Short cruise 28th - 30th August

With days running out I decided to get a quiet sail in before the nights closed in.....Sharon decided she was in need of more lessons so the quiet bit didn't last long.....

We set out on the tide from Ashlett on the Friday morning..with a reef in as the weather promised a little bit of wind...which then died so much so that I took the reef out...10 minutes later I wished I had put another one in...mind you all was remarkably calm from the crew as we heeled at strange angles, but with wind and tide against us, we dropped sail and motored to Newtown Creek for a late lunch. Sharon had heard all about it in various stories from Stewart's etc. but this was her first visit. It did look good in the sunshine.

We continued on the Yarmouth, passing a fleet of Folkboats racing with spinnakers raised..lovely in the sun and were given a fantastic berth in the harbour. We wandered around town enjoying the pier and an ice cream and tried to get into the steak place, 'On the Rocks', which unfortunately was fully booked so we ate in a pub and then Sharon got a taxi to her B&B while I settled down for the night.
The next day, with crew back on board, we visited Lymington and tried to sail to Cowes. The wind died totally and we again found ourselves outside Newtown Creek where we had lunch.
The rain closed in with a vengeance and the skipper was left alone to motor to Cowes whilst the crew read in the cabin. We got a berth in East Cowes marina and went to the bar to dry off and get warm.  Sharon took off to her next B&B whilst I got out of the rain back on board.

Sunday we set off quite early and sailed initially but then had to motor back to Ashlett where we arrived at the top of a big tide...even the pontoon was under water..very strange tying up to cleats that are just showing above the water level.

Moored ..just

Recovery was smooth and I was soon away to catch up with domestic tasks at home.