A Knight In A Boat

Last week we were off to Beaulieu River having just left Lymington, it was just a quick hop (so we thought!).  The wind was South West, 5 to 10 knots gusting 12.  We had our furling spinnaker all set up and ready to go.  In reflection I would say I was feeling a bit rusty as this was only our second outing due to lockdown but I was keen to give it a go!  We pointed Keirah in the right direction, pulled open the self-furling kite just as a gust blow and oh dear …. I wasn’t ready!  The leeward sheet decided to have a mind of its own and flicked forward and under the bow …. then it happened … the engine stopped.  Sadly the leeward sheet had traveled backward and had become caught in the sail drive.  We were now drifting with the tide, spinnaker up, no sails up,  no engine working and heading eastward with the tide in the middle of the Solent.  I could have called out a Pan Pan but here is the morale of the story (apart from don’t pull out the self-furling spinnaker when the engine is running!), instead I called Sea Start who were just amazing.  My knight-in-shining armour appeared at my side in 30 minutes, took us back to Lymington and left us moored up on the Dan Brown.  OMG!  We pay a subscription to them annually and have never needed their services before.  The £155 subscription turned up yesterday and guess what … it was paid in 5 minutes.  Click HERE to go to their website to learn more about the services they offer.