| Ameera |
Summer? What Summer?I don't mind admitting it, I am a fair weather sailor. Getting soaked by rain or living on the edge with three reefs in and still looking to reduce canvas is not my idea of fun. Exhilirating it may be, and when it comes about so be it, but I am not one who deliberately seeks it out.So this summer has been a wash-out so far, with relatively few opportunities to get out and enjoy a comfortable breeze with the sun on my face. Ameera has sat lonely and neglected in her berth for too long. The 'improvements' I have wrought are untried, and I am pissed off. The situation is not helped because my plans are going awry. I had intended to be in a different mooring by now, living in a different house some 15 minutes cycle from the boat, instead of the 90 minute drive I currently have. Having sold the current house to a couple who turned out to be best described as frauds, it is back on the market. Mrs Craggy and I are hosting viewings at the weekends, or preparing the house for viewings, or something else house sale related. We are depressed, and it is not helping me get off my backside and drive the long 70+ miles to Fleetwood. Ameera deserves better, and so today I finally pulled myself together and went to see her. Conditions were overcast with little wind, not enticing sailing weather, but she needed some exercise, and at least a little motor to top up the batteries, so we went out for a couple of hours in motorboat mode. I made a less than usually embarrassing cock up of getting out of my berth, and I didn't hit anything! As we got out of the dock and into the channel I noticed that the Lifeboat was moored on one of the swinging moorings; a surprise as it is normally berthed right by the Lifeboat Station.  Curious, I motored on by and out up the Fleetwood channel to the old lighthouse. As I did so I came across a large vessel - Sospan, heading into Fleetwood.  A peculiar ship, what with all the pipework on the decks. not a cargo vessel, nor a fishing boat. I had no idea what she might be or why she would be coming into Fleetwood. Anyway, I motored on, and pootled about for a while before motoring back again. This view of the "North Euston Hotel" is becoming quite familiar.  As I turned to port to enter the Fylde estuary the explanations for both the Lifeboat and Sospan became apparent. Sospan is a mud dredger, and she was dredging the basin by the Ro-Ro dock and the Lifeboat Station, shuttling back and forth across the mouth of the estuary with surprising speed and agility. And leaving me with a quandary, how best to pass her while she was crossing repeatedly at speed, when Ameera, in common with most small sailing yachts, does not do high speed sprinting. I slowed down to observe the Sospan and work this one out, then with careful timing, drove Ameera flat out between the dredger's receding stern and the Ro-Ro dock. Safely past, Ameera and I motored back into the marina, and I popped her into her berth. With perfection, perfect line in, quick burst of power astern, and she stopped by the finger of my pontoon for me to gently step ashore and moor her. Two guys watching from the gantry overlooking my berth didn't have the courtesy to acknowledge my perfect boat handling. Oh well. So, not a fun day, but a satisfying one. Ameera has been checked over and exercised, and I have learned a little more about the workings of Fleetwood harbour. 8:50 PM - Jul. 15, 2007 - post comment
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Description Ameera's Log Home User Profile Archives Recent Entries - Going Home - Mrs. Craggy's Big Day Out - Summer? What Summer? - Denizens of Fleetwood - First Time With The Washing Out |