Faced with an uncertain amount of time without power and the threat of cold weather soon I took the risk of heading into the marina, at almost the bottom of the tide, in the dark.
I was lucky to have the help of the grumpy Frenchman who was visiting at the time. HE stood and guided me in the narrow dark channel to the marina.
Mooring up was fun. A lot of other boats had come into the marina for the winter and all the spaces I saw available just two days ago we re all gone.
Ticking over I eeked along closely to the boats as there wasnt a lot of water. Pulling level with a potential spot I eyed it up asked the grumpy crew member if it looked big enough to him, yes was the answer.
Ok, so er, I think I will just reverse in as there's not really room to swing round.
In the time it took reverse to engage I was practically resting alongside the moored boats, 90 degrees away from being in the right angle for reversing into the mooring.
What a tit.
SO crew jumped off to fend us off the other boats, but dropped the stern line in the process, meaning I couldnt use the engine until it was retrieved.
In the mean time, crew man is looking worried. I say, hey its no problem we arent hurting anything, just take your time, dont rush all with be fine, but then he says, yes, but have you seen that>>> points to the massive bow sprit of a boat just off my bow. SHIT! I dont want to hit that. it belongs to one of the guys who works in the marina.
a quick bit of reversing and rope throwing, somehow we manage to man handle Varekai into a tight mooring spot. just a foot to spare between me and the neighbours boat.
Still, its in and snugly tucked up and I think reversing in will be an advantage with the way the wind blows most of the time around here.
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