A period of inclement weather and low tides had resulted in it being far too long since I was last out on Sparrow, and with the Jolly Boys all busy (being Jolly one assumes 😀) there were no rides on Kings Ransom or AmiLy on offer so I was more than ready to get out on Sparrow when the one good (ish) weather window made itself known..
We're in Springs so it was a humongous tide (4.5 mtrs compared with a meter less on the last sail) - there was going to be a lot of water sloshing around and not much of a stand. It was a 12:17 HT so I planned to be on the boat about 3 hours before, and then see what it was like as the forecasts were saying light winds..
As it turned out I was on Sparrow by about quarter to 10 (bit of a mud/weed walk with the tender as the tide was still very low), but it was like a millpond, very quiet wind'wise. Got on with some jobs (swapped the genoa sheets back to the lightweight one's, new battery in the clock) but when I popped my head out again, the wind had picked up. "Sod it", quoth I, "if it's crap we can pick up a mooring down the harbour and watch the world go by"..
Engine on, sail covers off, and I eventually dropped the mooring at about 20 past 10.
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| "Terror" one of the last surviving Emsworth oyster boats - she was curated/reconstructed/renovated with lottery money, but she is gorgeous, and she is surprisingly fast in any kind of a breeze.. |
Turned out to be a lovely sail - the wind kept building as we went past Northney, where I turned and put the main up (with the direction we had I should have done it by the bridge, it would have been easier!), but then I bore away for Sweare Deep rolling out all the genoa as we went - auto pilot clicking away quietly in the background.. very broad reach...
Tightened up as we went past Sweare Deep, admired Terror as she was putting her gaff main up in the main channel, and realised that it was entirely possible I might get all the way to the bottom of the harbour on a single tack, it headed every now and again, but I was making my west'ing in the gusts, and roared past Marker (well... 3 knots SOG.. but I reckon there was at least 1 or 2 knots of tide against 😏)
The sun shone, the boat was moving well, and the sun hat was on.. slipped past HISC in some very whirly water, I'm guessing it was just shy of high, but there was so much in a fairly small area it was swirling around... you could even feel it on the rudder.. very pleasant though, and so un-busy, I carried on before eventually deciding the wind was just not strong enough, and the tide too strong, and tacked and headed back up harbour..
The sun went in, it got colder, jumpers were hunted out, the tiller pilot was engaged, and I sat on the perching pad keeping warm, while occasionally having a chat with a guy on a Hunter Ranger 245 [clicky] who was going the same way I was - turns out he had had a Hurley 22 up until the end of last season, but had upgraded.. nice boat..
Rolled the genoa away as we rounded the corner by Sweare Deep, the wind was dead on the nose.. engine on, main down, and headed back to the mooring for what was probably my best pick up this year, unbelievable.. 😁
Chat with t'other Dave on 'Kings Ransom' as I went past, and it turned out he had some Tanglefoot on offer - well... it would have been churlish not to.. 🍺🍺
Brilliant day out and a beer in the sun with a mate to end it.. doesn't get much better
Log:
Distance: 9.94 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F4 going F3 ; WxS going SWxW
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 5.2 / 2.9
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