How quickly the months slide by and I search around for excuses. Little point in blaming the Christmas/holidays as we neither celebrate Christmas in any form and, it may be argued, we’re permanently on holiday. Whatever, nowt has been written but we have continued with our life afloat. Here’s where we currently are.
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| How we spend most of the day.... |
As we had had such a
successful winter “refit” we opted to get back into the water
rather than spend the time on the hard and we duly recruited Nick, on a sister-ship to Hannah and
from the quay we were heading for, to act as pilot on the unmarked
channel. I’d been down at the quay the night before to check out
the berth and was a little taken aback to see a 60’ fishing boat
coming in and tying up. The space didn’t look big enough to take
them and us but Daz, the quay owner, assured me everyone would jiggle
around to ensure a space. A few hours before we were due to launch I
nipped down to check that space and found it too tight especially as
we’d just re-fitted the self-steerer. Back to the boat, removed the
s/s and on the only tide Nathan could launch us on we splashed at 6pm
as darkness settled in. Luckily Nick brought along his gps and his
track in and out which made things a little easier……well apart
from we always use “North up” and Nick uses “Course up” which
threw me as I hadn’t bothered to check. We crept slowly through the
channel, Bee and Nick eyeballing the numerous mooring buoys and
occasional yacht whilst I tried to stay within the parameters of the
convoluted gps track. Funny how the same berth spot looks different
at night from daylight…. I opted for discretion and tied up to the
fishing boat for the night as I didn’t fancy trying to finagle my
way into a gap slightly longer than we are. In the end it may not
have been my soundest idea as , although the bottom was mud about 60cm (2’)
thick, the ground below was hard shingle with a slope away from the
quay wall/fishing boat.
All this knowledge was, of course, still in
the future and we had Nick and Nadja on for a drink whilst the tide
ebbed rapidly. In our defence I would say we’re not usually so lax
when we’re in this type of situation but we were this time as we
sat chatting and drinking the keel touched the gravel and Hannah
began the slow slide. The keel went out, the masts came in. And in.
By the time we cottoned on the damage was done and we had no chance
of getting the boat upright. The starb’d nav. box crept ever closer
to the hull of the fishing boat until it rested against the solid oak
planking. Still we slipped and the only way of saving the box from
destruction was to rapidly undo the lany’ds on the main stb'd shrouds and
allow them to swing freely. The mast is keel stepped of course
and gaffers tend not be set up so tightly that the temporary “loss”
of the shrouds causes chaos. Anyway with that done we could do
nothing but slink below and perch on the sea-berth at a very
uncomfortable 30 degree angle. Not until the early hours of the
morning would we be able to climb into bed without the prospect of
sliding ignominiously out. Not a good start. The following morning we
were up ready to move but with the wind howling. Various folks were
roused from their beds by Daz to ensure no damage was done and in a
lull afforded by the wind shadow from the Mill we squeezed into the
berth. Still tight but hoisting the anchor inboard and judicious
adjustment of warps saw everyone at ease. The quay is part of a B&B and the website covers the rebuilding of the mill. It originally dated from the late 1500's is
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| Hillyard, sea-mist and calm water. |
The big lugger that features in some of the quay shots is called Grayhound and their site can be found here. The section on the actual build is excellent.
One of the many jobs we
have been meaning to tackle for several years is the installation of
a cabin heater using the engine coolant. We had tried it once before
(on the previous engine) using the heater from a mini but it was
never really successful and when one of the fittings broke off on the
engine block some years back we pulled the whole thing out. However the
experience of cruising in Labrador and the frequency that lack of
wind can push us into motoring meant it came back up the agenda.
Rather than search the scrap yards for a unit that might or might not
give us a working unit we bought a new one from a car heater specialist. We talked to the local
Yanmar dealer for advice, bought a kit to enable the tight space to
be negotiated and finally got the whole unit in and working. Except
it leaks a little so we will remove the ptfe tape we used and use a
compound to get a proper seal. Running the engine for 20 minutes or
so gave us a decent amount of heat from the unit which should make
life a little less uncomfortable. Other tasks have been more mundane;
painting the rigging etc but all have been helped by the wonderful
mild weather we’ve been experiencing.
Although we’re in a
well sheltered creek we are only about 2 miles from the English
Channel via the lanes or Public Footpaths on the Rame Peninsula. The lanes, so typical of
Cornwall are narrow. Very narrow in places and steep but steady
walking gets you over the hill and onto Whitsand Bay. With that comes
the chance to pick up the South Coast Way, part of which winds its way
through a collection of single storey buildings that are, in some
ways, reminiscent of the outposts of Labrador. 
Books,
as ever, play a big part in our lives. I’ve just reread John
Rowland’s account of his trips to Labrador, Baffin and Ungava for
the Grenfell
Mission. It’s a remarkable story; trips north delivering small
sailing boats for the Mission use, a time when navigation was very
different; when charts were far more scarce and the detail often very
suspect. All this over 100 years ago and with far more “primitive”
equipment yet carrying out voyages that ranged much further than we
ever have and most yotties who venture to Labrador. If you get the
chance it is well worth a read partly because despite the advances in
equipment and electronics it is still a testing journey. What counts
here, as always has done, is the individuals ability to deal with
situations. The book is:North
to Adventure by John T Rowland.
Long out of print I think but occasionally libraries sell off copies
which is where ours came from. Another book that is easier to find
and worth reading is Paul
Heiney's One Wild Song,
his account of his trip down to the Beagle Channel and back - except
it is more than that as he comes to terms with the death, by suicide,
of his son.
Millbrook