Motor Boat & Yachting - July 2018

(C. Jardin) #1
T

his winter has been long and cold and
I’ve been grateful that my little boat
has spent it tucked away from the
often turbulent waters of Torquay
Harbour, safely blocked up at Dartside
Quay with heaters gently warming
its nether regions (a tube heater in the engineroom
and a thermostatically controlled oil-filled radiator
in the cabin). A dehumidifier has been keeping things
dry too, niftily draining into the galley sink to save
having to empty it regularly. Actually, what felt
like most of the boat was even warmer and dryer,
residing in my spare room, bed piled almost to the
ceiling with cabin and cockpit cushions, the floor
artfully decorated with warps, canopies, bedding,
navigation gear and anything else we could fit into
my mate Adrian’s immaculate Ford Focus estate
(in fact, it took two runs). I don’t know whether you
were ever made to play that game at school where
you had to cross the gym without ever touching the

floor – hopping and bounding across carefully
positioned apparatus? Well, crossing my spare
room has been a little like that. All that remained
for me to do was sit at home shelling out money at
regular intervals to Andy Sheppard (my GRP guy)
and Dartside Quay like a blackjack dealer flicking
out cards across the table.
It’s actually slightly nerve wracking putting the
boat back into commission. After two more trips
with Adrian’s Focus to return the contents of my
spare room back to the boat, the big day arrived and
another friend Sean came along to lend a hand. As
the crane plucked it from its winter nest and spirited
it toward the river, irrational thoughts tumbled
through my head. Would it float? (Why wouldn’t it
float?) Would it start? (A more reasonable one this,
after nearly five months ashore.) I’d run the battery
charger for an hour but it’s a big engine, a cold day
and it’s been dormant for months. Dartside’s crew
lowered it carefully into the water and pulled it back

against the pontoon.
I hopped on board,
wrenching open the
engine bay – bone dry.
Phew! Key in the ignition


  • moment of truth. The
    starter churned, eagerly
    to begin with and then
    slower. Suddenly the
    engine caught and roared
    into life. Double phew!
    I let it warm through for
    a few minutes before
    we cast off and headed
    into the breezy slate-
    grey day, pointing the
    nose downstream
    toward open water.
    It’s about half an
    hour from Galmpton, the
    location of Dartside Quay,
    to the river entrance and
    then another five minutes to reach the edge of the
    harbour speed limit (the days of planing away from
    the castle at 30 knots are long gone – officially at
    least). A final check of the engine bay for erroneous
    noises or fluids and it was time to gently ease on the
    power. The wind was picking up short sharp waves,
    but fortunately they were heading up the coast to
    Torquay just like us. The tachometer needle wound
    slowly but positively round the dial, the SOG on
    my new Axiom 9 chartplotter flicking steadily
    upward. At 15 knots, we were planing and at 20
    knots (just 2,500rpm) we were cruising, skipping
    happily across the turbulent surface sending sheets
    of white spray out low and wide either side of the
    boat. Sean and I looked at each other and grinned.
    The world made sense again.


Video recommendation: Search ‘Sunseeker
Portofino 31 by drone’ for some beautiful
shots of a gorgeous classic in full flight

As the crane plucked my boat from
its winter nest and spirited it toward the
river, irrational thoughts tumbled through
my head. Would it start? Would it fl oat?

COLUMNS

NICK BURNHAM: Although tucked up safe away from the water, it’s still been a long, frosty
hibernation for Smuggler’s Blues 2. Would she wake from her slumber without a hitch?

THE BORN AGAIN


BOAT OWNER


Smuggler’s Blues 2
heads up the coast
ready for another
summer afl oat
Free download pdf