Late evening sail to Studland

As the weather was so nice on Sunday, I took a last minute run to the club to see if I could squeeze in a little sail....  Apologies to the peeps that I swerved in an attempt to get to the boat ASAP :).

The tide was running out and the was very little wind, it soon became apparent that I wouldn't be able to sail up the harbour and I didn't want to start the engine, so I literally went with the flow.   Low tide was around 19:30 so I thought it would be nice to potter out to Studland, have a brew then come back in with the flood. It was going to be a late dark finish.

What a beautiful sail, The wind was a bit flukey in the bay and it took a while to get to the Banks Arms buoys.  I got myself tied on and furl the Genoa but as there was so little wind, I left the main up while I got the kettle on.
Even though I know I can find my mooring in the dark, I thought it would be good practice to make a proper pilotage plan.   It was an interesting exercise as I realised I'd left out a lot of information.  I'd picked the marks that seemed obvious but at night theres a lot more flashing at you than you'd realise.  If I'd been in a strange harbour, I might have struggle with the plan I'd made :)

Ciao Bellas night time dashboard :)

My plan consisted of a rough drawing with marks shown and a description of their lights. Also the heading from one mark to the next.

The Channel 10 Can

Safely back on the mooring, I unloaded and made my way back to the pier where I was faced with the biggest danger of the trip.  Some kind soul had left the end of their outhaul on the pier... I got one foot well and truly tangled an nearly disappeared over the side, complete with Outboard... Arrgh!

My pilotage plan didn't allow for inconcideration like this.

The end of the season is rushing upon us... We are hopefully going West again next weekend but we'll have to see how the weather holds up.