What sort of season did you have?

[doug748]

Autumn now and an old man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of hot pot suppers and laying up.

I must say that I have no complaints at all, though it was a game of chance at the outset. How did your summer go?

.

 

[RichardS]

Zero.

Richard

 

[RupertW]

Lovely and exciting.

I finished up at the end of June after a very tiring hospital role but with the least bureaucracy and best teamwork I’ve seen in the NHS.
Then we booked a flight out to the boat with no return ticket and ended up sailing around the Canaries for 7 weeks before work came up for both of us so home to quarantine.

A few things broke, some are still broken and we got used to sailing in some of the strongest winds I’ve encountered with calm bays and harbours in the lee of the islands.

So all concentrated in one single visit but a good one.

 

[FlyingGoose]

Still going will be away next week for 5 days then she comes out after 3 years
Season ups and downs one day I will write the story of our 5 week adventure in Scotland, no one would believe it .
Here's a taster , so wife phones tobermory harbour late one evening as we get in to a mooring,
The nice lady on the phone says I cannot see you , the wife describes us , nope still cannot see you, were at the mooring near the waterfall, waterfall?
We are 42ft ,
Nope I can assure you I've been in all day and I have not seen you come in.
Now this conversation goes on for 10 mins no joking , as my poor wife tries to give a description of the boat , the way we've came in and all sorts,
Finally the wife says tobermory Scotland right.
WRONG she had phoned Tobermory Canada and was talking away , well they both had a lovely giggle and we sent them a postcard from Scotland tobermory.
That was one of many crazy , dangerous and unexpected things to happen.

 

[st599]

Crap. Boat I normally sail didn't get wet, chartered and had 2 named storms with winds over 50knots for 3 out of 7 days.

 

[Poignard]

Short but pleasant.

Bit like Barbara Windsor.

 

[mrangry]

Just bought the boat at the end of August and sailed her up from Barmouth to Ardrossan. Had a few days away on her since bringing her up and hope to get some more use until maybe late November. All good so far,

 

[LadyInBed]

Absolute rubbish! and to make it worse, last year wasn't much better.

 

[Bru]

What season?

 

[westhinder]

I must not complain.
We came out of lockdown earlier than most of you, so our season was not shortened too drastically. Still I lost two weeks of my planned six-week holiday trip waiting for the borders to open. When that happened strong Westerlies and the continued closure of the Channel Islands meant I had to abandon my plans for Brittany and I spent my time in Normandy port hopping. Still we thoroughly enjoyed it as it was still very calm and in retrospect the corona numbers were at their lowest. Then a couple of very nice weekends day-sailing and as a bonus another week in September with glorious weather.
And now hoping October might yet improve.

 

[Concerto]

It has been a strange year. The first "sail" was in February. Another Westerly owner has been considering moving from a Centaur to a Fulmar or Tempest. The day before I gave Concerto a quick wash down to get rid of most of the winter grime. They arrived on time and after a quick tour, we slipped the berth and locked out into the river. The problem was there was virtually no wind to sail by. We did managed to get about 2 to 3 knots a few times. Back in the marina I had arranged for them to look over a Tempest and left them with the owner. When they came back aboard, I asked them for their opinion and they prefered the Fulmar's layout.

Lockdown was tough as I had intended to bring Concerto out of the water in May, but that never happened as too many other boats were blocking the hard standing.

Another event interrupted my sailing season, I became a grandfather. James was born on 9 May, but 225 miles away. The cottage we had booked was cancelled and she was having a bad time. About 10 days later my wife had to go up to help them as her other half's parents were isolating as they were in a high risk group along with his siblings. My wife was there for 5 weeks. I was not only looking after some animals, but also keeping an eye on my elderly parents in law.

In July I organised a Westerly Owners Medway Meet. The social distancing rules meant it nearly did not happen, so no formal meals were organised. The day before the meet I a brilliant sail down to Queenborough with my elderly labrador and moored to the all tide landing. The following day five boats joined me, not bad considering it was only a fortnight after lockdown ended with so many people either not launched or still isolating. Everyone came and chatted at some time, so it was very relaxed and social. The following day we moved to Chatham Marina. In the evening we all met up plus a few more and had fish and chips alongside the lock - all correctly socially distanced. So it was a great event so soon after the easing of lockdown.

Then we had a cottage booked for 3 weeks from the end of July so I could get to know our grandson. With so many trips over the past year as our daughter had a terrible prgnancy and on the 8th admission to hospital, she had her gall bladder removed at 23 weeks prgenant. It was costing us a small fortune for hotel rooms and cottage rentals, so we decided to buy a mobile home near our daughter's house. We found a 2 year old one in pristine condition when we were just on the point of buying a new one at a site even further away. So we started getting it kitted out with all the things needed like cutlery, crockery, pans, bedding, towels, etc. The day before I came home, my elderly Labrador's back legs gave out and I had to have her put down. Over the Bank Holiday Weekend we stayed for the first time in the mobile home and did final kitting out of the bits we forgot and tidied the garden outside. I have to say it is very spacious and comfortable to stay in.

With the Southampton International Boat Show cancelled, it meant Concerto was not going to be the the Westerly Owners boat at the show. So I decided to go to Ramsgate for 4 days and invited other Westerly owners to come and join me. The sail down was frustrating as the wind was ENE so ended up motor sailing in the light breeze. The weather was very sunny and warm, I could not have picked a better time to visit. I met up with 4 other boats, but another 2 who planned to join me could not make it. One could not leave his mud berth as the neap tide did not rise enough and another had a diesel leak. Sailing home was a little mixed as sailing up to North Foreland was brilliant on a broad reach on starboard and hitting over 6 knots, meaning the wind was SE. However as I approached North Foreland I saw another yacht coming towards me with his sails set completely different as though the wind was coming from a different direction. Then the wind just stopped, a massive hole, so on went the engine. I motored for about 3 hours and finally the wind filled in from the SSW making it a nice close hauled leg with 12 to 15 knots across the deck as I sailed along the Thames to Sheerness. Tacking was the order of the day sailing up the Medway as the wind eased. As it got dark I finally decided to drop the sails and motor the last 4 miles.

Otherwise I took a couple of days sailing just in the Medway. Fitted a new cooker in Concerto and it needed a lot of fettling to get it to fit correctly. Also some of the interior woodwork has been stripped back to bare wood and refinished. Not a brilliant season, but some of the sailing was great.

In many ways it has been a momentous year with so many changes in the ways life affected me, some good and some bad. At the New Year who coud have used their 20 20 vision to see what was going to happen and change all our lives.

Looking to the future. Next year I am already planning to join the Westerly Owners National Cruise and take Concerto to be the Westerly Owners boat at the Southampton show - provided Covid19 does not disrupt us next year. The following year I am planning a Round Britian to include the Orkneys and Shetland.

 

[Zagato]

Had a great season, the family had a 6 month lockdown home holiday instead of the usual 6 school week holiday. We all had a nice break from the treadmill of life. Weather has been gorgeous and work has been really busy so managed to buy a boat. I had to sadly sell my little mint Drascombe last year to pay my credit card off after a hard year. A forum member pointed me in the direction of a boat I have always wanted (IF Boat) and so with a fortunate purchase of a trailer bespoke for her, she has been sitting in front of my kitchen window as a beautiful back drop and I have enjoyed working on her over the last couple of months. Roll on next spring...

 

[lustyd]

Having a reasonable season. Started off with beautiful sunshine sails on my old 20' boat and now getting used to the new 36' boat and waiting for the rest of you to get out of the water so I can finally book overnight berths in the Solent at short notice! The main downside to me this year is an inabillity to just turn up and hope for a berth as all the marinas have said rafting is out and there's not enough space. No bad thing though as touch wood we're both still healthy! And we've enjoyed some anchoring, albeit in very busy anchorages!

 

[PDF]

Great first season, picked up our first mobo (28') on the second June and used it at every opportunity. Exploring Poole Harbour, Dorset coast and overnighting as much as possible.

Highlight and lowlight was watching the sunset at Pottery Pier on the 20th Sept then waiting for the tide to come back in before heading to the marina in pitch darkness. It was planned and we knew it would be late but navigating the harbour with no ambient light was terrifying!

 

[Poignard]

Anyway, I'm glad to see no-one has answered: "nasty, brutish, and short"!

 

[Railbob]

Normally manage to sail around 800-1000nm in a season, so far this year 44nm in two short trips. Hopefully will manage to get away for a short sail this weekend if the weather holds but hayho what can you do ?

 

[Stemar]

One day sail dodging the moorings in Portsmouth harbour. Left it a bit late coming back to the mooring so was rushed and got the pickup line round the prop. Fortunately no harm done. One overnighter, a glorious sail to Newtown Creek, but dragged overnight and ended up aground. Still, didn't hit anything so. again, no harm done. Bouncy chug back with a spring flood pushing me and 20-odd knots on the nose. Milady's decided she doesn't want to sail any more, but she came to join me on the club pontoon. She tripped getting off the boat and broke her right humerus. Definitely not recommended - it HURTS, so that's that. She can't prepare food, can't even open foil packed painkillers, so I can't leave her any longer than to do a bit of shopping. End of season.

Now debating whether I should take the sails off to reduce windage on the mooring, or leave them on in the hope of some cupasoup sailing during the winter.

 

[ashtead]

We did find our way to Normandy and explored St Vaast for a few more days than normal but plenty of space in July unlike our last visit back in 2006 . Reached the view we prefer Britanny and hopefully next year with some more planning will be able to return to usual spots. For first time in many years visited Bembridge and pleasantly surprised by new pontoons and facilities and helpful staff. They might need another shower block if they continue to increase numbers and perhaps a more developed cafe but if you are happy to self cater and the weather is kind good for a 4 day stop . Our general view was everyone stayed in Solent and places like Lymington overcrowded with car traffic and day trippers but for those who got there France was lovely even in Cherbourg.

 

[wully1]

Sold a boat, bought a boat so had two of the best days possible....

 

[Romeo]

Plenty of very pleasant short sails. Working from home means I can nip out at lunchtime for a sail, as well as being close to the boat if I finish work a bit early for a late afternoon/ early evening sail. Enjoying concentrating on the things that I can do, rather than worrying about the things I cannot.