I was hoping for one of the warmer spells that we’ve had lately, as my boat heater has a leaking diesel tap that needs fixing. Naturally, the forecast was for a cold weekend with fresh easterly winds.
Amoret started a day early and, after a downwind headsail-only trip with the tide, we sailed straight into Beaulieu entrance. We spent the night moored on the Bucklers Hard mid-river pontoon which has plug-in power so we could get an electric radiator going.
We timed our departure on Saturday to reach Cowes entrance before the tide turned west-going. Recalling the minor miscalculation two weeks previously, we got it right this time and had an easy up-tide moor at East Cowes Marina. By the time we had eaten lunch and paid our berthing, the rest of the fleet was arriving. The rally organisers, Nick and Gail, after deftly handling a 25 kt gust during their arrival, told us that, for various reasons, four of the five booked motors had cancelled (the honourable survivor being Andiamo,
living up to her name). Since the drinks and small eats were planned to occur on Soulmates, one of the cancelled boats, the eats arrived in Nicknack and the party was transferred to Amoret. Other sailboat crews arrived in High Time, Bathia and Shiraz. The shrinkage from 16 m powerboat to 11 m sailboat didn’t seem to impede the fun – there was plenty of room for fourteen party-goers and we didn’t have to reach far for a snack or a refill. Supper was at the Lifeboat, and provided in esprit what it lacked in cuisine (though the fish and chips were OK).
Nick and Gail, being kindly people, backed out of their berth at 0900, exactly the time at which we hoped to leave. This gave us the chance to practice the stern-bridle technique for stress-free departure which we had learned from Duncan Wells’ talk to PSYC a couple of weeks before. No boats were sunk or docks splintered, so clearly Duncan knew what he was talking about. The morning was fairly murky, with visibility not much better than a mile, but the wind angle allowed us to tack (using full sails this time) past the Brambles Bank and then to lay a course for the Hole in the Wall, shown on the chart as the Main Passage. This was the last we saw of the other PSYC boats, though various, mainly unanswered, VHF calls between them followed us to our overnight anchorage at East Head. Though this is probably the most crowded anchorage in the area on a sunny lunchtime, we shared it with one other yacht, the curlews and a sociable seal.