The sailing season that was supposed to be 2020 was limping towards its end. It was October and I had no winter storage sorted in Poole harbour. I was paying for a berth on the river Hamble that I hadn’t been able to get to. And there were definite signs that the country was going to return to a state of lockdown as Covid-19 infection rates got worse again.
I had one week of holiday left where I had the chance to get Isosceles to her new home. Crew had volunteered to go with me if things got a little dicey with the new engine. There were concerns over a build up of condensation in the fuel tank that the new filters were picking up. Water in a diesel engine really does not go well. All we had to do was one day sail across to the Isle of Wight. We would could over night at Yarmouth (IoW) and then head on. Alternatively we could go straight on to the Hamble if we could get the weather and tide right.
Waiting to go sailing
As we sat outside the bar on Saturday the weather forecast was not looking great. We wouldn’t be rushing off on the Sunday morning. Instead we would meet up on the Sunday evening to see how the forecast looked for the following few days.
the rough weather out on the water.
This was to become a regular pattern. The weather promised to improve in a couple of days time, but by the time those couple of days had gone past, the promised improvement was still a couple of days away. At one point myself and Daren on the boat next to me gave up and went to stay on shore. If I hadn’t been so desperate to get Isosceles moved I would have given up and gone home.
place to sit and relax when the weather is good.
Expensive options
As the week went by I began to look at alternative arrangements. A winters layup in Poole while still paying for the mooring in the Hamble was a couple of thousand pounds I could no longer afford. There were a couple of options for delivery skippers to move Isosceles for me, not the cheapest option but better than the alternative. We kept hoping for a break in the weather, but it was looking less and less likely, and I had to be back at work the following week.
As more and more storm systems moved through it became obvious this move was not going to happen. I arranged to put the boat into Poole Quay marina for the following week. There were definite signs of improvement in the weather in a few days time, but then there had been these signs for the past week.
On the move, but not where I need to go
On the final Saturday Dave and I made arrangements to move both of our boats down to the Marina. Ironically that was the one day we had good weather all week, and the move down the harbour was an easy potter. Time for one last dinner in Lakeyard before returning to the world of work.
Poole Sailing managed to get the boat moved over to the Hamble for me the following week. At least meant I was now only paying for one mooring, for the first time since June. I also managed to make one scrambled run down to make sure she was secure in her berth ready for the winter. By now lockdown 2 was imminent, and I knew I would not be able to see my pride and joy until well into 2021.
At least now I have a working boat, in a place that is cheaper and easier to access. I just need the world to stop going mad!
