Saturday ...
After our layover for the day at anchor, we very nearly decided to stay put for a second day
However, there was a half decent breeze and a bit of a question mark over the forecast for Sunday so we decided to make sail while the wind blew and head back to the Crouch
We sailed off the anchor albeit with the engine running to prevent the windlass discharging the batteries excessively. Starting the engine though appeared to have blown the fuse on the engine battery circuit. Isolating the engine battery and cross-linking the engine electrics to the domestic battery bank got us under way and I'll investigate that problem when I get a chance to do so
One of the Medway tugs was out testing her monitors (fire fighting water jets) as we sailed outbound towards Sea Reach in a very light breeze. At times we were barely making progress and I was beginning to think the engine would have to come back into the equation to cross the shipping channel
However, the breeze picked up at, for once, just the right moment and we were across Sea Reach handily well out of the way of any shipping.
I toyed with setting the spinnaker but decided to try poling out the genoa instead as it's much less faff to do. That did the trick and we breezed all the way up to the Whitaker only losing the tide within the last hour.
However, as we dropped the pole and made the turn to head into the Crouch, the breeze really picked up. Of course, we expected the apparent wind to stiffen as we switched from sailing downwind to being close hauled (or for the landlubber as we changed from sailing away from the wind to sailing as near to towards the wind as possible) but it kicked up rather more than that and what's more it was absolutely right on the nose
Now a beat down the Whitaker in a steady F3 or 4 is one thing. We were now seeing gusts of well over 20 knots (at one point, a little later, we saw briefly 30 knots) on our rather reluctant (aka under-reading) wind instrument and with wind over tide it's no place for the gentleman sailor to linger. Nor us for that matter so it was on with the engine and away with the sails
With a stiff Westerly we decided not to anchor out as originally planned and headed into Burnham Yacht Harbour for the night. A wander into town for food and drink at Ye Olde White Harte was our reward!
Sunday ...
We decided we wanted a final night at anchor so departed Burnham in the morning and motored round to the Yokesfleet. We dropped the hook no problem and settled down but as the day wore on the wind picked up more and more from the West and by an hour before low water we had a problem.
The channel in the fleet isn't very wide and it's fairly common for boats to pass through it on the way to and from Suttons so I don't like anchoring in the middle of the channel. As a result, we were being driven round the anchor by the wind and sitting very close to the mud. It wasn't too wild but it wasn't as comfortable as it could be either.
We needed to shift so it was up with the anchor and scout around for a better spot. After a few minutes of looking we called it a day and set off back to Burnham for a guaranteed peaceful night
Monday ...
We motored up to Fambridge on the last of the tide and dropped onto the inside of the pontoon to sort out and offload. We weren't in a rush so it was mid-afternoon before we moved Erbas onto her mooring and used the already inflated flubber to run ashore. Deflating the flubber was the work of minutes and it was bagged up and chucked on the back seat of the car. As I'm back on board on Wednesday for at least a fortnight I'll sort everything out properly on my return
After our layover for the day at anchor, we very nearly decided to stay put for a second day
However, there was a half decent breeze and a bit of a question mark over the forecast for Sunday so we decided to make sail while the wind blew and head back to the Crouch
We sailed off the anchor albeit with the engine running to prevent the windlass discharging the batteries excessively. Starting the engine though appeared to have blown the fuse on the engine battery circuit. Isolating the engine battery and cross-linking the engine electrics to the domestic battery bank got us under way and I'll investigate that problem when I get a chance to do so
One of the Medway tugs was out testing her monitors (fire fighting water jets) as we sailed outbound towards Sea Reach in a very light breeze. At times we were barely making progress and I was beginning to think the engine would have to come back into the equation to cross the shipping channelHowever, the breeze picked up at, for once, just the right moment and we were across Sea Reach handily well out of the way of any shipping.
I toyed with setting the spinnaker but decided to try poling out the genoa instead as it's much less faff to do. That did the trick and we breezed all the way up to the Whitaker only losing the tide within the last hour.
However, as we dropped the pole and made the turn to head into the Crouch, the breeze really picked up. Of course, we expected the apparent wind to stiffen as we switched from sailing downwind to being close hauled (or for the landlubber as we changed from sailing away from the wind to sailing as near to towards the wind as possible) but it kicked up rather more than that and what's more it was absolutely right on the nose
Now a beat down the Whitaker in a steady F3 or 4 is one thing. We were now seeing gusts of well over 20 knots (at one point, a little later, we saw briefly 30 knots) on our rather reluctant (aka under-reading) wind instrument and with wind over tide it's no place for the gentleman sailor to linger. Nor us for that matter so it was on with the engine and away with the sails
With a stiff Westerly we decided not to anchor out as originally planned and headed into Burnham Yacht Harbour for the night. A wander into town for food and drink at Ye Olde White Harte was our reward!
Sunday ...
We decided we wanted a final night at anchor so departed Burnham in the morning and motored round to the Yokesfleet. We dropped the hook no problem and settled down but as the day wore on the wind picked up more and more from the West and by an hour before low water we had a problem.
The channel in the fleet isn't very wide and it's fairly common for boats to pass through it on the way to and from Suttons so I don't like anchoring in the middle of the channel. As a result, we were being driven round the anchor by the wind and sitting very close to the mud. It wasn't too wild but it wasn't as comfortable as it could be either.
We needed to shift so it was up with the anchor and scout around for a better spot. After a few minutes of looking we called it a day and set off back to Burnham for a guaranteed peaceful night
Monday ...
We motored up to Fambridge on the last of the tide and dropped onto the inside of the pontoon to sort out and offload. We weren't in a rush so it was mid-afternoon before we moved Erbas onto her mooring and used the already inflated flubber to run ashore. Deflating the flubber was the work of minutes and it was bagged up and chucked on the back seat of the car. As I'm back on board on Wednesday for at least a fortnight I'll sort everything out properly on my return
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