1st March: First time under Bridge

First (rather ignominious!) trip. Using the outboard I headed for Northam Bridge with the main mast down but the mizzen up. I was sure that there was plenty of headroom …but there wasn’t! The mizzen was maybe 2 or 3 cm too high and flicked each bridge girder as I passed under. That would have been OK but I’d used the mizzen to judge how far to lower the main mast. As a result the vane from the NASA unit and the point of the Windex were lost. Big cheer from the rowers on their hard. I raised the mast near Kemps, lowered it again, lowered the mizzen (!) and motored back up the river to Woodmill and hence back to home. Fortunately NASA sell a spare wind vane for £12 + VAT – cheaper than the Windex.