Went out to my mooring to check my boat and so far so good.

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FairweatherDave

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As we are staying afloat this winter (first time) on our swinging mooring I thought I should check how the boat is fairing with these winds. Today being the least windy of the week I kayaked out in a choppy force five. Our mooring is pretty well sheltered in deep water behind Hayling Island but it is a bit exposed in this stream of WNW winds. Spent about 40 minutes aboard and adjusted a few things, the rope mooring strop, the spare halyard is now brought down to a bow cleat and I removed my bird scarer CD string before it cuts through the lazy jacks. (Need to improve the design of that). Having put the mainsail back on in the heatwave a couple of weeks back I knew I would regret it, but it was good to see the canvas fairing well. Phew....... so far so good. Feel a lot better for having inspected everything for real, instead of my imagination playing games. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who has been checking their boat :)
 
Fair point DB. Mine is a sit-on too. The transfer is a bit awkward but really no worse than taking a hard dinghy to the stern in unpleasant chop. Key thing is I'm wearing a drysuit and bouyancy aid.
I'd rather fall in from a kayak than tip a tender over, and the paddle is a more reliable engine than an outboard. I only keep a tender on the shore over the summer. Much rather be in a kayak in those conditions.
 
Great news about your boat, but a word of caution! According to CamberMet the water temp in Chi Harbour is currently 7.7C. And according to the US Search and Rescue Task Force, this equates to about 30-60mins before exhaustion and unconsciousness.

Assuming you're a good swimmer and moored either up the Emsworth or Northney channel; if you're unluck enough to go into the water you should be okay on a fair day. Current conditions are probably marginal at best. Wear either a drysuit or a 5mm wetsuit and you'll be just fine.

FWIW I often kayak in Chi Harbour in winter and take a H/H VHF with me, mobile in waterproof case, wear a 5mm wetsuit unzipped at the front to prevent overheating, and wear a kayak friendly buoyancy aid.

And finally, Seajet wrote an excellent post about struggling in the soft mud when he once accidentally fell into the water. Horrible, dangerous stuff I think was his message.

Edit: see you were wearing a drysuit :encouragement:
 
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FairweatherDave said:
Quite so Dom! We posted at the same time! I'm cautious, and hopefully fairly fit :)
Click to expand...

Lol, and re preferring a kayak in those conditions: certainly in relation to the ubiquitous little yacht tender/toy I'd 100% agree, as long as one is able to right and re-enter the kayak from the water.
 
Daydream believer said:
Getting from a kayak onto a boat must be a dodgy task in itself I would have thought
Click to expand...

Depends how good a kayaker you are, I suppose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghFyo3bJB_Q

A bit like people who are nervous cyclists; unable to comprehend that not everyone else on a bike is going to wobble across the road and crash into them.
I've paddled with the guy in the video and have nothing like his skill set, but getting onto a yacht from a kayak is pretty simple.
 
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