Lessons for Learning from Pottering

What lessons are there for learning from my Pottering cruise?

From Part 8 I should learn to carry spare sail battens. I have replaced the upper ones with carbon fibre battens which are unlikely to break, but they may jump out of the sail pockets and be lost overboard; therefore I should be vigilant when underway.

Part 12 reminds me that I had to refill the outboard tank 14 times between Dover and Sovereign Yacht Harbour. I really should try designing and making a pump for filling the outboard tank from an inboard supply.

‘Sandpiper’ was stranded on the beach near East Head when the morning tide was not as high as the evening one. This is often the case. Part 22 tells of such a happening. Therefore, when it came to beaching in a little cove at Helford River, I did not beach her until more than an hour after high water.

Part 54 reminds me that I should not turn on the GPS, unless there is a clear horizon all around, and the boat is stationary. Only then will the GPS have a good chance of locating satellites.

The engine let me down more than once, but on each occasion it was my fault. There was no way the motor would continue working when the prop was too deep in the water, because backpressure on the exhaust was too great for fumes to escape. Parts 34 and 60 tell of two such situations. The lesson I learnt was to avoid taking the boat into short, steep breaking waves when motoring – but that is easier said than done!

‘Sandpiper’s’ road trailer is essential for transporting her overland, but if I don’t check the trailer periodically, something serious may happen. Part 64 tells of a nut vibrating off a bolt that retained the number plate, causing the plate to part from the trailer. If that were to happen at high speed, the consequences could be disastrous. Someone could be injured or killed! My friend came up with a solution for preventing the nut from vibrating loose by binding twine around the part of the bolt that protruded beyond the nut.

As I mentioned in Part 66, the most valuable lesson learned by me, was to always trust in God, no matter how bleak the situation.

Proverbs 3:5, 6: ‘Trust in the LORD with all you heart, and lean not on you own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.’