Angle

I had time today to paint the watercolour above of an LNG tanker in Milford Haven with attending tugs. We used to have a mooring in Angle Bay inside the Tug Moorings. It was a lovely spot with the Point House Public House on the edge of the slip. The lifeboat men used the Public House and it was always full of characters.


The mooring itself was pretty safe although if an easterly wind came up it could be pretty uncomfortable.

Our boat had twin keels and would happily sit aground when the tide went out. One sunny afternoon I was happily dozing with no care in the world. The boat had settled as the tide had started to go out. I was awakened from my dreamlike state by Alex calling. The tender (a small rubber dinghy we used to get to and from the boat) was normally tied securely to the stern of the boat. Somehow she had managed to drop the securing rope in the water and the tender was drifting with the tide away from the boat out of the bay. Without thinking (clearly) I dived in the water and swam after the tender. Getting to the tender was no problem but now I had a problem as the tender and I continued to drift away with the tide. I had to get myself into it. It was actually very hard to find something to haul yourself up with particularly as the tender had large diameter tubes.

It was as much as I could do to reach over the tubes into the tender. I was also hampered, as I was fully clothed. Suffice to say I did eventually manage to haul my walrus like body into the tender sustaining a fair bit of bruising from the steel rowlocks. After that it was a matter of rowing back to the sound of Alex’s apologies. I swear I could hear her laughing as well but she vehemently denied that.

With hindsight I should have just let the tender go. Still alls well that ends well and fortunately there were no witnesses or we would have suffered endless Mickey taking.

Tomorrow we are paying a visit to the dentist!