On the rocks

Today we went out again with Charlie who was passing through town. We met him on the way to the boat, with the plan to sail to Lomma and either leave her there overnight or sail back to Dockan, time permitting.

It was a lovely sail! We pulled into Lomma after a speedy sail, moored for the first time alongside the pier (instead of in a slip), and then went for a quick swim and ice cream.

Mooring like that is extremely easy to get on and off the boat, and very quick to get going. So, off we went, adventurously pulling the sail up as we motored out the river ( the wind direction was perfect!), and then as we came near the end of the river… the engine died again. As we were sailing against the wind in a narrow channel. Near rocks.

Thankfully, all of us acted quite quickly. Charlie pushed us back from the rocks, Kim and I tried to get the motor started, and some kids on shore mostly laughed and gawked at us.

It turns out that:

• Our engine goes through fuel much faster than we thought

• We should actually check the fuel level, much as we actually wrote on our checklist.

So, a quick top-up of fuel, the motor restarted, and off we went.

Sailing back to Dockan went smoothly, although it definitely matched the “point the boat in any other direction than the one you want to head in” vibe. But it was a gentle, beautiful evening.