In the "Sailors confess" series, we confess our stupidest sailing mistakes. But we are also looking forward to your confession. Send us your text, if possible with pictures, to mail@yacht.dekeyword "sailor's confession". If desired, publication will be anonymised.
It was one of those nights that you don't like to remember, but it's hard to avoid.
Fortunately, the experience was long enough ago.
The task was actually simple, but the outcome was all the more unpredictable and annoying. We, three crew members on an Admiral's Cupper, were supposed to transfer the boat from Lymington, where it was for sale with a major broker after the Cup, to Germany. No buyer had been found, so the boat was to be refurbished at home and then offered for sale again.
On a winter cruise with the Admiral's Cupper
So off to England with thick clothes, it was already winter. It took us two days to get the boat ready to sail again. Cleaning, fitting the sails, bunkering, provisioning, dealing with the broker. And off we went with the low tide. Great sleet weather, we rush through the Solent with the current. Sacred ground, so to speak, the cradle of the America's Cup, later the Admiral's Cup, where the Whitbread Round the World Race started and finished.
That's nice and worth remembering, but only helps against the cold to a limited extent. Breathable oilskins, the onion principle and functioning first and midlayers didn't exist yet. After a nasty night and even worse prospects for the remaining 400 nautical miles, we decide to stop in Dover, one of the largest passenger harbours in Europe. Our anticipation of the harbour is short-lived. After passing the western entrance and thus the heavy shipping traffic, current and swell, we register as prescribed via channel 80, only to be told that the gate to the tide-dependent Wellington Dock marina would not open again for another eight hours and that we would have to anchor in the harbour until then ("I am so sorry").
A night like eternity
Shit! No heating, no cooker, choppy weather and single-digit temperatures on a bare aluminium cupper. The basic gear on board is standard regatta gear. A plate anchor and lots of thin line, everything should be nice and light. So we anchor. The iron seems to be holding, according to the land bearings. And we are in a hurry to get back below deck out of the wind. Perhaps too hasty. We vow not to fall asleep and retreat to the only halfway warm retreats: Into the sleeping bags on the cane bunks. The running engine brings some warmth to the ship and night falls over our anchorage. We still have hours ahead of us.
Aluminium on gravel sounds bad
And wake up because two things don't fit into the usual picture. The boat is heeling heavily and crunching noises on the port side signal new contact with the gravel on the shore with every wave. Stranded in the harbour! The anchor line was broken, our aluminium bowl is rubbing on the beach, the mast seems to be sickling between the lampposts above the much too close promenade. A fellow sailor wants to call for help quickly on the radio, but we manage to persuade him not to call a mayday just yet. Maybe we'll get lucky. The engine starts up. Reverse gear and hope.
With every wave, the boat slowly pulls away from the beach and then faster and faster. In the pitch-black night, we pass two rocks between which we have drifted. We actually make it! The boat floats upright, the log already shows a metre of water under the keel. Shortly after we have sworn never to tell anyone about our experience (okay, it didn't work, but after 40 years it might be time-barred), there is a crackling on channel 80 ("You guys had a good night? Well the gates are open now, why don't you visit lovely Dover?").
With pleasure!
Plan, equip, keep watch
Lessons learnt from the incident: Before the trip, the crew should take into account possible stopovers for bad weather, technical failures and other unforeseen circumstances. Think about alternative harbours and possible restrictions such as access, tides and closures. Check the safety equipment before a crossing and add to it if necessary. A few metres of chain might have been enough. And an anchor watch is not a bad invention.
More about anchoring:
And her confession?
Have you also made stupid or avoidable mistakes that resulted in funny, dangerous or expensive situations? Then please write to us at mail@yacht.dekeyword "sailor's confession". If desired, publication will be anonymised.
