Sunday, 11th July

'Ladybird' dried out on Cockle Sand
Wharram Pahi catamaran
Early morning board paddlers


First thing after breakfast I motored ‘Ladybird’ to the Exmouth side of the River Exe and anchored her on Cockle Sand adjacent to Imperial Park. I knew from being there before in ‘Faith’, my Paradox micro-cruiser, that the sand was level. I anchored her at 0800 in 0.7 metres of water. She was just afloat. By 0915 I had mostly completed scrubbing her bottom, except between the bilge keels.


Feeling pretty good about what had been achieved I climbed aboard to make a welcome cup of tea; it was then I noticed she was not level. In fact she began to settle with her stern down. The rudder had come off its fittings. Because I was concerned she may not lift her stern sufficiently when the water returned, I stuffed the dinghy under the stern. That certainly stopped her sinking in the sand any more. It will be interesting to see what happens when the water covers the sand and the yacht begins to lift, because I’m not certain if I’ll be able to extract the dinghy!


I’m not sure whether I’ll return to Starcross for the night, but that may be the best bet, because more options are available than if I dry the boat out here again. She could settle once again by the stern.


Nearby there is a Wharram Pahi catamaran called ’Dolly’s Pride’. She has a strange rig with a wishbone boom and a normal metal mast. I wonder how that works? It certainly is a not a Wharram solution.