In case you happened to spot on the map that Scubacat was in Bembridge this Saturday...
It was a very simple plan. Take a very old sailing friend who we had not seen for ages across from Chichester to Bembridge for lunch. The tides and weather were checked, and all seemed well. We met early at the boat, giving good time to get across for high tide. We even managed to sail as the wind was nicely on the beam. The entrance dog leg was negotiated, and we moored to the floating pontoon for a leisurely lunch, whilst watching the depth gauge. As it dropped through 1.2 m, we cast off reasonably quickly and I helmed us out. As the wind had increased to about 25 kits on the nose, and it had started raining we were a bit distracted. The harbour entrance looks small at the best of times and the green marker seemed to have drifted to the east, as there was about 20 ft or less to the sand to the east, and 30 ft to the wooden posts to the west. I passed close to the west of the green buoy and promptly ran aground. Argh. Even now I do not know why I did not trust the buoy. The crew all immediately told me they thought I was going the wrong side, but had "assumed" I knew what I was doing. Forward and reverse made no difference, plus the wind blowing into the harbour held us hard, but a nice powerful local fishing boat ( "Resolution" I think), risked the shallows and pulled us off, or it would have been an embarrassing long wait for the next tide.
Lessons learned: The buoys are usually there for a reason. Make sure the crew speak up before the event!
Otherwise a good short cruise: nearly 3 hrs sailing, mostly at 5kts+, 3.6hrs motoring, and 3.1l/hr consumption if you are interested.
Scubacat
Comments
We all touch bottom occasionally, the trick is to only do it when either the tide is rising or you wish to have a peaceful night.
Dragonslayer