5th May

Osprey
John Bowering
Tue 5 May 2009 23:04
We had planned to be at the dry dock by 0700 however the wind was sitting at 25 knots and gusting 30 as we took down the tent. The prevailing wind is at right angles to the dock entrance which in these conditions makes life a little difficult - the dock entrance is only 6ft wider than Osprey. We sat around until 0800 and then consulted with Helen. It quickly became apparent that we were between the devil and the deep blue sea. The bookings for the dock were such that if we missed our slot this morning we would have been stuck with a two day delay with all the knock on consequences especially with Kuki arriving on Thursday. So we opted to have a go, which immediately generated a crowd of voyeurs heading to watch the spectacle. As we were stern to the wind on the berth, we shot off the quay and then had to rotate 180 degrees to get head to wind whilst we hauled in the anchor. We had Sherman bum up in the chain locker stowing an absolutely filthy chain and Skill on the windlass quite incapable of hearing John shouting at him owing to the wind noise. There was a real danger we were going to end up on the mud bank opposite the berth but fortunately Skill went for broke regardless of what he could hear from the helm and we just skimmed the keel on the bank as we rotated at speed with the anchor just off the bottom. It is only about 500 metres to the dock entrance which is bounded on the windward side by a reef that is clearly visible at low water. We approached the dock entrance head to wind until we were very close to the reef and then hovered hoping for a lull with the dock slightly aft of our port beam. At this point we saw Sir Hugh Bailey (owner of the dock amongst other things) appear in front of the voyeurs which gave the distinct impression we had a serious situation on our hands. He is a Master Mariner of some repute and it was interesting to see him wave us in indicating maximum power. This caused a little consternation as we were already at 80% to just hover - however the last 20% does give us a real push. We dropped 45 degrees off the wind and Osprey immediately started to go fast to leeward - full power was applied and we approached the dock entrance at 8.3 knots still off line and trying to stay to windward. At the last moment the helm went over and and we throttled back for Osprey to shoot through the gap in the concrete at a recorded speed of 5.7 knots. Skill at this point was running aft having decided he was safer in the cockpit. The dock is only 100ft long - twice Osprey 's length and it was a toss up whether we were going to stop of our own volition or be stopped by the concrete wall. The prop was just cavitating as we pulled up 2 ft from the wall and there were more than enough people on the dock sides to grab lines and hold us central in the slot. Even with the lines the wind had our port side hard up against the fenders and it was a relief when the lifting straps were in place and we were clear of the water. Hugh's comment was a simple OK - not bad which seemed like a compliment under the circustances. By 1600 we had been washed sanded and painted with just the support prop location needing a touch up in the morning. Prop anodes have been changed, through hulls services and plastered with underwater grease, the prop has been polished and everything below the water line given a good going over. We should be back in the water by 1000 tomorrow and not suprisingly even if the wind is not being kind to us again we should be able to accelerate out of the slot without too much difficulty. As maybe Lindsay Dove will remember being out of the water is no great fun overnight as we have no showers, toilets or other services - so it will be off to the local restaurant for sustinance shortly.