Yarmouth (IOW)
16th May
The forecast looked good and we woke to the sun streaming through the windows, so we were looking forward to our trip across to the Isle of Wight. We left the marina at around 9:30 a.m. and once out of the harbour raised the sails and sat back in the light airs and sunshine. Lots more boats of all shapes and sizes were out today. The sails went up and down a couple of times as the wind speed and direction changed and eventually we switched to engine only to make our final track into Yarmouth, dodging the Lymington/Yarmouth ferries.
We radioed in as we entered the harbour and were met by the harbour master who escorted us to our berth, where two kind sailors took our mooring lines, making our lives very easy – for a change.
17th May
Once we had settled into our berth at Yarmouth on Wednesday we heard an alarm go off at the Lifeboat station opposite. Shortly after, two flares were fired off to signal the launch. From the first alarm to the lifeboat leaving it could have been no more than three minutes. I had switched on our VHF to get more information. The incident was just outside the harbour, where a skipper of a small yacht had been taken ill. Paramedics had also arrived at the harbour and were transported out to the yacht to assist. Very sadly, we found out next day from the RNLI noticeboard that the skipper had not made it.
We walked around Yarmouth which is quite a small town and found a fishing shop called Black Rock. The owner gave me some good advice on fishing off the back of the boat and I came away with a hand line, hooks and bits with which, with any luck, I should be able to catch something for our supper as we sail.
On Thursday we took the Needles tour by the open air Breezer bus (should be renamed the Bouncer bus as it positively bounced round the small country lanes). En route we stopped off at the Needles Park and joined a glass blowing demonstration which was fascinating and also warmed us up