I had planned to get out on the Saturday and get a day and night alone before joining the crowd but as it turned out i spent a leisurely Saturday getting to the boat, getting sorted on board and then chilling for the rest of the day with Adrian, over a few beers, before adjourning to CYC for a meal and then bed.
Sunday 8th
In the marina the day dawned bright and warm and planning a departure to miss the lock traffic I had an early breakfast, and what a breakfast....
I had caught Nigel Salter on the box the week before and whilst I am not a TV chef fan he was cooking an unusual bacon sandwich that i thought I'd try so here is a first - a recipe on this blog site - probably not the last
A packet of pancetta - the strips like thin bacon
A packet of medjool dates
1/2 doz cocktail sticks
a little oil
Good quality white bread (out of preference)
Take a date and roll a strip of pancetta around it, holding in place with a cocktail stick. Prepare as many as you want - four suited me for two white bread rolls I was using.
Heat the oil and fry the date/pancetta rolls until crisp enough for you. remove from the pan leaving the oils and juices (there won't be much) into which you put the bread/ roll to absorb the juices and then put the pancetta/date rolls into the bread and devour. The mixture of saltiness and sweetness is lovely.
Simple, quick, different and a one pan dish - ideal on a small boat.
Back to the sailing...
As it was the anticipated rush didn't take place so Adrian and I planned to leave at 12.00 to head down to East Head to meet Richard and Steve.
At 13.00 we suddenly realised we should be off and left in a rush. Heading down the harbour I tried out the route taken last time out when Peter T stuck close to the Visitors pontoon travelling down the harbour - there is at least a knot less tide there and I came out into the main reach well ahead of Adrian.
We r/v'd with the others and decided to set off straight away, the plan being to get over to the island as soon as possible, heading to Seaview, in order to get into the lee of the weather that had become increasingly windy. This is where we should have paid more attention to the time and left earlier - we anticipated the bar area being rough but the reality was a very rough passage all the way to the forts.
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| Torridon in take off mode |
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| Torridon in submarine mode |
Once through the forts Adrian and I were forced to straighten up as two large ships made their way down the shipping channel, but by then the lee of the island began to kick in and I even had a sail past Ryde and Wootton before the wind veered and the motor came back on. Richard and Steve went in close under Seaview for a brew and caught us up later.
We arrived at Shepards to find Tony W already moored up having had an 'interesting passage' over from Ashlett.
The five of us adjourned to the Duke of York where we enjoyed a huge portion of cod and chips which nearly defeated some of us.
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| Duke of York |
Monday 9th
After a leisurely breakfast I went for a wander around town, the place was full of people making their way home from the music festival that had ended in the early hours of the morning. I half expected to see my son Chris who was travelling back to Southampton to get his head down before joining me later in the week.
Once the tide turned Tony and I left the others and began a drift in style down the Solent towards Newtown, still the sun was shining and the weather very warm so sit back and enjoy the sights.
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| Earl of Pembroke moored in Cowes |
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| The lower raft |
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| Sunset over the marshes |
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| Upper raft in the morning |
Tuesday 10th
There were several different plans for the day including Yarmouth and Beaulieu. Some of the others hadn't come out the previous day so were due to meet up that afternoon at Hurst. In the end, due to wind and waves many opted to go for a walk along the foreshore in Newtown and visit the site of the old town, which after all used to be the capital town of the island.
Richard and Adrian decided upon Yarmouth as a stop over and Tony and I made our way over to Lymington - me because I had arranged to meet Chris there and Tony, well, he hadn't been there in a small boat so it seemed a good idea. We had a cracking sail across there, in spite of the tide being wrong for us really.
Lymington Town Quay had plenty of room for us and the tourists making the best of the last of summer seemed to enjoy the sight of the two boats with much sage nodding and pointing going on.
Chris arrived by train from Southampton were he had been recovering from the excesses of Bestival and after a beer we set off, deciding to head for Yarmouth to do some shopping.
We had a good sail across and had fun stemming the fierce tide to get some pictures of the paddle steamer 'Waverley' that had moored up to Yarmouth pier. Just as we got close it pulled away and I thought we'd missed it, until suddenly there she was, steaming across our bows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Waverley
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| The Waverley |
Once in at Yarmouth we decided to stay the night with Richard and Adrian, joining the fleet the next morning. In the event they decided the Hurst was untenable in the wind and tide and they re-located to the quay at Keyhaven.
We decided to eat out that night and Chris and I set off to recce a restaurant that Judy Peter had recommended the night before 'On the Rocks'. We found it and booked in for the evening.
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| 'On the Rocks' |
We arrived at the restaurant at the appointed hour and were very impressed from the start. The staff were very helpful and attentive and Adrian and Richard were particularly taken with our waitress.
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| Adrian acting the fool..... |
The food was very good. The Rocks reference comes for the fact that the food comes on a hot volcanic rock and you cook it yourself in small quantities. The menu includes steak, lamb and venison as well as a seafood option. The accompaniments are confined to fries and a greek salad but is all goes down very well.
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| Tony looking forward to his steaks |
Wednesday 11th
The original plan for most had been to r/v off Hurst at 08.30 to go through at slack water and make an attempt to go round the southern side of the island. The weather and enthusiasm conspired against us and so the departure and r/v time were put back to 10.30.
Tony in Martha and Chris and I in Daislebee set off just after 10.00 and had a cracking sail, in the sun, up to the entrance to Newtown were we dropped anchor and had a brew whilst we waited for the Keyhaven fleet to catch up. Once we saw their sails approaching we upped anchor and set off again. Tony elected to go straight to Cowes and up the Median to Newport where we were going to spend the night.
Chris had never been up the Beaulieu river to Bucklers Hard so we took the opportunity of sailing over to the north island. Off Beaulieu we met Roger and Anita in Little Dipper, who were also waiting for the fleet to arrive, having launched that morning.
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| Jim in Hippo with Little Dipper in the background |
Jim lead the fleet around to the shelter of Lepe Point for lunch whilst Chris and I made our way up the river to Bucklers Hard. Some lovely boats and huge houses, complete with golf courses and helicopter pads could be seen on the trip and although the cloud had come over it still looked lovely up at the Hard.
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| Bucklers Hard - Beaulieu |
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| Crabber 26 up the Beaulieu |
We sailed gently in the fading wind across to Cowes and motored up to Newport to join the rest of the fleet.
After a bit of shopping Chris cooked up a treat and Tony came on board for supper - I feel another recipe coming on...
Garlic and Onions finely chopped and gently fried.
To which add some finely chopped Chorizo sausage and with a splash of wine add, at the end a packet or two of seafood mix ( mussels, prawns, squid).
Meanwhile cook sufficient spaghetti in a pan and once done drain.
Add the sausage/seafood mix to spaghetti and cook for a while stirring to mix thoroughly.
SERVE
Lovely
After the meal we adjourned to the Bargeman's Rest for some beer and live music.
Thursday 12th
The dilemma that faced us in the morning was a potential lack of water to get out which meant an early start or hanging around until 14.00 ish which would limit our options.
Chris and I went for the early start although it had little or no effect on him..... so 06.00 am found me untying and drifting off down river before starting the engine. I don't think anyone heard us go.
It was magical slowly travelling down towards Cowes but I was happy to reach Shepards and get my head down again.
Richard and Adrian left slightly after us and when I did surface they were tied up astern of us in Shepards as well.
At the yard they were doing the usual lifting in of race boats for the week end with one young lad volunteering to make some mast head adjustments......
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| Rather him than me |
The three of us departed for Bembridge at about 12.00 and were joined en route by Steve Maynard who had remained lurking in Newtown Creek in case he could get round the island. The wind was very light and he joined us on a motor along the coast.
As we left Cowes we saw David Moss's Snow Goose being sailed by son Timothy
Lunch was had en route and again Chris cooked up a storm.
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| Chorizo sausage and Mozzarella in bread |
Chorizo sausage fired in a little oil with a drained ball of Mozzarella cheese broken up and added at the end - It will start to melt and go stringy as you mix it with the sausage.
At which point fill a split 6" section of French bread with the mixture and add, if you have them, some salad leaves (we didn't).
Great
We arrived at Bembridge and before tying up visited Fisherman's beach to make a trip to the chandler's
Here we came across another catamaran that hadn't bothered with a kedge and was in danger of being neaped by the cross current sweeping him up the beach. After a chat we left him to his devices but it was interesting to see a kedge being deployed once he thought we were out of sight. On our return from the chandler's he had just managed to pull himself off
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| The Cat |
We made our way over to join Richard, Adrian and Steve tying up at the Duver Marina which has been tidied up a lot under the new ownership. Unfortunately this has meant that the interesting barges and other strange craft moored alongside have gone, but so to has the scrap yard that needed to be negotiated to get to the showers.
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| Duver Marina |
Another nice meal in the Bay Cafe brought the cruise to a fitting end.
Friday 13th
As I went to pay the next morning I discovered that the new management had dredged the harbour by the Duver to allow more pontoon moorings as well as the area up by the old marina (Bradwell), to allow more depth for boats up there.
The harbour master advised me that I'd need to leave quick sharp if I wanted to get out which didn't quite accord with my calculations but bowing to his knowledge we bid farewell to the gang and cast off, leaving them waiting of the afternoon tide.
As it was we had over 1.5 m under us all the way, normally more, so there was no drama.
We anchored in Priory Bay for breakfast and then had a good sail across to Chichester, spoilt by some heavy rain about halfway across that lasted about 30 minutes before drying up.
Chris helmed the whole way and got us right up to the marina fairway before sails were furled.
Another good cruise and nice to have Chris out and about.
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