Arrived: Monday, 14th August
Departed: Saturday, 19th August
We had originally booked to stay at Yarmouth until Thursday morning, but because of the deteriorating weather conditions (mainly strong winds) we decided to stay until Saturday which coincided with Sally and Tony’s departure on the 06.25 ferry.
Highlights of our time here were:
Tuesday: Carole, Sally, Tony and Bobby made a trip to Mottistone Gardens (a National Trust run property) followed by a visit to Compton Bay where Carole and Sally had an exhilarating swim (sea temperature of around 17 degrees) in the breaking waves off the beach at Compton Bay. Chris and Daniel preferred to stay and buy a fishing permit for Yarmouth Pier where they spent some time trying to catch a fish or two. (Sadly, they were not successful as the fish were just not biting.)
Wednesday: We all met up at the boat for lunch, following which Chris, Tony, Daniel and Bobby bought a fishing permit for Yarmouth Pier and had another try for a fish supper. (Still no luck – they must just know to stay away!). Carole and Sally stayed on board and enjoyed a couple of very closely fought games of Scrabble.
Thursday: We had the morning to ourselves to do some chores, then Tony picked us up in the car and took us to their campsite at Thorness Bay. We were planning on joining Daniel and Bobby for a swim in the heated indoor pool but it was heaving with children having fun, so we gave them a wave and returned to the trailer tent with Sally and Tony for a nice cuppa and something sweet. We then booked our table for supper out at a nice looking pub, The New Inn, which we had seen at Chalfleet when we were staying in the Newton River. Sally and Tony treated us to a very nice meal here and from here we decided to take a bus back into Yarmouth. Our waitress confidently advised us we would have about a half an hour wait for a bus, so we decided we would start walking, making sure we were at a bus stop in time for the bus. After a couple of long walks between stops, we thought we would double check the time and found the info given was incorrect. We still had another half hour to go. With a little more gentle encouragement (like – get a move on, dear) we continued walking until it was no longer safe to do so (it was now getting dark and even the small grass verges on the roadsides had gone), so we stopped and waited the last ten minutes for the bus to come. Chris checked an app on his phone which told us we had walked 3 miles. When the bus finally came, Chris almost laid down in the road to make sure the driver saw us. We certainly didn’t complain about the £5 fare to take us back to Yarmouth.
Friday:
Again, we had the morning to ourselves to get organised for our departure early on Saturday morning. The wind had greatly increased to an extent that was causing us concern for leaving, but it was forecast to go down a little in the early hours so we felt we would be OK just to sail from Yarmouth to Port Solent. Sally, Tony, Daniel and Bobby joined us around 2 o’clock and after sorting out some laundry for them, we took a stroll round the town, paying our last visits to the little souvenir shops. After tea and toasted tea cakes and a game of cards, Sally and Tony returned to their campsite to ready themselves for their early departure in the morning. Daniel and Bobby stayed with us for a spaghetti bolognese supper and a reasonably early night. Despite the very noisy, windy night three out of four of us slept well while Carole just tossed and turned most of the night.
Saturday:
Carole was up and dressed before her alarm went off at 5 am, with the kettle on for a cuppa for everyone. Daniel and Bobby got up with no trouble and sat chatting over their tea and biscuits. After getting washed and dressed, it was time to walk them over to the ferry car park to meet Sally and Tony and wait for their early ferry. After many hugs and kisses, Carole returned to the boat with Chris to make final preparations for their own departure.