Were we foolhardy?? (Re: Portland Race)

[ianphillips]

With ref to my post on here a couple of weeks ago regarding tackling Portland Race and Lyme Bay from Poole in a small boat, I thought I should report that we did go as planned in a SW F3. Took the inshore passage around the Bill on the way down and although we had a head wind and tide, made Torquay from Poole in just under 4 hours. Saw no evidence of the race and whilst there was a bit of swell in Lyme Bay nothing the boat or we couldn't handle with ease.

Our planned return was delayed by the E F5 which unsued for the rest of the week. It is true what they say about easterlies in and around Torbay; we got caught in vicious conditions around Berry Head when returning to Torquay from Dartmouth. Unless I had experienced it myself, I would never have believed that a SE F3 could whip up such a steep swell and confused chop in such a short period of time. By the end of the week there was quite a swell in Torquay marina and it became obvious why so many boats are using shock absorbers on their mooring ropes.

We had to be back in Poole by Monday night, so we waited until Sunday afternoon to decide whether it was the coach back to Poole or the boat. The forecast for Monday was SE F4, falling S F3 later, so we took the boat out on Sunday afternoon to take a "look" at conditions. Torbay itself was smooth but Lyme Bay remained slightly choppy but we felt it would be manageable and would probably have dropped further by morning. My main concern was the huge tides of last weekend, with slightly uncertain conditions, I wasn't sure how accurately I could time our arrival at Portland. We therefore opted for an offshore return passage, taking us 3.5 miles off the Bill and just south of the overfalls at St Albans.

After a restless night monitoring our neighbours "Jolly Roger," (their flag!!) we left Torquay at daybreak, to time an arrival at Portland hopefully at high tide. Thankfully the wind was light probably a E-SE F3 or less.

When filing our passage plan with Brixham CG and telling them we were a 23ft Sportsfisher, we were slightly unnerved by them asking if we had checked the weather forecast and I got the distinct impression they thought we were being foolhardy in making this passage in such a small boat - perhaps due to the tides?? I didn't ask. Maybe I should have asked them if they knew something about conditions on our route that I didn't!! but felt a bit like a naughty schoolboy, so I didn't ask!

Anyway, it is fair to say the return passage was slightly choppy, but at no point did we feel we were at risk. Despite wind over tide virtually the whole way, we maintained a steady 16 or 17 knots across Lyme Bay. We saw no evidence of the race at Portland, just a slightly more confused sea state, but we were able to maintain a planing speed the whole way through.

It is true what they say about familiarity; our stickiest moment was off Durleston, where due to a lapse of concentration we clipped the overfalls as we cut inshore. This is an area we frequent on a weekly basis in the summer in all sorts of conditions and I think because of the elation of getting round Portland and St Albans in such huge tides and into a head wind I underestimated conditons off Anvil Point. Nevertheless we got through, albeit down at about 10 knots.

We got back to our berth in Cobbs Quay in just under 5 hours. The Karnic behaved brilliantly in everything that was thrown at it. For those interested, the Suzuki Four Stroke (140hp) during our week away, including the outward and return passages and a couple of trips out and around Torbay and into Dartmouth consumed a total of 220 litres petrol. According to our log this equates to less than 4 gallons an hour.

I have had boats all my life and have 40 years experience, admittedly most in larger boats, but in my opinion we were well equipped for this trip, we had fixed VHF and backup handheld, fixed chart plotter and backup handheld GPS, fixed compass and paper charts. Whilst I will admit we don't often wear life jackets out and about in Poole Bay, for any off-shore jaunts we always wear auto life jackets. We have appropriate flares and know how to use them. Our boat is registered with Portland under the CG66 scheme and we always file passage plans for longer trips. So why did I feel so guilty when being quizzed by Brixham CG - were we being foolhardy??

Sorry so long.

Cheers
Ian

 

[Kawasaki]

Don,t think you were.
Did you have a hauxiliary hengine honboard Sir?
You seemed well enough prepared,you had the option to turn back presumabley?
Nippy boat that you could have turned to safety pretty quickly, should "The Tempest" be on you.
Zillions of Years of expeirience of the Water(always breeds contempt)! Catches lots of peeps out does that one. Been there T shirt etc!
Never had that Coastgaurd reaction, mind you don,t go anywere in F4 tantamount to a Gale!
Overfalls and tide races, on a more serious note can be nasty ,even in light winds if the F4 is arguing with the tide on Springs.
By the way I think those Suz 4 strokes are the Bees /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[whisper]

Sounds fine to me - an enjoyable trip by the looks of it.
I often find that forecast wind strengths and sea states can be quite different when "out there". This can be in either direction, mind you, so I frequently go and have a look at what it's like before deciding on whether to continue or not. As another has said, presumably if it was too nasty for you you could have returned to Torbay.

Out of interest and as has previously been asked, did you have an auxilliary outboard or not? Presumably this is a yes, if not then perhaps my answer would be rather different.

 

[Nick_H]

In the summer lots of people bring trailer boats to Torquay and get into trouble because they don't understand the forecasts and tides. The coastguard have probably taken to asking anyone in boats under a certain size if they have checked the forecast to try and reduce the number of call outs, as they have little way of knowing who is experienced and who is not.

Sounds like you were well prepared and had an enjoyable trip

 

[ianphillips]

As it happens we do not have an aux. outboard - or should I say we do, but we don't take it with us!

We have an 8hp 2 stroke Yamaha, which I guess could push us along at about 5 or 6 knots (in a flat calm) but as anyone who has tried to use one in anger will know - aux outboards are not that simple (or safe) to use onboard a modern sportsboat, particularly if, like us, you have a bathing platform, which at displacement speeds is only inches from the water. I guess if you break down just outside the marina, you'll manage get home okay, but hanging over the stern trying to get an aux started while the boat is rolling all over the place is no fun and certainly not safe.

If we break down mid-channel or even three miles off Portland, then a little aux is unlikely to get us to a safe haven and in the likey sea conditons - it is not going to be safe hanging over the stern trying to steer!!

I've seen small cruisers trying to get back through the Haven at Poole on their aux., and in my opinion they would have been safer dropping anchor out in Poole Bay and calling Sea Start, which is why we have Sea Start membership. In fact how many small sailiing cruisers have we all seen trying to make headway in a bit of tide with their little pop-pop hanging on the stern?? They usually have a rudder to steer with. Years ago I tried to fix the aux steering and use the main outboard as a rudder but it really didn't work very well.

I now have the philosphy that it is a new engine, which together with the auxillary components is well serviced and looked after, so we should not suffer mechanical breakdown. If we are inshore then we have Sea Start to call upon and if we are offshore, then we have two good radios to rely upon. Our last boat was a 33ft Aquabell with a single 20+ year old Sabre Diesel. In my opinion it was far more likely to breakdown than the new outboard we now have and an aux., was definately NOT an option!!

As for the option of turning back, yes of course we would have returned to Torquay had conditions been bad in Lyme Bay - but the problem associated with the easterly crossing is once at Portland, although you are virtually within sight of Weymouth & Portland Harbour, if you can't get through the race, you are in fact 40 miles from another safe haven, unless you call drying out at Bridport or Lyme Regis safe havens! We have a range of 150 miles so could have returned to Torquay had conditions at Portland been prohibitive. I guess if the weather was to close in behind you, then things could turn tricky.

I am certainly no adrenaline junky - but boating is not a risk free past time and I guess in part, this is what makes it so appealling - sorry if this offends anyone, but if I wanted totally risk free boating I'd stick to Poole Park Lake.

Cheers for now
Ian

 

[whisper]

Tend to agree with you re. the value of an auxilliary in real conditions. It definitely depends on how easy it is to deploy/operate them from within the cockpit. I've used them, in the past, to keep a former boat's head to the wind and to get me home in flat conditions.