Another day in Paradise?

Saturday 6 August

Well, I guess the honeymoon period had to end eventually, and the atmosphere has been remarkably harmonious so far, for two adults constantly in each other’s company in a space smaller than their daughter’s studio flat.  The day started well, with only a very short passage planned, in weather perfect for a much longer sail.  Whilst waiting for sufficient rise of tide to enter our next river, the Deben, Skipper decided it was a good time to practise some safety drills.  First the crew tried to get me to ‘heave to’, when my sails are set at opposite angles to the wind so I go nowhere.  This involves crash tacking, which sounds more painful than it really is, but I am a sailing yacht and I can sail even with my jib backed, so they raised my centreboard so I was less responsive to the tide.  It sort of worked, but needs a lot more practice in various conditions.  Next we looked at MOB (man overboard) drill, Mate’s personal worst nightmare, as she’s likely to be left onboard to carry out this manoeuvre, Skipper having been thrown off the coachroof whilst attending to sails at the mast or bow.  She soon realised there’d be an awful lot to do, and whilst these exercises highlight changes that need to be incorporated into safety equipment and procedures, she feels justified in nagging about the wearing of harnesses, and essentially NOT FALLING OFF.  By now in a state of imminent meltdown and threatening mutiny from the Mate, Skipper decided enough ‘locals’ were heading into the Deben that we should follow their lead, but with full sail up and the board fully down we were not exactly prepared to enter a narrow channel and a sneaky sandbank soon reared up to scrape my board and/or rudder blades.  Eventually a measure of calm was restored as the genoa was furled away so I slowed down, Trevva was fired up and the mainsail dumped into its bag along the boom.  We dropped anchor at The Rocks, but it was busy with weekend traffic and exposed to the wind blowing across the salt marshes, so not our most peaceful anchorage.  My crew did find some space to talk through the experience, and work out how to improve communications for the next one.Deben The Rocks