Send me smoke signals ...

... next time there's a problem!

Although I sincerely hope there isn't a next time.

Isn't it typical that on the one day you really don't want your comms to fail, that's precisely what they do. Crucially, although it was showing a signal and apparently working my mobile had locked out from the network and was neither receiving nor making calls

I only discovered this when I tried to call an internet friend who had kindly offered assistance in finding out whether Erbas was OK or not. As it turned out, she wasn't but she was sort of thing

To cut a long story to a not quite so long story, it turns out it was Erbas that was the boat reported as having gone ashore. I can't thank everyone who offered help enough but I must mention in particular Nathan Whitlock, who I've never actually met, who set out on foot from the marina in the dark, walked all the way down to the swinging moorings and searched as best he could for Erbas

Finding no sign of her where she should be, he then stopped by the Ferry Boat (I'm sure entirely in the interests of further investigation!) and the landlord Mark then got on the case and by phoning around found out that the marina staff had recovered Erbas intact and apparently undamaged and put her on a different trot mooring for safety

Meanwhile, Jim Dew had offered to go out in the dark on Full Circle and search the river, thankfully this wasn't necessary. I did take up his offer to stop by the moorings this morning and check on Erbas although that would prove unnecessary too.

Shortly after I got to work, wishing only that I could just get in the car and drive down to Fambridge (not that I could achieve anything by doing so), Adam from the marina left a comment on this blog with confirmation of the situation and reassurance that all is well with the boat. Outstanding service to be blogging and willing to take calls from customers so late in the evening!

I didn't see the comment until the early hours of the morning due to yet another comms hiccup (my mobile didn't download my emails properly and had to be kicked up the backside yet again and then hey presto suddenly there was this important message now several hours old) so I've yet to speak to the guys at the marina but I'm feeling reasonably cheerful and at least now I'm sick with relief rather than sick with worry! (I suspect only other boat owners will understand just how emotionally attached you become to your boat ... even after only a few weeks ownership. It's more like a pet or  child than a car or a caravan. Strange but true).

The only remaining question is ... what happened? I'm really hoping that the answer is that the mooring dragged or the riser failed or something of that nature. Not, I hasten to add, because I want to blame the marina (she's insured against such eventualities and, as they say, sh sh sh stuff happens) but because I'm desperately hoping I haven't been a bit of a clot

When we put Erbas onto the buoy for the first time a couple of weeks ago, we discovered that the mooring strop and line were chafing on the anchor flukes. Removing the anchor would have been a right royal pain in the proverbial so I came up with what I thought was a cunning wheeze and lashed the anchor up to the pulpit rail to raise it clear of the strops

I fear that in the rough conditions on the river yesterday morning she was pitching enough to bring the strops into contact with the anchor flukes and if that happened they wouldn't have lasted long at all. I debated travelling down over the weekend to sort it out properly and decided she'd be alright.

I shall find out whether I am indeed a clot or not later ... actually I do feel that in hindsight I should have made the trip to Essex regardless. If we have got away with no damage at all we're extremely lucky. Several friends haven't been so fortunate