kcrane
Well-Known Member
The kids have broken up from college for a few weeks, so we organised an early season sail to get back into the swing of things.
We left Haslar on Sunday afternoon and headed over to Cowes. The east wind helped us run down against the tide at 6 knots. There were only a few boats about, just as well, weed streaming from an uncleaned hull is a sad sight. At Cowes Yacht Haven we even practised mooring for a while. We certainly didn't struggle to find a berth.
The town was very quiet, only a couple of tables taken at the Indian. On Monday morning I could have got photos of an empty main street.
We hung around while the girls took advantage of the sales on in the boaty shops, waiting to see if the wind picked up. It didn't, so we motored up to Yarmouth. We were hoping to get a meal at "On the Rocks", but no luck. They're closed except Fridays and Saturdays until after Easter. Again, we had our choice of berths, though it filled up a little as the evening wore on, mostly sail training boats.
On Tuesday we could have been in the Med. Flat water and reflections you could use to shave with.
Not much sailing to be had, but a glorious day. We meandered back to Newtown River for lunch and then over to Beaulieu and up to the Master Builder for dinner. The outside temperature was 17C. What a day for the mobo's, but we only saw one or two. We motored sunning ourselves on the coachroof, playing with the Raymarine remote control (which we've hardly ever used).
The Master Builder restaurant was open, not the bar. The food was pub quality, served up in fancy surroundings and at fancy prices. Disappointing.
Set off back to Haslar today, with 20C on our thermometer. The river looked great in the sun and is now a favourite with the family as they hadn't been there before.
Is "Westernman" Cunliffe's boat? We passed her moored up on the river.
On the trip back we simply stopped and drifted to eat lunch. The wind speed was zero, something I've not seen in the Solent before.
What a fabulous couple of days, if the rest of the season serves up anything to match it will be a memorable year.
We left Haslar on Sunday afternoon and headed over to Cowes. The east wind helped us run down against the tide at 6 knots. There were only a few boats about, just as well, weed streaming from an uncleaned hull is a sad sight. At Cowes Yacht Haven we even practised mooring for a while. We certainly didn't struggle to find a berth.
The town was very quiet, only a couple of tables taken at the Indian. On Monday morning I could have got photos of an empty main street.
We hung around while the girls took advantage of the sales on in the boaty shops, waiting to see if the wind picked up. It didn't, so we motored up to Yarmouth. We were hoping to get a meal at "On the Rocks", but no luck. They're closed except Fridays and Saturdays until after Easter. Again, we had our choice of berths, though it filled up a little as the evening wore on, mostly sail training boats.
On Tuesday we could have been in the Med. Flat water and reflections you could use to shave with.
Not much sailing to be had, but a glorious day. We meandered back to Newtown River for lunch and then over to Beaulieu and up to the Master Builder for dinner. The outside temperature was 17C. What a day for the mobo's, but we only saw one or two. We motored sunning ourselves on the coachroof, playing with the Raymarine remote control (which we've hardly ever used).
The Master Builder restaurant was open, not the bar. The food was pub quality, served up in fancy surroundings and at fancy prices. Disappointing.
Set off back to Haslar today, with 20C on our thermometer. The river looked great in the sun and is now a favourite with the family as they hadn't been there before.
Is "Westernman" Cunliffe's boat? We passed her moored up on the river.
On the trip back we simply stopped and drifted to eat lunch. The wind speed was zero, something I've not seen in the Solent before.
What a fabulous couple of days, if the rest of the season serves up anything to match it will be a memorable year.
