That was the week that was ...

[jimi]

Well .. weather gamble (wishful thinking) did'nt pay off .. I'm going to Turkey next Whitsun ... ended seeing mist & drizzle all along the south Coast from the Solent to Brighton & back. Was it my own personal patch of misery or was it a general experience?

 

[longjohnsilver]

Place your bets here.....

Also planned to take the week off, Saturday was brilliant, Monday pretty good, the rest was just abysmal, glad that work got in the way...................

 

[LadyInBed]

Saturday 1300 left Poole for Cherbourg. The E4 gave us a good passage
arriving at 0100 Sunday to find wall to wall boats. Apparently there was a
rally/race of 150 odd boats from the Solent to Cherbourg and the RAF
Association had a rally there too. Still, I managed to squeeze in on one of
the rafts on the waiting pontoon.
Left at 1330, never having stepped ashore, for St PP. Sun and SW3 was a good start to the trip, so it was off with the jumper and on with the shorts and sun cream, but that was not to last. As we got up towards Cap de la H, the wind picked up and we hit the fog. Of the dozen or so boats that left, only about four of us continued. Cleared the fog after about a hour, and had an uneventful trip getting down the Little Russel at dusk and arriving at 2200 just in time to have the entry blocked by the departing Sea Cat. Needless to say, but St PP was also packed out so we were out on the pontoon again for Sunday night, and we couldn't be bothered to move in for Monday nigh as we were leaving on Tuesday.
After we had tied up, nipped ashore on the water taxi to see if there was a chip shop open, but the town was as quiet as the grave.
Tuesday, left St PP at 1230 and got back to a thinned out Cherbourg at 2000
just in time to get a meal in the Marina restaurant.
Back to Poole on Wednesday leaving at 0600 and passing the Chain Ferry at
2000. The forecast was for N5-6 backing W4. It started off N5 but stayed
North for a bit then dropping to NNW4 and ending up NW3. Well, at least the rain held off and we spent more time sailing than sitting on pontoons!

 

[davel]

Sat 04:45 left Hamble and glided down a flat calm western solent as the sun came up making even the oil refinery look quite stunning! No wind until we reached the Needles when the E 4-5 kicked in for a great sail across to Alderney under clear blue skies. Sadly I forgot the sun cream and ended up lobster red from the neck up.

Arrived Alderney at about 17.00 and managed to find the last remaining vistors bouy and enjoyed about half an hours peace (and a great pre-cooked shepherds pie!) before another boat rafted next to us. The effect of the Easterly that had got us there so well was also in evidence in the exposed harbour and we spent a difficult night rolling around and being kept awake by the two boats rubbing and jerking together (as I re read this bit it sounds as though they might have been enjoying themselves!). At about 05:00 there was a load thwang that brought me up on deck pretty quickly. No obvious damage but it looked as though the increasing roll was causing the stanchions to tangle. We were just trying to do something about that when we discovered the real problem. Despite staggering the two boats to avoid the masts colliding, we were now rolling so violently that my neighbours mast was catching on my backstay. We discovered this when his masthead light crashed onto my cockpit cover and ripped it before bouncing on deck and smashing in pieces. About a minute later his aneometer was ripped off and about a minute after that we were waving him goodbye as he set off to motor around the harbour looking for any early departures. In the meantime I discovered that the 16mm warp I'd used to hold me to the buoy had all but chaffed through (I'd rigged a spare).

Anyhow, we took advantage of the early wake up to get on with breakfast and a few jobs as the sun rose higher and took our spirits with it. Ended up spending two very pleasant days on the island including a much more peaceful second night (wind from SW).

Left Alderney at 13:00 on Monday for a cracking sail across to Cherbourg in a nice SW 4-5 arriving at a pretty full marina at about 17:30. Hypermarket for booze, shower for the girls, food and drink for all and a quite nights sleep.

Tuesday, departed Cherbourg 5:30 in heavy rain and no wind. Wind avoided us all day although the weather improved. Ended up motoring all the way back arriving Hamble at 17:30.

All in all, not a bad weekend although a bit more sun would have been appreciated.

Dave L.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Wasn\'t all bad.

Left Chichester at 0700 hrs Saturday on a beautifully clear morning and arrived at the madhouse that was Cherbourg 10 hrs 38 min 14 sec later . Probably the best sail I'll have this season. The boat touched 9.3 kts at one point. Spent Sunday in Cherbourg finally getting ashore - weather v humid . Left Cherbourg for Dielette on Monday , again gorgeous sail in a W4 but v cloudy. Left Dielette at 1200 hrs BST ( what a lovely little port ) , in a NE3/4 and had a lovely sail to about 12 miles off the French coast where I started the engine and motored the rest of the way to Chichester arriving at the bar beacon at 0130 hrs on Wednesday morning . It rained all the way. All in all a bloody good weekend really.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Wasn\'t all bad.

Yes, bloody good trip over. Did you get on a pontoon finger or join the mass raft up?
I've not been to Dielette yet, there's a marina there now isn't there, or is that Carteret? Whats the port like, is it a fishing village or more like a seaside holiday resort?

 

[jimi]

Re: Wasn\'t all bad.

Unfortunately, we cpuld'nt get away Sat as eldest was at Alton Towers with the school .. cut the grass & admired the weather .. eventually got away on Sunday & went East! I know I should have gone either south or west but family pressure!! The weather just went downhill from Tuesday! My plan was to go to Brighton & then Dieppe , Fecamp (thus avoiding the hordes in Cherbourg) & back to Solent.
Had full thermals & waterproofs on ... unlike Easter when it was T shirt & shorts when I went to St Vaast.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Re: Wasn\'t all bad.

I rafted up on the most easterly pontoon , next to the channel to the inner harbour. I couldn't get ashore but moved to a shore pontoon on Sunday morning. Dielette is a VERY quiet little place. It a marina with a sill , access being +/- 3 hrs approx. The pontoons are excellent with free electricity. There's not a lot there , a couple of very good restaurants and the nearest shop is about a mile away. There's some excellent beach walks along the coast heading towards Cape de la Hague. All in all very quiet and peaceful and I'll certainly go back this year.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Cherbourg

We must have almost met. I was on the west side of that pontoon, outside of a RAF Association Fly Bridge jobby.

 

[tonyleigh]

4 days of great sailing winds in the SW but must admit never got out of my thermal underwear after Saturday.