We were underway before six to catch the second half of the ebb down the Whitaker. Timing of the tides being pretty critical today. Get it right and the trip should take less than eight hours but get it wrong and it could be twelve or more
There was a light Southerly breeze in the anchorage which became a light Easterly as soon as we turned East! Yet again the was no viable option other than to motor.
Rounding the Inner Whitaker buoy and heading slightly West of South down the edge of the Maplin Sands we finally got a working breeze.
It was off with the engine all the way to Sea Reach (the mouth of the River Thames). The wind became fitful and flakey just at the moment we needed to skedaddle across the shipping channel a bit sharpish so it was on with the engine again
We motored into the Medway and explored the anchoring possibilities of Stangate and Sharfleet creeks but by now the breeze had got up and there was nowhere with enough water to anchor that also offered any sort of shelter
Although we could have anchored and tolerated it if needs be, we decided to call it quits and see if better shelter was to be had in Queenborough.
We were offered a raft on the outside of the only boat on the ATL (presumably to keep the rest of the vacant alongside berths for larger boats or purple who had booked in).
The approach though was proving tricky with the tide and increasingly stiff wind opposing each other and I could see the whole exercise going wrong in a hurry so I called it off a few feet away and aborted the approach
A change of plan then as we decided to go alongside the mooring lighter instead. We initially went alongside the outside but it was very bumpy so we decided to shift to the inside.
That manoeuvre went awry when I realised we'd lost engine cooling and were overheating. We managed to get a line on the barge and stopped the engine.
A bit of a faff then to get her alongside by warping her in during which I have to confess I got a bit tetchy and caught myself shouting at Jane (something I hate hearing other skippers do and try very very hard not to do myself)
Apologies were duly tendered and accepted over coffee and then we set about sorting out the cooling problem. This turned out to be a solid plug of green weed in the intake seacock. After trying to push it out and pull it out without success I suddenly remembered the trick of using the dinghy pump to blow it out. That worked a treat.
After tidying up, Jane offered to cook dinner. I had planned to do this as it was her birthday but by now I was a bit frazzled and very grateful to be relieved of duty!
After dinner, cake!
There was a light Southerly breeze in the anchorage which became a light Easterly as soon as we turned East! Yet again the was no viable option other than to motor.
Rounding the Inner Whitaker buoy and heading slightly West of South down the edge of the Maplin Sands we finally got a working breeze.
It was off with the engine all the way to Sea Reach (the mouth of the River Thames). The wind became fitful and flakey just at the moment we needed to skedaddle across the shipping channel a bit sharpish so it was on with the engine again
We motored into the Medway and explored the anchoring possibilities of Stangate and Sharfleet creeks but by now the breeze had got up and there was nowhere with enough water to anchor that also offered any sort of shelter
Although we could have anchored and tolerated it if needs be, we decided to call it quits and see if better shelter was to be had in Queenborough.
We were offered a raft on the outside of the only boat on the ATL (presumably to keep the rest of the vacant alongside berths for larger boats or purple who had booked in).
The approach though was proving tricky with the tide and increasingly stiff wind opposing each other and I could see the whole exercise going wrong in a hurry so I called it off a few feet away and aborted the approach
A change of plan then as we decided to go alongside the mooring lighter instead. We initially went alongside the outside but it was very bumpy so we decided to shift to the inside.
That manoeuvre went awry when I realised we'd lost engine cooling and were overheating. We managed to get a line on the barge and stopped the engine.
A bit of a faff then to get her alongside by warping her in during which I have to confess I got a bit tetchy and caught myself shouting at Jane (something I hate hearing other skippers do and try very very hard not to do myself)
Apologies were duly tendered and accepted over coffee and then we set about sorting out the cooling problem. This turned out to be a solid plug of green weed in the intake seacock. After trying to push it out and pull it out without success I suddenly remembered the trick of using the dinghy pump to blow it out. That worked a treat.
After tidying up, Jane offered to cook dinner. I had planned to do this as it was her birthday but by now I was a bit frazzled and very grateful to be relieved of duty!
After dinner, cake!
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