november 2017 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 47SLUG RIGHT
from the pontoons and through the
yachts on bow and stern moorings just
a few metres away. All I’m prepared to
say is that no other boats were injured
in the exercise.
Navigation during daylight was
straightforward as the shallows are
well marked. We took the Arklow
Bank to starboard then altered course
to keep the India and Codling Banks
to port, all the while with a favourable
tide giving us another 2-3 knots.
As the sea miles rolled by our spirits
rose, in my case comforted by the
knowledge that if things went wrong,
Wicklow was an option and after that
Greystones with its new marina, or
Dun Laoghaire, or Howth. But the
wind held, motoring was kept to a
minimum as we crossed Dundrum
Bay and raised the Mountains of
Mourne. Passing St John’s lighthouse
we were taking on alarming amounts
of water but there was the prospect of
safe harbour at Ardglass marina – just
around the corner from Strangford
where I knew help would be at hand.
Two days later Pavane was on a
trailer and hauled onto the hard at
Quoile Yacht Club where inspections,
analysis and estimates for repairs
are now underway. The problems are
complex and it may be a long haul
but, yes, Les and I are still committed
to her. We are determined that she
will undergo a transformation, with
a beautiful boat emerging from the
chrysalis of neglect we inherited. WBrian Black
A veteran of many Arctic voyages, Brian
Black has regularly cruised from his
home port on Strangford Lough to the
Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. Having
sold Séafra, a Voyager 35, he and his
wife Les bought, Pavane, a Seastream 34
ketch. Brian worked as an independent
television producer specialising in
natural history programmesThe turning point for home at the Wolf
Rock, Cornwall, but a long way to go
Pavane looking serene
in calmer waters at
Quoile Yacht Club