Plans to sail across the channel to St. Vaast were hastily revised in the light of the news that French fishermen were blockading various ports on the northern coast of France over the Whit Bank Holiday weekend. Plus the forecast for a rather nasty low over Cherbourg didn't help matters, so we decided to take the line of least resistence and sail on the south coast of England.
Our Dufour 425 - chartered from
Hamble Point Yacht Charters - was actually called "Hasty One" but given that every time we called up a marina for a berth, they kept calling us "Tasty One" plus the usual focus on gastronomic delights, she was quickly rechristened. Tasty One was just 2 months old and equipped to a high standard in the galley. She had a 3 ring gas hob with auto ignition so no fiddling around with matches or gas wands this time, plus she had a grill which meant we could have proper toast for breakfast. One thing we didn't use onboard was the microwave although I can see the benefit if people were in port on shorepower and either didn't have time or didn't have the culinary skills to prepare meals from scratch. We still needed the large cooking pot which I always carry in my kit, as most pans on charter boats are not up to the job of cooking up enough for 8 people. With a cafetiere on board too, we could have decent coffee too - so all was right with the world.
Having geared ourselves up for a Friday evening departure for France, sitting in a pub in Hamble seemed a sin especially as the early evening was sunny with light breezes [q.v. forecast for heavy thundery showers]. Instead, we cast off for a short sail towards Haslar to find out how Tasty One could perform under sail. As our expected arrival in Haslar was for last orders at the Lightship, we had dinner underway. Urszula and David prepared
Tim's Salmon and Salad Surprise with potatoes in between tacks...and very good it was too! See our website for the recipe. As it transpired, we enjoyed the sailing so much that we stayed out later than planned and heard the bell for last orders as we were approaching Haslar Marina. Nevermind, there were some emergency beers and wine on board which were originally for our arrival in France before we stocked up in St. Vaast.
Next morning, with the wind freshening and some fluky gusts kicking off, we set sail for Cowes but having wind and tide working together in harmony, we pressed on towards Yarmouth for a mid-afternoon arrival. And what a good move that was! By 1700, the whole world was trying to find a spot in the harbour to avoid the gales which were forecast for later that day. We managed to bag a table at
Salty's for dinner and a birthday celebration. Despite the disappointment at not being able to set sail for St. Vaast, we did indulge in delicious oysters for starters despite there not being an "R" in the month. The guideline for not eating oysters in summer months is because this is when oysters reproduce and during this stage of their life, they have a "milky" appearance and are not as palatable.
Following on from our oyster binge - one plate was not enough! - we opted for fresh crab, lobster, mussels and cod from the menu all accommpanied by enormous bowls of chips which never quite reached "low tide". If you've never been to Salty's, you need to know that after the eating has ceased, audience participation in singing and dancing on the table is mandatory. Not all requests will be accepted - 80s elctro pop is usually met with a sneer - but we did manage to shape some of the tunes played. If that's all too hectic, you can pop up the road to the Yarmouth Yacht Club and gate-crash a wedding party and have a very civilised coffee and calvados before catching the last water taxi back to the boat.
Despite a bit of rain overnight, the really bad weather hadn't kicked in and with hardly any wind on Sunday, we set off towards Poole after a breakfast of
smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. After the obligatory pictures of everyone passing the Needles, we had brie on sesame seed rye bread with anchovies and olives as hors d'ouvres followed by
Italian Tuna and Cannelloni Bean Salad with new potatoes whilst listening to Bob Marley, bobbing along in the sunshine near the Fairway Buoy in our own personal Sargasso Sea. Any thundery storms were well away from us inland and the secondary low from the French coast was taking it's time to get going. So we concentrated on light wind tactics and crawled along at 2 knots or less until we found a little more wind off Anvil Point.
Entering Poole Harbour, we chose to head for Cobbs Quay Marina for some shelter - even though this meant a bit of a faff waiting for the bridge to rise - in case the forecast was right this time and the gales kicked in overnight. Although we'd had a good lunch, thoughts turned collectively towards steak and chips and the restaurant at the marina delivered. Whilst eating our dinner, the wind suddenly increased several forces and our planned early morning departure through the 0730 bridge lift looked in jeopardy.
With the wind howling through the rigging at 30+ knots and the rain lashing down, our early morning departure was abandoned. Three crew members had to leave to take the train home so that they could be back by the evening. This was not without drama as the storms had caused problems with the railways and replacement bus services had to be put in place so it was a long slog back to civilisation.
Eventually, we cast off mid-afternoon to sail back to Hamble and had our emergency meal of pasta and pesto while we waited for Poole Bridge to open. Again, the forecast was totally wrong and the predicted winds of F3/4 turned out to be more like F6/7 as we beat our way across Christchurch Bay towards Hurst Point and the Solent. Fortunately, we had some pre-prepared rolls handy to keep our energy levels up and the valient crew managed to keep the tea and coffee coming between squalls.
Finally, we arrived back at base just as the wind eased about 0100 on Tuesday morning. All in all, a great weekend, lots of challenges - both in the galley and on deck - and great company. We managed to eat nearly everything on board including the emergency rations.
If you would like to share your Bank Holiday experiences, do add your post too!
We slip our mooring at 0730 in brilliant sunshine and weave our way downstream. Again, the northerly wind does not materialise so we're forced to motorsail towards St. Anthony's Head.
Another early start to make sure we catch the right tide for the inner passage past Portland Bill. You have to pass close to land to avoid the notorious race and it seems that you could reach out and touch the lighthouse itself as you pass. Breakfast was on hold until we were safely clear and on our track towards Berry Head. As well as muesli today, we had wholemeal toast – courtesy of the grill on the Force 10 oven – with Barrie’s homemade marmalade.
Last week, Jen and I escaped to the beach for an "al fresco" lunch. We took a large stock pot, pre-sliced carrot and onion, a sprig of thyme from the herb garden, a little butter, fresh bread and some chilled Muscadet. The mussels we bought en route to the beach so it was simply a matter of washing them under the cold water tap on the promenade, scraping off any barnacles with a pen-knife, pulling the beards off and washing them again. Note that any mussels which are open at this stage should be discarded.
Plans to sail across the channel to St. Vaast were hastily revised in the light of the news that French fishermen were blockading various ports on the northern coast of France over the Whit Bank Holiday weekend. Plus the forecast for a rather nasty low over Cherbourg didn't help matters, so we decided to take the line of least resistence and sail on the south coast of England.
Despite a bit of rain overnight, the really bad weather hadn't kicked in and with hardly any wind on Sunday, we set off towards Poole after a breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. After the obligatory pictures of everyone passing the Needles, we had brie on sesame seed rye bread with anchovies and olives as hors d'ouvres followed by Italian Tuna and Cannelloni Bean Salad with new potatoes whilst listening to Bob Marley, bobbing along in the sunshine near the Fairway Buoy in our own personal Sargasso Sea. Any thundery storms were well away from us inland and the secondary low from the French coast was taking it's time to get going. So we concentrated on light wind tactics and crawled along at 2 knots or less until we found a little more wind off Anvil Point.
