Day Three: Portland to Dartmouth

High pressure meant a clear sky early in the morning in Portland Harbour. We dropped our mooring at 0600 to catch the tide for the inner passage around the notorious Portland Bill. Here, the Portland Race is caused by the meeting of the tides between the Bill and the Shambles sandbank about 3 miles SE. Strong currents break the sea so fiercely that from the shore a continuous disturbance can be seen and even large vessels are at risk of breaking up if sucked into the Race. Fortunately, we have timed our westward passage well and have fair tide accelerating us past the Portland Lighthouse.

Here, the water is teeming with mackerel and we quickly catch 7 in quick succession: 5 keepers and 2 small ones returned to the sea. We haven't had breakfast yet, so the fresh mackerel - with thei iridescent skins - are quickly gutted and filleted. Into a pan with a little butter and a squeeze of lemon and a twist of freshly ground black pepper, the fish are ready to serve on wholemeal toast within 15 minutes of being caught. The light, delicate flavour of fresh mackerel bears no resemblance to the stronger flavour of the same fish bought in the supermarket.

After such a lovely breakfast, lunch was simple cheese on toast.

Arriving in Dartmouth, we stocked up with fresh provisions, then joined up with friends on 'Lazy Life' for pre-dinner drinks then went en masse to "The Frying Pan" fish and chip shop for a take-away fish and chip supper to eat in the cockpit back on the Town Quay under a blue sky.

Day Two: Solent to Portland

The morning is sunny with a distinct lack of breeze. After the last shower for a few days, we cast off and head for the Needles. Underway, muesli with banana and strawberries is munched for breakfast. Muesli is the driving force on 'A Day at the Races' and no morning would be complete without a big bowlful of the stuff. We like the Dorset Cereals varieties and some of the own-brand luxury packets from most supermarkets. I'm not very keen on Alpen - in fact I don't like it all. It's like eating mouthfuls of sawdust and is overly sweet.

Still no breeze, so we continue motor-sailing towards Portland with chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and a small glass of beer. Just as we're finishing eating, a safety vessel from the firing range comes alongside and warns us that there is live firing practice today. We alter course slightly to avoid the practice area and arrive at the entrance to Portland Harbour just after 1600, picking up a mooring buoy just before 1700.

Local dinghy racers start whizzing by our mooring and we have a grandstand view from the cockpit of the local sailing clubs' evening racing. In 2012, this area will be really buzzing as the Olympic sailing events will be held here. After the racing, it's time for linguine with bolognaise sauce washed down with a glass of chianti.

We plan the next day's passage and turn in under a warm summer sky.

Day One: preparing for a long summer cruise

Preparations are underway to get ready for a long summer cruise from the Solent to the West Country, Isles of Scilly and Southern Ireland. I draw up a shopping list for the ships stores for all the heavy items that can be taken down by car as we'll be in some fairly remote places, so canned food, bottled water, beers and wine needs to be bought now.

There's time to get ahead of the game and cook two meals in advance at home: lamb and prune tagine and bolognaise sauce. Sharp knives and other culinary instruments are selected from the home arsenal and packed carefully for the voyage. Also, a selection of herbs and spices which we'll need along the way.

After a massive session at the supermarket, the car is bursting at the seams with all the provisions and it takes three trolley loads to move all the provisions down to the boat. Eventually, a home is found for everything and after changing from the racing sails to the cruising sails, we settle down to lamb and prune tagine with cous cous and a courgette & carrot salad with sesame seeds. Plus a nice drop of Rioja as a reward for all our hard work.

Now, 'A Day At The Races' is definitely in cruising mode as the waterline sinks 2 cm more than usual with all the extra gear on board. We check the weather and all looks good for an early morning departure the next day.

Food Galore at St. Vaast

From a recent cross-channel sail, here are some samples of the food galore at St. Vaast-la-Hougue on the coast in Northern France. For more about our trip to St. Vaast click here for the full article.

Devine croissants and truly brilliant brioche.
The cafe we visited did not serve food for breakfast but recommended a boulangerie nearby. After a quick detour and armed with still warm croissants and brioche, we returned to the cafe for a cup of coffee.



Here is a mobile wood burning oven at the start of the market. Legs of pork and lamb were gently roasting on the top shelves with chicken and sausages on the bottom shelf. The aroma was amazing!


Nearby was a stall selling horse meat. I unknowingly ate this once and it was delicious. The meat looks amazing but as a former horse owner, I'm a bit reluctant to buy some.




Beautiful fresh white cauliflowers picked that morning from the fields.







Various duck products: pates, confits and a type of foie gras.






A wide variety of soups including lobster bisque, crab bisque, langoustine bisgue, seafood soup or bouillabaise, mushroom, chicken and celery.

We've all gone crackers!

When I first started offshore racing, there always seemed to be couple of packets of Jacob's Cream Crackers on board which remained unopened, if not intact, on our return to port. Were they on board to ward off evil spirits or be thrown overboard as an offering to Neptune? Apparently, the idea was that crew, who were feeling a little green around the gills and couldn't face the prospect of a square meal, could sit in a dark corner and nibble on said crackers to quell their queasy stomachs. What's wrong with ginger nut biscuits then? Jacob's Cream Crackers remind me of those daft drinking games people play when they are teenagers e.g. who can eat the most JCCs in 2 minutes and stuff. So thumbs down for JCCs.

JCCs have been around for centuries and I was only thinking the other day, what has happened to TUC crackers? Well, Tony Turnbull writes in the Times:

"We chanced upon the ideal biscuit, one I hadn’t consciously eaten in 20 years. I didn’t know that they even still made TUC crackers, but those golden yellow, pin-pricked octagons turned out to be the original crowd pleaser — sweet enough not to be entirely savoury, but cheesy enough not to be sickly; not so crumbly as to splinter over the seats, but thick and dry enough to drain the saliva from your mouth and render you mute. Some say that they are named after the Trades Union Congress (a billboard providing the inspiration when the cracker was launched in the UK), others that it stands for The Unique Cracker..."
Source: The Times - April 22, 2010

So, TUC are still alive and kicking but not much in evidence on board.


Ritz crackers? Only seen them in the last couple of years as part of the canape selection (with Primula cheese spread - how 70s!) at the British Classic Yacht Regatta but what do you expect on wooden boats which have 'character' instead of modern galleys.

What has become the cracker of choice is Jacob's Savours. We can't get enough of them on Juno or dry land. Kate started the trend by buying the Sea Salt and Rosemary version and it's been a slippery slope since then - once the box is open, there is no going back until the last one is demolished! Jennifer describes the Cracked Black Pepper and Sea Salt "as addictive as heroin". Mind you, she says that about Tiger bread too. I too am hooked and have neglected my trusty Nairn oatcakes (rough or smooth milled) as of late in favour of a Cracked Black Pepper and Sea Salt thin with cream cheese and a slice of fresh cucumber but sometimes I can't wait long enough to put something on top. This is no hardship, as the crackers are just as delicious on their own.

This isn’t a definitive analysis of the most popular crackers on board boats and more research needs to be undertaken this summer.

Gas or Bisto: key decisions on Eowyn

Eowyn is a 40ft Hallberg-Rassy currently sailing in the World ARC event and is on passage towards Tahiti at the moment with Graham Payne and Mike Birch on board. Before departing on this leg of her world tour, her last post describes Eowyn's approach to cooking on board.


"We take it in turns to cook. Our styles are different but the common denominators are garlic, onion and ginger. Our most important 'British' ingredient is gravy and we are getting through the Bisto rapidly, onion gravy being the favourite. Propane is in short supply as we may not get our bottles filled until the end of April, so we must always economise and avoid recipes which use a lot of gas. Of course, bread is made in an electric breadmaker and we use the Remoska electric cooker for cake baking. We have to run the engine for these devices and the watermaker so diesel is another precious resource to conserve along with the propane and Bisto."

Wonder if they've caught any fish yet?

Juno's first offshore race

Charles has just splashed out on a brand new X34 named Juno - a mean lean racing machine built to win! After a couple of outings in the Warsash Spring Series - Juno is currently in first place in her class - the plan was to race in the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) series over the Easter break. JOG had arranged two races: one from Cowes to Cherbourg and rather cleverly from Cherbourg to Cowes. Unfortunately, storms and squalls with even more bad weather forecast meant that the outbound race was postponed by 24 hours.

Our provisioning plan was for breakfasts and lunch on board plus two evening meals whilst on passage - the aspiration being that we would be enjoying 'fruit de mer' and other tasty plates on the other side of the Channel. To conserve provisions, we had dinner at the Victory Inn in Hamble village on Thursday night. The 'legendary' beer-battered fish and chips with home-made tartare sauce was devine and the steak and ale pie went down a treat too. Prices are reasonable but beware: the portions are BIG! Foredeck, mast and pit still managed to have room for dessert and opted for banoffi pie or maple syrup & pecan pie served as an individual tartlet.

With the postponement still in force on Friday, dinner was courtesy of the local chippy as an early night was called for before racing on Saturday and there was still a lot to get ready.

Saturday morning came around quickly and we set off to the start line near Cowes with the pre-cooked bacon and sausages warming in the oven before serving in bread rolls. After a great start, the weather deteriorated and there weren't many takers for the chicken salad wraps which had been so carefully prepared the night before. Not too many cups of tea were had either, although several attempts were made. Must remember to pack the thermos flask in future.


After a 14 hour squally crossing, we made it into Chantereyne Marina and as soon as everything was lashed down and secure (more storms forecast for overnight) we had a hot chocolate with a couple of Minstrels melting in the bottom finished off with a splash of single malt whisky. Then it was time for Kate's spaghetti bolognaise served with garlic and herb flatbreads. Juno's oven is brilliant - the temperature can actually be controlled and things heat up when you expect them too. The L-shaped galley and the nav desk are both protected by padded coverings which a) stop the brand new woodwork from getting scratched (which was the original intention) and b)reduce the bruising when you are hurled against either station (a positive unintended consequence).

As we'd lost a day, the start of the race back was on Sunday morning but we decided to scratch and cruise back giving us time for lunch at Cherbourg Yacht Club before departing. A smoother passage back meant that we could now avail ourselves to the treats in the snack locker, actually eat a chicken salad wrap and have Mark's chicken curry with saffron and cardomon rice en route.

Arriving in the small hours of Monday morning, Juno was put to bed and we had a 0300 feast of Wenslydale and Apricot cheese with crackers washed down with the wine which JOG had provided in lieu of a reception the previous day.

Finally, muesli followed by bacon and sausage in bread rolls for breakfast before the final tidy up and departure.