‘Roguery’ Hunter Medina – Woolverstone to Deben (1982)
The day started well enough with a good forecast giving SW F4 vis 10k+. The ebb was running and as we left the pontoon at Woolverstone both sails filled and we started a Broad Reach downstream towards Felixstowe. The Medina is a 20ft Bermuda Rigged ‘Trailer Sailer’ with a retractable keel; a very useful feature in these waters!
4 hrs later, we were turning North towards the entrance to the Deben abeam Wadgate Ledge. The tide had turned and my intention of arriving at the Red and White Woodbridge Haven buoy on a rising tide was looking promising. I had put in one reef as the sea was ‘running’ and we were on a very broad reach with the boat handling well. It did occur to me that I would not want to have to turn around into that following sea and almost directly into wind!
The Medina did not have an inboard engine, it had a 2 stroke ‘Tomos’ outboard on a bracket to one side of the transom and although adequate for Marina use it was not much use at sea. Passing Felixstowe Ledge, the wind seemed to increase and certainly quite suddenly the sea state deteriorated with breaking waves around us. I put this down to the ‘Ledge’ and started to look for the Woodbridge Haven buoy. It was surprisingly difficult to see it in the sea state and before sighting it I saw a Ketch further in which was motoring towards I assumed the same entrance. I saw her turn (quite abruptly) and she heeled over quite alarmingly as she changed course onto a Westerly heading. Moments later she appeared to ‘broach’ and slew around heading SW but now stationary. She had run aground right where I expected the entrance to be! I got my handheld radio and called on Channel 16 “Yacht aground at Deben entrance; this is Yacht Roguery, Yacht Roguery do you read?”. No response, I called again and this time a fishing boat responded saying he was in the Deben and providing assistance adding that the entrance was blocked and recommending I go elsewhere.
We turned about and steadied on a heading of 160degrees. Having established the stricken yacht was receiving help I now had my own problems, it was very uncomfortable and wet sailing close hauled and I decided to start the outboard to accelerate progress. The Tomos started on first pull and we immediately increased our forward speed. It was by now 1400hrs. I calculated a couple of hours back to Wadgate Ledge and maybe another 45mins to get into the tidal stream of the flood back into the Orwell. I tacked 250degrees was as close as I could get into wind and remain ‘sailing’. This was going to take longer… it certainly did!
After 4hours motor sailing and 50% of my 20L jerrycan of fuel remaining we finally turned inside ‘Platters’ South Cardinal and of course the tide was now going to turn against us. The wind dropped and the sea state subdued and fortunately that Tomos kept going although periodically a red ember appeared from the exhaust which became more noticeable in the darkness. Fortunately, I also had a 2hp Yamaha outboard which we used for the dinghy. I prepared it.
We were just abeam Shotley Spit when the Tomos ‘died’. I quickly removed it from the bracket and fitted the Yamaha. It was then I realised the Tomos was a ‘long shaft’ which easily meant the prop went under water but that the Yamaha was of course a ‘short shaft’ for dinghy use and the prop only just went under the water. My valiant crew and I huddled to the same side as the outboard slightly heeling the boat to keep the prop and water intake for the Yamaha under water. This was becoming ‘epic’ and much slower. Thankfully a yachtie with a 36footer offered us a tow to Woolverstone.
You might say, what has this got to with flying? Well it taught me to have an alternative plan of action for every yacht passage and any ‘flight’ one might be considering!