Life is rarely boring for long on a boat.

It started like any sunny Sunday afternoon. I had been shopping, stocking up with enough fresh supplies for most of the week. I’d decided to BBQ that evening. This, of course, resulted in the weather turning overcast with a cool breeze.

I got back to the marina a little after four. I’d missed the four o’clock water taxi. So I waited at the sailing club, with a not so swift pint. Then headed over the bridge to get on the five o’clock run. Just as we stepped onto the taxi there was a phone call. One of the boats from the moorings has wrapped a rope around their propeller. They are going to need a hand getting back on their mooring.

Saving any boat in distress is a priority for boaters. One day it could be you in need of assistance.

To the rescue

It is quite possible to sail a boat onto a mooring, even in a busy river surrounded by other boats. I’ve done it myself, but it’s not always so easy. That was with crew who knew how to pick up a mooring, securing the boat quickly and without fuss. If you are on your own it would be a different proposition. Handling the sails and the mooring at the same time means being at different ends of the boat.

There were three of us on the taxi this time. Richard is a fellow boater, myself and Joanne was driving the taxi. We head out of the marina looking for the stricken boat. Of course, being a Sunday there’s a few boats out on the water. It took a moment to figure out which way we needed to go.

There are three large chain ferries linking Plymouth to Torpoint and Cornwall. We spy what we think is the right boat sailing a bit too close to the ferries. Joanne put the throttle full forward and we sped towards her. What we found was a calamity of the tallest order.

The tide is in full flow. A lot of water heads up the river Tamar past this area. The breeze has picked up and is blowing across the river, the water is choppy and confused.

Pinned by the tide

We later find out the skipper has tacked across the river to avoid one of the chain ferries. He was using his engine on to help him keep control. Then one of the ropes controlling his foresail has gone in the water. This got caught round the propeller, which stopped the engine. Without engine or half of the sails, the yacht struggled to manoeuvre. She was pushed sideways by the tide, down onto the chain ferry. Somehow the boat became trapped. Stuck between the ferry and the immense chain that pulls these things back and forth across the river.

We came alongside and attached ropes from the water taxi to the yacht. The poor skipper was in a minor state of panic by the time we got there. His pride and joy was being dragged along the side of this hunk of ferry. He was asked to take down the boats’ mainsail. The aim was to reduce the wind pushing him onto the ferry. Even without this the wind and tide were holding him tight to the ferry.

Then we tried to pull back against the tide. This was a forlorn hope, but we may have got lucky. It wasn’t happening today.

I went on board the yacht to try and help. The rigging and ropes were in danger of becoming tangled up in the ferry. I quickly tidied the lose ropes as best I could, stopping the boom swinging freely in the process. The skipper of the yacht was worried about protecting his expensive life raft. He was less concerned with his boat’s safety. I told him I would protect his boat first, I made no promises about the life raft.

Plymouth and the river Tamar plays host to Britain’s largest naval base. In fact, it’s the largest in Western Europe. Because of this there are constant police river patrols in the area. At some point a large police rib arrived and deposited two crew aboard to assist. It was swiftly followed by a second police rib. That one keeping further boats at bay and standing by in case of emergency.

The stricken yacht was well and truly stuck. Wedged between chain that pulls the ferry across the river and the ferry itself. I believe the chain was trapped between the keel of the boat and it’s rudder. If it wasn’t to start with it certainly was after some efforts to move the boat. The yachts rigging was in serious danger of becoming tangled in parts of the ferry. I continued to eye this nervously as the stays holding the mast up deformed and bent.

Eventually we made progress. The water taxi pulling the yacht backwards while the chain ferry moved ponderously in the other direction. One of the police ribs pulled the yachts bow away from the ferry and we began to come lose. Suddenly, as the heavy chain dropped away the yacht slid free. The life raft caught on the last obstruction as ferry and yacht parted. The skipper of the yacht looked on with horror. But with an almighty shove I managed to separate the two vessels, just enough to stop it being pulled off the rail of the boat.

Still more untangling to do

While we towed her back to her mooring I stayed on the yacht, steering to the mooring. The poor skipper looked a little bewildered, processing the events that had started with a quiet Sunday afternoon sail. I got him to check the bilge of the boat to make sure she wasn’t taking on water. As long as she stays afloat everything else can be sorted out later.

Once we had the boat settled on her mooring we could breathe a collective sigh of relief. But then the phone rang. Another boat couldn’t pick her mooring up and needed assistance.

This second problem was not far in front of us. The taxi motored over to the mooring, Richard leaned over to pick up the buoy and pass it to the yacht. Not a chance. The pickup line was wrapped around the chain underneath the main mooring buoy. There was no way it was going to reach the deck cleats of this boat to secure her.

Various unsuccessful attempts to unravel the mooring pickup line followed. A temporary line finally secured the boat to her mooring. Tools were going to be needed to make a more reliable fix. But the boat was safe for now.

It was nothing compared to the drama of earlier events. But it was enough dramas for one day. The water taxi turned up river to return us to our boats.

Just as we pulled away, the phone rang ….