Making Ready 9

A succession of storms, Dudley, Eunice, Franklin and their kin, fed by an active Atlantic jet stream, halt pre-launch preparations.

Stargazer’s tiller, re-varnished over the winter evenings, is shipped. The furling drum serviced and refitted. The mast re-rigged and ready to restep. Cutting has commenced on the Vectran mainsail. But the smooth sweep, of the launch countdown clock’s hands, is stayed.

Wayne-the-crane has been unable to lift for two full weeks. Leaving craft stranded either ashore or afloat. It is too windy even to apply the antifouling, to the now thoroughly cured epoxy. Wet paint would spatter onto the topsides of neighbouring boats. There is nothing to be done but wait patiently, for a lull.

But when Mother Nature closes one door she, often as not, opens another. This is bracing walking weather. I don my boots. Setting out beneath the bare boughed trees, which whip in the breeze, atop the sea wall. Seeking their shelter.

At Hollowshore, where Oare and Faversham creeks meet, before flowing into the Swale, the Shipwrights Arms hunkers down in the shelter of the dyke.

A RIB (Rigid Hulled Inflatable) skims upriver, on the flood. An outsize Union Jack at her stern. The sound of her engine whipped away, by the buffeting bellow of the wind.

It streaks toward Faversham's Iron Wharf boatyard. Where whitecaps dot the turbid brown water. A fierce wind fighting a determined tide, between low grassy banks.

The stalwart yard launch butts up the swirling river, spray blowing back from her bluff bows.

Until the shelter of the saltings is reached. Where hibernating sailing barges slumber peacefully, in their mud berths, as they have every winter since time immemorial.

The tongue, of making tide, advances inexorably toward the head of the creek. Wind wracked sedge and meadow land give way to neatly tended gardens. Houses line the banks, offering a welcome lee. Calming the waters.

As each storm heads west, to make more mischief in mainland Europe, it is replaced with another. Stargazer is safe. But, day by day, fallen roof slates, fencing and guttering accumulate in my garden. Chin stroking contractors pace through the debris, pursing their lips, as they prepare their quotes. Happily my roof is tiled, meaning that the slates have blown in from elsewhere.

It seems that Stargazer may not be relaunched, as scheduled, on the first of March. There is no hurrying Mother Nature. Nor, once she relents, and the winds subside, Wayne and his crane crew, who must work to clear a backlog of boats. Our sailing season has begun with a judicious reminder, that wind and weather are the ultimate arbiters, in any cruising plan.

Picture Credits

 1.   Storm Eunice, Porthcawl                          Getty Images

 2,3 Stargazer, Chatham Dockyard                  Me

 4 ,5,6,7,8, 9,10  Faversham Creek                  Me 

11. Storm Eunice, Le Four, Chenal du Four    Ewan Lebourdais

12. Stargazer, Ile de Brehat                              Me