238. Changing Tack

Avignon

One for the record book

1240 - Away, finally

Today was the day for sailing on the Rhone if there ever was going to be a day. Forecast looked good, thirteen knots, building. Basic maintenance done, everything ready.

Jacqueline towed Teasel down the road from the campsite to a point that I could launch as described the other day.  The front is held up by a pole through the tailgate, the rear by the pram wheels I can install and I walk alongside balancing the boat. Few scrapes and bumps getting down the bank, helped by a lady having a cuppa in a motorhome nearby. After returning the Disco, Jacqueline returned to see how I was getting on. Had been looking forward to this moment for about a week so keen to get going. Launched without hassle and set off into ............ a virtually dead calm, except that I was departing south at a bit over one knot due to the current!

1241 - Hmmm, this isn't good

1241 - a wee puff, hoping

1242 - Crikey, I'm going south

The problem with going south is that the whole river is banked with forty five degree stone and where it isn't it is bounded by trees. I had no idea how I would recover the boat. I didn't feel in personal danger but was concerned that the day was not shaping up well.

1245 - twenty seconds of this .... 

1245 .... with thirty second gaps doesn't add up

Nice Pont Saint-Bénézet snap while Jacqueline waits

Nope

Marked my progress by counting the windows 

1249 - J says she waited a long time to get sailing photos 

I knew the breeze was going to build and as long as I could maintain my position I was hoping I could climb up the river. I was aware that any gear failure would cost me a lot of ground while sorting it.

1257 - It's a long way back to the bridge

1302 - one boat went past, too big to assist (didn't hail)

1311 - after a few arty snaps J got bored and went back to camp

I kept tacking back and forth for another hour, watched by people dining in the large ship. I was tacking about five metres off, sometimes one metre if I got good lift so they saw a lot of me. Occasionally an officer appeared to laugh at my progress and applauded when I progressed.

The wind was full of holes so I couldn't commit my weight properly as one moment the pressure would be building nicely then the next the jib would be backing and I would have to veer down ninety degrees to save it, costing me most of the ground made up. I did work out over time that there appeared to be less current on the far side so did short tacks in that third of the river. managing both the main and jib kept me focused.

Eventually, with the wind building, frequently having to release the main to stay upright then nothing which was frustrating, I gradually worked my way up and as I got under the bridge the wind got smoother and stronger so I started to make progress. I now keen to keep going and see if I could make it up to Pont Saint-Bénézet, I had barely thought it, and was just crossing upstream of the large pile that marks the bridge buttress when I got knocked flat (thought the sail was going to hit the pile). The boat immediately turned turtle, due to the current and I was being swept toward the buttress. Made a lunge for the rapidly disappearing centre board that I hadn't secured (idiot) and righted the boat swinging it to port, away from the buttress as I did so, hauling myself in and powering up immediately. I could see that I could just make my launch point so decided that I had been lucky and it was time to call it a day. A minute later at 1427, I was standing onshore holding a dripping boat, dripping myself thinking that I was lucky to have got away with it all.

Scribbled on to give an idea of my path

1502 - back at camp drying out