Small Boat Voyages

Second sail of the year, getting back into the routine after a year out of action. Never been to Derwent before. What I found was an efficiently run sailing club inforporating a substantial boat hire centre, workshops, quayside mooring facilities and assisted launch capabilities. The mooring is limited to stern-to Mediterranean style so a boat like Tarka having a bowsprit and bumkin this meant rafting up against another boat in order to get ashore. I was given a spot where I could squeeze in tightly inbetween two yachts so I could use either to get ashore. I met the owners of one boat who had been at this marina for several years, they were very pleasant and kindly assisted by lending me a chart of the lake.

I drove up and launched on day 1, sailed on day 2, hauling out on the same day, sleeping on board, cooking etc, and returned home on day 3.

Derwent is a very beatiful lake with mountains, forests, islands and plenty of wildlife.

The weather on the Saturday was overcast at first, clearing during the day and then eventualy overcast with rain later. Saturday night was extremely windy but by then I had already hauled out and had started getting ready for the drive home the next day.

The wind on Saturday during the day was fresh 15kt onshore, with strong gusts up to about 20kt occasionally. The other boats launched but didn’t venture out too far from the marina. One dinghy reported a capsize.

Tarka with its ballasted keel faired better and by motoring out past the channel markers we arrived at a convenient spot to raise some canvas. We started with jib and mizzen, centre plate down keeping the speed low and noting the depth around 8ft, keeping an eye on the sonar depth since there are shoals that threaten grounding here and there. Made about half a dozen tacks to get out into open deeper water and away from the islands so we would avoid risking grounding and decided to raise the main so I furled the jib, hardened the mizzen to come about into the wind.  The wind had lessened somewhat but thinking this might be a temporary lull I put in one reef. I released the toplift, unfurled the jib and Tarka leaned into choppy water. Taking the helm and building up speed and as the wind freshened the feeling of heel brought back that exciting feeling, dry mouth, raised heart rate, broad smile. As we approached the last small island we tacked to port and headed out towards the middle of the lake.

The wind was however getting stronger and it was not long before I decided to reef down again. Then with 2 reefs in Tarka behaved impeccably,  I did however notice black waters approaching indicating some strong gusts approaching. I had already decided if it became harder to sail I could either put in the third reef or lower the main completely and revert to jib and mizzen alone. The third reef was I thought perhaps only useful when going downwind and since we were currently beating I decided the latter would be more appropriate. After reverting to the jib and mizzen sail plan, Tarka’s restored stability and control was sufficient to counter the increased buffeting from the stronger winds.

As we grew closer to the far end of the lake the  wind stabilised at first and then subsided as we arrived in the shelter of a beautiful  tree lined bay. One other boat had anchored there after arriving about 20 minutes earlier. The bay was a wide cove with rocks and pebbles on the shore. It was quiet and peaceful a marked contrast to the sail to get there, and a world apart from the return trip.

I lowered the anchor into about 10ft depth, shelled out another 20ft chain and left the boat to drift slowly downwind while I drank coffee from a flask I had filled earlier and munched on biscuits. It was sunny and calm and felt like a perfect afternoon.

A short while later we up anchored and made for the return to the marina. In contrast to our sheltered anchorage the lake took on and entirely new characteristic once we were away from the shelter of the tree lined cove. The wind had suddenly come on a lot stronger and since the new point of sail was running the I lowered the mizzen, wrapped and secured several sail ties to reduce windage at the stern. With jib alone and centre plate raised we made swift progress as the wind howled through the shrouds. There were breaking waves all around providing a thrilling return to the marina. At one point I furled the jib down to about 1/4 and we were still making good progress. With a jib sheet in each hand I was able to stand with the tiller between my legs as the jib bounced from one side to the other.

Once past the islands the wind eased off a bit and approaching the channel markers once again I furled the jib and started the engine to guide Tarka back in to the safety of the marina.