Weymouth cruise

Initially quite a large flotilla was scheduled to leave Chichester on the Monday (30th May) following the rally over the weekend. Not all were planning on going as far as Weymouth but Poole seems a good halfway house.

As it happened the weather was not forecast to be good so three of us initially planned our departure for about 11.00 (Daislebee, Moksha and Sundance) with another three (Siesta, Torridon and Egret) debating whether to stay in harbour or venture out. (As it happened they sailed to Bembridge and stayed there a couple of days as the weather passed, before returning to the harbour).

Just before we left Moksha, who had been moored on the waiting pontoon called up to say he'd have to pull out as he had been hit by a large motor boat that had lost control and taken out his fore stay.

Damage to Moksha

So Sundance and Daislebee set sail in good winds and a flat sea...that was all to change and by Lee on Solent sails were in,..engine on and spray hoods providing shelter from the spray.

We arrived at Ashlett to find things a little calmer, and with Pellew repaired, Tony was on the water and had been joined by Nick in Isabella.  Ian had brought Moksha back by road and was busy talking to insurance companies.

The strong winds continued the next day (Tuesday) so we had a trip to Lymington where Force Four received a significant boost to their turnover, mainly courtesy of Nick who had despaired of his depth sounder and splashed out on a new one.


Wednesday 1st June

The weather settled and although the wind was strong, together with the tide it promised swift passage to Yarmouth, with Newtown Creek as a reserve. By this time we thought Tony had sorted the boat out...but...no ...more excitement to come.

Making over 7 knots west in great conditions, a fitting came loose causing a block to hit Tony in the eye. He was only able to see out of one as the conditions approaching Yarmouth got a little rougher.

Consultation with the Coastguard about assistance from the Harbour Master didn't work out well...no they insisted on a life boat and a PAN PAN was put out.
In itself not a problem except the tasking took a long time and as I stood by and gave updates on Tony's position, the operator insisted on transposing key figures in the Lat and Long....thankfully the Lymington lifeboat were fully aware of where Yarmouth pier is, which I included in the messages..so all was not lost.

Lymington In shore lifeboat in action

A crew member was put aboard and Tony whisked into Yarmouth by the RIB and eventually off to hospital (courtesy of HM Coastguard as no ambulances were available on the island ?!!)

He was actually dealt with very quickly and retrained without a mark just some soreness to show for it...a major disappointment to the three if us waiting with comical eye patches at the ready....

Thursday 2nd June

The winds that had got up continued so Marcus took me on a walk...12 or so miles...but it was lovely, along to Allum Bay, then up onto Tennyson Down, along to the monument and then down into Freshwater for a refreshing pint and then back to the boats.

Needles and Allum Bay

Tennyson Down towards the Needles

Marcus under the Tennyson Monument

On our return we found the Gaffers Rally in full swing.

Flags of the Gaffers in Yarmouth

We also found a very smart Shrimper moored alongside us, Paul in Tilly Whim, who was aiming for Dartmouth. It was his enthusiasm that prompted us to try for Weymouth direct instead of dropping into Poole as originally planned. He joined us for drinks and nibbles and I hope we will see more of him as he was keen to join the South Coast Cruising Group.



Friday 3rd June

Paul set of early, and leaving some time after him we could see his sails on the horizon. We left by the Needles passage and had a good sail almost all the way to Swanage. (I heard later that Paul made the trip to Dartmouth in one go...some 70 miles in all)

Needles Channel

Thereafter we had to motor to Weymouth, pausing in Chapman's Pool for lunch and pop into Lulworth Cove as we passed.

Chapman's Pool

Lulworth Cove

We arrived in Weymouth and were soon ensconced in the Cove, eating fish and chips on what turned out to be National Fish and Chip Day.

The Cove - Weymouth

Saturday 4th June

The Weymouth Folk Festival was in full swing over the weekend and the southern quay was full of Morris dancers and various stages with performances going on. We opted for the quiet life and took up the offer from Simon Hoare, who had recently bought Nick's old Coaster Virginia, for a tour around the Coastguard Station, in exchange for some bits and and some rigging advice from Nick.

So a short taxi ride later found us being shown round the helicopters at the base.

Nick then talked Simon through the intricacies of Virginia....including the infamous table assembly - personally the helicopter seemed more straight forward......

We lunched at the Cove pub overlooking Chesil beach and then returned to the boats.

Chesil beach and Portland

 Andy and Annie, Barry and Pauline and Ian and Glenys joined us for drinks and a nibbles supper together with an old colleague, Steve and his wife Liz, who keep a boat in Weymouth.


Sunday 5th June

The range was still out of operation due to the half term holiday and this influenced our decision to leave Weymouth that morning. There was little wind which meant a long motor to Chapman's Pool where we had lunch and waited for the tide to turn round the head.

Motoring across the bay

Marcus - waiting for boarders

Whilst we were in the pool a thick mist came down and we started to make plans to stay there overnight but the sun soon burnt it off and we set out - destination Poole

Pellew with St Albins Head in the distance

Marcus - leaving the pool towards St Albins Head

The wind piped up and we had a good sail from the head into Poole where we moored up in Blood Alley.

Marcus running towards Poole

Monday 6th June

Destination Christchurch...we set off after breakfast on a warm sunny day with little wind, although it did get up enough to provide a pleasant sail.

Pellew leaving Poole

Sundance out of Poole

Nick - coming alongside - Christchurch pool

Tony coming alongside - Christchurch pool

After lunch in the pool behind Hengistbury Head we travelled up the harbour to Christchurch Sailing Club where we had arranged to stay overnight.

Upstream to Christchurch

There we were made very welcome, particularly as I need to repair my mast head light. All sorts of offers including a lift to the chandlers...in the end I jogged it and with assiatnce from the others lowered, fitted and raised the mast up again. We ate in town, meeting up with Andy and Judy P, before turning in for the night.


Tuesday 7th June

We set off when the water in the harbour allowed us to move through it and the flow in the entrance, The Mole, wasn't too extreme. We needed to be at the tidal gate at Hurst before it turned against us. As it was with a good wind we were through and into Yarmouth for a short stay with time to spare. Nick continued on to Newtown Creek, where after waiting for the tide to turn and having stocked up, we joined him for a barbecue on board.

Sundance and Pellew negotiate The Mole

Three of us - short stay Yarmouth

Yarmouth harbour entrance

Newtown Creek - entrance

Newton Creek - looking out to sea

Wednesday 8th June

Nick elected to set out for Ashlett, and Tony, who'd supported the local chandlers decided to have a maintenance day so Marcus and I set out for the River Beaulieu across a Solent that showed barely a ripple.

Solent calm

We stopped for lunch near the top end of the river and enjoyed the quiet and the beauty of the scenery.

Upstream River Beaulieu

Then taking the tide back down, we had a cracking sail back cross to Newtown to meet up with Tony.
The evening was spent using up the last of the rations...red wine mainly.... and feeding scarps to the terns.

Thursday 8th June

We bid farewell to Marcus as he made hi way back to his mooring within the creek and Tony and I drifted and then had a good sail back to Ashlett, where an incident free recovery completed the finale of the cruise.

A great time had by all with a fair amount of drama and excitement mixed in...until next time...

Chichester Rally 27th - 30th May 2016

For the Ashlett contingent the rally started on the Thursday (26th) not too auspiciously it must be said.

Daislebee, Moksha and Pellew were launched as the water rose towards high tide in the early afternoon. There was the usual fiddling with rigging and general preparations for sea which is Pellew's case involved some adjustment to a rope on the fore stay....needless to say as Tony pulled and tugged, it parted and in a none too graceful dive he pitched head first over the bow. Ian and I, watching, immediately awarded him 5.6 for style and only a little more for content. Thank god for camera phones....

In.....

Out .....

Shake it all about...

Unfortunately Tony's troubles weren't to end there. Having dried and changed he then discovered water that was coming in through a recently repaired cracked which had re-opened - not the sort of thing you want at the start of and extended voyage..so sadly we left Pellew in dock of repairs and Moksha and Daislebee set of for Shepards Wharf, Cowes to meet up with the western Solent gang.

A much less dramatic than our last crossing but still fun sail took us across to where Sundance (Marcus), Moonstone (Barry and Pauline) and Blue Peter (Andy) were already enjoying a beer. We joined them and then all adjourned to the Duke of York to eat.

Friday 27th May

Being the organiser I felt some sort of responsibility to get to the rally so departed just after breakfast to make the most of the tide taking us east. There was no wind to speak of so motoring was the order of the day. Sundance and Blue Peter joined me and Moksha caught up by about the submarine barrier off Portsmouth.

Blue Peter enjoying the sun

Blue Peter, Sundance and Moksha - line astern

Boat Beacon - Chichester

There had been several arrivals already and launching was well under way, berths being found and acquaintances being made or renewed.

Although some arrived the following day 22 boats took part - interestingly only the one lugger amongst them. - 3 Dabbers, 10 Coasters, 2 original Drifters, 2 Long Boat Cruisers, a Gig, a Winkle Brig, a Deben Lugger and of course a Cornish Shrimper.

Sharon arrived to continue her sailing lessons and very kindly took me to Force 4 to use the vouchers I had been given for my birthday to purchase a PLB which seemed like a good idea, although quite expensive for something you hope you'll never have to use.

The dinner in the yacht club went well and the Drascombe Chairman, John Stanage, had made his way over from Ireland and introduced himself to the crowd.

Saturday 28th May

The weather was very kind to us over the while weekend and following briefing the fleet set sail ..or motored... out of the lock and into the harbour, making their way down to East Head for lunch.

Deben Lugger and Gig 'Hippo' mixing it with some Mirror dinghies

Little Dipper..and the youngest crew member

In the lunch break I managed to get a sail with Alex in his Deben Lugger - very light and quick...fun to sail.

We also managed to sort out the rigging on Dabbler so that Norm and Trish could make better progress but that didn't seem to help Trish stay upright....

Trish ..sat down ?

Bob in his Winkle Brig 'Cockle'

We had a sail back exploring a few different channels with Sharon becoming much more adept at tacking and feeling the wind....a nice steady wind to play in.

After a sail back the barbecue started early to take advantage of the weather and we were blessed with a really lovely evening.

Sunday 29th May

The following day followed a similar pattern, although my crew was changed for Peter and Trevor Spink and Trevor's young daughter, Esme, not forgetting the dog,,who was really well behaved. Following briefing we set of to explore the Thorney Channel and a little backwater looking for seals. Although some had trouble in finding and then using the entrance to the channel quite a number found their way up in time for lunch with a lonely seal obligingly hanging around to have his photo taken.

Some of us tried to get out of the top end of the channel and after a little time aground managed to worm our way through. There was then a race back towards the marina with a number of Cape Cutters who were also enjoying a rally in the harbour.

The afternoon/evening were so lovely that we headed on past the marina up to Dell Quay where the sailing club made us most welcome and we enjoyed a beer or two on their new sun drenched decking area.

Trevor's wife, Emma, joined us for the short journey back to the marina which brought to an end a lovely day on the water.

Monday 30th May

Monday was a day of free sailing or recover for the drive home for many but for a small band it was the start of a new adventure ...a cruise to Weymouth...more of which later.