It’s been a wonderful summer and the last week of sailing had everything. A fabulous wind sped us homeward in the perfect direction for fast cruising at over 9 knots, with a helpful current.
Balmy weather, beautiful sunsets , warm water for the last swims of the summer plus a visit to a favourite fish restaurant and a favourite chandlery ticked all the boxes.
But there was a change in the sky, and a blustery sail back to home base, where everyone arriving was having difficulty docking.
Eventually we were directed to the end of a long pontoon, managed to get alongside and relaxed, only to be rudely jolted into action by another boat blown broadside against our bow and getting our anchor firmly stuck on their guardrails. It had been chartered by a young German couple who were not used to the boat, the weather or the situation, but William calmed them down and untangled our anchor, while I grabbed fenders and tried to prevent damage to their hull against the end wall of the pontoon.
Excitement over, with only a small chip in our bowsprit and damage to their wire rail, they came round with some German beer and asked William for advice on how to manoeuvre their boat in close quarters in strong wind. Indeed – something that is never fully conquered, I think!
On which note, we’ve been thinking for a while now of fitting a bow thruster – an extra side push to help stop being blown around in such situations.
We’ve managed without it for five seasons, but noted how many times it would have been useful. This boat has a lot of bow to catch the wind, and move off in the wrong direction.
So decision made, we will have a new toy next summer! But first we had to empty the boat so the engineers can fit it over the winter.
That is indeed a lot of kit!
What a fabulous sailing season you’ve had; thanks for sharing one of the best weeks with us, memorable.
“The Bauhaus style tends to feature simple geometric shapes like rectangles and spheres, without elaborate decorations. Buildings, furniture, and fonts often feature rounded corners and sometimes rounded walls. Other buildings are characterized by rectangular features, for example protruding balconies with flat, chunky railings facing the street, and long banks of windows. Furniture often uses chrome metal pipes that curve at corners … Thus, the Bauhaus style … was marked by the absence of ornamentation and by harmony between the function of an object or a building and its design. ” (Wikipedia).
Clearly making a statement here!
PS you appear to be carrying a manhole cover ??
Well, we’d need a manhole cover for the drain for the kitchen sink that must be in there somewhere
Quote from William… “If you want a bow thruster – get a recording of one and play that – its as much use”
I remember the boat sinking about 2 inches in the water when we loaded it up for the first time…. so the years of “oh that would be a nice toy to have on the boat” has only made it worse !
So true! We will never learn LOL
Ha ha! That looks like the pile of stuff I cleared out of the house in Aylesbury.
Although Putin changed your sail plan for the season, it sounds like you had another successful season…. and are well on your way to becoming experts on cruising the Baltic. We fully endorse your decision to install a bow thruster, takes a lot of stress out of tricky situations.
Sounds like an exciting end of the season for you, you just can’t have too much fun!!
Where to next year??