It has felt a bit like 1 step forward and 2 steps back lately with our stay at Chapmans Pool being an adventure outside our comfort zone.
Champmans pool is as it sounds a pool. You can only stay during specific weather windows.
We got that window and decided to give it a go so we motored from Lymington an easy 2.5 hours to Chapman’s Poole with plenty of time to change our minds and go elsewhere if it wasn’t going to work.
We anchored up and settled in for a sunny afternoon sunset with about 3m under the keel. The weather forecast was still good but expected to change by the following night so we were planning to leave by 10am
At 4am exactly we were woken by a SW wind 25kn blowing straight in the bay. We had .5 under the keel but we’re holding well despite the sudden wind change. As the change came in early and we were holding well we decided to stay it out as the forecast was to drop later in the day.
Then at around 4 pm the rudder tapped a rogue rock as we moved about so I decided NOW is a good time to go, the weather hadn’t abated enough and we had been considering leaving. The bump confirmed it. So we turned on the engine, pulled up the anchor praying that it hadn’t wrapped around a rock and motored out asap.
Just off the headland are huge overfalls and we motored into a huge short sharp sea with the tide against us. Osprey bucked and rolled to the point that it was safer to deal with the roll than put up any sails. It wasn’t that windy 25kn just very lumpy. Thankfully most things were stowed as we keep a tidy boat and were reasonably ready to leave at an instant notice.
The lid flew off my flour container and deposited a few spoons of flour into the locker. The flare container which was sitting under the companion way flew out and the dishwasher draw hadn’t been locked closed so it flew in and out a few times until I got to lock it closed. Other than that everything else stayed put and all was fairly quiet down below. Amazingly the crystal glasses survived the extreme pitching and rolling and none of us were seasick.
I headed to Studland bay around the corner to anchor and then Tony tells me we can’t anchor as the anchor winch gypsey has broken. The anchor is tied on to the bow roller. It doesn’t fit the bow well and has to have a pin inserted to keep it secure. He couldn’t get that in as the winch had “broken” so used a rope to tie it on. It was a bit hectic at the time trying to hold the boat in position with the strong wind, small area and only 1m under the keel.
He had to hand lift the last bit of chain and anchor up.
The closest place left to go was back to Poole harbour in fading light and pouring rain. Hoping we could find a jetty big enough to tie upto for the night.
We finally tied up alongside the visitors berth in Poole just before another boat came in to fill the dock.
On checking the anchor winch I discovered a rooky error, Tony not knowing that the anchor winch has a handle to tighten it up thought it was broken. He was cranky about the ding so waited to tell me after all the rough stuff. Anchor fixed in 30 seconds once we were tied up in Poole Harbour. Ding will get fixed later.
Knowing each others skills and knowledge is so important. Getting the boat through the rough stuff was easy, exhausting and uncomfortable but no real problem. This boat can handle anything and we can both steer through big seas.
Working out who knows what about each piece of equipment is a daily learning experience for both of us.
We thoroughly enjoyed Chapmans Pool as we prefer remote locations to marinas and towns, but the anchoring is challenging for a big boat and you need to be ready to leave if the situation changes.
#chapmanspool #ospreysailingadventures #pooleharbouragain #roughseas #strongwind #anchorwoes
#livingthedream #sailinglife #motoringagain