The Sea King cometh!
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Position 49 31.4N 05 18.7W 20 miles from Lizard Point Friday
12th June Plymouth 64NM Well,
here we are, sixty miles to go and the great adventure is almost at an end –
hopefully that is, because having stopped the engine yesterday, it refused to go
until the filter was topped up with fuel and the pump bled. It looks like
there’s still a residual problem with air bleeding in where the filter was
leaking. Anyway, there should be enough fuel to keep the tank topped up and keep
us going to Plymouth, otherwise we’ll be sailing......except that there’s no
wind at all, and the sun is beating down as warm as at any time since Bermuda.
Anyway, that aside, the trip’s finished on a fantastic note with a training
visit from some of Liv’s chums at Culdrose, who zipped down in their Sea King
for a bit of hi-line training on Irie. It was just brilliant, as this huge,
noisy monster hovered just below mast height some fifty metres away, blasting us
and the boat with gale force winds, spray and hot turbine air, before lowering
crewman Dave to the water and then gaining height so that we could pull him
aboard. Unfortunately their schedule was tight, so he missed out on a cup of
tea, but departed with flapjacks and a bottle of whiskey, vanishing upwards on
his sky-hook. Navy 193 then wheeled to the south before a 'Low level
Wazz,' roaring past to the north, again at mast height and a short distance
to port, and then they were gone, a speck in the sky and leaving a salty, damp,
ruffled sort of calm – what fun. So,
the last full day on the boat and a slightly strange, can’t believe it, end of
term atmosphere, though there are a few bottles in the fridge ready for a caning
no matter what time we arrive. That looks like sometime between midnight and two
am, with an anchor stop planned at Cawsand and a grand entry into the marina at
around nine – look out Plymouth Knot: Square plait Saying: Ducking at the Yardarm
Friday
12th June Plymouth 64NM Well,
here we are, sixty miles to go and the great adventure is almost at an end –
hopefully that is, because having stopped the engine yesterday, it refused to go
until the filter was topped up with fuel and the pump bled. It looks like
there’s still a residual problem with air bleeding in where the filter was
leaking. Anyway, there should be enough fuel to keep the tank topped up and keep
us going to Plymouth, otherwise we’ll be sailing......except that there’s no
wind at all, and the sun is beating down as warm as at any time since Bermuda.
Anyway, that aside, the trip’s finished on a fantastic note with a training
visit from some of Liv’s chums at Culdrose, who zipped down in their Sea King
for a bit of hi-line training on Irie. It was just brilliant, as this huge,
noisy monster hovered just below mast height some fifty metres away, blasting us
and the boat with gale force winds and spray, before lowering crewman Dave to
the water and then gaining height so that we could pull him aboard.
Unfortunately their schedule was tight, so he missed out on a cup of tea, but
departed with flapjacks and a bottle of whiskey vanishing upwards on his
sky-hook. Navy 193 then wheeled to the south before a high speed pass to the
north, again at mast height and a short distance to port, and then they were
gone, a speck in the sky and leaving a salty, damp, ruffled sort of calm – what
fun. So,
the last full day on the boat and a slightly strange, can’t believe it, end of
term atmosphere, though there are a few bottles in the fridge ready for a caning
no matter what time we arrive. That looks like sometime between midnight and two
am, with an anchor stop planned at Cawsand and a grand entry into the marina at
around nine – look out Plymouth Knot:
Square plait Saying: Ducking
at the Yardarm
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