I'll try and get my time on the boat to coincide and we can meet up. My email - dave@westcomp.co.uk

I guess there's always a chance, though a lot of small motor boats come to Studland and only stay for the day and return to their home in the evening, leaving the buoy available. You can also anchor just off the shore in the area, I know several people who have done that. If that doesn't work, there's lots of places to anchor in Poole harbour. Pottery Pier being a favourite of mine. I hope your trip goes well. The weather has been dreadful this month and I've not been far, which is disappointing. Fair Winds and tides to you ..... Dave

@@davesailing Thank you so much for the kind and helpful repsonse. I hope you get to do more passages before winter. Likewise, fair winds and tides! Ö

Hi Jon, well more fun afterwards than at the time :-) We've had another trip since then with pretty much the same conditions. When I get some spare time I'll get that out as a video. Enjoy your sailing .. Best Wishes ... Dave

@@sallyniemann8360 well that's a surprise, I never knew you went down South. The tidal flow at the entrance to the harbour can be very high. All that water in the harbour pouring out, or in, through quite a narrow entrance. Lovely place though. Take care, Dave

Hi Patrick, thank you for making the effort to comment, it's much appreciated and so glad you enjoyed the video. Take Care best wishes .... Dave

Hi Tony, Well that water certainly goes away, I was quite surprised. But we had a nice meal in a quirky cafe and walked round the perimeter, admired all the old boats and before we knew it, it was time to go. A wonderful place for dinghy sailing I think.

Very good Max, we had a good laugh at that. Bill and I are currently in Newtown Creek I.O.W. JUST COOKING TEA :-)

@@davesailing just got back from a somewhat demanding day sail! Falmouth Week is in full swing, lots of classes racing in Carrick Roads and 15~20 knots from the NW! I made sure I kept out the way but it was a wonderful sight! You two have the most excellent rest of your week!

Hi Tarkon, That was a couple of weekends ago. We're in Newtown creek at the moment. The Folly Inn up the Medina last night and the mouth of the Beaulieu River the night before. Not sure where we're going tomorrow, see what the wind does. Best Dave

Great stuff

Nice to hear from you. A question for you. Have you spent much time on a sailing boat ? My deduction was based on my experience of the endless cleaning of detritus - stones and dirt from shoes, salt crystals, bird excrement and the dirt that is left after the rain has evaporated from the deck of my boats. The foam teak in it's basic form has nice channels which provide an ideal refuge for this unpleasant mixture. So I looked at ways of improving it. The traditional wooden teak deck is caulked, originally with pitch and latterly with the synthetic materials that I describe in my video and it seemed logical to try and emulate that. It has worked quite well and at first glance looks surprisingly like a real teak deck. Any detritus that falls on the deck is easily brushed off and most people who have seen it thought it was a great idea and a big improvement. The video was never intended to be a scientific experiment, really just a demonstration of what I had done on my boat Zephyr IV. I think I gave a good appraisal of the product and my conclusions of it's performance for the last year. Best WIshes .... Dave ... By the way it would be lovely to have you as a subscriber :-)

@@davesailing I don’t need to ever step on a sailing boat to know you just made an assumption that cost you a great deal of effort and time. You may be right in your assumption but it’s still an assumption. Millions of EVA users seem to be happy without that extra labor. If your assumption is incorrect imagine how much more scenery, etc. you could have enjoyed instead of taping, caulking, etc? I’m about to install some on a center console. I’ll let you know if I find I wished I had followed your laborious adventure.

@@stickermigtigger Why are you being so judgemental? I wasn't happy with the appearance of the unmodified EVA foam so I experimented with caulking it, which for me, is an improvement. I shared that with the 1000 or so of my subscribers and it's obviously been interesting to others as the video has had 37,000 plus views. If I spent a lot of energy and time with the experiment then with all due respect, it was my decision and my time to spend. I don't see why it should concern you if I chose to spend that time experimenting with the EVA foam. Please do use the EVA foam in any way you wish on your centre console, I hope it works OK for you. Maybe you should spend some of your time creating a video of the process and sharing your experience for the potential benefit of your fellow boaters. Take care ... Dave

Yes it was very pleasant, we followed that by a lovely sail to Chichester. I'm working on the video at the moment.

Thank you Keith :-)

Hi Xavier, I suspect that there are several filters that would fit and work. The one I've got at the moment is made by Mahle, model number KC20. It fits perfectly. You can buy them online from lots of places, even Amazon. Less than £10.00. The Volvo parts list doesn't seem to have one that fits now - crazy! Please subscribe :-) Best wishes ... Dave

Hi Edwin, Ouch that's a big bill, V.P. parts are expensive though. There's quite a bit of difference between the 2003 and the 2003T. The 2003 doesn't have an oil cooler and the heat exchanger and exhaust bend is different too. At the moment my heat exchanger is not leaking, after all the trouble. But I have managed to buy a second hand one, which is wrapped up in plastic in a locker - just in case. Buying spare parts for these old engines is getting more difficult, but I've seen several complete engines on Ebay at reasonable prices. If I had the space, I'd buy a couple as spare parts. Glad to hear that it's all working again. More video's to come - subscribe to get notified - Best Wishes .... Dave

Thank you Patrick ... Dave

Hi Bill, I don't think our nice asymmetrical spinnaker would have survived :-) The eWincher is a real gamechanger for me, I'm 80 this year. Expensive but it will haul the genoa in that last bit when I can't. There's a video on the stocks about it. Suggest you subscribe and you'll get notified when it's uploaded and published. Thanks for watching - Best Wishes ... Dave

@@davesailing Fair winds & following seas .

Thanks Mark, it wasn't a planned video. Just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Dean and Deb's photos made it worthwhile. There wasn't enough without them. And yes the weather gods pulled out all the stops. Really nice weekend.. cheers.. Dave

Hello Max, Yes she copes well with that sort of stuff. Since the fitting of the Featherstream propeller she's seems easier driven and we even overtake people now :-) Just keeping an eye on the weather. Just might get down your way. Just might >>> Really good to hear you're back on the water. Take Care ... Dave

I think that is very unlikely, unless I maybe do a sort of lesson presentation. It's hard enough getting decent video in the video's The exciting moments are often the busiest and there's so much to do the video camera often gets forgotten. The video that you see on UA-cam is just a fraction of the content I start with. I throw more away than I use. For lots of reasons. The horizon showing at 45 degrees being the favourite :-)

Actually I think I just found an answer from this manual (page 25, last row). Maybe thats what I have been looking for. 🧐 avdhoeff.home.xs4all.nl/zeilen_bestanden/Volvo-Penta-Type_2001-2002-2003T_Workshop-Manual.pdf

Hi Tomi, check out my video about fixing a leaking heat exchanger on the 2003. You might well have the same connector to drain the coolant from. Best wishes Dave

@@davesailing I found that same connector, but couldnt get any coolant out from it. Have to figure out how it is done. - T

@@Viljonkki The outer sleeve of the connector unscrews a little and that opens the valve and lets out the coolant. I used a vacuum vessel to suck it out though when I first drained my coolant I just let it drain, but it took a long time and I couldn't get all of it out. Hope that helps :-) Dave

You're welcome Tony. I sort of expected the sea state across from Poole to Hurst Castle as the wind strength gradually increased. The Race in the Hurst Narrows was worse than I expected and the Solent, though it didn't look that bad was still quite challenging.

Thank you Jason 😊

Hi Jason, yes I was expecting to get headed and have to tack but we went on and on, just following the coast. Magic really. And nice and calm in there. Thanks for watching, best wishes .... Dave

Yes the Solent and surround can be quite challenging on occasions. Especially if you're not expecting it. Thank you so much for watching. Good to have you along ... Best Wishes Dave

It was quite exciting Chris. Someone once told me that if you always wait for hot sunny days, you don't do much sailing :-) Take Care ... Dave

Lack of planning :-) it's the shortest route and tide in the Needles channel was actually going out. Though you can sometimes get back eddies along the Island shore. There wasn't that much tide against us in the North Channel, we were getting over the ground quickly. But the bit just off Hurst is always rough. There's a big difference in depths along there and the water is compressed by the narrow channel there so even without the wind you get overfalls. Finally it's good fun.. Best wishes ... Dave

@@davesailing Thanks for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated. BW

Thank you for watching, I've just checked your channel and subscribed. I'm looking forward to watching your videos of building and sailing Eleutheros. Takes me back to my early days when I owned a couple of wooden boats. Lots of maintenance but just beautiful boats. Best Wishes - Dave

It was more rolly than bouncy. Fast and loud too. Good fun after it's over :-)

It was a bit rolly but quite gentle otherwise. Pretty noisy on occasions but no water on board. It would have been very very different going the other way..

Well it keeps you on your toes. But as long as you keep the boat heading in the right direction it's fine. Thanks for watching ... Dave

Thanks Chris. I must admit I didn't think too much about the tide. The wind was forecast to be quite a bit stronger later so we just got underway and legged it. As it was it made a good video so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I liked your video of Christchurch to the Folly and back, I'll look at the rest when I get a minute. Don't worry about motor sailing Tom Cunliffe made a point in one of his videos that using the engine to get somewhere when the wind dropped was often a sign of good seamanship. Thanks again for watching, enjoy your sailing - Fair winds and tides - Dave

Hi David, there will be another video when Zephyr IV comes out next year. It's a bit inconclusive at the moment, it appears to be working but ...

Hi David, all the best people are called David you know ( I was told that the other day :-) Lovely to hear from you. Zephyr IV holds up to the wind very well. I learned a while ago to avoid using the main in strong downwind sails, so it's not so bad. She does roll, like most monohulls and can be a bit of a handful in a quartering sea but she always feels safe. I'm lucky, quite a spritely 80 year old, though I need a day or two rest after a sail like that. Bill's a good companion, a few years younger. It's a lovely sail from Poole to the Solent and vice versa, I've done it in all sorts of weather and always find something new. Your sailing sounds very adventurous, I've not sailed on a cruising Cat but often wandered what it would be like in those kind of conditions. I hope your September cruise goes well, to places I've never even heard of :-) Fair winds and tides to you - Best wishes Dave

Are you saying a Sadler 29 is not suitable for offshore? The headroom has it on my shortlist.

@@robwilton9539 The Sadler 29 is a magnificent boat, very suitable for offshore, and yes, we have been out in very heavy weather and the boat handled it well, the crew not so well. We loved sailing her, she took us all-around the English Channel, down to the west country, and across to France every summer for 15 years. I sold her after an injury to my shoulder prevented me from sailing for several years, and my wife complained about the costs but no benefits. She was the last 29 built by the original Sadler company, they went bust about three weeks before completing her. My wife was on the phone to the receiver within minutes of the announcement of the TV news one Friday evening. We then negotiated with the receiver to get her finished and delivered, we were one of the lucky ones, we got our lovely boat, others lost their deposits etc. sad times for the British boat building, Westerly were not far behind.

Hi John, glad you found it useful.. Best wishes .. Dave

Hi Tony, curiously I hadn't thought about it until we were going past the pier and I thought, "I wonder if the railway still runs" and there it was. When I was about 14 we used to catch a bus to Hythe and then the ferry to Southampton. You paid separately for the train so we had to walk out to the ferry along the pier but on the way back after going to the cinema or similar in Southampton, Dad stumped up the train fare and we travelled by train in the dark, Magical, Lovely to see it's still going. Maybe take a ride on it later and do a video of that.

Hi Stuart, Bill's the tea maker, I do the the sandwiches. You need three hands. Two for the sandwich making and an extra one to hold on :-) Zephyr IV is going well this year. I sometimes think the log is a bit generous but on the occasions when there's not a tide to confuse things, her log speed and gps speed over the ground are pretty much the same. Mind you in that sort of wind, anything goes pretty fast ! See you soon ... Dave

Thank You for watching Debbie, it's much appreciated. Yes I guess the Solent will be getting busier now the Summer Holidays are here. Fingers crossed for good weather. Best Wishes ... Dave

Hi Mark, Zephyr IV is much easier to steer in those strong down winds with just the headsail. The main sail makes her yaw a lot and it's much harder to keep her going in the right direction. There's more than enough power in the genoa to get her close to maximum hull speed. As always, it's not the wind that causes the problems, but the sea state. The Feather Stream propeller has given us more speed when sailing. Good to hear you're still getting some sailing, in what is your winter. You take care my friend ... Dave

That wind is why we haven't made it to see you. Strong Westerlies have certainly been a feature of this summers weather. When we saw the forecast we thought it would be fun to sail to Poole with a broad reach and career back with half a gale behind us. And it was :-) Best Wishes Dave

Boat looks immaculately maintained 👏👏

Thank you. I try hard to keep her up together. She's 30 years old now but scrubs up well. Best WIshes ... Dave

Or a Kite Surfer 😀

Thank you so much for watching, I really appreciate it. Take care, Fair winds and Tides for you. Best Wishes ... Dave

Thanks Siggi, so glad you enjoyed it :-)

Hi Eddie, I think I sort of infer that in the video. It was done before I bought Zephyr IV and it wasn't a pretty job. I don't think the surface was prepared properly before application of the Kiwi Grip and they didn't level it well before they stippled it with the roller. As you noted some of it came off in sheets when using the pressure washer and a foot or so away it was thick and durable and hard to remove. I was forced to do something and having removed it all, I didn't want to replace it with the same and chance a repeat performance a year or so down the line. Hence the video and the re-paint job. I know several people who have used it with good results. But in every case they were meticulous with their preparation. The guys that did Zephyr IV obviously, were not so meticulous. Thanks for your comment, Have you used it or ? .... Best Wishes ... Dave

@@davesailing No I have not used it. But I am planning on add non-skid in the future. Other folks have spoken highly of Kiwk Grip. Thank you for your reply.

Hi Paul, thanks for viewing and commenting. So glad you enjoyed them. Keep watching, more to come. Best Wishes ,,,, Dave

Oh Chris, my memory lets me down sometimes. But you got to laugh.. Thanks for watching ... Dave

Oh Chris, my memory lets me down sometimes. But you got to laugh.. Thanks for watching ... Dave

Thanks Tony, glad you enjoyed it. I'm still practicing with the drone. Its a bit scary over water.. Dave

Hi Mark, the weather has been all over the place here, lots of very strong Westerlies. Just managed to grab a few days of relatively nice weather. I made the booming out pole from a very light but strong aluminium alloy used in Antennas. The original pole was very heavy and I worried it could carry me overboard if I lost control of it. This one is about a quarter of the weight.

Wow! I'll have to tell Darglow ... Maybe I'll get commission :-) I doubt it. I hope it works out for you, I'm delighted with the new found speed. I actually overtake people now !! Haven't made it down to Plymouth. Just an endless string of gale like Westerlies. Maybe later.. Take Care .... Dave

Hi Ray, I did work it out in the end. Seemed a bit strange using a car park payment app for a mooring. But I guess in the councils eyes, it's not dissimilar. £10 is quite reasonable, shame about the endless wash from powerboats and jet ski's. Thanks for watching, best wishes .... Dave

That's very kind, glad it was useful. Thanks for watching.. Best wishes....Dave