“time and tide wait for none”
Geoffrey Chaucer ~ 1395 in the Prologue to the Clerk’s Tale
We are familiar with many quotes and adages with a nautical origin. We often find ourselves in a situation when we are at the mercy of the conditions. Sailing can teach us to adapt and seek a way forward out of these situations. And today was such a day because it was full of lows – low tide, low skies, low winds, low WiFi and low prospects of moving.
Dead in the Water
In the Doldrums
Fortunately we were able to go ashore and seek out some food and comfort.
Time and tide wait for none
We knew from experience that the landing pontoon would be sitting on a bed of mud. The river bed would also be dried out. Dragging a dinghy ashore under these conditions would have added to the low of all lows.
Know the Ropes
Further up the river was a landing spot and perhaps the floating jetty would have enough depth of water to attach the painter. Slowly we approached and successfully made it to this rickety old wooden pontoon. We were also confident that it would rise as the tide came up and the dinghy would still be attached. Happy days.
We arrived in the picturesque village of Helford and refreshed our supplies from the village store. Apparently an old lady here chewed her food 30 times before swallowing. And she lived to the age of 91.
Slowly the water crept over the muddy foreshore. Plans to head east remain thwarted by the lack of wind over the next three days. We find ourselves:-
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
‘ The devil’ is the first plank of the outer keel of a wooden ship.
Are we going to stay at anchor or are we going to head slowly east using tides to our advantage?
Zzzz
Experience Sailing 