First sail motor, of the season..

Britain (well, my bit anyway) is currently enjoying a period of high pressure unheard of since (about) last summer - unseasonably warm, wall to wall sunshine...  lovely...

Not the best time to have your boat in the yard while you finish working on her, then, but Rod the Mod came to the rescue on Monday with an email telling me he was taking AmiLy [clicky] out on Wedneday and did I want to come... took me about 5 minutes before the holiday request form was in...

So it was that Wednesday saw us pushing off from his pontoon on Whale Island for a day in the Solent - the plan was to head to Cowes for lunch, and that was about it.....

As it turned out the weather was perfect, but there was little or no wind, I think we may have got a half hour of sailing on the way over, but most of the forward momentum was tide, so the engine and auto pilot worked overtime...

Beers in the Cowes Ale House [clicky] were first on the list - this was a place I'd spotted last time we were in Cowes - beer was clear, tasty, but utterly lifeless - if your going to serve beer from the barrel you really need to make sure it's in good condition. We cut our losses and went for lunch at the Island Sailing Club (above) [clicky] which was a first for me - last time we tried to get in we were turned away as they had an event on, but this time we were welcomed (and as I looked like a complete and total tramp I was delighted!). A very pleasant lunch in their lovely club room/bar, and then back on the boat for a putter back to Portsmouth....

I have never seen the Solent so flat - it was like a mirror - not a breath....

We were back and tied up by 4...

Log:

Distance: 21.42 miles (added to the 2014 mileage tab at the top of the page but not counted toward my yearly mileage as, one, we motored all day, and two, it wasn't in Sparrow! )
Wind: Force 1 gusting 2 in the morning E/NE - nothing in the afternoon...
Sail Plan: Full jib and main for half an hour - engine for travelling..
Speed: GPS track says max speed was 6.6 knots - average speed 5/5.5 knots

On the way back I popped into the chandlers at Port Solent - I wanted a bow fender (to protect against any further anchor chain rub), and a replacement gas bottle for one of my life jackets...  mission accomplished on both..  result!