Saturday 17th July – Lymington to Poole
Early morning start – a consistent theme for the next few days. A day’s sailing!!! I know we are supposedly a sailing boat but like farmers you are never really satisfied with the weather – there is either not enough wind or too much! A great sail to Poole only 14 minutes of engine time and we made it more or less on the same tack. Now at this point I will admit to buying an electric winch handle – I know I should work the body more hoisting sails and adjusting sheets. I do have some sort of an excuse having crashed on the bike at the beginning of the week I now have an impressive set of gravel rash from shoulder to elbow to hip to knee to ankle. Fortunately it was a quiet lane as I just sat in the middle of the road for 5 mins trying to recover and hoping that I had not disclosed my shoulder. But I digress. There is a practical issue with the boat as the winches are probably a little underpowered for the rig – hence getting the right tension can be tricky …… and hard work. But with the new ‘toy’ – an extraordinarily expensive toy – life is much easier. So with the extra hand on board adjusting the sails and getting the most out of the light wind was a joy.
Less so was the arrival into Poole. There are no photos of this as I spent the entire time coming down the swash-way avoiding the entire boating community of Poole who seemed both intent at coming out at the same time and deliberately setting their course to be on a collision with Purrfect Tale. We also had wind over tide- also not great. Dino Volante can attest to the amount of boat out of the water at any one time – even the sail drive was coming near the surface at one stage. Gillian took this all in her stride and made no comment or judgement as I wrestled the helm. Once past the chain ferry life became much quieter.
We stayed on Poole Town Quay Marina. A new marina – relative to when I was last here in 1996. As last to arrive (and last in the race despite my outstanding skill at sail handling with our new best buddy the electric winch handle) there were plenty of helping hands to take lines. Evening was another BBQ and a reasonable amount to drink following a stroll along the quay side and visit to a small backstreet pub Calle the Rope and Anchor.
Sunday 18th July – Poole – Visit of Barry and Hazel
We had arranged to meet Barry and Hazel on the Sunday, Danny’s parents. By now they should have been ‘in-laws’ but the dreaded Covid has pushed back the wedding 3 times now. Hopefully the civil ceremony will take place in August and we are still planning on the wedding celebration in September – but we shall wait and see. Presently the headlines are not very encouraging from our enlightened leaders, two of whom are in isolation themselves. There was a need to buy some more food for lunch so a walk-round Poole was called for. An interesting town with the main railway line running right through the middle of the high street. A delight for the kids but most others were clearly impatient. I can attest to an excellent Sunday rail service given the number of times the barriers were up and down. We did find a Cafe Nero to have a Sunday morning croissant with and iced latte.
But before the joys of shopping there was a task to be completed. Whilst not big in itself, in terms its importance this was next in line to be being holed below decks and in danger of imminent sinking. The toilet! So despite being a day I could lie in it was far more important that I sneaked out of the bunk to open the toolkit and of course the YouTube video on how to fix a blocked toiled on a boat without incurring the wrath of your partner. Having taken various screws, filters, springs and plungers out the source of the problem became evident. (if you are eating your evening meal while reading this – do not worry – read on.) A load of seaweed that had more in common with plastic had blocked the intake pipe and the clogged up the mechanism of the toilet. Very pleased with myself and my DIY skills it was put back together again. Whilst it did now bring in plenty of sea water, it seemed to go over the floor of the heads rather than into the bowl. Second go was better and a seal was created that prevented an indoor paddling pool being created.
The day was very hot! We managed drinks on deck before going below for lunch. Cobb to the rescue which produced a very nice meal, complimented with some excellent wine and followed by Dorset’s finest cheese. Post lunch we all took a stroll along the seafront in the direction of Sandbanks. Very poplar place for jet-ski’s and camper vans on the wide open area of green overlooking Brownsea Island. It also provided opportunity to co-ordinate details of the wedding with Barry and Hazel in the absence of details from Alice and Danny.
Evening was a get together on the boat with Pat, Linda and Ken (Dino Volante), Bryan and Britt (Karisma), Jules and Sarah (Clarabel) plus Colin and Naomi on their motorboat. Snacks including grilled halloumi cheese whilst we discussed departure times the following morning.
All were admiration of Jules and Sarah, sailing 45′ boat, 3 children and 2 dogs. They had already had a serious of ‘adventures’ before arriving with us. A late departure from Hamble whilst some work was completed, rope burns on hands from the spinnaker gibe and twisted rope from the snuffer at the top of the mast. But having caught us up, they were immediately out on SUPs and inflatable canoes, paddling across to Brownsea island for an afternoon out.
Poole Town Quay is right on the harbour front, and with the current weather the variety of life is interesting, From those fishing, parading of motorbikes, hen parties and a significant number of people who have clearly had an enjoyable day in the sun with plenty of liquid refreshment. Harbour staff are very helpful. It was slightly incredulous the amount of rubbish a relatively small number of sailors in a marina can create. But Seagulls love it!
Purrfect Tale 