Swings and roundabouts - Sailing

Well it's been quite a day today.

At the BBQ last weekend I had (carelessly) invited Caitlin and Khan out for a sail today.

My original plan had been to leave at about 0700hrs and go as far as I could to the East. Not going to work with teenagers, that plan. I saw them yesterday afternoon and agreed to meet them at The Quay at 1000hrs.

I stopped at Morrisons to buy some sandwiches for lunch, and just happened to check my phone. There was a message from Caitlin saying she'd had a bad migraine and wouldn't be able to make it.

Less hassle for me as I could leave the slipway and go straight out to the Sound rather than motoring up to Oreston first.

I eventually left Mountbatten at about 1030hrs. I had to get a replacement key card as mine had stopped working for some reason.

The weather was very changeable today. The weather forecast was for WNW winds, but I don't think I saw anything from that direction at all, all day. I think the sea breeze effect must have blasted it out as the predominant direction was Southerly.

To get across the Sound I had to tack, but once I got near the Eastern entrance it turned into a reach.

Just as I left the Eastern Entrance I remembered that I'd left my boat cover hanging on the railings near the trailer. A quick phone call to Mr. Lerigo had it secured. Excellent.

I had thought about going up the Yealm, but as I seemed to be going quite quickly I decided to see how close I could get to Burgh Island in Bigbury Bay. As I rounded the headland however, I saw other boats heading West and they seemed to be punching the waves a bit. So as to make sure I didn't get stuck, I altered my plans and started heading back. It was about 1230hrs by this time.

As it happened, my speed actually increased to just over 6kts. Oh well decision made. I then made a decision to head into the Yealm to see how far I could get before the low tide stopped me.

The trip up the Yealm was quite easy, as it turned out, as the wind was being funneled up stream, so most of it was on a run. There were little blank spots every now and again. I started the engine just as a precaution, because there were a lot of very expensive boats closely packed together.

I just kept on going. It was very scenic, and well worth the effort. Next time I might go up and anchor there for lunch or something. I went past a few guys turning the baskets of cockles. Not long after this I had to turn around as I noticed that the centerboard was touching bottom.

This is where my troubles started.

As I was now heading into the wind I had to tack out between the lines of boats. Because the tacks were quite short and sharp the jib sheet was getting caught on all sorts of things around the mast. At one point the sheet actually lifted the jamming cleats for both the sails lift. Needless to say this caused both sails to drop at once. Not a good situation in close quarters. Luckily there was a free anchor buoy right next to me which allowed me to stop and sort it out.

The engine was restarted again as a precaution.

As I was tacking I noticed that the tiller seemed to be stiffer and stiffer and was having less of an effect than previously. Unfortunately I couldn't stop to check it out. It got worse and worse. As I neared the entrance the quick release for the jib came off, meaning I suddenly lost a lot of steering.

Nothing for it but to use the engine.

I got to the sand bar and put the anchor out to try and sort everything out. It also gave me a chance to have some more lunch.

I managed to check the rudder. It seems that it wasn't only the centerboard which had hit bottom. It looks as though the rope for the rudder down haul has given up the ghost. It won't stay down on it's own.

Getting out of the Yealm entrance back towards the Sound was quite a long haul as the rudder was causing extra strain on the tiller so I had to take it easy.

Thinking that I might put too much strain on the tiller tube, I decided to drop the sails, near to the Shag Stone, and go back home under engine only.

The swell was coming in from the SW and made the steering difficult. The engine only has a small rudder effect but I couldn't use the main rudder.

It took me about 40mins to get back alongside the pontoon, arriving at about 1640hrs.

After such a long day it was quite an effort to maintain some calm when trying to get the boat back on its trailer on the slipway. I think I've got a few more gouges in the anti-foul again.

So a good days adventuring but broken kit. Swings and roundabouts!

Total time afloat - 6h 31m

Distance - 23.59nm/43.5km