Install a new engine
Late evening turned to night as Pippin fought adverse tides off Corbière, hard on the wind, her old Yanmar straining against the elements like a featherweight pushing Mike Tyson. To be fair to the engine, Pippin – svelte though she is – weighs a comforting 8 tons loaded, so it was an age before I could bear away and let the sails take the strain.
Of course, Pippin is a sailing boat, but sometimes I get it plain wrong and the Channel Islands’ formidable tides turn on me, or I simply want to get home for the Southampton game. I’m no sailing purist and an extra knot from Jersey to Guernsey saves the best part of an hour; make that 100 miles and it’s over 3 hours.
As I again sat admiring a near-static seascape, I decided it wasn’t unreasonable to want my capable of bettering 6 knots at 70% of maximum revs and cracking hull speed in a rush for the first time in her 24 years, a dream I could finally afford due to a timely house sale.
