Fun Out There

Broadsword · March 27, 2016

Have posted this in a similar form on the 'deep reefs' thread, but here is a little taste of our eventful weekend! Having set OBY up for the season last Tuesday, this was our first real outing - what a weekend to choose! We knew we wouldn't go far, but wanted to try a night or two on board as well; as some sailing. We had a great sail on Friday - overnight at Cockshoot Dyke, lovely as always and not too busy... Met a nice family out for the first time ever on a large Faircraft Cruiser - a beauty with reasonable topsides (but not as high as some) so an attractive, big boat. The helm handled her well, approaching carefully and under good control, but his crew were quite inexperienced, so we helped them to get her in and tied up. As we did so, a stag boat chuntered up to the end of the Dyke, in full and raucous voice... Thankfully, they continued on to Horning! A nice chicken curry and a couple of beers rounded off the evening and we read until it got dark - clever things Kindles!

Beautiful morning on Saturday at 7.00 - so we walked the doggies down to the hide and cooked breakfast, but the weather closed in fast as we set off an hour or two later. Very, very blustery with some huge gusts. We sailed for a while under reefed genoa with the wind behind but it got distinctly unpleasant, so we furled the sail and carried on with the o/b and a few degrees of heel under bare poles! SWMBO learning the new ropes quickly and efficiently!

We aimed for Womack and hunkered down in Hunters' Yard (very kind as all of their fleet were still in, awaiting the Kestrels Camp, with no plans to venture out - but they found us a space!) and settled in for a windy evening... We were being blown hard against the quay heading until the wind eased in the late evening... The camp crowd (some known to us form other occasions) arrived in good spirits, but were understandably a bit deflated by the conditions and opted to stay put. We cooked a corned beef hash for supper went for showers and turned in early.

Another nice morning, so we headed off early to get OBY home, as the forecast was still awful for later and, more to the point, for tomorrow! We breakfasted on our home mooring and spent a few hours playing with the gear and arrangements, to get more familiar with the boat and left PH just as the downpour started, having tucked her away safely...

Nice to see Hakuna Matata out on the water, along with some of the guys from Jeremy Aslan's Pathfinders Camp... Maybe we saw you too... if we didn't spot you, sorry!

As some have said before, a wet blowy weekend on the river, is better by far than a sunny day in the office!