First sail since I got to take the Grandon out all that time ago, and not a
world of a lie it's been low pressure after low pressure ever since.. a
constant succession of F5 and F6 days, usually with rain and or hail..
and after those record breaking temperatures last month, last week the central
heating thermostat was kicking in! 😏 Suffice to say that the Jolly Boys, who
were due to get away for the first overnight of the year in Lymington last
week, were not happy when that trip went down the pan..
Fair to say then that the forecasts were being poured over on a daily basis
looking for the break, and it was finally spotted this weekend - yesterday and
today were looking good (and there are hopes for next week as well)..
Picked the Saturday in the end, as the forecasts were showing wall to wall
sunshine and a little more breeze than the Sunday (and as I'm writing this on
the Sunday I can confirm they were right 😁)
So on the boat by quarter to nine for a 10:37 HT, which was a Spring,
interesting forecast for wind direction turned out to be bang on the
money.. dead westerly...!
A soldiers wind
.. a beam reach either way if I wanted to head to the bottom of the
harbour, and who wouldn't..
Decisions to make when I got on the boat though - the forecast was saying 4
gusting 5 occasionally, but local conditions, and a check of the weather
stations at the top and bottom of the harbour were showing less... they
do say that if you think of reefing, you should do it, but in this occasion I
ignored it and went for a full main..
|
| Mate of mine was out on the water and got a few shots of me and Sparrow doing our best.. thanks Martin.. 😁👍 |
Dropped the mooring at 9'ish, motored gently up wind to the bridge in the pool
and put my main up before turning for a long glorious run down the ditch, past
Northney, and on to Sweare Deep where I hardened up for the (as forecasted)
reach to the bottom of the harbour.. slightly feisty conditions, the
occasional gusts were a bit spicy, but it was sunny (although cold - layers
were going on) and the harbour was full of my fellow sailors all thanking
their lucky stars that they could finally get out on their boats! I
could probably have done with having a small reef in the main, but most of the
time she chuntered along quite nicely, even if I couldn't always sheet in as
much as I wanted..
|
| Returning the compliment - looking good Martin! |
No plans other than heading to the bottom of the harbour, and a solid 4 knots
against tide almost all the way saw ne there far quicker than I thought - it
being a Saturday of course, and the first decent break in the weather, it was
like Piccadilly Circus in the harbour mouth - every boat in the harbour was
heading for the Solent. Who was I to disagree.. so when I got to HISC I just
kept going... 😁
Now many years ago I was
dismasted not far from here [clicky], and just after I had had standing rigging replaced, so my plan for today
was to lay more ghosts to rest - as I'd just had the standing rigging
replaced.. 😏
Happily, no repeat of the issue, and just after Eastoke (where it happened
last time), and with a view if the Solent in all it's sunshine glory, and at
stand of tide..
|
| "Piccadilly".. |
...I tacked and headed back in..
...for a long beat up harbour as the wind had got some north in it at just the
wrong moment, no worries though, single tack saw me at Sweare Deep, and with
the wind freshening all the time I abandoned ideas of going back down the
harbour, dropped the sails, and motored back to the mooring.. stupendous
sail.. but a bit warmer next time, please!
Post script.. Martin got this as I was going past HISC on the way back,
you can see what I meant about the main could have done with a reef..
more main sheet and it would have set nicely, but I'd just let it out for a
gust.. 😁
Log:
Distance: 10.56* (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): Both ends of a F4 ; WSW going WNW
Sail Plan: Full main/90% genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots): 4.6 / 3.4
*includes distance covered while the GPS needed a battery change.. 😁
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