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Sailing in February
Sailing in February need not be a winter activity!
I must admit that when winter sailing is mentioned I would more times than not prefer to stay in front of the fire and watch others do it on the telly. Occasionally though sailing in February can be almost as good as the best days out in April.
On Friday the 8th Jeremy and I went down to Shamrock Quay to collect Lady E from Bare Marine where she had had her bottom wiped. Very pretty she was too. We arrived almost at the bottom of the tide and once we had found the keys we had to hurry to get back to Ocean Quay before the water ran out. Close call that. It was surprising how fast the tail end of the tide was still running and we moored in reverse as there were only the 2 of us and not wanting to rear end the posh boat in front it seemed the safest and most controlled way to do it.
Someone had very kindly left the dehumidifier on the chart table just to make sure we saw it and knew it had been leaking so that we would find the large lake inside the chart table. Clever move. It is a good thing that charts come in stout plastic envelopes. Unfortunately 3 small handbooks were not so lucky and have drowned and the box for the plotter will not see another Christmas.
On Saturday morning having been to the shops looking for a razor – don’t ask – we were met by David who had driven from Nottingham (far side) in 3 hours. He must have been the only car on the road. The others all appeared by 10 and we left for Poole. They were Adrian and Hannah and James and Brian. Susy was going to come but she had a pressing engagement in Morocco for the weekend and could not be in two places at once. I know which one I would have chosen.
A few weeks ago Jeremy and I ran away for the day and ended up in Hamble Point talking to a boat dealer and I happened to remark that in most marinas 75% of the boats never move. He said something that I don’t think I had ever focused on that went like this. “Most people don’t sail any more because with global warming the conditions are usually adverse. There is either no wind or you have a howling gale.”
If you think about it he is probably right. This weekend there was wind but not enough and not from the right direction, unlike the previous weekend when I really would not have wanted to be anywhere near a boat. We motored out to Calshot (coffee and donuts) and hoped that when we turned the corner there would be enough wind to sail westward. Got as far a Newtown Creek (game soup, cold meat and pie) and knew that if we were going to get to Poole before the end of the month we would have to put the engine on.
Because the tide was still with us and what wind there was was following, we managed to do 5-6 knots over the ground and got through Hurst. We tried the sails again for a while but it wasn’t much better. The saving thing about it was that with the wind behind and the sun shining it really was a lovely afternoon, and here is where I started it was not like sailing in February.
Gloves were not needed!! (carrot cake, tea). We were unable to get a berth at the marina in Poole and some were for doing the town wharf thing but others wanted a pontoon for easy access so a quick read of THE BIBLE led us to Saltern Marina. By the time we got there it was 17:00 and Poole harbour was about to dry out. This place has a very small entrance set at a strange angle so getting in was a chore. The boat in front went in then reversed out turned around and reversed back in. It was the only way he could get into his berth. We went in forward and then spent a happy few minutes going backward around the pontoons because there was not enough water for LE. In fact we had to drive through the sand to tie up.
All decamped as we sat on the bottom and went to the pub, well the bar in a hotel as there wasn’t a pub
and to walk to Poole would have been ½ hour both ways. Too much wasted drinking time. It is a nice marina although a bit tight for space and there were no empty spots. BUT, and here’s the rub, it looks out to Sandbanks and with that place on your doorstep you just have to keep up with the Joneses or the Redknaps. Out of season for one night the charge for LE was £62.00. The bloke in the office was really nice and didn’t charge the £8.00 harbour dues. As the man cleaning the loos said that next morning “not many people come back and no one stays very long”.
We had dinner on board. Having paid the mooring fee we couldn’t afford not to. (Seafood pate, stuffed pork loin, new pots, mange tout and mushrooms, Annapolis apple cake with plum cream). We try to eat reasonable well. David however was disappointed with the food. There wasn’t enough apple cake for him to have a fourth helping.
Jeremy wanted to leave on Sunday by 08:00 so that we would catch the tidal gate at Hurst around noon.
As we cast off, on time, we had not expected the weather gremlin to throw us a blanket of fog. By the time we got out of the bizarre entrance we could just see the front of the boat and a bit beyond. This is where it pays to have friends who do interesting things in their spare time. James who did one of the round the world races (all the way round not just bits of it) had his magic machine which he held up in front of David’s nose so that he could follow the line on it out of Poole Harbour. Jeremy sat at the GPS and confirmed every buoy that James and David had already found and we got out. That took an extraordinary amount of time.
We did follow 2 fishing boats out past the chain ferry into the main channel. On mornings like that I would be a tad annoyed if I had paid millions of quid for the view from Sandbanks. Not long after getting out into open water the fog vanished as quickly as it has arrived and it was another beautiful sunny day, but because the wind was on the nose it was quite cold. (Bacon and egg sandwiches). We sailed nearly out to the fairway buoy and then back up towards Christchurch but at least we were sailing if not in the right direction to catch that all important tidal gate.
I thought that we would have another picnic lunch but instead made soup out of the remaining food because everyone was a bit chilly. The tide was so strong that by the time we were back in the Solent we were not making any progress and had to put the engine on. We stayed on the north side so as not to get the full impact of the tide but there was no time that we could hoist anything larger than a paper hanky to blow the skipper’s nose on. We had hoped that when we got back to Southampton Water we would be able to sail but again the weather gremlin got the better of us and put the wind back in its box and went home with the sailing toys (lemon cake, tea).
We arrived back at Ocean Quay at 18:00 and everyone said that they had enjoyed the trip even if they had not had a lot of ‘sailing’. Some have even said that they will come again. Personally I think they are only coming for the food.
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