jimi
Well-Known Member
Got the friday night 23:45 ferry with Ray,Derek & wife Theresa .. conned into paying £8 for a seat reservation by P&O .."The ferry is full, sir, there are only 6 seats left." Liars ... there were only 6 seats taken.
Had warned Derek that the trip might be a bit bumpy as Theresa had done very little sailing. Me:"Erm are you sure? " Derek " Oh yes It'll be an interesting experience for her." Um .. "Ok then." said I thinking it sould be F5/6 maybe a seven for a wee while .. but we'd probably be quite close to the S Coast by then and it should'nt last too long.
Got to the boat and had a kip .. overslept by about an hour as I had wanted to just catch the last of the flood and get the north kick off Barfleur.. never mind .. we'll leave now .. wrong! the French Customs knocked on the boat and checked all the papers .. all Ok and very pleasant (they seemed very impressed by the YM certificate!), but another hour gone.
Ok slip and leave .. looking out for Zephyrsailor but no sign. F5 ENE. Put a single ref in and sailed off at 15 degrees .. sort off aim at middle of IoW see time being made mid channel and decide whether to go for Needles or Forts being the general passage plan. Reef was shaken out and making nice progress in a F4/5 .. hope it stays like this all the way!
However .. wind starts increasing, reef back in, at the first shipping lane the second reef goes in, its now a solid 7. Wind continues to increase as does the sea state, now a solid 8 gusting 9. Theresa has retired to a bunk and is firmly wedged in.. Wind has a bit more Easterly in so still manging to make 15 but a lot slower as there are some big waves. Continue for a while like this. Start considering options
1) Eastern Solent .. considerations wind against tide to South of IoW .. tide will have turned by the time we get past St CAths .. not an attractive proposition
2)Needles ... No!
3)North Channel . possibility but tide will probably have turned as well and Easterly wind and against tide .. hard work
4) Poole .. looking attactive .. Poole bay, little tide so easier seas,further off the wind, entrance to Poole might be a bit bumpy but should be OK.
So .. about 18 miles S of Needles a very lage wave came through with another behind (seemed to be coming in sets of 2 or 3) thought "Weel Poole it is .. cos this'll just get worse!" So bore away .. difference was incredible, boat speed picks up, get surfing,a lot smoother .. the moon is up .. its just like daylight eventually pick up Poole entrance .. give Handfast Point a wide berth and surf in the main channel .. Hook Sands a nightmare to the right.
Think "Mobo party on in Dolphin..we'll go and gatecrash!" But they'd all gone to bed;-(
Theresa gets up makes us all cups of tea as we pilot through Poole, muttering words like "Perfect storm,I'm taking up knitting etc"
Finished off with a Bombay BAd Boy Pot Noodle .. could only eat a quarter it was so effing hot .. so had several slices of bread and a couple of bottles of beer.
Only damage was the remaining dodger .. lots of spray and cockpit full of water a couple of times and the jib sheet which was frayed in 4 places .. each corresponding to a sail setting where the sheet had rubbed on the guardwire.
Sunday AM .. F6/7 Easterly, cold .. not attractive to sail back to the Solent so left the boat in Poole.
Met NigelB and Powerskipper. Powerskipper nosed out in the morning and also decided dicretion the better part as well.
Am awaiting Zephyrsailors report with interest ..
<hr width=100% size=1>.. its life but not as we know it ..
Had warned Derek that the trip might be a bit bumpy as Theresa had done very little sailing. Me:"Erm are you sure? " Derek " Oh yes It'll be an interesting experience for her." Um .. "Ok then." said I thinking it sould be F5/6 maybe a seven for a wee while .. but we'd probably be quite close to the S Coast by then and it should'nt last too long.
Got to the boat and had a kip .. overslept by about an hour as I had wanted to just catch the last of the flood and get the north kick off Barfleur.. never mind .. we'll leave now .. wrong! the French Customs knocked on the boat and checked all the papers .. all Ok and very pleasant (they seemed very impressed by the YM certificate!), but another hour gone.
Ok slip and leave .. looking out for Zephyrsailor but no sign. F5 ENE. Put a single ref in and sailed off at 15 degrees .. sort off aim at middle of IoW see time being made mid channel and decide whether to go for Needles or Forts being the general passage plan. Reef was shaken out and making nice progress in a F4/5 .. hope it stays like this all the way!
However .. wind starts increasing, reef back in, at the first shipping lane the second reef goes in, its now a solid 7. Wind continues to increase as does the sea state, now a solid 8 gusting 9. Theresa has retired to a bunk and is firmly wedged in.. Wind has a bit more Easterly in so still manging to make 15 but a lot slower as there are some big waves. Continue for a while like this. Start considering options
1) Eastern Solent .. considerations wind against tide to South of IoW .. tide will have turned by the time we get past St CAths .. not an attractive proposition
2)Needles ... No!
3)North Channel . possibility but tide will probably have turned as well and Easterly wind and against tide .. hard work
4) Poole .. looking attactive .. Poole bay, little tide so easier seas,further off the wind, entrance to Poole might be a bit bumpy but should be OK.
So .. about 18 miles S of Needles a very lage wave came through with another behind (seemed to be coming in sets of 2 or 3) thought "Weel Poole it is .. cos this'll just get worse!" So bore away .. difference was incredible, boat speed picks up, get surfing,a lot smoother .. the moon is up .. its just like daylight eventually pick up Poole entrance .. give Handfast Point a wide berth and surf in the main channel .. Hook Sands a nightmare to the right.
Think "Mobo party on in Dolphin..we'll go and gatecrash!" But they'd all gone to bed;-(
Theresa gets up makes us all cups of tea as we pilot through Poole, muttering words like "Perfect storm,I'm taking up knitting etc"
Finished off with a Bombay BAd Boy Pot Noodle .. could only eat a quarter it was so effing hot .. so had several slices of bread and a couple of bottles of beer.
Only damage was the remaining dodger .. lots of spray and cockpit full of water a couple of times and the jib sheet which was frayed in 4 places .. each corresponding to a sail setting where the sheet had rubbed on the guardwire.
Sunday AM .. F6/7 Easterly, cold .. not attractive to sail back to the Solent so left the boat in Poole.
Met NigelB and Powerskipper. Powerskipper nosed out in the morning and also decided dicretion the better part as well.
Am awaiting Zephyrsailors report with interest ..
<hr width=100% size=1>.. its life but not as we know it ..
