Tuesday 25 March 2008

Just 4 Fun - Easter 2008




Thursday
Plans to sail overnight towards the West Country were quickly downsized in ambition due to the forecast of northerly gales for Friday and Saturday. With the wind howling through the halyards, we settled in on "Just 4 Fun" and enjoyed
Pascal's Ultimate Risotto followed by a trip to the Victory in Hamble Village.

Friday
Squalls of icy rain rattled through Hamble River in the morning with gusts of over 30knots in the marina. Definitely a day for a Full English breakfast and a walk around the village followed by a leisurely read of the papers. By the time we had Quiche Lorraine with Salad, some patches of blue sky had appeared and the wind had dropped off a fraction. Watching the wind speed and the time between squalls like hawks, we cast off for a short sail up and down the Hamble then poked our noses out into Southampton Water for a couple of hours. The Solent was practically deserted and our valiant crew remained cheerful despite the short hail storm. After blowing away the cobwebs, we returned to Port Hamble for Champagne and Cake to celebrate Xavier's birthday followed by dinner at the Whyte Hart in Hamble and another trip to The Victory.

Saturday
North force 6 to 8 decreasing force 5 later, squally wintery showers, sea state moderate to rough: we were not going to be going far today! Plenty of time for Pancakes and fresh coffee then. It was looking like we were never going to leave Hamble - although there are worse places to be storm-bound - so another morning of long showers [hot ones in the marina facilities, not wintery ones!], reading the papers and Carrot & Corriander Soup with freshly baked bread rolls. We hoped to have a short window in the weather to zip across to Cowes in the afternoon and finding a gap in the gusts, we flew across the Solent and surfed into Cowes towards East Cowes Marina for the night. Tonight we had Smoked Salmon canapes on Poilane bread, Cruidtes with sour cream dip followed by Xavier's Souffle Surprise.

Tempting as it was to stay in "Just 4 Fun's" warm and snug space-heated saloon, we braved the elements to go to West Cowes to meet up with friends who were in the vicinity. The Anchor was heaving as there was clearly more action happening indoors than on the water today and we had to tear ourselves away to catch the chain ferry back to the East side.

Sunday
The forecast was only for a mere force 5 to 7 [ocassionaly force 8 in the East] although the squally wintery showers were still in evidence.
After a breakfast of Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon, we set off towards Lymington. Once the first squall had passed through, blue sky appeared and we had a cracking sail down to Hurst Point where we stemmed the tide and had our lunch of Bacon, Gruyere Cheese and Spinach Muffins. A short hail storm in the afternoon, with hail the size of tic-tac mints, did not diminish spirits and we moored in Lymington Yacht Haven for Sharon's Sausage & Mash Special followed by a digestif in the bar at the marina.

Monday
Where had the wind gone? After 3 nights of howling gales, the marina was a picture of peace & tranquility. We'd have to get all the sails out today! After a quick Continental breakfast, we cast off before 0900 to make the most of the flood tide. The breeze did freshen once we re-entered the Solent and we had a fast sail down to Beaulieu River with Sharon getting the top helm's score of 9.6 SOG on the way!

We didn't have time to sail all the way up to Bucklers Hard as we needed to be in Southampton water before the tide turned. After a chilly sail back to Port Hamble we warmed up with Cornish Pasties and baked beans before setting to work putting the boat to bed. One last thing needed to be done: the annual Great Easter Egg Race. This year's winner was Sharon who won by several lengths.

So, even though we didn't sail very far, we had a great time: good food, good company and exciting sailing!

Monday 17 March 2008

Spring Series Racing - Week 2



For our second outing of the series, we had a different yacht, different engine problems, different menu - a pattern is forming! Friday night's feast was bangers with red wine onion gravy and mustard mash accompanied by a drop of Hardy's Cabernet Sauvignon. Next morning, a continental breakfast was in progress as the engineer swapped batteries and tried to breath some life into our very dead engine.

Eventually the engine was coaxed back into life and we finally got going - after negotiating the Port Solent lock - towards the start. We made it by a whisker and were concentrating on getting a good position on the line when another yacht overtook us with an almost naked man standing on the bow in a lime green "Borat" suit! Unfortunately, I'd left my binoculars below but resisted the temptation to look without the aid of magnification as this was clearly a diversionary tactic calculated to put all lady helms off their stride ;-)

Despite the stiff breeze, the willing crew managed to make tea and coffee at regular intervals probably motivated by the temptation that it was significantly warmer below decks as the wind started to shift to the north.

We raced unscathed but had to return to base as the engine was still playing up so we had to forgo the night life of Haslar for another night in Port Solent. Saturday night's dinner was Thai Green Chicken curry with basmati rice and naan bread, plus a couple of beers to help wash it down. Not a scrap was left which certainly makes the washing up easier!

Sunday morning saw the galley in full swing for full English Breakfast and sandwich making for lunch whilst the engineer tweaked the engine yet again. Fortunately, the oven didn't explode this week, so we had sausages with our bacon and eggs this time.

Today was a team record for the number of teas and coffees served as it was bitterly cold. I've never seen such activity in the galley as crew took it in turns to make a hot brew and there was never anything left in the sinks for long as it all got washed up very quickly.

Our aspirations for our third outing at the end of March are to:
- have no more problems with the yacht and therefore leave on time
- put our foot on the pedal and not be last :-)
- make sure we don't miss our afternoon tea and cake.

Tuesday 11 March 2008

Spring Series Racing- Week 1



Our first racing of the season took place in between the gales and storms which lashed the UK this weekend. Fortunately, we were in the shelter of the Solent and not far from Portsmouth but with 2 reefs in the mainsail and a scrap of headsail, we were taking no chances!

Friday night's dinner was tortilla chips and dips for starter then home made chilli con carne with rice, served with Rioja - a very nice Campo Viejo Crianza 2005. Preparing in advance certainly cut down on the washing up!

The weather windows during the day were favourable and we even managed our customary cup of tea on the downwind legs of the races although we missed out on Saturday's lunch. This was due to our attention being diverted to diagnosing engine problems as we were getting ready for our approach into Portsmouth. Anyway, who needs an engine when there are sails and plenty of wind? Instead, we asked permission to sail into Portsmouth harbour and made it into Haslar Marina to sort out the problem.

For Saturday night we had home made Greek Lemon Chicken with new potatoes with a choice of Hardy's Carbernet Sauvignon or Semillion Chardonnay which went down well with the crew after a blustery day.

Next morning, there was a bit of excitment as the oven on our chartered yacht exploded! Well, it was more of an implosion as the glass part of the oven door shattered and ruined the cumberland sausages we were all looking forward to for breakfast. Not certain what the cause was: perhaps it was a production fault or maybe some of the holes on the burner were blocked leading to a small build up of uncombusted gas although the gas alarm didn't go off. So we made do with bacon, egg and tomatoes baps for breakfast and very nice they were too!