Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2010 5:00:12 GMT
After helping to dissuade Julian and Matt from Swansea in favour of Bristol, the crew of Cassandra - Peter, Elaine and Karen decided we still didn't fancy leaving at 7am Saturday and getting back after dark on Sunday ..sociable hours seems to be the deciding factor for trips with this crew.
So we decided on Watchet, leaving at an all together more appealing 1030. As usual wind was on the nose and tide was against us but Elaine's passage plan worked pretty much perfectly and we arrived at Watchet a mere 5mins later than expected. In plenty of time for the gate which wasn't due to close for another half hour ..or so we thought. The lights were red so we circled around for a minute or two. On hearing from the hrbourmaster that the gate may already be closed, we were first advised to proceed with caution against the red light and were then told to back up as it had indeed closed. We would have to go into 'the refuge' - not the best of descriptions. 'Dark Slimy Hole' would be more appropriate! For those of you who know it, you'll know why I objected to that proposal. I told the harbourmaster we'd anchor in the outer harbour instead ..which he said wasn't allowed (not true! see 'Watchet' in Pilotage section).. so we gave up and headed for Minehead.
Not enough water to get into the harbour at Minehead either so we dropped anchor close outside. Fish and Chips was suggested so I went exploring in the dinghy. There were breaking waves across the mouth of the harbour so I landed on the nearest bit of beach which wasn't a whole lot better - soggy feet remained for the rest of the weekend ..must get some decent wellies! Unfortunately the chippy was what looked like a half hour walk away around the other side of the bay so I didn't bother as they would have been cold by the time I got back. Plenty of pubs and restaurants to choose from, but the girls didn't fancy the wet dinghy ride and return in the dark so we ate on board and decided on an early night. I was asleep pretty quickly with the gentle rocking.
Not for long though. I was woken by about 0030 with my head banging against the side of the boat. A sizable swell had built up and we were lurching about all over the place. By 0200 we'd had just about enough of it and reluctantly decided to move. 0345 saw us back in Watchet Marina where all was calm. Luckily we had made it before the wind and rain really got going.
Late morning saw us in the cafe with big breakfasts in front of us looking out at the wind and rain. The trip back did not really appeal!
In the end we had a pretty good trip back. The rain had passed by the time we left and we even had a fair bit of sunshine. Plenty of wind, broad reaching all the way with just the Genoa. We averaged almost 6knots most of the way and were back at the Ranny in 3 hours. The tide had then turned, so we crawled back the last bit getting back to Cardiff by 1745.
So, 'sociable hours' ..not quite!
So we decided on Watchet, leaving at an all together more appealing 1030. As usual wind was on the nose and tide was against us but Elaine's passage plan worked pretty much perfectly and we arrived at Watchet a mere 5mins later than expected. In plenty of time for the gate which wasn't due to close for another half hour ..or so we thought. The lights were red so we circled around for a minute or two. On hearing from the hrbourmaster that the gate may already be closed, we were first advised to proceed with caution against the red light and were then told to back up as it had indeed closed. We would have to go into 'the refuge' - not the best of descriptions. 'Dark Slimy Hole' would be more appropriate! For those of you who know it, you'll know why I objected to that proposal. I told the harbourmaster we'd anchor in the outer harbour instead ..which he said wasn't allowed (not true! see 'Watchet' in Pilotage section).. so we gave up and headed for Minehead.
Not enough water to get into the harbour at Minehead either so we dropped anchor close outside. Fish and Chips was suggested so I went exploring in the dinghy. There were breaking waves across the mouth of the harbour so I landed on the nearest bit of beach which wasn't a whole lot better - soggy feet remained for the rest of the weekend ..must get some decent wellies! Unfortunately the chippy was what looked like a half hour walk away around the other side of the bay so I didn't bother as they would have been cold by the time I got back. Plenty of pubs and restaurants to choose from, but the girls didn't fancy the wet dinghy ride and return in the dark so we ate on board and decided on an early night. I was asleep pretty quickly with the gentle rocking.
Not for long though. I was woken by about 0030 with my head banging against the side of the boat. A sizable swell had built up and we were lurching about all over the place. By 0200 we'd had just about enough of it and reluctantly decided to move. 0345 saw us back in Watchet Marina where all was calm. Luckily we had made it before the wind and rain really got going.
Late morning saw us in the cafe with big breakfasts in front of us looking out at the wind and rain. The trip back did not really appeal!
In the end we had a pretty good trip back. The rain had passed by the time we left and we even had a fair bit of sunshine. Plenty of wind, broad reaching all the way with just the Genoa. We averaged almost 6knots most of the way and were back at the Ranny in 3 hours. The tide had then turned, so we crawled back the last bit getting back to Cardiff by 1745.
So, 'sociable hours' ..not quite!
