17th – 19th June
We left Haslar Marina in Gosport at about 10:00 and joined the channel to leave Portsmouth Harbour. All yachts must leave via the small craft channel. This was very busy just like the M25. Once out of the harbour the sails went up heading south then turning west towards the River Medina for East Cowes. We attempted to stay at Cowes a few years ago but it was not very inviting. We hoped it would be better this time. When we were at Haslar they gave us a loyalty card to get stamped when visiting other marinas in the group and East Cowes was on the list. We had a pleasant sail tacking along the IOW coast with a westerly F3. It was not long until we turned into the Medina. Carole ensured all our fenders were out ready. Chris then called East Cowes Marina for a berth and we were allocated a pontoon. The marina was quite empty when we arrived so there was no problem finding our berth and tying up. After about half an hour a few more yachts arrived with one rafting up to us. Through the galley window, Chris had seen the yacht approaching us at a rate of knots and hastily made his way on deck with Carole not far behind to fend off and help with lines. After a few minutes of effort from us and also from the yacht’s bowthruster engine, the yacht was safely rafted up to us. However, typically of some of the Solent sailors, we received neither a smile nor a thank you, but ultimately, we just wanted to make sure our boat was safe. Later in the afternoon we were invaded with yachts who had been racing and soon the marina was full. We were glad we had got in when we did. The marina office was some distance from us so we waited until we were ready to look around East Cowes before we headed there to pay our dues. Our stroll was brief, there didn’t seem to be anything remarkable to stay for, so we returned to the boat for supper. We had a quieter night in the marina, disturbed only by our rafted yachtees going ashore at 5 am to take their small puppy for its constitutional. Our next stop was Southampton Town Quay.
We had booked in advance as we were staying for a week at the ABP Marina which is part of the same group as our home Marina at Ipswich. We had been asked to arrive there in the afternoon so that any other visiting boats had departed. Getting off of our pontoon was a bit of a challenge as we had reversed in and then been sandwiched between two other yachts with the wind pushing us on. We had a plan and asked one of the other skippers for assistance. A very friendly Dutch man helped us and even improved on our original plan. This got us off safely. Phew! The wind started to pick up and as we left the river the sails went up. We had two choices getting into Southhampton, as right in the way is a sand bank called the Bramble. Chris decided to take the west route which appeared to be favoured by all of the other yachts going our way. As we turned into Southampton water the wind increased to about 20knt. So much for a slow sail. Our boat speed increased to 7knt. The river seemed longer then we thought but eventually we could see Southampton Town Quay. The wind continued but had dropped to 15knt. We tried to get onto the inner visitors’ pontoon but the wind and the tide began to cause us problems. So we had to put plan B into action which was to moor onto the outside pontoon and wait until the wind dropped before getting in later. We were allocated our berth for the week inside and moved in a few hours later with no real problem. We noted that the permanent berth holders had snubbers or tyres on their mooring lines, which indicates bouncy berths from the wash of passing boats, etc, so we found ours and fitted them. The promised rain had arrived and what with the heavy patter of the rain throughout the night and the wash from ferries and boats turning and mooring close by, we did not enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep here. Just as well we were heading home for a week. Hopefully we would catch up on some of our lost sleep.