Elektra was aground 2hrs either side of low water now as the tides moved towards springs, when she floated again about 1400hrs on Saturday. I pulled up her anchor and motored her southwest back down though the moorings to Place for better shelter from the forecasted southeast vearing southwest force 5 gusting 7 for Saturday night and Sunday morning. Rain was also forecasted for Sunday morning. In Place Elektra would ground 3hrs either side of low water, which isn’t a bad thing during any blow, as your yacht can’t drag anchor if aground. Not that I had any problems with anchors draging since buying her 10kg Rocna anchor over the winter 2022-23. Elektra grounded about 2130hrs which was shortly before the wind started blowing.
When I awoke 0700hrs after the night of wind Elektra was swinging about, keen to get away but the anchor was holding well. Elektra grounded again at about 1000hrs and was completely dry about 1 hour either side of low water. The forecast was for the wind to vear into the northwest and die down, with little or no wind tomorrow. I decided I would leave Place when Elektra was afloat and go back to Gillan Harbour as the forecast for Tuesday-Thursday was wet and windy. While Elektra was dry, I climbed down her boarding ladder and went for a walk, to have a look at the sea conditions, across the beach, up the path in the field and though the gate. From there I could see part of Falmouth Bay and across the Carrick Roads into Falmouth, there wasn’t any white horses, but looking at a yacht exitinng the Carrick Roads still a southerly swell in Falmouth Bay, but the wind had already moved into the northwest. On my return to the beach, I thought I would say hello to the owner of another yacht anchored there, a Westerly Centaur. Over reasent years I had seen the yacht quite a lot but never seen the owner to say hi. I walked out to the Centaur, the bottom here was a bit like slow-quick sand! Lol. D was scrubbing off her yachts bottom in shorts and bear feet. I in resent days had changed from shorts to trowsers and wellies, if you stood still too long, you simply sunk into the bottom. D and I had a sort chat, but it wasn’t a place to linger long, so I headed back the way I had come, before I lost my wellies!
Back at Elektra on a more solid bottom, I could wash my wellies off in a puddle and then climb back aboard Elektra via the dinghy to avoid getting Elektra’s cockpit covered in mud. It looked as if D had climbed back aboard the Centaur coved in mud, then washed herself before washing out the cockpit. The joys of boating, come in many forms!
Soon the tide was returning, once high enough I pulled the dinghy back up on her davits and started getting Elektra ready to leave. She floated about 1500hrs, now with the wind blowing from almost the opposit direction, she lightly bounced from keel to keel across the bottom until she also was facing the opposit direction. I pulled her anchor up at 1515hrs and motored her slowly out of Place with 0.3m showing under her keels. Out though the moorings into St Mawes out harbour, the wind direction seemed more west-northwest and force 4 gusting 5. I set just about half her genoa, she was going into the in coming tide but still logging 4.5kts. I let out a little more sail only for her to brotch, so I had to pull it back in again! I think it took half the way across Falmouth Bay to get her sail right, but in the end it was, logging over 5kts, we turned into Gillan Harbour at 1630hrs having logged 6nm. From there I motored her into Carne Creek and dropped anchor at 1645hrs.
