IanPoole2
Well-Known Member
Last weekend I had volunteered to take out my father-in-laws brother and family for a long day sail out of the Colne somewhere for a bit of sea fishing.
The day started badly, I got up at an ungodly hour, went to the hard where the dinghies kept and discovered my wellies, kept in the dingy under a foot of water. A hole had appeared in the boat cover over the previous couple of weeks and the rain had poured into the dingy.
I rowed out to the boat; the tide had just turned so cast off and put the boat on sailing club pontoon that took 2 goes as there was not much water being neap tides.
I called my father in law to find that his guests have not even got up yet. Whilst he's rousing them another boat rafts along side after hitting the putty as well - b*gger!
The guests arrive just as we're about sink back into the mud, so we cast off and head down river.
Whilst sailing past the Mersea stone, very little wind, up comes a gust, there goes my hat - sod it!
There followed a pleasant 3 hours sailing against tide to Mersea & Bradwell when the external speaker grill & cone disintegrates whilst listening to the cricket - disaster!
Next the heads jams solid - time for bucket & chuck it. Then on the sail back towards Clacton one of the party goes white as a sheet, admits he's not feeling well. Quickly we divert to Brightlingsea. Enter the harbour at dead low water - carefully, try to get on the spanking new pontoon - and you guessed it - hit the mud again. Nifty reversing and we're back a float, amongst the sailing club’s dingy race. Do a 300% turn, avoid the dinghies and head carefully for the visitors pontoons. I spy the harbour master, inform him of the dodgy crew and whilst negotiating the quickest way to get him off, find myself drifting between the pontoons beam on - double sod it. Bernie the Harbour master quickly assesses the situation and pushes us onto the pontoon - for which many thanks- and we quickly get the ill guest ashore.
Off we go to the Pyefleet now for a late lunch. Just as we are arriving somebody casts off a mooring. Has our luck changed? - Not quite we took 3 attempts to pick up the mooring! A pleasant hour or 2 eating and fishing passes and it's time to head home. Drop the mooring. Touch of reverse, clear the line and buoy, into forward - guess what - go backwards even faster. Now we've only got reverse!!!!
Quick hoist - the young niece gets her fingers caught under the sheet.
Anyway we sail all the way back on a nice easy reach, around the bend to the trots at Wivenhoe, when, the wind dies and we drift onto the putty. Quick, on with the broken engine, reverse off, across the channel and drift back onto the mooring. Home at last.
The result - 1 broken gear box, 1 broken radio, 1 broken heads, 2 hurt guests and no fish. On the plus side - in the Colne we saw a seal eating the fish, that’s why we did not catch any. But the real bonus was in the Blackwater watching a couple of harbour porpoises, something I'd never seen here before.
On the whole I think the positives out weighed the negatives, especially as the sickie was OK after an hour on the toilet and there was no damage to the young girls hand.
But the moral of the story - if a day starts badly, it can only get worse
The day started badly, I got up at an ungodly hour, went to the hard where the dinghies kept and discovered my wellies, kept in the dingy under a foot of water. A hole had appeared in the boat cover over the previous couple of weeks and the rain had poured into the dingy.
I rowed out to the boat; the tide had just turned so cast off and put the boat on sailing club pontoon that took 2 goes as there was not much water being neap tides.
I called my father in law to find that his guests have not even got up yet. Whilst he's rousing them another boat rafts along side after hitting the putty as well - b*gger!
The guests arrive just as we're about sink back into the mud, so we cast off and head down river.
Whilst sailing past the Mersea stone, very little wind, up comes a gust, there goes my hat - sod it!
There followed a pleasant 3 hours sailing against tide to Mersea & Bradwell when the external speaker grill & cone disintegrates whilst listening to the cricket - disaster!
Next the heads jams solid - time for bucket & chuck it. Then on the sail back towards Clacton one of the party goes white as a sheet, admits he's not feeling well. Quickly we divert to Brightlingsea. Enter the harbour at dead low water - carefully, try to get on the spanking new pontoon - and you guessed it - hit the mud again. Nifty reversing and we're back a float, amongst the sailing club’s dingy race. Do a 300% turn, avoid the dinghies and head carefully for the visitors pontoons. I spy the harbour master, inform him of the dodgy crew and whilst negotiating the quickest way to get him off, find myself drifting between the pontoons beam on - double sod it. Bernie the Harbour master quickly assesses the situation and pushes us onto the pontoon - for which many thanks- and we quickly get the ill guest ashore.
Off we go to the Pyefleet now for a late lunch. Just as we are arriving somebody casts off a mooring. Has our luck changed? - Not quite we took 3 attempts to pick up the mooring! A pleasant hour or 2 eating and fishing passes and it's time to head home. Drop the mooring. Touch of reverse, clear the line and buoy, into forward - guess what - go backwards even faster. Now we've only got reverse!!!!
Quick hoist - the young niece gets her fingers caught under the sheet.
Anyway we sail all the way back on a nice easy reach, around the bend to the trots at Wivenhoe, when, the wind dies and we drift onto the putty. Quick, on with the broken engine, reverse off, across the channel and drift back onto the mooring. Home at last.
The result - 1 broken gear box, 1 broken radio, 1 broken heads, 2 hurt guests and no fish. On the plus side - in the Colne we saw a seal eating the fish, that’s why we did not catch any. But the real bonus was in the Blackwater watching a couple of harbour porpoises, something I'd never seen here before.
On the whole I think the positives out weighed the negatives, especially as the sickie was OK after an hour on the toilet and there was no damage to the young girls hand.
But the moral of the story - if a day starts badly, it can only get worse
