07-29-2020, 10:56 AM
Glad to be here. Engine problems started up again in the boat a couple of days ago. I had some errands to run and have to be at the boatyard tonight ready for the boat to come out of the water for reblacking - a ritual that has to be done every 2-4 years. While I'm there I'll see if we can't have another go at sorting out the engine! I don't like going out in winds above 15mph, because this boat acts like a sail and I think the engine is underpowered for some conditions. If I'm going out I generally check the forecast for wind speed. It wouldn't have made much difference this time, because I had to venture out whatever, so I didn't bother.
The first day was okay and I stayed on a friend's mooring at the bottom of his field. Yesterday I couldn't moor on the official mooring, because it was already full, so I had to find a safe space some distance further on to conduct some business in that town. That was okay, but then I had to turn round and come back. Unfortunately King's Dyke has few places wide enough to turn a fifty-foot boat so I had to carry on in the wrong direction. I found a place, but as I began to turn the wind gusted well above 20mph. I caught the wind at exactly the wrong moment and was pushed sideways along the river to jam fast between both banks. Somehow the rudder got caught against some submerged metalwork I hadn't seen while the prop was churning the water and the tiller stuck fast on the wrong lock. I tried all sorts of manoeuvres to get free and even resorted to using the bargepole and trying to pull the boat through some reeds with the mooring rope. All to no avail. After two hours of this I was pretty exhausted. Thankfully the wind eventually dropped enough for me to realise the boat could be pushed from the stern end with the pole against the bank and some residual strength I didn't know I had. Once I managed to free the rudder I could swing the tiller to the opposite lock. Then, with another ten minutes of pole and engine, I got underway. Adventure is over-rated.
I am about to set off for the last bit of the journey to the boatyard. Wish me luck. I hope the engine starts.
The first day was okay and I stayed on a friend's mooring at the bottom of his field. Yesterday I couldn't moor on the official mooring, because it was already full, so I had to find a safe space some distance further on to conduct some business in that town. That was okay, but then I had to turn round and come back. Unfortunately King's Dyke has few places wide enough to turn a fifty-foot boat so I had to carry on in the wrong direction. I found a place, but as I began to turn the wind gusted well above 20mph. I caught the wind at exactly the wrong moment and was pushed sideways along the river to jam fast between both banks. Somehow the rudder got caught against some submerged metalwork I hadn't seen while the prop was churning the water and the tiller stuck fast on the wrong lock. I tried all sorts of manoeuvres to get free and even resorted to using the bargepole and trying to pull the boat through some reeds with the mooring rope. All to no avail. After two hours of this I was pretty exhausted. Thankfully the wind eventually dropped enough for me to realise the boat could be pushed from the stern end with the pole against the bank and some residual strength I didn't know I had. Once I managed to free the rudder I could swing the tiller to the opposite lock. Then, with another ten minutes of pole and engine, I got underway. Adventure is over-rated.
I am about to set off for the last bit of the journey to the boatyard. Wish me luck. I hope the engine starts.
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