whisper
Well-Known Member
Lively day in S.Devon today.
Decided to do a little round trip of Kingsbridge - Burgh Island (lunch) - Kingsbridge.
Weather forecast ( Met Office Coastal one) said there would be Nwly - Wly winds of F3-5 with sea state being "Wavelets".
Bedlam on the way down to the Bar - racing dinghys of all sorts going in all sorts of direction.
Sea state between Bolt Hd and Bolt Tail saw "wavelets" of giant proportion +/- 3ft!! and thats with wind going with the tide. Only one other motor boat in sight.
Just before Bolt Tail there was a PAN PAN regarding two struggling boaters who's vessel had capsized at Hope Cove - luckily for them, they had been saved before we got there!.
Consider anchoring in lee of Burgh Island but it was still rather bumpy - in reality the wind was W or even had a touch of S in it. Decided therefore to do the somewhat hairy entrance into the R.Avon. I'd not done this before on Neaps and at about an hour before HW. I normally do it at that time or a bit earlier on Springs.
As it happened, a local Boston Whaler went in in front of us so it was a case of "follow that cab".
Bantham is a super spot but once past the slip the channel seems to disappear amongst the many small boats crowded into that area. This can be decidedly entertaining with Spring Tides running in.
Anyway, we went further upstream and anchored in a peaceful spot, just off a heronry, in 2.5m of water. To my boating partner's delight I produced a pair of expensive folding chairs - £8 each or 2 for £15 - and erected them in the rear cockpit. This of course was behind the wheelhouse so was out of the wind. One downside to the Targa arrangement is that the front cockpit area is chilly when you're on a mooring or at anchor in a breeze.
After a pleasant hour or so we up anchored and gently made our way back out into Bigbury Bay. The sea was still very "messy" but I managed to maintain 15 knts until I suddenly caught a glimpse of a small grey 10 litre plastic oil can just about to go under the bow. After a violent turn to Stbd I looked behind to see a very tight length of 20-25mm rope disappearing into the depths astern - Oh B**** - the line was now attached to us!!
We donned lifejackets and I ended up hanging on the bouncy and very wave beaten bathing platform, pondering the meaning of life. My mate gingerly lifted the leg and I tried to untangle the offending rope. Luckily it hadn't wrapped around the prop but had twisted around the leg, under the cavitation plate. The apology for a marker buoy was trapped on one side and the rope on the other. After a number of attempts to dislodge the buoy failed because the line was so tight, my mate got the trusty wooden boat hook and managed to lift the line high enough for me to cut it with our close to hand breadknife. Thankfully the line came apart cleanly and we were clear to proceed , albeit a little gingerly to start with. Felt guilty about leaving any inhabitants of the pot to die but felt no guilt at all towards the pillock who thinks small "ocean grey" containers are sensible marker buoys.
A couple of miles before Bolt Head, Brixham Coastguard came on saying there had been a Mayday transmitted from the Salcombe area. This had ended with the sound of children laughing and did anyone in the area know anything about it. Fat chance I'd have thought.
A slow obstacle race up stream, sometimes being overtaken by men on trapezes, and never being thanked for making great efforts to keep out of the competitors ways saw us safely arrive back at base. We adjourned immediately to the Crabshell Inn for a well deserved pint - pity I was still dripping wet and left a small puddle by where I was sitting. Don't think they noticed and anyway at £3.40 a pint they could afford to get a squeegy out.
It's Frogmore Regatta on Saturday but I won't be joining in the Mud Race this year!!
Decided to do a little round trip of Kingsbridge - Burgh Island (lunch) - Kingsbridge.
Weather forecast ( Met Office Coastal one) said there would be Nwly - Wly winds of F3-5 with sea state being "Wavelets".
Bedlam on the way down to the Bar - racing dinghys of all sorts going in all sorts of direction.
Sea state between Bolt Hd and Bolt Tail saw "wavelets" of giant proportion +/- 3ft!! and thats with wind going with the tide. Only one other motor boat in sight.
Just before Bolt Tail there was a PAN PAN regarding two struggling boaters who's vessel had capsized at Hope Cove - luckily for them, they had been saved before we got there!.
Consider anchoring in lee of Burgh Island but it was still rather bumpy - in reality the wind was W or even had a touch of S in it. Decided therefore to do the somewhat hairy entrance into the R.Avon. I'd not done this before on Neaps and at about an hour before HW. I normally do it at that time or a bit earlier on Springs.
As it happened, a local Boston Whaler went in in front of us so it was a case of "follow that cab".
Bantham is a super spot but once past the slip the channel seems to disappear amongst the many small boats crowded into that area. This can be decidedly entertaining with Spring Tides running in.
Anyway, we went further upstream and anchored in a peaceful spot, just off a heronry, in 2.5m of water. To my boating partner's delight I produced a pair of expensive folding chairs - £8 each or 2 for £15 - and erected them in the rear cockpit. This of course was behind the wheelhouse so was out of the wind. One downside to the Targa arrangement is that the front cockpit area is chilly when you're on a mooring or at anchor in a breeze.
After a pleasant hour or so we up anchored and gently made our way back out into Bigbury Bay. The sea was still very "messy" but I managed to maintain 15 knts until I suddenly caught a glimpse of a small grey 10 litre plastic oil can just about to go under the bow. After a violent turn to Stbd I looked behind to see a very tight length of 20-25mm rope disappearing into the depths astern - Oh B**** - the line was now attached to us!!
We donned lifejackets and I ended up hanging on the bouncy and very wave beaten bathing platform, pondering the meaning of life. My mate gingerly lifted the leg and I tried to untangle the offending rope. Luckily it hadn't wrapped around the prop but had twisted around the leg, under the cavitation plate. The apology for a marker buoy was trapped on one side and the rope on the other. After a number of attempts to dislodge the buoy failed because the line was so tight, my mate got the trusty wooden boat hook and managed to lift the line high enough for me to cut it with our close to hand breadknife. Thankfully the line came apart cleanly and we were clear to proceed , albeit a little gingerly to start with. Felt guilty about leaving any inhabitants of the pot to die but felt no guilt at all towards the pillock who thinks small "ocean grey" containers are sensible marker buoys.
A couple of miles before Bolt Head, Brixham Coastguard came on saying there had been a Mayday transmitted from the Salcombe area. This had ended with the sound of children laughing and did anyone in the area know anything about it. Fat chance I'd have thought.
A slow obstacle race up stream, sometimes being overtaken by men on trapezes, and never being thanked for making great efforts to keep out of the competitors ways saw us safely arrive back at base. We adjourned immediately to the Crabshell Inn for a well deserved pint - pity I was still dripping wet and left a small puddle by where I was sitting. Don't think they noticed and anyway at £3.40 a pint they could afford to get a squeegy out.
It's Frogmore Regatta on Saturday but I won't be joining in the Mud Race this year!!
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