we finally got back to Ishtar and moved her from a mooring at Llangwm down river 15 miles to our own mooring at Dale.
Louise wanted to do this trip through the busy port of Milford Haven single handed, so I took Tigger in the car and went for a few walks, while she did just that.
Over to Louise.....
The first thing I had to sort out when I got onto Ishtar was a small tree trunk that had attached itself to the mooring. Unfortunately the current was too strong due to the 7.3m tide and I had to leave it.
I got myself ready and cast off. I had put the main sail up and had put the anchor out on deck with 10m of chain already cleated off just in case I had an emergency and had to stop somewhere in a hurry. Off I went in the beautiful sunshine..... for about 20 seconds until I heard the sound of the grease hose to the stern gland rip off and hit the prop shaft. A quick about turn, I put Ishtar back onto the mooring.
2 hours later, up to my elbows in grease I had managed to sort the problem out and I set off again. By now I had missed the tide and was going to be punching the incoming tide for the next few hours.
It was nerve racking doing my longest single handed motor sail and with our recent diesel problems neither of us has any confidence in our engine. Its very unfortunate really because the engine has always performed well, all the breakdowns have been fuel related. I was listening carefully all the time to the pitch of the engine and kept my eye on the speed, nervously watching for any hint of trouble.
Martin had advised me to run the engine at about 2500 revs and I was doing about 3-3.5 knots. It was all going fine until I got to Lawrenny when the speed suddenly dropped to 2.5 knots. I expected the engine to slowly die and I had a scary moment thinking I would have to try to sail against the tide in light winds.
Luckily it was just the effect of the current and within half a mile my speed had picked back up.
Martin was waiting at Neyland with Tigger, looking out for me. I don't know who was the most nervous, me on the boat or him watching, knowing that if anything went wrong he couldn't do anything.
I actually felt a bit more relieved once I got past the Cleddau Bridge and was into the haven as the wind picked up a little and I had a bit more room to sail if I had engine trouble.
At various points along the route I found myself thinking "what if I broke down now?".
Once I passed Neyland the wind picked up a little and I let out the genoa, I managed to pick up my speed to about 4.5 - 5 knots. The sky looked thunderous over Milford Haven but so far I had been lucky with the weather and it stayed dry.
Martin rang again to ask to be picked up on the pontoon at Dale. By now I really was looking forward to getting to Dale but I still wanted to do it all myself. I tacked towards Angle which meant I was on a good tacking angle to get to Dale. At the visitors pontoon I decided to drop the sails and head for our mooring. Martin had put a new riser chain on our mooring with some new tails and they were very easy to pick up. Once on our mooring I put the anchor away, thankfully not needed, tidied the boat up a bit and put the fenders and lines ready.
My trip was almost over as I headed off to the pontoon. With only one other boat on the pontoon and very little wind in the shelter of the bay it was easy and straightforward to tie up on the pontoon. Ishtar was back home, I had made it, ok a little greasy but quite pleased with myself. The pint of cider that was quickly consumed was very welcome and I think Martin was proud and relieved to see both boat and skipper safe and sound.
Louise.
Doing your first solo trip is always quite nerve wracking. Doing your first trip through an extremely busy port with the tide against you, an engine you have doubts about and having to sort out mechanical issues before you leave is no mean feat. I was so proud of Louise when I saw Ishtar tied up at Dale pontoon.
Tigger was less impressed. He ran down along the pontoon jumped aboard and started sniffing around for food. We opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed the sunset.
Martin
