> Today I will be helping on the return leg. The weather report and
> our barometer suggest reduced clemency.
The weather was indeed less clement but the rain held off. I was
dropped at Lydney just before 3pm, as David Penfold, the Harbourmaster,
was preparing to open the sluices to drop us to estuary level. High
tide was expected at 17:12 and a coaster was scheduled to leave
Sharpness at about 16:30. Our plan was to get out of Lydney harbour
around 16:15 and enter Sharpness after the coaster was on it's way down
the estuary. We'd be about 30 mins ahead of the high tide at Sharpness.
Then we learned that the coaster had changed it's mind, they (the pilot
probably) felt that there was insufficient tide for the fully laden
vessel to get out safely. So they started to drain the tidal basin for
our arrival. We set off at 16:15 with a little more wave action than
the outbound journey, but nothing to worry about.
We throttled back en route because the gates were not open. Then Mrs B,
waiting at Sharpness, was able to confirm that the gates were now
opening and we sped inbound. A quick locking up, BW staff on their way
home for tea by 5pm.
All very tidy. Just one point of note - whilst waiting in Lydney
harbour with about 12 feet of wall all around us, we failed to contact
Sharpness VHF on a handheld radio. However, the cruiser Welded Bliss
did raise a response from her first call, her aerial being mounted
aloft. I wonder if BW were on tea break or whether the extra 10 feet or
so of aerial height makes all that difference. I believe I read that
VHF works on line of sight, which seems to be the case.
Beeky
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