Having finished jobs at home I got time off for good behaviour and set off for the marina just before lunch. Tony Wood in Martha was ahead and waiting in the harbour so once I got sorted I headed off down to join him. The Sunday queue was already forming for yachts and motorboats waiting for some water to get up the channel to the lock so I felt quite smug as I motored past them in just over a metre of water.
Tony was tied up in Mengham Rithe, just north of Hayling Island Sailing Club. I has a good sail from Itchenor, past Bosham and Thorney and put the motor back on to negotiate a catamaran that was being towed into the creek ahead of me. That's when I noticed a screeching from the engine compartment - not loud, but enough to pay attention to. Tied up alongside Martha, the fault was soon diagnosed as a worn fan belt - spare?, of course not.....
We ignored the problem and set to with a BBQ, which is probably the last time I bother with a disposable one in the foil tray - they either don't burn well or burn so well that they are over in a flash and the mess they create just doesn't seem worth the trouble. So out came the grill attachment of the cooker I reviewed last year but in honesty haven't used much since.
Well I am converted - chicken, steaks, burgers, peppers...in fact anything that doesn't roll is great on here - cooks in half the time and no mess - the grill made frequent appearances during the rest of the week.
Richard Goldsmith in Egret joined us once he was able to get out of his creek and then, with excellent juggling of commitments and quite a lot of bribery, Adrian Kneller in Torridon arrived.
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| Sunset - The raft in Mengham Rithe (Chichester Harbour) |
We settled down to a quite night, ready for the adventures of the next day.
Monday 23rd
Up early I put a call into Sparkes Marina to obtain a fan belt and was more than surprised to find out they don't have a chandlers on site. They did however recommend ABC Marine based at Hayling Island Yacht Co. They weren't up so early so I left the raft and motored up the harbour and into Mill Rythe where they are located. Once I got through they had one in stock and gave me directions to find them which was just as well as they are right at the far end of the building line and although it was spot on high tide there was still only 1.7 m at the quay. I bought the fan belt and motored out into the rithe to pick up a buoy. Replacement only took a few minutes and all was well - note to self order another one when I get home.
Tony called me on the VHF and was heading out of the harbour - I assumed Richard and Adrian were with him so was surprised to see them along side at Hayling Island SC. They departed soon after I passed them and we set off after Tony..
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| Portsmouth in the distance |
We headed past the forts towards our destination at the Folly Inn on the Medina, up river from Cowes. It was a beautiful sunny day with a calm sea and a good southerly wind to set us along the course.
Our lunch stop was in Osbourne Bay, where we met up with Stewart Brown, in Bolitho, who had come out of Ashlett on the morning tide.
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| Osbourne Bay - rafted up for lunch with umbrellas the order of the day |
The sun was very hot and umbrellas made an appearance to create some shade. We watched the world go by for an hour or so and then headed into the Medina and up to the Folly.
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| A Dredger? |
One the way up we were passed by a gravel ship leaving the quay - not a huge vessel but it did fill up the river and a strange looking vessel pictured above, which i can only assume is some sort of dredger.
A good meal was enjoyed in the pub before we returned to the pontoon and bed.
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| View from the Folly Inn across to our pontoon |
Tuesday 24th
Tony, Stewart and I set off to catch the tide by about 10 but stopped en route to use the public quay at East Cowes and pop into Waitrose for supplies.
The chain ferry has had new lights fitted to it - two horizontal led flashers - one at each end - illuminated to show direction of travel - much better than then previous lights that were hard to see.
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| Chain ferry - (new lights in insert) |
There were a number of interesting craft along the river including this huge Sunseeker, aptly named Hooligan!
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| Hooligan |
and this which looks a bit Special Forces in its origin.
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| Special work boat?? |
Once out of Cowes we drifted with the tide down to the entrance of Newtown Creek where we anchored for lunch. The wind filled in and we had a good sail across towards Lymington, meeting Andy Peter in Blue Peter en route, before we all turned and headed into Newtown for the night.
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| The raft at Newtown looking seaward |
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| Looking back up the creek - Newtown |
Wednesday 25th
We has a rude awakening in the morning as the raft dragged the anchors slowly back towards another yacht. Anchor lines had crossed in the night and it took a fair bit of juggling to split the raft up and allow boats to go and re-anchor. When that was sorted we had breakfast and set off by about 10.00 to catch the west going tide to Yarmouth -Richard and Adrian left us and headed back to Chichester, and Andy set off for Keyhaven - the wind was good and Stewart, Tony and I had a good sail across the western Solent before slipping into the harbour for the afternoon. We tried for an ice cream on the pier but they had closed by the time we decided to go for a stroll so it was a couple of pints in the Bugle before visiting my favourite restaurant in Yarmouth - "On the Rocks" which served us fantastic steaks with prawns on skewers together with your own volcanic hot rock to cook it on. Not cheap but very good - a cruise treat stop.
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| Sunset over Yarmouth |
Thursday 26th
The next day we needed to wait for the tide so after breakfast at the cafe on the pier, Stewart and I walked up the eastern side of the Yar, along the old railway track, to the village of Freshwater where we stopped at the Red Lion for a couple of pints before walking through the fields and woods on the western side of the river back to the harbour.
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| Upper reaches of the Yar |
The three of us set off at about 15.00 heading back up the Solent, into the Medina at Cowes and up the river to Newport. The aim was to visit the Bargeman's Rest to see some live music - the Matt and Dave Duo were on and very good they were to.
Friday 27th
There is a new Wetherspoons in Newport - a converted church in the town centre - Stewart and i sampled the breakfast there and decided it was very good.
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| New Wetherspoons - Newport |
When we got back to the boats Stewart set off for Ashlett and Tony and I headed east with vague plans for Bembridge, Portsmouth or all the way to Chichester.
The wind was good, too good in fact and a reef was called for and we decided to head for Chichester - not the best decision as by the time we got there the ebb was in flow and the wind kicked up the waves in the entrance, but not too bad - although Tony did manage to split the wood on his tiller......
We anchored at East Head for a cup of well deserved tea and promptly fell asleep, waking just as we touched bottom and waited for an hour or so before the water came back enough to get away up the harbour - the wind had calmed down but we still had a good sail though the moorings and up to the marina. It was about 20.30 when we tied up and decided to have a cook up of all the rations that needed using up.
And so to bed....
Saturday 28th
A quick tidy up extended into full breakfast and some leisurely jobs on the boat before setting off for home - a great week with good weather and good company - only a week until I get to do it all over again......
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