Another epic voyage.
Anticipation.
Has Gampton (aka Galampton) remembered that we've booked to be lifted this week?
Will it be deep enough in their dock?
Will it be too windy?
"Yes, all booked, Sir"
"It should be deep enough"
"What is the drying height?" "1.7 Metres, Sir"
"What do you draw". "2.0".
Tidal height 4.3.
Should be fine ......
The weather.
BBC said 43 knots
Met Office 37 knots
XC Weather 25-37 knots
Pocket Grib 35 knots.
Usually, if one forecast looks bad you can find one that's better.
I checked all 4 every few hours for a week before our lift-out booking.
They fluctuated mildly but all 4 continued to look rather worrying.
Would we be able to get to Albatross, moored 3 miles down river in our trusty "Green Thing" (2.4M plastic boat) powered only by its little electric motor before dawn against the tide with the wind gusting about a gale?
Execution.
Dawn broke.
We were already up.
The river was flat calm. Wind about 10 knots.
The incoming tide was running downstream. (So much rainwater flooding down from Dartmoor that the moon had given up and the tide was going out.)
We wizzed down to our mooring, boarded Albatross and set off for Gampton (Galampton) Quarry (where lift-outs happen on the Dart).
Would it be deep enough?
Tidal predictions Greenway Quay: HW 0946 = 4.18 metres
Atmospheric pressure 1015 mB
Add "2 inches" "because it's been raining a lot on Dartmoor".
Therefore depth = 4.18(tidal height) plus 0.05(raining a lot) less 1.7 (drying height) equals 2.53 metres.
We'd arrived at HW and the atmospheric pressure was 1015, so, as the boat draws 1.95 we should have 0.58 metres depth under the keel.
In the event the depth read "0.2" very briefly just before we docked, though it was 0.4 when we got right in.
Anyway we survived.
The crane lifted Albatross out of the water and this time I remembered to turn the boat's engine off (this is really very important).
We jumped back in the Green Thing and wizzed back to Stoke.
Reflection.
Sailing and boaty stuff is rather mysterious.
The weather is unpredictable and is sometimes even better than you (and everyone else) expect.
Tidal height calculations are best left to the dog, if you have one aboard).
A hot bath after sailing is good.
Next week:
Aunty Fowling and polishing ones topsides.
