lotuspack
New member
A couple of weeks ago we took our cruiser out for a leisurely meander down to Chichester Harbour entrance from Chichester marina thinking this will be a nice calm pleasant trip. After setting out though the lock, I might add for the first time, we gently cruised along the marina approach staying close to the markers as the tide was still quite low. After turning into the main waterway I opened her up to a scintillating 6 knots when the boat started shaking like the French car advert for cars with bums! Immediately cutting back the throttles to a well behaved (less wobbling) 4 knots we proceeded down to the harbour entrance. Determined to have at least one day of fine weather, we continued to the anchorage just inside the harbour and dropped the anchor. While putting back a Breezer and a bite, all sorts of things cross you mind as the cause, have I lost a blade or even a prop, what did that skipper say to me about the anodes in Chichester, how they corrode so fast you should check them every month. Expecting to see the props burning as if in acid, we pulled up anchor and sailed back to the marina, Going with the tide I was practically doubling my speed. A quick check on the VHF to the marina for lock status indicated a 3 knot flow through the lock on free flow. Oh, I though, need more power now for this and had visions of us shaking our way through the lock spectators, looking a bit silly with our aerials flexing all over the place. Being used to embarking from Hythe Marina directly into Southampton water, we would normally use quite a bit of power to compete with the shipping and sea state due to fast ferries, etc. I was a good thing that I did not need any power on our trip as the boat would have shaken to pieces. We have only just moved to Chichester, what a difference and what a happy wife (crew) I have now. Anyway back to the plot, we moored up on our birth and I Immediately raised the out-drives to check the props. All I could see was two white clumps of sea worm encasing the blades in about an inch of sea growth on one side! Aha, I thought, this must be the cause of the wobble, I used a wooden brush handle to scrape it all off. Being in the IT business I have heard of viruses and computer worms that cause many problems, this is the first time I have ever suffered from a sea worm. Since then, another skipper just along the pontoon from us was suspicious of poor steering handling on her boat, after a brief discussion we all put it down to the same problem. Much relived to find it was not a £x,000 bill this time!
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