Belated Cherbourg report

tome

tome

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The outward trip wasn't too much fun - motored most of the way into a head wind and then made an error of judgement by going too far east, which gave us a slow approach. Etap_Owner over the moon to have sneaked in ahead in his unsinkable boat. Lovely sunrise all the same.

Great company in Cherbourg
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Cutter and SWMBO


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Jane putting a joint together

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Scuttlebutt Mafia

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Mr Unsinkable

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Dom and his great crew - Irish Eyes (and Ken's reprise!)

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Wonderful sail back to Weymouth with 2 reefs in main and No3 jib on inner forestay on a beam reach. Fastest channel crossing I can recall in 10 hours 3 mins.

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From Weymouth we made Cowes in under 7 hours with winds up to 38 knots in the Needles channel. Thank heavens for neap tides!

Back home today to our new berth in Northney and a very content crew. Thanks to all for a great weekend, and congrats to DrAlex and crew for a truly adventurous passage.
 
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Etap_Owner over the moon to have sneaked in ahead in his unsinkable boat. Lovely sunrise all the same.

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That was'nt 'sneaking in' anywhere.

It was a good passage plan and a fast boat.

Tee Hee /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Nice pics
Minor correction - thats not SWMBO (who is poorly) but old sailing friend and colleague from Yorks. Her hubby and SWMBO would be upset twere otherwise!

As to next year - will organise a shore party in St Vaast - shall we fix a weekend really early so it sinks thru the conscious levels of the forumites and allows Indigo to set off now?
 
Oops, sorry should have known better.

Good idea to fix the date early, anyone have tidal info for a neap weekend September 2006?

There's also some preferences for Cherbourg being expressed, especially from our West country crews for whom St Vaast would add another 20 odd miles to an already lengthy passage.

Suggest we provide an option Friday evening Fuschia restaurant and Sat evening YC Cherbourg?
 
Good idea - its what I've done all 3 years and works well from central Solent. Trouble is you always find an excuse not to turn up!!!!!
 
Tom

Just to add my two pence worth:-

St Vaast imposes a tidal gate to round Barfleur for anyone from Poole westwards and a tidal limitation for entry to the marina for all, both of which make planning over a weekend more difficult than for Cherbourg which is accessible in all weathers with no tide restrictions.

We were present last year but did not put our names down for this year. The reasons were that firstly the weekend clashed with Southampton Boat Show and secondly we felt (rightly or wrongly) that last year certainly was and this year promised similar from pre-trip banter, to be a boozy weekend for the boys. The prospect of a boozy boy's weekend did not appeal to SWMBO especially after she saw last year's first hand and that as they say was the end of that negotiation.

I would like to ask if changes are now being considered that the SWMBO or family friendly aspects are considered also? Or maybe we need two events?

Please don't take this as any criticism of anyone or whatever past present or future, I think anyone organising something like this is taking on a very difficult task indeed and deserves our support and thanks.

Robin
 
Robin

Fair comments and the St Vaast leg is an optional extension, probably makes more sense for those of us based in the Solent. This year we couldn't get away Thursday evening so wouldn't have made the 'gate' and I'm sure many will be in the same position next year.

I think this year saw more wives and ladies, and SWMBO has decided that she would like to do the event next year so perhaps we could put more emphasis on making it a family bash?

We had a good boys meet up in the Solent with 3 forumite boats and about 10 of us so perhaps a seperate lads outing would make sense to somewhere like the Folly which wouldn't take much organisation out of the high season.

We'll see what the consensus is
 
Tom

With peeps talking about two seperate rallies, how about keep the Cherbourg trip as is. But also introduce a shorter rally to say Yarmouth or Weymouth (Poole even) earlier in the summer as the family event. Some families may be more attracted to a shorter trip in less challenging conditions.

The shorter rally if staged in the summer could end up with a BBQ. There are, as you may know, good facilities for BBQ at Yarmouth and we can book in at HH.

Just an idea, you know where the bin is if its no good.
 
Effectively, we'd be keeping Cherbourg 'as is' with the addition of the St Vaast option which has always been there thanks to Cutter.

The question is whether people prefer a more family based event rather than what is apparently perceived to be a bit of a 'boys bash' by many.

I'm definitely not getting involved in trying to organise a summer event - places too full, too many people away etc. Are you volunteering?
 
I'll give it some thought, if there was going to be enough support, to arrange Yarmouth is not a big problem. We would need to book Harold Hayles soon though, I've booked rallies there before.

If and its only if, I said yes, is there anyone out there who would help. One cannot do this on their own, I mean wot if I was ill or my boat sunk?
 
I'd concur with your comments on St Vaast - it is in all respects a much harder proposition than Cherbourg with the various tidal limitations and a trickier approach. Certainly not the destination one would choose for a first cross channel.

On the way back this time we were pondering what alternatives there were to Cherbourg and concluded that any other location would be more of a problem for a significant number of people.

Unfortunately I suspect that any cross-channel weekend is always going to be a bit of a boys bash - the idea of doing Cherbourg and back in a weekend simply does not appeal to most SWMBOs and is very hard with a young family (though somewhat easier if your boat is 47' /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif).
 
I did try to persuade SWMBO (8 months pregnant with 2yr old toddler) to come but she felt it might be a bit much /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We did consider ferry for the rest of the family - and might have taken that approach if she had not had a alternative family commitment.
 
Myy SWMBO would have prefered less of a lads own event although Becky was a great help at adding a more civilised view to the event /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I take your point and especially for those with young family, although in our case we quite often do Cherbourg as a weekend trip but then it is a bit easier and quicker from Poole maybe. In the old days of 'proper' duty free we used to average 8 weekends per year in our W33 and in all weathers too until SWMBO took her Yachtmaster Shorebased course and was 'educated' that most people turn back or stay at home in winds we would go in regularly. Older and wiser (read softer) we now go less often in more PC weather and just buy more goodies each time!

It used to take us 10hrs in the W33 but now we plan on 9hrs and get annoyed if we don't make it in less, 8hrs being our best. How on earth though did Tome take over 10hrs to get to Weymouth, must have been testing one of those parachute sea anchor things.... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Well the st Vast/Cherbourg sounds good to me, I dont think thi one was was to boysy, just that the girls were a bit thin on the ground. Swimbo was up for the trip but mothers berthday got in the way. So put us down for the next one.
Pat
 
Ah - you can't beat LWL /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We're only 24.5' LWL and that means that we have to allow up to 14 hrs Gosport to Cherbourg. We've had several much faster trips (notably last Sunday) but always in such conditions that would be very hard on a 2yr old
 
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