snowleopard
Well-Known Member
Megan\'s crossing (long post with pics)
Tuesday
3p.m. Leave Millbrook on the afternoon tide on Snow Leopard. Wind W 4-5. Fast run around Start Point then a beam reach in the lee of the land, touching 13 knots. Convivial evening with Pessimist & Pragmatist in Dartmouth.
Wednesday
The obligatory breakfast at Alf Resco. Pessimist pulls a muscle pushing Sans Serif off the pontoon and has to abandon plans to join us. Leave for the Exe in a rising wind, now W 5-6. 8.5 knots under double-reefed main. This was the day the crossing was planned. Skipper makes a total pigs ear of mooring in the Exe – 3 knots of tide against 25 knots of wind and mooring strop knotted round the riser. Finally get tied up at the 4th attempt.
Thursday
Alarm set for 0300, under way and groping our way through the moorings. Rendezvous with the support RIB and Megan off Exmouth. Wind now down to NW2 but less in the shelter of the land. RIB tows the laser out to the bar buoy and casts off at 0345.
Progress very slow to start with, no more than 3 knots for the first few hours plus a bit of a lift from the tide. By the time we are 1/4 of the way across we’ve been out there for 6 hours.
The wind slowly picks up to a F3 but it’s still from dead astern. Megan has a choice of all 3 rigs but has stuck with the full size and, being very lightweight, it’s pretty close to her limit. She capsizes twice but gets back aboard dry.
The middle section is frustrating for us as we can see the effect of the west-going tide, down to a couple of knots over the ground at times. By late afternoon the tide is back with us and we are being swept East towards Cap de la Hague and Cherbourg. It starts to go dark after 15 hours sailing and Megan’s grin has changed to grim determination. The RIB’s 250hp engine has been on tickover for all that time & now starts to flash oil warnings. We consider having to take them in tow.
At just before midnight the wind has again fallen light and the RIB takes her in tow at the fairway buoy. By the time we are tied up it’s past midnight. Bottles and cans are cracked to celebrate the successful crossing and the fact that it’s now Megan’s 18th birthday.
Friday
R&R in Cherbourg. The Café de Paris is still excellent. The Woodvale RIB crew got home with no more oil problems.
Saturday
Load the Laser on the foredeck and set off at noon on the turn of the tide. Little wind but what there is comes from behind. Motoring along the coast and past Alderney we have 6 knots on the log and 11 on the GPS. Relieved not to get swept off down the Alderney race but a little envious of those heading that way. By the time we reach the western end of the TSS to turn NW the wind had got up enough to sail and the rest of the passage is an easy run though a bit long and tedious as it is dark and drizzling.
p.s. Megan raised £3,000 for charity, part of which goes to help the Jubilee Sailing Trust (square riggers for the disabled). If any of you fine folks would like to augment that, go to megan's web site and send her a message.
The support RIB was provided by Woodvale Events
Tuesday
3p.m. Leave Millbrook on the afternoon tide on Snow Leopard. Wind W 4-5. Fast run around Start Point then a beam reach in the lee of the land, touching 13 knots. Convivial evening with Pessimist & Pragmatist in Dartmouth.
Wednesday
The obligatory breakfast at Alf Resco. Pessimist pulls a muscle pushing Sans Serif off the pontoon and has to abandon plans to join us. Leave for the Exe in a rising wind, now W 5-6. 8.5 knots under double-reefed main. This was the day the crossing was planned. Skipper makes a total pigs ear of mooring in the Exe – 3 knots of tide against 25 knots of wind and mooring strop knotted round the riser. Finally get tied up at the 4th attempt.
Thursday
Alarm set for 0300, under way and groping our way through the moorings. Rendezvous with the support RIB and Megan off Exmouth. Wind now down to NW2 but less in the shelter of the land. RIB tows the laser out to the bar buoy and casts off at 0345.
Progress very slow to start with, no more than 3 knots for the first few hours plus a bit of a lift from the tide. By the time we are 1/4 of the way across we’ve been out there for 6 hours.
The wind slowly picks up to a F3 but it’s still from dead astern. Megan has a choice of all 3 rigs but has stuck with the full size and, being very lightweight, it’s pretty close to her limit. She capsizes twice but gets back aboard dry.
The middle section is frustrating for us as we can see the effect of the west-going tide, down to a couple of knots over the ground at times. By late afternoon the tide is back with us and we are being swept East towards Cap de la Hague and Cherbourg. It starts to go dark after 15 hours sailing and Megan’s grin has changed to grim determination. The RIB’s 250hp engine has been on tickover for all that time & now starts to flash oil warnings. We consider having to take them in tow.
At just before midnight the wind has again fallen light and the RIB takes her in tow at the fairway buoy. By the time we are tied up it’s past midnight. Bottles and cans are cracked to celebrate the successful crossing and the fact that it’s now Megan’s 18th birthday.
Friday
R&R in Cherbourg. The Café de Paris is still excellent. The Woodvale RIB crew got home with no more oil problems.
Saturday
Load the Laser on the foredeck and set off at noon on the turn of the tide. Little wind but what there is comes from behind. Motoring along the coast and past Alderney we have 6 knots on the log and 11 on the GPS. Relieved not to get swept off down the Alderney race but a little envious of those heading that way. By the time we reach the western end of the TSS to turn NW the wind had got up enough to sail and the rest of the passage is an easy run though a bit long and tedious as it is dark and drizzling.
p.s. Megan raised £3,000 for charity, part of which goes to help the Jubilee Sailing Trust (square riggers for the disabled). If any of you fine folks would like to augment that, go to megan's web site and send her a message.
The support RIB was provided by Woodvale Events
