The mooring at Saltfleet has had a couple more visits, and was as ready as we could make it without having the boat there to measure up, so it was time to move. A break in the northeasterlies we'd been getting for a while was all I needed. It came!
Left Boston about 4pm on Sunday afternoon with the intention of taking my time and heading for the anchorage outside Wainfleet haven for the night.
As soon as we turned the corner near the docks we were confronted by a ship which almost filled the river, Ali was keen to give the tiller back to me! No choice but to turn round and head back upriver until he'd got into the dock lock. Half an hour later we tried again, after another mile we had to keep well in to the bank to let another big boy head for the docks - I thought it would be quiet on a Sunday afternoon!
Nothing else to hold us up, we headed out of the river after getting the sail up.
Uneventful trip to Wainfleet, the only interruptions were a seal which popped up very close to the boat while Ali was helming and made her jump, and a shortcut through the Wainfleet bombing range, just for the fun of it!
Dropped the hook about 9pm, in a very calm and sheltered spot.
Tried to watch "The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus" on the laptop, much hyped film which didn't manage to hold our interest....
Woke around 3am to a very rolly boat. Tide was coming in and the wind was going out. Neither was particularly fierce, but enough to set the boat off rocking!
Finally gave up trying to sleep around 5am, by 5.30 I was sailing.
Still almost dark, a fishing boat lit up like a Christmas tree was trawling for shrimp between me and Skegness, I headed a bit further offshore as they normally stay fairly close in to the beach. An hour or so later he was behind me.
I thought that now was as good a time as any to try the self-steering again. I'd been modifying it since I got it and was fairly sure it was close to being "right" now.
There was a bit of trepidation as I dropped the chain onto the tiller pin, but short-lived as the boat carried on in the right direction!
The course varied about 10 degrees each way from my chosen course before being pulled back by "Lee" as I have now named the S/S. Lee is my eldest son, the steering is a vane system. Anyone who knows Lee will understand. Vane, Vain, near enough for me!
The steering was left to it's own devices for a couple of hours with just a need for a tweak now and again. I made myself a cup of tea, had a snack, had a stroll around the deck and one or two other odd jobs, all with a grin on my face due to the new found freedom!
The forecast S/W wind had gradually become a N/W forcing me to head offshore more, before tacking back in, losing half a mile of northwards travel each time. As I neared Saltfleet the tide had also turned against me, on the last tack I lost a mile!
Battling on against wind and tide (COO, DRAMATIC!) I could just make out the wreck of the "Try". The haven entrance has moved south during the winter and the wreck has largely been uncovered and sits mid-channel and marked by buoys.
Making almost no headway towards the haven I finally gave in and started the engine and dropped the sail.
I carried on following the 5m contour north, until I saw the Inner mark buoy a little further out. I headed a little further out towards it in order to line up with the channel properly.
From the inner mark I turned west and headed for the wreck, hoping not to add to it!
The previous week I'd walked to the end of the channel to take a look at the wreck and at half tide there was water over the sandbar and about 4 feet of wreck showing above the water.
As I closed the wreck there was about a foot still showing, so there should be plenty of water as long as I stayed in the channel. The tide was doing it's best to push me south of it....
100m, then at 50m from the wreck, I was still trying to see the creek heading up the beach, and still seeing what looked like an unbroken beach stretching across in front of me!
Having seen the channel the week before, I knew it turned to starboard shortly after the wreck, and as I reached it I could see the pleasant and calm waters of Saltfleet haven.
I knew that at 3 hours before high water, I wouldn't be able to get up the creek to the moorings, so gently poked my way upriver until I felt the keels touch sand. I dropped the anchor out with a little chain and took the chance to tidy up the boat for half an hour.
After the water had risen a couple of feet I pulled the anchor up and nudged my way further up the creek, touched bottom once more before tying up to a boat on the visitor's mooring. We still had to wait another hour before we could get near the new mooring, but eventually managed to get tied up.
A couple of phone calls later and I'd managed to get a lift from a club member (Thanks Pete) to Mablethorpe, where we could start the mind-numbing 3 hour bus journey back to Boston and my car.
No comments:
Post a Comment