Saturday 4th February 2012

It's blinkin cold but still no snow.  The Kipper was there again today heroicaly working on the keel which needs rubbing down in preparation for the fresh coat of antifoul paint.  The keel needed a little bit of extra attention this year because towards the end of last season we practiced parking in the mud and spent a good hour or maybe it was two...or possibly longer...keel deep in mud looking at Margate.

Now, to be fair, we don't often run aground so it was good practice (always find the positive).  I don't think The Kipper saw it that way at the time and every time the fallig tide in the Thames Estuary slapped under the transom and made the rudder bounce in the mud The Kipper made little whimpehing noises.  I did what any good crew member should do in that situation - I kept him well supplied with hot tea.  I'm sure the coast guard found it all very amusing but I did draw the line at seeking help from those nice chaps from the RNLI.  I would have been utterly mortified to have to call them out for assistance.  I would rather have jumped in with a shovel and tried to dig us out than have to call out the chaps.  We tried to motor off and to sail off and to put all the weight on the lea side in order to try and bring the keel up out of the mud but Petra was having none of it.  So, there we sat trying not to look sorry for ourselves. 

And for those of you who might be reading this and are scoffing at the fact that we managed to run aground on a falling tide well - good for you but watch out you don't fall from that bosun's chair in that moral high place at the top of the mast!  There are two types of sailor: them that have run aground and them that have yet to do so.  We actually ran aground about an hour before low water so it wasn't all bad.  We were making our way back along the North Kent coast having had a cracking sail back from France and we decided to go through Hook Spit which is a channel we have used many times before and yes, we have been through at low water before now.  Clearly we can't do that anymore.  The Thames Estuary is a cauldron of constantly shifting sand and mud and so I guess it has excercised it's right to make life difficult for us rag and stick people.  With her fin keel, Petra draws 1.8m so sitting in the putty on the fin was a bit of an experience and if I'm honest, it was a little bit of a worry.  Having said that I've heard of much bigger vessels beiing laid on their side on mud and rocks and coral reefs so all things considered, it wasn't that bad.

It was all part of the sailing learning curve and once the tide started to flow we were away and clear in no time.  It is also worthy of note that we were not the only yachties to cime to grief that day.  At least two other boats sat there with us and they were much smaller than us so that made us feel better.