I didn't have the most settled of nights. It was stifling hot even with all the hatches open plus I'm always slightly edgy when we're anchored in confined waters.
I did manage to get off on the end and a further doze on top was enough to be going on with.
It was slightly disconcerting to suddenly realise, over breakfast, that we'd moved from the west side of the creek to the east side.
We must have dragged at high water and then caught again. No harm done and probably a symptom of my uncertainty about how much chain we had out (clearly not enough!). We really need to improve the marking of the chain
Our objective today was simply to bimble back up to Fambridge so there was no rush. We sailed off the anchor at about ten in the morning although we did find it necessary to run the engine out of gear whilst using the electric windlass.
Then it was a careful exercise in short tacking betwixt doom and disaster (my names for the mud banks either side of the creek)
I was sweating a bit and slightly out of puff by the time we made it into the Roach and looking forwards to a nice reach for a bit.
No such luck, as it would continue to do all day the wind shifted and it was tack after tack after tack all the way to the Crouch then upriver through the moorings at Burnham and onwards.
Jane helped for a while with the genoa sheets to ease the workload and I finally worked out how to best use the mainsheet traveller.
Despite the last of the ebb against us we made solid progress and arrived back at Fambridge some six hours after letting go
My tentative plan to sail onto the pontoon was thwarted by a wind shift and the flood tide setting in so I abandoned the attempt and went around to make a conventional approach under power
Despite that, it was a very satisfactory sail and I felt we'd progressed another step up the ladder towards learning how to sail Erbas to her best
A tidy up on board was followed by much needed showers and the usual pontoon chat with fellow boaters. It was especially pleasant to meet with John, the owner of our sister Sabre "Pelagos“ who was moored on the other side of the pontoon
Then it was off to the pub for a meal and a beer or three with a side order of planning for the London cruise in a few weeks
I did manage to get off on the end and a further doze on top was enough to be going on with.
It was slightly disconcerting to suddenly realise, over breakfast, that we'd moved from the west side of the creek to the east side.
We must have dragged at high water and then caught again. No harm done and probably a symptom of my uncertainty about how much chain we had out (clearly not enough!). We really need to improve the marking of the chain
Our objective today was simply to bimble back up to Fambridge so there was no rush. We sailed off the anchor at about ten in the morning although we did find it necessary to run the engine out of gear whilst using the electric windlass.
Then it was a careful exercise in short tacking betwixt doom and disaster (my names for the mud banks either side of the creek)
I was sweating a bit and slightly out of puff by the time we made it into the Roach and looking forwards to a nice reach for a bit.
No such luck, as it would continue to do all day the wind shifted and it was tack after tack after tack all the way to the Crouch then upriver through the moorings at Burnham and onwards.
Jane helped for a while with the genoa sheets to ease the workload and I finally worked out how to best use the mainsheet traveller.
Despite the last of the ebb against us we made solid progress and arrived back at Fambridge some six hours after letting go
My tentative plan to sail onto the pontoon was thwarted by a wind shift and the flood tide setting in so I abandoned the attempt and went around to make a conventional approach under power
Despite that, it was a very satisfactory sail and I felt we'd progressed another step up the ladder towards learning how to sail Erbas to her best
A tidy up on board was followed by much needed showers and the usual pontoon chat with fellow boaters. It was especially pleasant to meet with John, the owner of our sister Sabre "Pelagos“ who was moored on the other side of the pontoon
Then it was off to the pub for a meal and a beer or three with a side order of planning for the London cruise in a few weeks
No comments:
Post a Comment