strakeryrius
Well-Known Member
Another Winter\'s day out
I hadn’t had a chance to get out on the boat for almost a month, due to both weather and various commitments to family and work over the holiday period, so was getting definite boat “withdrawal” symptoms. A couple of visits down to check she was cosy and run engines etc had done nothing to help this, and a visit to Conwy Marina last week had made things far worse.
The Met forecast for Sunday was excellent – clear skies, sunshine, light winds, very good visibility and slight sea state – perfect boating weather – apart from the decidedly chilly temperatures expected. A quick sounding of the crew elicited some caustic comments from the first mate (aka SWMBO) related to the cold, but the general crew were tepidly enthusiastic. Promises of free food and drink did swing things into the realms of the mildly enthusiastic, so heads were counted and alarms were set. SWMBO stayed in bed.
Up long before dawn ready to make the run down the M3 to the boat; we’d need to get out early to make the best of the daylight hours. Temp gauge read -6 but the rest of the weather was too dark to tell properly. We set off late and arrived even later as the crew specified they wanted a hot breakfast and a goodly stock of ale aboard, so we’d had to make two stops. Just had time for all the pre-departure checks and then run the engines up before it was time to go.
When Dawn did arrive we almost didn’t notice – the sun was obscured by 8 octas of cloud and as soon as we got out of the harbour the visibility was total [--word removed--]. I nearly hit the abort button, but the crew wanted to press on. Thanks Met Office – forecast was almost 50% right.
Not having been out for a few weeks meant I wanted to give her a good run, so we blatted Eastwards across the Bay to the Solent despite poor vis, staying well off-shore to avoid the blasted lobster pots. Ran up to Lymington and cruised up the river to the Town Quay – no-one at home! The place seemed shut - so much that I could visualise virtual tumble-weed rolling along the pontoons. The crew nearly mutinied when I suggested we stay, as with the cloud cover and misty/foggy conditions the cold seemed to be biting extra hard. We retraced our steps down the river and raced over to Totland Bay, but it was just as bad there, and the tide made a nasty little chop at the W end of the Solent, so we gave up and headed back across the bay to a little spot where I knew we would be sheltered from the WNW that was blowing up.
No point in taking any piccies before we got there as the vis was so bad, but this is what we found when we got there – no prizes for guessing where we ended up.
This was the view back Eastwards – you can barely make out the coastline beyond Sandbanks.
It wasn’t exactly warm at Fibreglass Cove, but it felt balmy compared to the Solent, so we picked up a buoy and bobbed for a bit with tea and pain chocolat (plus a few tinnies for the crew). After only a little while the sun actually did come out and it was glorious. It stayed out til it was time to head for home allowing this OWS (Obligatory Wake Shot).
As you can see there was nobody else about at all and it was terrific to be able to head up the swash channel and through the outer harbour at well over what would be the normal harbour speed limit in “the season” without inconveniencing anyone or attracting the wrong sort of attention from the HM.
She comes out at the end of the month, so I hope to be able to get in a few more days before then so as not to get too bad withdrawal symptoms while she is out.
I hadn’t had a chance to get out on the boat for almost a month, due to both weather and various commitments to family and work over the holiday period, so was getting definite boat “withdrawal” symptoms. A couple of visits down to check she was cosy and run engines etc had done nothing to help this, and a visit to Conwy Marina last week had made things far worse.
The Met forecast for Sunday was excellent – clear skies, sunshine, light winds, very good visibility and slight sea state – perfect boating weather – apart from the decidedly chilly temperatures expected. A quick sounding of the crew elicited some caustic comments from the first mate (aka SWMBO) related to the cold, but the general crew were tepidly enthusiastic. Promises of free food and drink did swing things into the realms of the mildly enthusiastic, so heads were counted and alarms were set. SWMBO stayed in bed.
Up long before dawn ready to make the run down the M3 to the boat; we’d need to get out early to make the best of the daylight hours. Temp gauge read -6 but the rest of the weather was too dark to tell properly. We set off late and arrived even later as the crew specified they wanted a hot breakfast and a goodly stock of ale aboard, so we’d had to make two stops. Just had time for all the pre-departure checks and then run the engines up before it was time to go.
When Dawn did arrive we almost didn’t notice – the sun was obscured by 8 octas of cloud and as soon as we got out of the harbour the visibility was total [--word removed--]. I nearly hit the abort button, but the crew wanted to press on. Thanks Met Office – forecast was almost 50% right.
Not having been out for a few weeks meant I wanted to give her a good run, so we blatted Eastwards across the Bay to the Solent despite poor vis, staying well off-shore to avoid the blasted lobster pots. Ran up to Lymington and cruised up the river to the Town Quay – no-one at home! The place seemed shut - so much that I could visualise virtual tumble-weed rolling along the pontoons. The crew nearly mutinied when I suggested we stay, as with the cloud cover and misty/foggy conditions the cold seemed to be biting extra hard. We retraced our steps down the river and raced over to Totland Bay, but it was just as bad there, and the tide made a nasty little chop at the W end of the Solent, so we gave up and headed back across the bay to a little spot where I knew we would be sheltered from the WNW that was blowing up.
No point in taking any piccies before we got there as the vis was so bad, but this is what we found when we got there – no prizes for guessing where we ended up.
This was the view back Eastwards – you can barely make out the coastline beyond Sandbanks.
It wasn’t exactly warm at Fibreglass Cove, but it felt balmy compared to the Solent, so we picked up a buoy and bobbed for a bit with tea and pain chocolat (plus a few tinnies for the crew). After only a little while the sun actually did come out and it was glorious. It stayed out til it was time to head for home allowing this OWS (Obligatory Wake Shot).
As you can see there was nobody else about at all and it was terrific to be able to head up the swash channel and through the outer harbour at well over what would be the normal harbour speed limit in “the season” without inconveniencing anyone or attracting the wrong sort of attention from the HM.
She comes out at the end of the month, so I hope to be able to get in a few more days before then so as not to get too bad withdrawal symptoms while she is out.
