Peel

Waking up to a well earned hang over. We dragged ourselves into something resembling ship shape. For some reason we decided to sail off the anchor. It went well luckily, as we were surrounded by very shallow water. The forecast was for 15 kts Westerly, which was just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately what the doctor got was South 25kts. Bang on our upwind course. After passing round light house island we hardened onto the wind. Luckily there was another boat for us to race which kept us motivated for the first hour. We changed between jib and Genoa 3 or 4 times and slid between 1 and 2 reefs. Steering was a busy task keeping the boat going fast enough to make progress and high enough that we don’t miss the target. As the day progressed we decide Peel was the target. It was a tricky target with a cill and a small tidal window.
The light was dimming as outer pilotage was needed and it was clear we would not be high enough to sail straight into peel harbour, but would, in fact hit the coast 3 miles east. A very annoying 50 minutes tacking up the coast as the light and the tide left . Luckily for us we just made it over the cill with a bit of keel lifted. Peel harbour was still windy and very tight for a boat like ours with no thrusters.Read more