pontoon time

On your second day sitting bouncing against a pontoon waiting for the wind to drop away it is sometimes hard to remember why you decided that sailing is your main source of pleasure and excitement.
The trouble is that as the hours tick by and you sit below in the cabin reading a book or listening to the radio you start to forget the wonderful things about being a seafarer. The joy of the surging power of wind and waves, the sun sparkling and dancing on the water, the sound of the boat parting the sea before it, the squadrons of gannets skimming towards you, the elation of spotting a dolphin fin in the distance or the excitement of a whole pod following the boat, the way that sailing past cliffs makes you realise that we are just a blip in the history of this old planet which is itself nothing more than a spec in the apparent infinity of space, the difference between approaching place from the sea rather than by car, then there are the beaches with their perfect expanses of sand and perfectly placed rocks, shells and drifts of seaweed.
We have now been in Pierowall harbour for 48 hours. We arrived on a diamond evening with mirror flat water and a beautiful Orkney evening.
We sat in the cockpit and watched the light fade. We went to bed in perfect peace but by three in the morning the predicted southerly blow had cut in and we were bouncing on the mooring. At ten we moved Harmony around to the pontoons in the harbour and have been sitting here ever since.
The highlights of the day between rain showers and under the relentless wind were a shower, a trip to the shop, buying some diesel and a long walk to the chip shop (open Wednesday and Saturdays 5 until 9).
The weather man is talking about the wind dropping away on Friday so we will head North to Shetland. I think we will leave about mid-day and catching the tail end of this gale. The weather sites are talking about a very calm weekend so we will spend a week in the Shetland Isles and then wait for the right wind that will get us a Westerly passage around Cape Wrath and down the coast towards Oban.
I can feel that we are starting to decide how to end this summer cruise.
At the moment my plan is to find somewhere I can get Harmony put ashore at the beginning of August. I confess that the Northern adventure has been a good bit more expensive than I had budgeted and we are about to max out on the overdraft. I have a massive amount of film to deal with and need to get on with producing KTL six and seven in time for Christmas. The camera is also starting to show signs of the strain of its existence in the damp conditions on a boat and I am worried that it is going to give up the ghost so that will need replacing before we go sailing again.The moisture has got inside the lens and the microphone contacts are starting to give up and it now requires plastic bands to keep the sound working.
Of course as soon as Harmony is under way again with the wind in her sails, her bow wave creaming and surging, the sun shining and the pressure on the tiller under my hand then these hours waiting for the weather to turn will fade into distant memories.

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

graemsay

mooring rope

running

haromony

reflections

harmony 4

shells

rocks

This is about Dylan Winter's Blog, Sailing around Britain.

7 Responses to “pontoon time”

  1. 3 July, 2014 at 12:48 pmIan Owers says:

    Sounds like you (mostly) having fun and sailing down the West coast will be a treat.

    I think there is a bit of a risk that you will be ‘trapped’ in Shetland – a very expensive place to commute to! Although this summer (on the West of Scotland at least) is the calmest and most settled that I have known, it’s probably not guaranteed to continue!

    If you are looking for storage ashore around Oban then MRC http://www.marineresourcecentre.co.uk/yachtstorage.htm are probably one of the cheapest – I understand they are open to negotiation on price!

  2. 3 July, 2014 at 6:08 pmLarry Rumbol says:

    I think the forced waiting around for wind and tide are character building, no seriously. If we had a choice we would miss the waiting bit out and so be rushing about without ‘taking time”. I remember being 12 yrs old (45 yrs ago) and watching the tide slip away from my parents Magyar bilge keeler in Maylandsea then watching it come back after a few hours still sitting in the same spot, reading and messing about with a crab line. If you asked a ten year old to do that today? Keep it coming Dylan, it’s masterful.

  3. 3 July, 2014 at 7:36 pmkeith lewis says:

    I have to agree with Larry, life is all about balance and contrast, and we appreciate the ‘sails full of wind and the bow wave creaming and surging’, mainly because we have spent hours waiting for the weather!
    Unfortunately sometimes with what might be termed as’ a bit of a negative time’, we can sometimes get some negative thoughts as well!

    Dylan you are having a great adventure, your children and your children’s children are going to love hearing tales of the ‘Winters’ (or whatever the name really is) who got into a boat and decided to Keep Turning Left!!!!

  4. 4 July, 2014 at 7:05 amJonathan Sharman says:

    Dylan,

    I am sure that a few of us would be happy to pay in advance for KTL 6 & 7 if that would keep you afloat.

  5. 4 July, 2014 at 9:52 amPhil says:

    Dylan. Keep your chin up mate. You are in for a real treat down the West coast, believe me. Have a safe sale later today. Phil

  6. 4 July, 2014 at 1:47 pmPaul says:

    Agree with Jonathan in that if its just about money, happy to buy 6 and 7 and see em whenever they are done – just let us know if that would be helpful?? On the other hand, if you both are just feeling tied and like you need a break, why don’t you find somewhere cheap to leave the boat and go home for a month and think about it…

  7. 9 July, 2014 at 7:52 pmRoy says:

    Sounds and looks as tho youve found a fine Centaur for your journey Dylan.Enjoying it with you.I was going to sell mine this year but shes back on the water! I,ll chip in for the next 2 dvds too.Best Wishes to you both. Take care. Roy-Golden Silents

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