I completely forgot to mention, in my last post, our visit last Saturday to Seamark Nunn near Felixstowe to look at the possibility of replacing our elderly, thirsty, unpleasant and above all unreliable 2-stroke outboard.
There's no way that any of the current two cylinder 8hp 4-strokes will fit in the well and, in any case, they cost in excess of £2k which is more than is worth spending. So I'd already investigated the options on single cylinder engines and reckoned that the best bet would be a Suzuki 6hp unit.
Honda only go up to 5hp in the singles and have a bit of a poor reputation these days, surprising because in years gone by I'd have sworn by Honda engines. All the other possibilities come with very low output charging, usually as an option, whereas the optional charging on the Suzuki is the best of the bunch at 6A.
Martin, Seamark's very helpful outboard chap, promised to try and get me a line drawing of the engine so I can check it will actually fit! The quote including the charging option is about £1250 which is on budget.
Now the logic of replacing the engine may not be immediately obvious however I think it makes sense provided we do it right away. The 2-stroke has averaged, over this year, a consumption of about 3 litres an hour and burns fuel particularly quickly when motoring into a chop or against a foul tide and at a frightening rate when doing both at the same time! Based on a reasonable anticipation of probably 50% more time available to spend on board next year and taking into account the amount of time on board but not going anywhere due to weather this year, it's a fair bet that we'll be motoring twice as much next year if not more.
Halving our fuel consumption, not an unreasonable assumption, will save us getting on for half the cost of the engine over 3 to 4 years which, coincidentally, is how long (being realistic) I reckon we'll be keeping Brigantia. At the end of that time, the engine will still have 2 or 3 years of warranty left and will be worth well over half of what it cost new. In theory, the engine will actually cost us nothing at all!
Financial considerations aside, the much improved fuel consumption will greatly increase our range under power without having to carry more fuel - (if Rik and I had, for example, tried to motor back from the Walton Backwaters to the Crouch, a situation we could easily find ourselves in if there's no wind and we have to get the boat back to base, we'd have run out of fuel somewhere around the Spitway even though we had 30 litres on board when we set out.
Another key consideration is that a new engine equals a reliable engine. OK, Brigantia is a sailing boat but you can't sail into or out of marinas and most of the time I wouldn't want to attempt to sail onto or off the pontoon at Fambridge for that matter! We simply have to have an engine we can trust.
Finally, there's no escaping the fact that the 2-stroke is an antisocial animal. It's extremely noisy and somewhat smelly.
Nope, if we're going to keep Brigantia for a while (and that's pretty much a given unless we win the lottery) we're going to indulge ourselves in a shiny new outboard ... provided it'll go down the hole of course!
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Good food, good beer, not a lot of boating!
We set off for Suffolk early on Saturday morning
The boat jumble was a crock - I could swear the advert said Saturday but it turned out it was on Sunday! Oh well, we'd probably just have spent money on junk we didn't really need and it wasn't the main purpose of the exercise anyway.
Around the corner we went to Suffolk Yacht Harbour at Levington for a surprisingly enjoyable few hours looking at bigger boats that we either can't afford right now or probably can't afford ever! This was prompted by a debate as to whether we should spend quite a lot of money on Brigantia bringing her up to the standard of repair and maintenance we'd like or whether we should sell her this winter and buy something bigger and/or better.
Not surprisingly, anything we could afford was extremely tatty and anything we might have wanted was far too expensive! The conclusions we came to are that we've got somewhat differing ideas of what our next boat might be - I want something very traditional and not too big, Jane wants something big and comfy :eek: - and we can't afford anything sufficiently better than Brigantia for several years so we'll stick with what we've got and do her up.
Then it was off down to Fambridge for the night. Arriving at the moorings, we were somewhat surprised to find the pontoon very nearly full, as busy as we've seen it all year. There was, however, a Brigantia sized hole on the inside of the pontoon so we jumped onto the ferry down to our mooring, fired up the engine and set up the lines to come in port side to.
As luck would have it, just as we cast off a boat came upstream and headed for the very gap we planned to moor in. Oh well, we toddled up the outside of the pontoon to see if there was space there only to be hailed from Full Circle, a fellow YBW forumite, who suggested we come alongside. Nice one, but I suddenly realised I'd rigged the bow line down the port side and with a very strong ebb tide running I needed it to starboard. Not wanting to ask Jane to do anything strenuous given her current health problems (she's off work with back pains which are under investigation) I turned downstream to make steering easy for her and sorted out the lines before turning back upstream.
With hindsight, and as Jim on Full Circle later commented, I'd have been better off stemming the tide as we ended up several hundred years downstream of the pontoon and had to forge our way back up against one of the biggest tides of the year! Oh well, it all worked out in the end although once again the engine died at idle but fortunately not before we'd got lines across.
We then joined Jim and Lynn aboard Full Circle for drinks and an excellent curry Lynn knocked up in the galley followed by more drinks before repairing to the pub for beers ... or in my case one and a half beers before I hit the wall and had to give up!
Back on board, we were pleased we'd brought the fan heater down. Although we'd have survived without any heating, it made life aboard a lot more pleasant. Not the best nights sleep we've had aboard as it was very windy and thus choppy on the river. We were both up and down during the night and a bit jaded next morning.
A lazy start to Sunday with breakfast from tins, a bit of a sort out and then I dropped Brigantia back on her buoy and caught the ferry back to the pontoon for the last time this season - we're on our own from now on so there'll be a lot more tender rowing to be done!
After saying our goodbyes to the Full Circles, it was off to Burnham Yacht Harbour to visit the crew aboard Laurin, more "virtual" friends from the world of YBW who are now definitely real friends. I'd offered to have a look at the electrics on the boat for them and they'd offered us lunch in return.
Arriving at BYS, we found Laurin and met up with Karen, Pat, AJ and Esme. Jane went all broody :rolleyes: whilst I got on with the business at hand. Most impressive electrical switch panel I've ever seen on a boat but I spotted a problem straight away with the main positive feed wire to the panel being loose in its screw terminal. A quick twiddle of the screwdriver sorted that out for the time being but it's something I think needs improving. No great problems generally, just some tidying up and sorting out needed.
That done, for now, it was off to the Swallowtail Bar for lunch. There was me expecting a sarnie and a pint and what we got was a full two course (we passed on starters!) Sunday dinner carvery! Even Jane got stuck in. More good food and good company. Esme, as babies often do, had fun pulling my beard - dunno why babies find beards so fascinating!
By now it was mid-afternoon and much as she was enjoying herself I could see that Jane was tiring so we bade our hosts farewell and set off back on the road to home.
Even though we only moved a couple of hundred yards and did little more than sleep aboard, it was a most enjoyable weekend. I was particularly pleased that Jane enjoyed the break as she's been going stir crazy stuck at home with nothing to do! It was also encouraging that she enjoyed the company on both days as she doesn't always find it easy to mix with new friends.
I'm investigating getting the necessary insurance, particularly professional indemnity cover, so I can take on odd bits of work on boat electrics. Not that I'm planning on making a go of it full time but it seems a shame to pass up the chance to make a bit on the side to put towards the costs of running Brigantia
The boat jumble was a crock - I could swear the advert said Saturday but it turned out it was on Sunday! Oh well, we'd probably just have spent money on junk we didn't really need and it wasn't the main purpose of the exercise anyway.
Around the corner we went to Suffolk Yacht Harbour at Levington for a surprisingly enjoyable few hours looking at bigger boats that we either can't afford right now or probably can't afford ever! This was prompted by a debate as to whether we should spend quite a lot of money on Brigantia bringing her up to the standard of repair and maintenance we'd like or whether we should sell her this winter and buy something bigger and/or better.
Not surprisingly, anything we could afford was extremely tatty and anything we might have wanted was far too expensive! The conclusions we came to are that we've got somewhat differing ideas of what our next boat might be - I want something very traditional and not too big, Jane wants something big and comfy :eek: - and we can't afford anything sufficiently better than Brigantia for several years so we'll stick with what we've got and do her up.
Then it was off down to Fambridge for the night. Arriving at the moorings, we were somewhat surprised to find the pontoon very nearly full, as busy as we've seen it all year. There was, however, a Brigantia sized hole on the inside of the pontoon so we jumped onto the ferry down to our mooring, fired up the engine and set up the lines to come in port side to.
As luck would have it, just as we cast off a boat came upstream and headed for the very gap we planned to moor in. Oh well, we toddled up the outside of the pontoon to see if there was space there only to be hailed from Full Circle, a fellow YBW forumite, who suggested we come alongside. Nice one, but I suddenly realised I'd rigged the bow line down the port side and with a very strong ebb tide running I needed it to starboard. Not wanting to ask Jane to do anything strenuous given her current health problems (she's off work with back pains which are under investigation) I turned downstream to make steering easy for her and sorted out the lines before turning back upstream.
With hindsight, and as Jim on Full Circle later commented, I'd have been better off stemming the tide as we ended up several hundred years downstream of the pontoon and had to forge our way back up against one of the biggest tides of the year! Oh well, it all worked out in the end although once again the engine died at idle but fortunately not before we'd got lines across.
We then joined Jim and Lynn aboard Full Circle for drinks and an excellent curry Lynn knocked up in the galley followed by more drinks before repairing to the pub for beers ... or in my case one and a half beers before I hit the wall and had to give up!
Back on board, we were pleased we'd brought the fan heater down. Although we'd have survived without any heating, it made life aboard a lot more pleasant. Not the best nights sleep we've had aboard as it was very windy and thus choppy on the river. We were both up and down during the night and a bit jaded next morning.
A lazy start to Sunday with breakfast from tins, a bit of a sort out and then I dropped Brigantia back on her buoy and caught the ferry back to the pontoon for the last time this season - we're on our own from now on so there'll be a lot more tender rowing to be done!
After saying our goodbyes to the Full Circles, it was off to Burnham Yacht Harbour to visit the crew aboard Laurin, more "virtual" friends from the world of YBW who are now definitely real friends. I'd offered to have a look at the electrics on the boat for them and they'd offered us lunch in return.
Arriving at BYS, we found Laurin and met up with Karen, Pat, AJ and Esme. Jane went all broody :rolleyes: whilst I got on with the business at hand. Most impressive electrical switch panel I've ever seen on a boat but I spotted a problem straight away with the main positive feed wire to the panel being loose in its screw terminal. A quick twiddle of the screwdriver sorted that out for the time being but it's something I think needs improving. No great problems generally, just some tidying up and sorting out needed.
That done, for now, it was off to the Swallowtail Bar for lunch. There was me expecting a sarnie and a pint and what we got was a full two course (we passed on starters!) Sunday dinner carvery! Even Jane got stuck in. More good food and good company. Esme, as babies often do, had fun pulling my beard - dunno why babies find beards so fascinating!
By now it was mid-afternoon and much as she was enjoying herself I could see that Jane was tiring so we bade our hosts farewell and set off back on the road to home.
Even though we only moved a couple of hundred yards and did little more than sleep aboard, it was a most enjoyable weekend. I was particularly pleased that Jane enjoyed the break as she's been going stir crazy stuck at home with nothing to do! It was also encouraging that she enjoyed the company on both days as she doesn't always find it easy to mix with new friends.
I'm investigating getting the necessary insurance, particularly professional indemnity cover, so I can take on odd bits of work on boat electrics. Not that I'm planning on making a go of it full time but it seems a shame to pass up the chance to make a bit on the side to put towards the costs of running Brigantia
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Lets go shopping ...
Jane is feeling a little better so we're off to Ipswich on Saturday morning to see what might be worth picking up at the Suffolk Boat Jumble and then we'll head on to Seamark Nunn to have a look at a new engine for Brigantia.
If time permits, we might pop down to the second hand boat show at Levington as it's just down the road from Seamark Nunn. Not that we're in the market for a new boat but it's fun to dream!
Then we'll head down to Fambridge for the night before toddling down to Burnham Yacht Harbour on Sunday morning as I've offered to have a look at the electrics on a fellow YBW forumites boat. After a spot of lunch it'll be time to head back home.
If time permits, we might pop down to the second hand boat show at Levington as it's just down the road from Seamark Nunn. Not that we're in the market for a new boat but it's fun to dream!
Then we'll head down to Fambridge for the night before toddling down to Burnham Yacht Harbour on Sunday morning as I've offered to have a look at the electrics on a fellow YBW forumites boat. After a spot of lunch it'll be time to head back home.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
That's torn it
... literally
Jane has done a muscle in her lower back and is well and truly crocked at the moment
We had planned to head up to Brightlingsea for the East Coast Forum Laying Down Supper this weekend but that's off for definite
We're now reconsidering the decision to keep Brigantia afloat for the winter - it's unlikely Jane will be fit enough to travel for two or three months at least so if we're not going to be able to use the boat she'd be better off out of the water. Only thing putting me off, to be honest, is the cost of the lift out and lift in - about £340 which would cover quite a lot of maintenance jobs
On the other hand, on the bank, it will be a lot easier to tackle some of the jobs that need doing. There's the log impeller to fit, the new engine to purchase and install and I reckon we'll be able to afford to replace all the standing rigging over this winter which means dropping the mast.
Other jobs on the cards are sanding and varnishing all the woodwork, repairing the damaged starboard rubbing strake and applying a fresh coat of antifoul.
Whilst the mast is down to replace the standing rigging it would make sense to fit a new anchor light and we might as well go the whole hog and fit a combined anchor and tricolour light. Plus we can use the opportunity to re-route the VHF cable down the mast instead of down the backstay
I'd like to replace all the running rigging as well but the budget probably won't stand it. We'll certainly do the masthead blocks but the rest will probably have to wait until there's more pennies available
Looks like the sailing season is over for this year and the maintenance season is just starting!
Jane has done a muscle in her lower back and is well and truly crocked at the moment
We had planned to head up to Brightlingsea for the East Coast Forum Laying Down Supper this weekend but that's off for definite
We're now reconsidering the decision to keep Brigantia afloat for the winter - it's unlikely Jane will be fit enough to travel for two or three months at least so if we're not going to be able to use the boat she'd be better off out of the water. Only thing putting me off, to be honest, is the cost of the lift out and lift in - about £340 which would cover quite a lot of maintenance jobs
On the other hand, on the bank, it will be a lot easier to tackle some of the jobs that need doing. There's the log impeller to fit, the new engine to purchase and install and I reckon we'll be able to afford to replace all the standing rigging over this winter which means dropping the mast.
Other jobs on the cards are sanding and varnishing all the woodwork, repairing the damaged starboard rubbing strake and applying a fresh coat of antifoul.
Whilst the mast is down to replace the standing rigging it would make sense to fit a new anchor light and we might as well go the whole hog and fit a combined anchor and tricolour light. Plus we can use the opportunity to re-route the VHF cable down the mast instead of down the backstay
I'd like to replace all the running rigging as well but the budget probably won't stand it. We'll certainly do the masthead blocks but the rest will probably have to wait until there's more pennies available
Looks like the sailing season is over for this year and the maintenance season is just starting!
Monday, 3 October 2011
Bosuns Weekend - Conclusions
The weather was gloriously hot for the beginning of October but once again there just wasn't the wind for any decent sailing. Everybody is saying this has been a poor year wind wise so at least its not just us.
The main purpose of the weekend, apart from finally giving Glen a trip out on Brigantia, was to explore the possibilities of the River Roach which we had yet to explore beyond the anchorage in the Branksfleet.
Pagelsham is the only place we could realistically look at going ashore - that wasn't part of our plans for this weekend anyway - but I'm not convinced it would be worth the hassle. Pagelsham Pool looks to be too shallow for comfort and anchoring in the main channel of the river thereabouts isn't my idea of perfection. There are mixed opinions on picking up a mooring or laying alongside the drying pontoon with some sources suggesting it's OK to do so, for a charge, whilst others have had issues with the operator of the moorings.
There was a small yacht alongside the pontoon as we came back downriver and this is a possibility I'd wantr to look into. It would be a good option for us. Otherwise, the anchorage in the Yokesfleet looks like a nice spot to spend the night aboard provided there's space in the deeper parts - where we were anchored for the afternoon would be all but dried out at low water. There's also some flat areas of mud we might be able to take the ground on out of harms way but I'd like to explore the creeks in the dinghy before doing so.
On balance, I think I much prefer getting out to sea and making a coastal passage to faffing about up shoaling creeks! A twin keeler isn't perhaps the ideal vehicle for creek crawling, a centre boarder would be a better bet.
Overall, a pleasant and enjoyable weekend and well worth the effort.
Trip Log.
We covered 22.3NM on Saturday in 7hrs 40mins at an average speed over the ground of 2.9Kts. Our max SOG was 6Kts. We were motoring for 5hrs 41mins with just a couple of hours sailing. We used approx. 10 litres of petroil - the roughly 2 litres an hour being the result of motoring at a gentle pace in flat water (compared to the 4+ litres an hour we burnt last trip out when bashing our way through a steep chop at nearly full throttle).
On Sunday, we covered 10.53NM in 2:52 with an average SOG of 3.7Kts and a max SOG of 5.8Kts (set during a brief period motor-sailing with the genoa up).
The main purpose of the weekend, apart from finally giving Glen a trip out on Brigantia, was to explore the possibilities of the River Roach which we had yet to explore beyond the anchorage in the Branksfleet.
Pagelsham is the only place we could realistically look at going ashore - that wasn't part of our plans for this weekend anyway - but I'm not convinced it would be worth the hassle. Pagelsham Pool looks to be too shallow for comfort and anchoring in the main channel of the river thereabouts isn't my idea of perfection. There are mixed opinions on picking up a mooring or laying alongside the drying pontoon with some sources suggesting it's OK to do so, for a charge, whilst others have had issues with the operator of the moorings.
There was a small yacht alongside the pontoon as we came back downriver and this is a possibility I'd wantr to look into. It would be a good option for us. Otherwise, the anchorage in the Yokesfleet looks like a nice spot to spend the night aboard provided there's space in the deeper parts - where we were anchored for the afternoon would be all but dried out at low water. There's also some flat areas of mud we might be able to take the ground on out of harms way but I'd like to explore the creeks in the dinghy before doing so.
On balance, I think I much prefer getting out to sea and making a coastal passage to faffing about up shoaling creeks! A twin keeler isn't perhaps the ideal vehicle for creek crawling, a centre boarder would be a better bet.
Overall, a pleasant and enjoyable weekend and well worth the effort.
Trip Log.
We covered 22.3NM on Saturday in 7hrs 40mins at an average speed over the ground of 2.9Kts. Our max SOG was 6Kts. We were motoring for 5hrs 41mins with just a couple of hours sailing. We used approx. 10 litres of petroil - the roughly 2 litres an hour being the result of motoring at a gentle pace in flat water (compared to the 4+ litres an hour we burnt last trip out when bashing our way through a steep chop at nearly full throttle).
On Sunday, we covered 10.53NM in 2:52 with an average SOG of 3.7Kts and a max SOG of 5.8Kts (set during a brief period motor-sailing with the genoa up).
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Bosuns Weekend - Day 3
The alarm went off at twenty past four and I rolled a cig and stuck my head out of the fore hatch for a smoke and a looksee. No problems as we swung to the turning tide, I just enjoyed the view both above and below. Not only was there a spectacular starscape to gaze at, but some sort of bioluminescence in the water around us was simply stunning to see.
A nebulous blue background was dotted with winking flashes of bright blue and every now and again an expanding circle of light or an arrow shape would scoot across the surface. I watched in fascination for several minutes until the night chill started to take effect at which point I retired down below, set the anchor drag alarm on the GPS just in case and got my head back down for some more zzz's.
After the late night, we slept in until nearly half nine! After fetching in the anchor light and topping up the main tank with 10 litres of fuel from the jerry can, I decided to hoist the main in the still air and sunshine to dry it off and then put a proper harbour stow on it. The chances of any sailing today looked slim.
Under way at ten past ten on the engine, we pootled back down the Roach on the last of the ebb, accompanied by a seal in Devils Reach before turning back up the Crouch to head back to the moorings.
For a brief period we got an extra knot of speed motor sailing with the genoa up but as the river turned to bring the wind into our teeth for the last leg we rolled it up again and steamed gently up to our buoy.
Now I know you should really pick up a mooring heading up tide but as we came closer and closer I figured there was no reason why I shouldn't nip forward and snag it with the boathook without further ado. I caught it first go, held on tight, got enough slack to drop the eye over the samson post and we swung gently around without any drama. Maybe it isn't textbook but it worked!
Engine off at 12:50 and that was that. Glen tidied up below decks whilst I swabbed down on deck, remembering to put my wellies on first this time, then we packed up our kit before calling for the ferry. We were on the road heading home by 14:50 and another trip was over.
A nebulous blue background was dotted with winking flashes of bright blue and every now and again an expanding circle of light or an arrow shape would scoot across the surface. I watched in fascination for several minutes until the night chill started to take effect at which point I retired down below, set the anchor drag alarm on the GPS just in case and got my head back down for some more zzz's.
After the late night, we slept in until nearly half nine! After fetching in the anchor light and topping up the main tank with 10 litres of fuel from the jerry can, I decided to hoist the main in the still air and sunshine to dry it off and then put a proper harbour stow on it. The chances of any sailing today looked slim.
For a brief period we got an extra knot of speed motor sailing with the genoa up but as the river turned to bring the wind into our teeth for the last leg we rolled it up again and steamed gently up to our buoy.
Engine off at 12:50 and that was that. Glen tidied up below decks whilst I swabbed down on deck, remembering to put my wellies on first this time, then we packed up our kit before calling for the ferry. We were on the road heading home by 14:50 and another trip was over.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Bosuns Weekend - Day 2
I was up just before half past six in the morning to find that there wasn't a breath of breeze and barely a hundred yards of visibility due to a heavy mist. No sign of the forecast F1 to F2 from the South East!
Low water wasn't until about 10-o-clock so we topped up the stove burners with meths and Glen cooked bacon and egg buttys for breakfast.
By just shy of 8-o-clock, visibility was improving as the sun got into its stride and we fired up the outboard and set off downriver making 3.5 to 4 knots at about half throttle to conserve fuel.
As we approached the moorings at Burnham there was a wall of mist ahead of us and at 9:23 I decided not to risk it and turned back upriver. Looking at the GPS track later I found that we were within yards of the Fairway No.15 buoy and I never even saw it! We dropped the hook in Cliff Reach to wait for things to improve - within 20 minutes we could see all the way downriver and so it was up with the anchor and off again.
A bit of a breeze was starting to come in and as we turned into the Roach it was up with the sails and off with the engine. Fifty minutes later, as we approached Pagelsham, the breeze died and it was back to motoring again.
We pressed on upstream of Pagelsham but the river starts to shoal rapidly and with little to see or do we turned back downstream to explore up the Yokesfleet. We tried sailing again with what breeze there was but it just wasn't enough to fill the sails so we dropped the hook off Shelford creek at 2:00pm for lunch and a snooze. It being too shallow to stay there the night, and with a bit of breeze to play with, we sailed off the anchor at 16:45 and headed back down the Roach under sail.
Putting about in the top end of the Branksfleet, we tried to stem the tide under sail but the dying breeze wasn't giving us enough drive so it was back to engine power to motor back upriver to find an anchorage for the night. I was keen to explore the possibilities of Pagelsham Pool as a quiet anchorage off the main river channel but found less than three metres even in the entrance at more than half tide so we anchored in the main river just downstream of the entrance to the pool.
Dinner on board was beans and things from a tin with a slice of bread followed by a raid on the beer stocks. Having found that yet another can of Tanglefoot had leaked, fortunately only into the bin bag I'd wrapped around the cans after the last whiffy bilge excercise, the Bosun decided it was unwise to put any of 'em back in store and, apart from the couple of cans I managed to snaffle, proceeded to demolish the lot!
It was well gone midnight by the time we finished chatting and boozing by which time I was on to the decaf coffee and rum. Occasional forays sticking my head out of the hatch for a smoke were made special by the fantastic night sky. There's so much more to see when it's properly dark and there's no street lighting washing out the dimmer stars. I set the alarm for the approximate time of high water and we hit the sack for the night.
Low water wasn't until about 10-o-clock so we topped up the stove burners with meths and Glen cooked bacon and egg buttys for breakfast.
By just shy of 8-o-clock, visibility was improving as the sun got into its stride and we fired up the outboard and set off downriver making 3.5 to 4 knots at about half throttle to conserve fuel.
A bit of a breeze was starting to come in and as we turned into the Roach it was up with the sails and off with the engine. Fifty minutes later, as we approached Pagelsham, the breeze died and it was back to motoring again.
Putting about in the top end of the Branksfleet, we tried to stem the tide under sail but the dying breeze wasn't giving us enough drive so it was back to engine power to motor back upriver to find an anchorage for the night. I was keen to explore the possibilities of Pagelsham Pool as a quiet anchorage off the main river channel but found less than three metres even in the entrance at more than half tide so we anchored in the main river just downstream of the entrance to the pool.
It was well gone midnight by the time we finished chatting and boozing by which time I was on to the decaf coffee and rum. Occasional forays sticking my head out of the hatch for a smoke were made special by the fantastic night sky. There's so much more to see when it's properly dark and there's no street lighting washing out the dimmer stars. I set the alarm for the approximate time of high water and we hit the sack for the night.