Better times....

 After the disastrous start to the season and my new sailing area it was a relief to have Daislebee safe on the mooring 

It was only then that I realised just how useful the Ashlett pontoon was. I quickly ended up in a routine that had me putting all keys and phones etc into a rucksack so they wouldn't be left on board. It isn't a long motor with the outboard back to the slip, but once you've pulled the dinghy up , taken the engine off, flushed it out and put it back in the engine store, it is more than mildly annoying to realise you have left the car keys on the boat.......

The plus side of the new mooring is that fact that day trips are perfectly tenable. The Ashlett tidal range meant you had three or four hours sailing or had to stay out for the whole tide to ebb and flood before you could reach the slip way. Now I can get to and from the boat a couple of hours either side of low water springs. On neaps she almost stay afloat.

With this advantage I took to sailing the coast to Teignmouth, which, although challenging as you face the inevitable ebb, can be done on calmer days, especially with knowledge gained as a youngster sailing in and out with my grandfather many years ago.