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| No.. not that one... 😁 |
Having said that, we've had almost non-stop gales ever since she went in - with a few notable exceptions (the first sail of the season, and yesterday) it's been wall to wall gales/strong wind... last week it was so bad that on the Wednesday lunchtime I had to go out to the boat in a F8 as I was in danger of losing my sail cover... stupid really, but I was convinced I was going to lose it, and the main, so needs must .... took me three minutes to get to the boat, and twenty to get back... knackered!
In all the years I've had the boat on the mooring I've not seen it that rough - waves were being picked up and blown as spray under the bridge. The wind was SW'ly so theoretically the boats on the Chichester side are protected from the worst, by the bund that the main road to Hayling runs along the top of (north south), but in effect the wind direction was using the underside of the bridge as a wind tunnel....
When I got back to the office I had a quick check on Cambermet, and they reported a gust of F10 (48 knots) just after I got back to shore...
..so all in all I'd put my money on the weather rather than a bird sitting on it (which is the usual culprit) ... but it's still irritating...... in the grand scheme of things however, I've got off very lightly... one of the club boats broke a mooring last week, they think that the pin in the bow roller pulled out, and the rope and chain jumped out of the roller and chaffed on the edge of it before cutting through, happily, club members saw it and managed to stop her before too much damage was done, but she still ended up against the bridge, and it could have been much worse - I can only imagine how relieved the owner is....
The weather has to improve soon - and following a weekend of duff tides last weekend I'm hoping the midday tide on Sunday will see me heading southwards....
Not much better here in NZ - as I type its blowing forty bastards and I am reading in the newspaper about all the mayhem and damage that's been inflicted further south - and this is only the beginning of winter!
ReplyDeleteAlden - also hearing interesting things about El Nino this year... could of course be the usual Press scare tactics.....
DeleteIt's, ummm, sunny and blowing 10-15 knots here on the Chesapeake. :)
ReplyDeleteMiles - in the UK we have a saying.... "shut yer face"... :o)) PS. How's that beautiful boat of yours, back on the water again?
DeleteYour turn will come jmilesr LOL - no one gets away with that sort of weather for ever! : > ) - Make sailing use of it while you can!
ReplyDeleteLooks like wind speed will be up and down like a fiddlers elbow or similar this weekend depending on which piece of on line seaweed you believe.
ReplyDeleteGoing to give it a go Sunday regardless, even if all we get is double reefed trip up the river
BB - ditto.... looks like Sunday is the slightly better day of the two - filling in from the afternoon...
DeleteYikes, scary stuff in a tender. I took a friend out to rescue his main sail and cover a couple of years ago in similar conditions... but at least I had an outboard :) Saturday looks ok around Poole. We are off to Chapmans Pool to see if we can induce a heart attack climbing the hill to the Square & Compass in Worth Matravers.
ReplyDeleteMight be heading your way during the bank holiday week. Will you be breaking cover at all then?
Phil - certainly expect to beout on one day, and hopefully two!
ReplyDelete