Swanage in the fog

By the end of June I was going stir crazy.. I needed to get out for a sail.  The forecast was good so I went down to the boat about midnight and stayed aboard so that I could get a good start in the morning.  The tides made sense for heading West so I thought it would be nice to aim for Lulworth.

I set the alarm for 5am and went to sleep dreaming of sunshine, calm seas and perfect wind.. I woke up, rubbed the mist from my eyes and realised it wasn't my eyes that were misty. I crawled back into my sleeping bag and peered out of the window periodically. At 8am I decided that I'd have to get out of bed and at least have breakfast. 

The fog didn't look like it was going to clear in a hurry but at least I had this fella to keep a look out for me.  I think it a young pied wagtail but don't hold me to that... I'm no bill Oddie.   The visibility was 1 or 2 hundred yards.  I put short sail up and went for a potter to see what it was like elsewhere.  There were plenty of boats heading out through the entrance so I headed out as well.  Lights on, fog horn handy, fish finder and GPS turned on VHF on, position logged ever 15 mins. I was as preparred as I could be, as for life jacket, I always wear one regardless of the weather.

I took the decision to go to Swanage,  after consulting the chart I decided that if I kept 3m of water under the boat that would give me plenty of clearance from any obstructions. I motor sailed along the small boat channel as I didn't want to venture into the main channel, I noticed that the tell tail from the outboard was very slow and at some points none existent.  I hove to in Studland bay and pulled the engine out (This is not the same engine that got dunked in the previous blog). The inlets seemed clear and I flushed it with Scottish spring water.  I dropped it back in, It was better but not great. I was half way to Swanage with the tide in my favour so pressed on with the intention of stripping the impeller when I got there.

As the day progressed the wind dropped to a breeze, the visibility didn't really improve until I got to Swanage.  I was greeted by the sound of bagpipes... Could I really have overshot Swanage and ended up in the Clyde?? No it was Armed forces day, great to hear the marching bands on the prom. They'll be the guys in the red coats below.



I pulled the engine out again and started to strip the leg.  I hit a hurdle when I didn't have a 10mm socket to release the gear linkage. I waded ashore and bought a cheap socket set which should have been all I'd need.

Unfortunately cheap sockets are cheap for a reason.. There was too much of a chamfer in the socket so it couldn't grip the low profile bolt head. I was b@66ered.  I put it back together and turned for home. There was absolutely no wind in the bay and the engine was now not pumping any water. I ran it for a minute at a time to try to get me out of the shelter of the headland but once there I could see that there was still no discernible wind.  I turned back to Swanage in the hope of picking up a visitors mooring. I phoned Julie and asked her to come and pick me up from Swanage.  I won't elaborate on the conversation.

I couldn't raise anyone from Swanage on the VHF to enquire about visitors mooring but I did see a fella hooning about on a flat bottomed bout with an enormous engine. I waved him over to see if he could help... my luck had changed, this fella was the local RNLI chief engineer.  He offered me a tow to the RNLI mooring which he let me use for free (A donation went in the tin), he then gave me and my kit a lift back to shore.  What a Savior

Here's Jelly Bean safe on the RNLI mooring. 

Julie picked me up and I planned the recovery, The next day I took some decent tools back to Swanage in my car, I then paddled out and spend the next two hours stripping and rebuilding the leg while being tossed around all over the place. As it happens the impellor was fine,  there was and bit of dirt or grit in the pick up tube from the pump to the engine head. I don't know what it was or how it got there but the engine runs sweetly now with a good show from the tell tale.  It's days are numbered though, I'm on the look out for a replacement. Any recommendations for a 4 / 5hp long shaft gratefully accepted.

I then motored back to Poole and caught the open top bus back to Swanage where I pick up my car and headed home for a kip.