Page 38 - SOA 109
P. 38
HighunDry for Options
the divers had to fit “mudder” boots to their dry suits. Without them they
sank into the mud above their knees. Goods, kindly delivered by Val and
Steve to the dive boat before she left Hull Marina, were loaded onto the
sled pulled by John, Martin and me across the mud to our boat. The load
also included a spare dry suit for Alison. She was nervous and understanda-
bly so after seeing how difficult the transition from shore to inflatable was
to be. Supported at each shoulder by John and Martin she did eventually
get aboard the inflatable and over to the support boat. Anne Marie
weighed anchor at 1440hrs to get Alison home. Sheenagh elected to stay
aboard Options with me rather than
take the option to go home. She in-
sisted we were in this together on
our stranded boat. Now with two of
us aboard, supplies would stretch -
and we had wine!
Day #7, #8 and #9 Neap tides
meant no water and the mud around us dried and cracked. At least we
now had enough food and water to see out the wait for spring tides. I went
for a longer walk to the highest spot on the mud bank. My footprints large
alongside those of various wild birds including spoonbills. The days were
spent passing time with various tasks; reading, cooking, all lines, sheets and
deck cleaned. Sheenagh continued her VHF on line training course and lat-
er passed the test when we got back to the Marina in Hull. Thankfully cell
phone signal was good enough for internet allowing facetime/zoom/
YouTube access. The weather had been helpful on the whole, though we
did pray for more rain feeling a little like Mr. & Mrs. Noah! At late HW on
Day #9, we measured the depth at 40cm meaning that spring tides were
Page 38

