Last night was the first named storm of the season called somewhat blandly, “Ashley” not something more apocalyptic like “God’s fury”!
And maybe Ashley was more apt as she was somewhat disappointing!
Having sailed in force 10 winds in the Atlantic in Ariana and thinking that I was going to die, I was not expecting to fear for my life, but having moored on the visitor pontoon at Portland Marina during a month of storms in 2022 and having to crawl down the pontoon in order to get to the pub, I was expecting to be a little unsteady on my feet (especially as I had partaken of four Tennent’s beers in the Inverkip Hotel!
I was more worried about Hari the labrador getting back on board as the pontoons were slippy as **** due to the moss growing on them !
“no problem ” said hari, skillfully navigating the ice rink, and boarding with a sliding finesse, and down the custom boarding ladder towards a bowlful of doggy goodness!
and as the lines creaked, the hull groaned and the wind whistled through the rigging, Hari and I fell into a gentle dreamland…
I woke only once for the obligatory wee after drinking lager, but was comforted by the sounds of nature busy at work as I climbed back into my bunk amd returned to dreamland…
People were asking me this morning how I slept, amd wasn’t i scared?
‘I’ll tell you how I slept” I replied, ” like a log, safe in the knowledge that my old wooden ship Alysia had the watch”.
have a listen to storm Ashley at 3am this morning from the port midships bunk on board Alysia …
Later this afternoon someone asked me why I put myself through all this…the living in chaos restoring the boat, the constant problems, challenges amd expense – to which I replied
“To get closer to the source…”
“You’re mad, alan..”
And maybe I am… or maybe I’m onto something .. only time will tell…
until the next time….
