Thursday, 1 May 2025

Scorchio..!

With Jolly Boy Smiffy away the cats will play and so it was that the rump of the Jolly Boys decided on a mid week dash to Cowes in what has been the hottest week of the year so far in the UK..  mid twenties in April..  unheard of but hugely welcome..

The downside of this of course is that we're in a fairly chunky High so wind was never going to be in abundance (as I found on Monday), but also a brand new moon continues to provide a mahoosive tide (4.8mtrs yesterday), and the aforesaid tide times were not super helpful for the day we were proposing to go either..  

..however...  needs must and the Jolly Boys convened at Rods gaff at 9, and were on AmiLy by 10 - dead low water had been 3 hours before, and with the state of tide lots of mud was still visible, but as a fin keeler had gone just before us we took our time getting her ready and slipped about 20 past - with 0 mtrs under the keel we were away..

Main up as we went past the aircraft carrier (singular - "Prince of Wales" is off on duty) but it was pretty much just a case of showing willing as there was precious little breeze about. Enough water by now for the inner swashway as we exited the harbour but every time we dropped the engine revs the apparent wind also disappeared and left us rolling and in the end, with a fairly tight schedule and lunch beckoning we left the engine on and motored all the way..

Vickies gaff.. 😏

Lunch in the Lifeboat (again..  but we love the food and the moorings in East Cowes are very handy for it), and then a repeat motor home as although the wind had picked up, it was dead on the nose and against that same huge tide...

The sun shone, the Solent glittered, we may have seen our first dolphin (it may have been a seal), we were all burnt, salty round the edges, and what a cracking day..  

Log:


Distance: 23.74 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): SSE going SE ; F2 going F3
Sail Plan: Main/genoa (but mostly motor)
Speed (Max/average in knots): 7.8 / 3.9

No comments:

Post a Comment