East Cowes Rally - Pompey Lass
We had a good turnout of 8 sailing and 6 power boats for the East Cowes rally
and it was great to welcome some newcomers and first timers. The crossing
from Port Solent on the Friday was calm for the power boats with just a little
wind for the sailors.
Although the day was nice, the weather 
turned towards 6:00pm and Pontoon
drinks resulted in us all huddling aboard Pompey Lass to shelter from the chilly
wind.
Saturday was a lovely sunny day which included a visit to the Classic Boat
Museum in West Cowes. To add a little excitement to the weekend, a river
crossing was arranged. Those brave enough to venture across in dinghies were
rewarded with a glass of wine and a private tour of the museum. Unfortunately those on foot were 
stymied by the chain link ferry being out of
action (again!). They missed out on an interesting tour.
In the museum we spent an hour and a half being escorted around a wide
variety of beautifully restored dinghies and boats, and some very unusual
ones. There was a WW2 rescue craft which was dropped by plane for ditched crews, the world speed record boat, and a boat with an autogyro instead of a sail. Altogether too much to see in one visit. The Jesse Lumb, a Bembridge lifeboat (1939-1970) was there to climb aboard, which gave a really good insight into the conditions these people went to sea in. The tour ended with a viewing of one of Ben Ainsley’s foiling yachts. Apparently this will be a big feature in the near future. We would certainly recommend a revisit as the museum is constantly being improved.
Finally the day ended with a very nice meal at the Lifeboat Inn. Sitting on two
long tables all 28 participants were served promptly.
Angela & Stuart - Pompey Lass