I tested the depth of the water beneath Sadaf by using a pole, it quickly became shallow and I was a long way from shore, I slowly edged my way towards the shore using the remaining wind. When the keels touched sand I tacked as much as I could into the breeze so to have a shelter for the evening.
As Sadaf dried out I noticed a slight tilting of the hull, this was normal as the keels sink a little into the soft sand. I got out of my wet suit, I did some things in the cabin, when I came out I noticed more titling of the boat. As the water ebbed she titled more and when the sand was visible I saw Sadaf has come to rest in a channel, hard sand was all around, but her keels had rested in a channel that was carrying the ebbing tide out to sea.
I quickly noticed a problem, I could see her keels clearly now. On the starboard side her keel and middle stub was on firm sand, but the rudder and port keel was in the soft sand of the channel, the ebbing sand was taking the soft sand away faster than what was replaced, her keel was not finding compacted sand to rest upon. As the water raced down the channel the sand went with it and Sadaf’s keel sank deeper into the channel’s bed, it was like quicksand she only stopped sinking when the hull had touched the sand and the channel has dried out to a trickle.
As time went on, I had to make a decision whether to stay with her or to leave her for the night. I could not enter the cabin to eat or to rest, I was afraid the added weight would push her further into the soft sand. Night was coming on and I would be sitting about waiting for midnight and the flood to return.
I had visions of her lying on her side while I was there clinging to the mast when the tide returned in pitch darkness. It was a choice I did not make lightly, but I decided to leave her and return to shore and home. I need food anyway (I was going to get it from Annan) and maybe I could get some sleep and return in the morning to either a flooded hull or a righted boat. I set the anchor so if she did refloat she would lift and land on hard sand after the ebb, also I attached my inflatable dinghy to her port side to give added buoyancy when the flood came, attaching rope to the starboard side underneath the hull to the port side so the dinghy would hold its position. I tidied the cabin as much as possible and stored gear. I put away a lot of the sailing equipment and closed the cabin.
Before I left for the night I went to see what I thought were fishing nets in the middle of the channel. As I got closer I noticed they were wooden posts about 10-12ft high, arranged in rows forming something like a “X” design in the sand. I thought perhaps they were left over from the war, used as makers for bombing exercises? Or perhaps they are salmon stakes left over from the seasons fishing? These posts were new; the water had not begun to rot the wood. I remembered a conversation I had with someone from Annan telling me of an “art installation” what was in the main channel and that it was not buoyed or marked in anyway. This must have been it! What great art, to see ones boat impaled and the crew clinging for their lives in mid channel, it being pitch dark or swirling seas, or just a post through the hull and the water gushing in, maybe kids are aboard? What stupidity.
I had with me my fold-away bike, but this had a flat tire (just my luck). I had to quickly blow up the back tire, walk the bike over the sand and then find a way through the moor, bog and gorse to the road. By this time it was dark, I was tired, hungry (I had had only breakfast) and was worried about the boat, I had a 15 mile cycle ride after I had fixed my puncture. I fixed the puncture but it went down again, in the same spot, I would have to walk home. I started to blow up the tire again, hoping to get on the bike and ride like mad before it deflated, but after a few inflations to my surprise I noticed it was not deflating any longer, perhaps the pressure of the bike had closed the hole and the glue had set? It stayed inflated and I made it home, ate and went straight to bed.
I did not sleep much, logically I knew I had a 50% change of Sadaf refloating, but I felt that I had lost her to the sea, not a nice feeling. I awoke at 6.30am, ate and cycled with my normal bike back to Sadaf, I did not take any food with me as I thought if she was flooded I would need all the space to unpack my things and take what I could home on the bike, so I took only a packed lunch and some tea.
I had a couple of hours before the flood so I set all the sails and gear ready to get underway.
I had made perhaps 1 mile, before I started to be pulled back with the ebb, the wind had died, and I was again using the motor to get me east and also trying to get close to the shore to reduce the pull of the tide. I found the 4 hours, until she dried out, very frustrating. In total I had achieved 200 meters, I could still see the wooden posts sticking out of the sands. The good news was I had not landed in a channel (I had checked before she dried out).
Looking at a great sunset I later cycled home to get food. After the sun set came a red moon, a wonderful sight.
In frustration, I did what I had said I would never do again, and that is get out of the boat and pull Sadaf against the ebb. I dropped the anchor and waited until the ebb was shallow enough up to waist height. I had my wet suit on; I jumped out and pulled Sadaf (it is easier to put the grapnel anchor over the bows and walk backwards, and if you get too deep you can always hang onto the bows) for about 1 mile. The sands were uneven and I suddenly got up to my chest in water, I back tracked and slowly edged into shore, then I was up to my thighs and she dried out.
Time passes fast; there is always things to do, eating, tidying, preparing etc. then the tide domes again, relentless. With only a breath of wind I waited until Sadaf floated, I had dug in the Bruce anchor as well as the grapnel would have being pulled out with the force of the flood, and who knows where I would have ended up? When the tide race had passed I pulled up the Bruce anchor and stowed it, then brought up the grapnel, I started the motor immediately I wanted to get into the channel as soon as possible to make the most of the flood tide.
I was edging towards the viaduct, and then my first battery failed. I had my Genoa up and it was just flapping loosely. I quickly changed my battery and switched it on. Nothing! No power, I tried a few times and it sparked into life. I had lost some ground and I was quite close to the viaduct wall, I could see the flood tide swirling around its loose stones. I was too far down and I was being pulled into the wall, not passed it. I tacked Sadaf, so she pointed up channel and hoped she would ferry glide passed the wall. The little motor giving all she could and a slight breeze filling the Genoa, I was edging closer to the wall but also ferry gliding out into the main channel. I had made it. I cut the motor as soon as I passed the wall and put my tiller over so Sadaf spun round and headed down channel, the only movement now was from the flood tide, I had no motor or wind powering me, and I sped along. The swirling tide and eddies all effected direction but I used the rudder to stay pointing down channel. I quickly passed Bowness, and I was soon approaching the harbor wall of Port Carlisle, what a relief to have made it so far, and yet it was not a great distance.
At the harbor I noticed a tidal eddy and what looked like an ebbing tide, had the tide started to ebb already? One moment I was speeding down channel and now it looked like I was to be sped up channel. I did not want to get pulled back so I started the motor and the little electric I had left propelled me (or tired to propel me) passed the harbor wall. But the eddy/ebb was not letting me pass it, with no wind to help I saw staying still…gaining no headway, or was I? I was getting further away from the harbor, it was still the flood tide, but it was going backwards! Suddenly my sails sprang into life, my Main and Genoa was full and I was pulling away from the harbor towards my mooring. The first time in 4 days I was sailing!
Even though I had lost a lot of ground going with the flood tide, the eddy was pulling me back towards the harbor. The closer I got to the shore, the stronger the eddy got. It is an amazing tide, so powerful; it is like sailing in a river that is in flood. But it is my sailing area and I knew its waters well enough. The closer I reached my buoy the more I had to head away from it, up channel. The wind stayed with me, and let the grapnel anchor go and we floated down to rest just beside the buoy.
I set the Bruce anchor and I rested on the hull and fell asleep in the sun. Before Sadaf dried out I tried to retrieve the buoy by motoring to it, but there was no more power in the battery, so I jumped out and secured the buoy to Sadaf manually.
I packed most of the things away, and then I had a 2 mile walk in the dark for my bike that was locked to a tree passed the viaduct. I slept on Sadaf that night and woke the next morning to think fog;
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