Forecast:  Temp max 20deg min 10 deg

Wind SW force 3

Visibility good to moderate HW 13.23 ht 4.6

On arriving at the Harbour, Jack and I saw Ian Johnson waiting on the slip as the tide had not reached the Three Brothers. The dinghy was at the bottom of the slip in the mud, but after about ten minutes water was lapping around it. Ian got into the dinghy and waited for the water depth to increase before launching himself towards the Three Brothers. When on board the Three Brothers, he lengthened the head rope and we pulled the stern shoreward. After three attempt, we stopped until the water had risen a few more inches then tried again. With the crew assembled on board the jib sail and the main sail were set after the mast wedges had been moved to try and centralise the mast. One wedge had become firmly stuck so the attempt had to be abandoned until longer tools were available.

The Pirate boat came to give us a tow but we had to send her away as we were not ready to set sail. The Three Brothers was pulled to the head buoy and the rudder positioned but it became stuck in the mud as we moved broadside to the head buoy. The Pirate boat came again and a tow was accepted, however the rudder became jammed as it lifted up out of the mud and caused us to plough through a mud bank without steerage. The rudder dropped back in place as we reached deeper water and the buoy no.9 was soon reached where the tow was dropped.

A light breeze took us steadily southwards parallel to the shore, until we were nearly up to the small yachts race course. We turned and headed towards the south sewage marker buoy which we passed within a fathom.

Steady progress was then made towards the harbour entrance. As we approached the entrance the Pirate boat came alongside and on the second attempt a tow line was secured. The main sail and jib sail having been lowered at a very respectable speed and the bowsprit pulled in, the tow back to the berth was soon completed.

The moorings were positioned and the rudder removed, the top pin was seen to be slightly bent after the muddy start we had. Wedges were hammered in to straighten the pin. The crew then disembarked, the Three Brothers moored and the dinghy rowed back to the racks all before 2.00pm

Three Brother Crew: Albert Brownhill, Frank Bull, Teresa Felton, Ian Johnson, Paul Russell, Mike Salisbury, Jack and Ian Thompson.

Photos by Ian Thompson

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Contact michael.wilson@tesco.net for further information.