A little sailing

Vicki was away with family over Easter, I stayed home because I had to work some of the time.

On Easter Friday I had to get out early to load some gear aboard Elektra before the tide was to low. After this back home, I had bought a new dinghy and I set about pumping it up and fitting new launching wheels. Having unrolled ready to pump up I found the dinghy didn’t have the lifting D ring! (when ordering I said I needed this D ring and the supplier said the dinghy had one). I wasn’t happy and got on line to complain but it was Good Friday and nobody was working. The suppier got back to me the following Friday by which time I had come up with another way of lifting the dinghy on the davits.

On the evening high water I moved Elektra from Carne Creek out to her mooring in Gillan Harbour, I attached the dinghy and headed out into Helford River to check engine and nav equipment. Just into Helford River it started to rain so I turned and headed back to the mooring, in by dinghy and home.

On Saturday I had to work but on Sunday I was out to Elektra again to fit a new stern nav light higher up on a temporary teak strut (the old one had lost its lense and the dinghy when on davits covered it) I might have done this from the dinghy but there was quite a swell so it seemed safer from aboard Elektra even if I was hanging over the stern at times. I was thinking I would go for a sail but there was fog so continued with jobs. Once the light was finished I checked all nav lights, a few more checks in the cabin, the next time I came into the cockpit, the fog had cleared.

Time for sailing! I have found you have to be far more ready to leave when sailing alone. Vicki and I both love to helm so nearly never use the tiller pilot but sailing alone this is a must. While the rest of the UK was bathing in sunshine, here in Cornwall the weather was poor. I hate being cold so pulled on some leggings a coat and lifejacket. I started the engine, walked foreward and dropped the mooring, by the time I had returned to the cockpit Elektra had been turned to port and was blowing out to sea. I engaged foreward, turned and motored out east of Car Crock cardinal buoy. I was being lazy and only pulling out Elektra’s genoa, I stopped her engine and sailing towards Falmouth but there didnt seem like much wind in Falmouth Bay, so I turned her towards Helford River. A beat to windward would have been better with the mainsail, on just her genoa isn’t the best way but I was quite happy, she was logging 5.5kts at times. Once into the narrows I turned Elektra out east again for a run to August Rock and back into Falmouth Bay and little wind. At August Rock I turned her south and headed towards Nare Point, slower and slower, then the engine was started again and we headed back to her mooring, picking up 2hrs after leaving having logged 7nm.

Now back on the mooring the forecast for the coming week was east wind from Wednesday and strong east on Thursday-Saturday. I needed to put Elektra back up in Carne Creek but the tide was to low so I had to wait. Then it rained hard for an hour before clearing again (I went to sleep in the saloon). By 1645hrs the tide was high enough to move in to Carne Creek slowly, high water wasn’t until 1837hrs but as long as Elektra just clears the bottom, all was well. As soon as Elektra was moored up, I collected my stuff and headed in by dinghy.

Once at home I checked the ships AIS tracker and was surprised to see most of Elektra’s track for today was showing there. Last season she didn’t seem to show everwhere we sailed her.