30th -31st July
The weather forecast was SW F4-5 going F6 later so we decided to leave Yarmouth and sail to Cowes on the Medina River. Soon after leaving Yarmouth we noticed that a small red yacht was drifting in the seaway with the skipper trying unsuccessfully to start his outboard engine. He indicated he was OK and eventually unfurled his jib and headed off towards the shore. About half an hour later a yacht named Breakaway called us on VHF asking for our help.
The yacht had apparently lost its tiller overboard and was unable to steer. The wind was blowing a good 20 knots and the Solent tide was in full flow. We furled the sails and went closer to the yacht. Amazingly, we managed to take the towline on our first attempt which was very difficult as some of the waves were breaking over Breakaway, which was much smaller than us at around 22 foot. We found that as Breakaway had no steering she would fall off the top off waves out of control. Carole was holding a steady course on the helm and Chris was looking after the tow line. We were also in contact with the Solent Coastguard who had requested the launch of the Cowes Lifeboat. We confirmed our Lat and Long position and the coastguard confirmed our AIS position from which he was able to track our progress. After what seemed a long time, the lifeboat arrived and we were able to drop the towline with the lifeboat taking over to tow Breakaway back into Cowes to safety.
Cowes is at the entrance of the river. Our aim was to take a pontoon mooring at the Folly Inn further down the river. The tide was at low water and we had to carefully navigate for the deeper water. As we approached Folly Inn the depth alarms started. We called the Harbour Master on VHF but after about three words we did not hear him again. We stopped briefly at a pontoon (5 minutes) and decided that it didn’t light our candle so we set off for Gosport. After a few more hours we were safely moored in Gosport Marina.
