Yachting and Boating World forums: Fouled Mid Channel

We have just returned from a months trip around the Dartmouth area( only went for a two week break ). On the way out we collected a large lump of the finest strand sea weed in the inlet grid under the hull of our 25 year old 37 foot yacht. Even putting the foot pump from the inflatable into the inlet pipe and pumping away, hoping it was just a plastic bag, did no good, it didnt blow this fine stuff out. We were lucky to be near a swinging mooring and so were able to stop and deal with the stuff relatively quickly. After tossing a coin to see who was going into the water my Fiance passed me the goggles and the too small wet suit, donated by a smaller sized sibling. I decided to dive in and clear it. I would advise anyone with snorkle kit and flippers to aquire a weight belt to help them get under the boat as it is near impossible to stay in the right place long enough to do any good as I and the many passing boats wondering what a pair of green flippers were doing by the side of our boat, can testify. Dont forget proper tools like the trusty old wire coat hanger tool that came in usefull again . Still we were on our way again and would still make the tide.
We used the inside passage at Portland and were pleased to miss the pots as they are generally well marked but were amazed that all the way from Needles to Dartmouth the pots in the water were exactly on the course that that most yachts would take to avoid the gun ranges etc, in Lyme bay last Monday we lost our steering for a short while as a lump of net? or something large fouled the rudder half way across the bay beyond the point of half way just as the as the wind started to blow 35 knots from a managable 21, with gales blowing in Plymouth area, but luckly it cleared itself, a situation we didnt speak about until we were safe in port for fear of putting the wind up each other. But dispite the effort of keeping a good watch we still managed to hit a submerged pot off St Albans head 3 miles out that was covered in green slime and impossible to see in good time, again we breathed a sigh of relief that we were not caught. Still, the predicted NW wind 3-4 turned East then died altogether 11/2 hours after leaving Weymouth so we packed the head sail in and spent the rest of the 12 hour trip motoring home with no wind. It seemed a bit ironic as we had been holed up for over a week in Dorset looking forward to a good sail home. But who says you have to enjoy what you do on Holiday?!

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