Jump to content

First experience with side wind!


robtheplod

Featured Posts

Hi All

 

Thought you'd all find this amusing..... we're currently moored at Swanley Bridge for the winter so used Aurora as a B&B last weekend. End of our time we had to pump out ready for the next member so had to take her round the pontoon to get this done. That went ok but once done the wind picked up and took me sideways to the other side of the marina - pretty much nothing I could do. Luckily avoided all the boats along the way. Once I was along the bank a helpful chap appeared and said he'd spend many a happy hour there and the only was to reverse out. I did this slowly and managed to get back to our birth, but the pumpout operation probably took a hour in total for a 5 min job!  valuable lesson learnt!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, robtheplod said:

Hi All

 

Thought you'd all find this amusing..... we're currently moored at Swanley Bridge for the winter so used Aurora as a B&B last weekend. End of our time we had to pump out ready for the next member so had to take her round the pontoon to get this done. That went ok but once done the wind picked up and took me sideways to the other side of the marina - pretty much nothing I could do. Luckily avoided all the boats along the way. Once I was along the bank a helpful chap appeared and said he'd spend many a happy hour there and the only was to reverse out. I did this slowly and managed to get back to our birth, but the pumpout operation probably took a hour in total for a 5 min job!  valuable lesson learnt!

Weve all been there at some time. It doesnt happen to me nowadays but ooooooooooooooo it did do some years ago as did going straight on at bends ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Weve all been there at some time. It doesnt happen to me nowadays but ooooooooooooooo it did do some years ago as did going straight on at bends ?

Yes, and I bet there were spectators - there always are when you don't want them.

 

One way to help yourself when you are being blown sideways in a large marina or any large body of water for that matter - if you have enough room upwind of course so it wont be as effective on the canal itself - is to put the boat in astern, point the rudder directly into the wind,  and eventually you will find that, given plenty of room, the stern will start to turn up into the wind. The length of the boat acts like a wind vane and is known as "seeking the wind". If nothing else it gives you a time to think, and it may give you enough room eventually to attempt to turn the boat round and extricate yourself. If have done this both at Overwater and also Aqueduct marinas which helped to keep the egg from my face!

 

Howard

 

 

 

 

  • Greenie 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i’ll admit to having done a lap of the island at Overwater as the wind was too strong to allow me to turn the direction i wanted to as i reversed out of the birth, felt quite smug as i started to nose out and join the canal, then the wind decided i was looking too happy so blew me left again ☹️ had to go down Hack Green to wind and eventually head back towards Audlem as we’d intended in the first place ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hated boating in the wind. As in hated.

 

Getting back on our berth at Mercia marina if it was in any way 'blowy' was a massive challenge, as was getting off the refuelling berth at Barton Turns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Wind is great. When you totally screw up in flat calm, you can’t blame the wind. But when it’s windy.....

 

 

Course you can.

 

When it's dead calm and I screw up, I point to the inevitable crowd of gongozlers and say "OK, which one of you just farted?" ?

Edited by cuthound
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/11/2018 at 12:45, Jen-in-Wellies said:

My boat is usually moored stern in to the jetty. If the wind is strong when returning, some times I'll just have to give up and moor bow in, coming in at speed and slowing to a stop as late as possible, till it dies down and I can turn the boat round later.

 

Jen

We used to moor in a northern marina which was windy, in strong winds you moored at any berth you could get into without being blown across the bows of 5 or 6 boats. We left the keys with the marina staff who moved them when the wind dropped. 

 

As said if nobody is there you moor perfectly, two witnesses and all hell breaks out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 22/11/2018 at 16:21, mark99 said:

Theres that sinking feeling as well when you first get sight of the horizontal flag in the big open marina entrance flapping madly and you know your gonna have a tough one!

At yelvertoft we have the delight of the wind turbine in the marina that you can watch turning faster and faster the closer you get to the marina when returning...

 

best thing is just to tie up outside and wait till 4-6pm and at some point then the wind usually dies...

 

that Plan of course doesn’t work when your mother is insisting it isn’t windy and she wants to be back in now (mother knows best after all)! And then you end up blown side onto the pontoons and she tells you not to be so careless and that it’s lucky you didn’t damage someone else’s boat... ( by this point your having a mental breakdown because you didn’t want to come in anyway)! lmao ?

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
8 minutes ago, Noggin said:

At moment berth next to us in our marina is empty - so I  have a nice big space to go at - when it's full, it can be a nightmare

I'll bet Pru's husband could get his boat in there - it's a contact sport apparently. :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/03/2019 at 18:38, rawsondsr said:

I had an interesting experience with side winds yesterday - not only did it suddenly blow me sideways about six to ten feet, but it also tipped me over by about 20/25 degrees, so much so my side hatches opened!

 Yes winds this week are strong!    We are using Honeystreet as a Holiday cottage this week whilst off exploring, and avoiding wind, rain and snow (yes had some on Sunday night!).    Like the OP on Friday we have to shift for a p/o before the wind returns...... not quite the boating holiday I was looking forward to but still good.    Walked up Hatton 21 yesterday and up the NAPTON flight this afternoon in a rare bit of sun.    Inspected Lock 9, ( good job) and pint in The Folly (Old Hockey’s, very nice).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/03/2019 at 17:54, ditchcrawler said:

He's fine, don't believe all you see on the TV. His book is a nice read

He aint fine anymore. We crawled along behind him and Pru going in and out of gear as they staggered!! down the cut for ages, they never once glanced back and had no idea we were there. I never bray the horn or close up on slow boaters so pootled along. We knew it was them anyway as a check with the binos proved. Eventualy Pru looked round and saw us and beckoned us past, we went slowly past with smiles and waves between us all as Tim calmly drove up the bank and got stuck. Berlimey!!

Todays wind may well make it a challenge for many!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.