Maggie and Pat are far more adventurous than ourselves and sailed down in Rinjin – Contessa 32. Whilst we have a high freeboard, Maggie and Pat are in racing mode and arrived probably a little wetter than us – hence the need for an early sundowner! Both joined us for dinner aboard Purrfect Tale and we had a lovely, relaxing and sociable evening. Pat brought a deconstructed apricot crumble with a nut topping accompanied by creme fraiche dessert which she began to reconstruct as soon as she stepped on board before placing in the oven.

There is a footnote to the evening. Samuel Pepys who rose to Chief Secretary of the Navy in the 1660s decided that to save cost, Navy ships when in port, should only fly their ensigns (flags) from sunrise to sunset which would increase the life of the ensign by reduced ‘flying’ hours. This is now cast in English nautical custom! Woe betide anyone in the Royal Southern who breaks this custom. Inadvertently I wandered on deck at the end of the evening to take a photo of the moon. For the eagle eyed you will see the ensign still flying from Lute which happens to be a Royal Southern member. Maggie was quick to remind the Skipper of his responsibilities the next morning. Sorry Lute!

25th September – Lymington to Yarmouth

I was feeling a little the worse for wear on Saturday morning – also suffering a little from a lingering cold. I like many others during this time of Covid-19 had been constantly testing in case it was C-19 rather than common cold. All tests were negative, but as the kits were made in China there was a lingering doubt as to whether they actually worked or were programmed to be negative – perhaps I am being too Machiavellian! Despite the worse for wear feeling, got up and went for a run around the salt marshes. I would like to write what a great experience it was and how well I felt upon return. This would be completely untrue – I felt rubbish – being polite. Got back and cooked breakfast for Gillian and myself. Maggie and Pat intended going for a walk to the Chequers for a coffee before departing at 1200 which I joined. As there was a large RAF Club Rally due in at the weekend and the Harbour Master was keen to be ready to receive them and ensure we cleared our spot on the pontoon on time. Gillian remained and read whilst we went wandering, I in an optimistic mood went with the ladies neglecting to take a coat.

The views from the run and walk are above. Sadly I am not an accomplished twitcher and was not able to identify the flock of birds in the picture. As ever the views across the marshes are outstanding. We arrived at the Chequers, at about 1145 and left around 1215. As you might have guessed we were running late and Gillian was being pestered by our favourite Harbour Master as to when we were leaving. We eventually got back around 1245 to two disgruntled people. One was easier to placate than the other – and that individual was not on my boat! Gillian had been sitting in waterproofs and life-jacket since 1130 waiting for us and was none to happy when I arrived late and soaked as a result of constant drizzle. We were pretty sharp in departing – in silence – and with waterproofs.

Yarmouth is just across the water from Lymington – probably 3 miles. I was fairly lazy and motored over whilst Rinjin were more dedicated and put up sails in light conditions. Arriving at Yarmouth we had to hang around for a few minutes whilst they moved boats around in the harbour. Yarmouth is incredibly popular and therefore very busy. It is quite common to be rafted up 3-4 boats deeps with the Harbour Staff managing each mooring and slotting them into the right space. For this reason I had avoided visiting for the last two seasons but as I was organising the rally this was not really an option! But I came away very impressed with the organisation and help that was on hand. We were directed to raft next to Albatross (Richard and Jo). Coming alongside when rafting it is helpful to have someone on the boat to take lines otherwise Gillian has to climb over our boat and the next, find a cleat to attach the line and all while I hold the boat steady. Not too bad if there is a middle cleat but more challenging when there is not and you have to rush to stern and bow to tie lines whilst I try and keep the boat steady and alongside. At the first attempt there was no-one on board and Gillian could not get aboard; I therefore reversed out and asked for help. A Harbour Launch appeared immediately, with the individual leaping ashore and aboard Albatross to take lines on second attempt – success.

The afternoon was spent shopping – Gillian’s more exciting than mine. She bought a Boris Milk Jug to complement our Boris print in the house. My purchase was two floating key rings – definitely not worth photographing. We also recced the location for the evening event – Off the Rails – https://www.offtherailsyarmouth.co.uk which is a restaurant that is located in the disused Lymington ticket office, Isle of Wight Railway that was closed as part of the Beeching Cuts in the 1960s. Maggie recalls traveling on the line – I hasten to add as a very young girl. Quite a quickly place with the menu printed in the form of an old newspaper.

You can still see the old railway track route, platform still in place. The view over the river and hills is beautiful.

Back after shopping to the boat to cook the 36 pigs in blanket for the pontoon party. Our original contribution to the army of food to be served on the pontoon at 1815. However it seemed a lot of people had the same original idea of pigs in blanket and the evening became a bit of a competition as to who had cooked the best! We had around 30-35 people on a small section of pontoon with drinks, small eats and lots of chat – the racers joining the cruisers. There were so many the pontoon began to sink, flooding across its middle section! Caused a little excitement till we re-arranged ourselves to bring it back to the surface. it was great to meet up with Sarah Dixon from Claribel who was sailing with us on the Summer Cruise and had by coincidence spent the weekend in Yarmouth at the same time as the rally. As the time arrived for us to go to dinner we began to corral the cruising party to move to the restaurant across town to Off the Rails.

A lovely evening – chatter, wine, food. Brought everyone together and a noisy walk back to the boat in the evening.

26th September – Yarmouth – Hamble

No run this morning! Bit of a lay in. Maggie and Pat were leaving earlier than us as they had volunteered to act as the Start/Committee boat. On the inside of us was Albatross who were wanting to leave before 1030 to ensure a fair tide down the Solent in what looked like light winds. Both of us were in front of a raft of 3 which made getting out a little tricky – more so for Richard and Jo than us. Richard who was a greater user of Yarmouth than us simply radioed the Harbour Launch to ask for assistance. They were quick to appear and gave the stern of both boats a ‘tug’ to pull them clear. I was very impressed with the staff in Yarmouth – it is now on my to visit list again!

The sail down the Solent was so different from the Friday. With just the foresail up and tide behind us we made pace at around 5kts all the way back to the Hamble. By the time we got back the weather had deteriorated a little with wind now at 18kts and rain! We had made quicker time than expected and as we had an upstream mooring, with the tide still racing in, I decided to bimble up and down the Hamble for 30mins till the tidal flow reduced from around .9kts to .5kts before coming into berth. I was probably a little cautious but it gave time to have a cup of tea and meander on the river at a slow speed and take more notice of our surroundings. Quite often it is a stretch of water that goes un-noticed as we either motor to leave or to arrive back at just the right time.

After packing up the boat, it was off to the Gaff Rigger for a glass of wine and beer before we made our way back up the A34 to Faringdon.

A lovely weekend out on the water.

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