We arose quite late after a very good nights sleep (well, eventually in my case. It took me ages to really settle but once I finally got going I slept like a log well into the morning!)
As neither of us had to work tonight, we were in no rush anyway and decided to see about Sunday dinner in the Swallowtail where they do an excellent carvery. Jane went to check but they were shut so we left it for now.
I'd promised to have a look at the mast wiring on Black Magic to sort out what was what and look at why the tricolour wasn't working. Lisa's meter seemed to be playing up though, working OK on continuity but refusing to measure volts. My meter has a flat battery of just about the only battery type we haven't got a zillion spares for on board. Ho hum. Not entirely sucessful as excercises go but we did identify the obvious connections and hopefully gave Lisa enough info on how to pin the others down when she's sorted a working meter.
Jane popped back up to the Swallowtail once they'd opened only to find they were fully booked for lunch. Had to laugh as this keeps happening every time she says she fancies a proper Sunday roast! Oh well, one day we're bound to get lucky - booking in advance isn't usually an option as it pins you down to a fixed schedule.
With nothing else to do, we sorted ourselves out, started up the engine and motored out onto the river. It being now about quarter to two in the afternoon, the spring tide was in full majestic ebb. Oops. Memo to self, DO check the tide times. Now this isn't a major disaster and to tell truth I hadn't checked the times because it's perfectly possible to motor, or even in the right breeze, sail Brigantia up or down the Crouch against the tide. However, the wind was dead foul AND we're really really weedy. The poor old engine was going ninteen to the dozen and we were struggling to make 2 knots over the ground!
Matters improved when we got around the first couple of bends and got enough wind angle to motor sail with the genoa set. That gave us an extra knot or sometimes even two. At one point, we reached the dizzying speed of 3.8 knots over the ground! Wow! Anyway, it meant a two hour run back to Fambridge rather than one hour and burnt a bit more petrol but no matter.
We'd had a discussion about plans for the rest of the year on the way up river and concluded that with the shift schedule as it is for the next couple of months this would have to be the end of the season. Between now and Christmas there's just one weekend, in a fortnight, where we might be able to squeeze in a bit of sailing and with all the weed on the bottom and the rig tension badly in need of a tune up, she's slower than a very slow thing anyway so it'd probably be a bit of a waste of time.
Further discussion had led to the decision to stop over on the boat tonight and go home in the morning. Accordingly, we went alongside the inside of the pontoon rather than back onto our mooring and set to stripping gear off ready for her to be hauled out. First off came the genoa which was folded and bagged. It'll need the attentions of a sailmaker this winter as the UV strip has now reached a state of decreptitude beyond my limited needelework skills to keep it going. The more easily removed electronics came off too along with the beer cellar.
Off we went to the pub for an evening meal to find, to Jane's delight, that the Sunday roast menu is now available in the evening as well as at lunchtime. Yippee! Lovely bit of roast beef with traditional veg and Yorkshire pud followed by chocolate pudding and custard. Yum! Stuff your continental cuisine, there's nothing wrong with traditional English fare if its cooked properly.
We didn't stay late and settled down for an early night, grateful once again for the services of the fan heater. It's definitely autumn now!
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