Friday, 30 July 2010
Thursday, 29 July 2010
A lot can happen in a couple of weeks
From Southampton we made our way back to Port Solent as we had to leave the boat for a few days to go back home. The Skipper was re-living his days as a wedding photograper and did the photos of some friends. A good time was had by all.
Back to the boat and off to the Isle of Wight for a few days. Yarmouth is a pretty little town with a surprising number of pubs.
Then we set off to all points west. The furthest west we have yet been on Bugsy. We set off on Saturday morning at about 6am to make a passage towards Weymouth. A day of extremes. In the early morning there was no wind and we motored down to the Needles. Unfortunately, the tide was against us and we went past Hurst castle at a stately 1.6 knots.
Later in the day, the wind go up (we even had to put a reef in) and at one point were making 8.1 knots over the ground.
We arrived in Weymouth at 15:45, just in time for the 16:00 bridge lift and this was our new home for the week.
Not a bad place to be.
On Saturday we're going to hire a car to go and look at some boats in Dartmouth and Plymouth. We'll keep you posted.....
Back to the boat and off to the Isle of Wight for a few days. Yarmouth is a pretty little town with a surprising number of pubs.
Then we set off to all points west. The furthest west we have yet been on Bugsy. We set off on Saturday morning at about 6am to make a passage towards Weymouth. A day of extremes. In the early morning there was no wind and we motored down to the Needles. Unfortunately, the tide was against us and we went past Hurst castle at a stately 1.6 knots.
Later in the day, the wind go up (we even had to put a reef in) and at one point were making 8.1 knots over the ground.
We arrived in Weymouth at 15:45, just in time for the 16:00 bridge lift and this was our new home for the week.
Not a bad place to be.
On Saturday we're going to hire a car to go and look at some boats in Dartmouth and Plymouth. We'll keep you posted.....
Sunday, 11 July 2010
It's been a month
It's been a month since our last post, but once again we've been busy. Pottering around the Solent, going back to Woking to do a couple of gigs, looking at prospective new boats, the occasional beer.
We've been to Portsmouth (a few times):
We spent a lot of time at Port Solent Marina, and to be honest will be glad to start moving west in a couple of weeks as we're getting a little bored of it. But it has many eateries, a couple of pubs, is very, very cheap for mooring and superb toilets/showers where they play Classic FM. Very soothing.
Kat, Ben & Freya came to see us:
Just down the road (well, river, actually), we spent a pleasant night in Haslar marina. The facilities, bar and restaurant are all on this old light ship. After dinner we sat drinking wine, watching shipping movements up and down Portsmouth Harbour and chatting to an old couple who have a Moody 31. All very boaty.
We ventured to Lymington a couple of times. The first time was back to Lymington Yacht Haven where we bought Bugsy from. It was quite off going back there after nine years.
The new tiller extension got a bit of a work out:
The second time we went to Berthon Lymington Marina, to go and look at a Moody 44 that was for sale. We were initially quite taken with it and the owner even took us out for a sail, which was fantastic. It's a gorgeous boat, but a little too pricey for us, so the search still goes on. Another beer and bed-time for us. Meanwhile, the sun set over Lymington.
On our way back to Portsmouth we witnessed this rather bizzare event of a Coastguard Helicopter buzzing a motor yacht. Couldn't quite work out what was happening, but it was very exciting.
So here we are back in Portsmouth again. For the camera aficionados amongst you, you may well notice that most of these photos are what us professionals call "a bit wonkey donkey" but go steady with your criticism, these are all unretouched and it is massively difficult getting a straight horizon when the boat's moving about all over the place!
So, the next weekend we decided to do our own Round the Island Race. To make it easier for us, we did it in two days, didn't allow any other competitors and only went 7/8ths of the way round. But it sort of counts.
Once again, our intrepid crew member, Claire came to join us. On Friday evening, we sailed to Lymington (we had to show her showers and toilets).
We didn't arrive until about 9pm and then set about cooking Banger's 'N' Mash, this took quite a time and we were quite thirsty. Victuals were laid into in a healthy manner. Fortunately, Claire is of an age where hangovers don't affect her too much.
Next morning we set off at about 8am to catch the last of the tide to the Needles. A South West 2-3 was forecast and we were rather hoping to use our Cruising Chute for the very first time. Sheets, halyards and tack lines were laid in fervent anticipation.
Up came the Needles:
and then we went round them:
and then we got the cruising chute up.
Unfortunately, my little Canon G11 doesn't have a big enough wide angle to show it in all it's glory. But we flew! We completely wasted a 37foot Beneteau going the same way as us.
Getting the chute down again invoked a bit of sailing language, but we think we have the hang of it now.
Then we arrived at Southsea Marina. There was a huge crosswind in the marina and 3 times on the trot, we were allocated a berth that was already full. Serious bits of driving were involved and a small amount of fending off. But fourth time lucky, we were finally given an unoccupied one, and we moored up successfully. Somewhat thirsty after all this, we made our first priority a pint!
Next day we went back to Chichester. We sailed all the way up the river to the marina, which we felt was quite a feat.
And lo and behold, look what we found in Chichester, another one of these. That Mr Collins gets around a bit.
Sunday evening, we went to Chichester Cathedral to listen to Rick Wakeman play the piano and tell some amusing stories ("Jon Anderson, what a guy", he said, "he's the only bloke I know that's trying to save the planet from a completely different one".)
The next weekend we went to Buckler's Hard (near Beaulieu). We hiked to the latter, but alas just too late for the "proper" tea-shop recommended by a certain Mr Cunliffe ). Again, we went to look at a boat. It was a wreck :-(. But we did look a bit round the Bucklers Hard Museum, it's where most of Nelson's Fleet was built. And also where Sir Francis Chichester used to moor his boat (keep up at the back there).
Currently, we're in scorching heat in Southampton.
We'll let you know what happens next.
We've been to Portsmouth (a few times):
Kat, Ben & Freya came to see us:
Just down the road (well, river, actually), we spent a pleasant night in Haslar marina. The facilities, bar and restaurant are all on this old light ship. After dinner we sat drinking wine, watching shipping movements up and down Portsmouth Harbour and chatting to an old couple who have a Moody 31. All very boaty.
We ventured to Lymington a couple of times. The first time was back to Lymington Yacht Haven where we bought Bugsy from. It was quite off going back there after nine years.
The new tiller extension got a bit of a work out:
The second time we went to Berthon Lymington Marina, to go and look at a Moody 44 that was for sale. We were initially quite taken with it and the owner even took us out for a sail, which was fantastic. It's a gorgeous boat, but a little too pricey for us, so the search still goes on. Another beer and bed-time for us. Meanwhile, the sun set over Lymington.
So, the next day we were looking around at other boats that were for sale and found this one:
With our ambition being to perhaps one day sail round the world, we thought that this one might indeed be suitable. However at £250,000 it was slightly out of our price range (wonder how much it cost new?).
And spookily enough, right behind her was another boat that caught our eye:
Look at that keel! It's just like ours.
Oh yeah, another thing about Berthon Lymington Marina, look at these facilities:
This is POSH! But at £34.50 a night for a little 31ft yacht, it should be!
On our way back to Portsmouth we witnessed this rather bizzare event of a Coastguard Helicopter buzzing a motor yacht. Couldn't quite work out what was happening, but it was very exciting.
So here we are back in Portsmouth again. For the camera aficionados amongst you, you may well notice that most of these photos are what us professionals call "a bit wonkey donkey" but go steady with your criticism, these are all unretouched and it is massively difficult getting a straight horizon when the boat's moving about all over the place!
So, the next weekend we decided to do our own Round the Island Race. To make it easier for us, we did it in two days, didn't allow any other competitors and only went 7/8ths of the way round. But it sort of counts.
Once again, our intrepid crew member, Claire came to join us. On Friday evening, we sailed to Lymington (we had to show her showers and toilets).
We didn't arrive until about 9pm and then set about cooking Banger's 'N' Mash, this took quite a time and we were quite thirsty. Victuals were laid into in a healthy manner. Fortunately, Claire is of an age where hangovers don't affect her too much.
Next morning we set off at about 8am to catch the last of the tide to the Needles. A South West 2-3 was forecast and we were rather hoping to use our Cruising Chute for the very first time. Sheets, halyards and tack lines were laid in fervent anticipation.
Up came the Needles:
and then we went round them:
and then we got the cruising chute up.
Unfortunately, my little Canon G11 doesn't have a big enough wide angle to show it in all it's glory. But we flew! We completely wasted a 37foot Beneteau going the same way as us.
Getting the chute down again invoked a bit of sailing language, but we think we have the hang of it now.
Then we arrived at Southsea Marina. There was a huge crosswind in the marina and 3 times on the trot, we were allocated a berth that was already full. Serious bits of driving were involved and a small amount of fending off. But fourth time lucky, we were finally given an unoccupied one, and we moored up successfully. Somewhat thirsty after all this, we made our first priority a pint!
Next day we went back to Chichester. We sailed all the way up the river to the marina, which we felt was quite a feat.
And lo and behold, look what we found in Chichester, another one of these. That Mr Collins gets around a bit.
Sunday evening, we went to Chichester Cathedral to listen to Rick Wakeman play the piano and tell some amusing stories ("Jon Anderson, what a guy", he said, "he's the only bloke I know that's trying to save the planet from a completely different one".)
The next weekend we went to Buckler's Hard (near Beaulieu). We hiked to the latter, but alas just too late for the "proper" tea-shop recommended by a certain Mr Cunliffe ). Again, we went to look at a boat. It was a wreck :-(. But we did look a bit round the Bucklers Hard Museum, it's where most of Nelson's Fleet was built. And also where Sir Francis Chichester used to moor his boat (keep up at the back there).
Currently, we're in scorching heat in Southampton.
We'll let you know what happens next.
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