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| 1st mate Hannah in Charge! |
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| Molly's daily starters of Sprats! |
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| One of the forts protecting Bembridge Harbour |
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| The way to Bembridge |
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| The view from the hill of Bembridge Harbour |
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| HMS Illustrious coming behind after we left Bembridge to go to Yarmouth |
Thursday, August 4, 2011
a few select more photos
Further Photos of Dover
Mon 1st Aug Poole to Ridge Wharf Yacht Centre
The views from the boat of Poole Harbour, Rockley park, and Wareham on the way down the River Frome.
This morning waking up in the marina it was strangely quiet, you could look out to the breakwater and hear very little but see all the activity of a working harbour, while on the other side you could watch all the people go by going to work and shopping. I sat at the end of the pontoon with my feet in the water watching all the fish below and it felt so peaceful.. It was very hot and we were making our way to Ridge Wharf on the River Frome, we still had not heard from the EA about a mooring but we hoped that if we got there we could solve any problems from there. I had decided to escape and so Captain Stan, 1st mate Hanna and seasick molly were making the trip by themselves. I was going to get the car and meet them there so we could begin to take things home, so the boat smelled less like a unwashed laundry bag!
It felt very strange to be in a car again and even stranger to think that it had taken us 2 weeks to do a 3 hour trip from Chertsey to Poole! A domestic were beginning on the boat again, as Hannah has been able to charge her Nintendo DS and was in game mode and had little interest in anything else, but she was dragged away for the last leg of the trip! I was hoping that they managed to get to Ridge Wharf without throwing each other into the river along the way! Apparently, my leaving was wrongly timed as it was the best part of the trip! Typical! We also had the good news the EA had a mooring for us and we could take it that day! However we still wanted to moor at Ridge Wharf to charge the batteries and fill the tanks again before settling on the mooring. After settling in Capt David got some bubbly out and we got to celebrate the success of our first sea going trip!! It was great to share a bottle with the new friends we had made on our trip and fitting that they shared this with us. We are hoping to be here for a few months as Corisande has to come out to renew the anti fouling and now also to waterproof the gunnels!! Hopefully by next season we shall have got most of the work we wanted to do done and have seen some of the area before going back to the Thames.
July 31st Sun- Yarmouth to Poole Harbour
We didn’t have to leave till midday, so we had another leisurely morning this time watching all the other boats trying to get out of the harbour, having been in Yarmouth all weekend I imagine they were all trying to get out while the wind was up and get back to their home ports. We watched a sailing loose control and swing round to the other 3 it was rafted to scratching the nearest one before running off quite quickly. We thought at this point that was enough entertainment and we should start getting ready to move. Both Bonny Rose and ourselves were going to be sailing to Poole harbour were we could await news if we had managed to gain a mooring on the River Frome, near Wareham.
Having checked the weather and seeing it was going to be choppier than we had been in before; we made sure to fix everything down we could. Once out of the harbour we found out exactly how choppy it was going to be particularly with the business of Solent to contend with as well!! It was chaos once out of the harbour with all manner of boats chasing and trying to get round us as well as the ferries criss crossing our path. The most annoying was the very big new boats who zip past without seeing where they are going, boy it would be good to put them in a tin tub and see how they feel when a speed boat zooms past at 20 knots!!
The sight of Hurst castle and the needles was terrific, you see the postcards but it still looks amazing when you get to see it up close yourself. You could almost imaging you were being taken to Hurst Castle to await your sentence, like a certain King we all know!! After taking a few photos Seasick Molly and I took our places in the forward cabin, though it is more bouncy there at least when you lay down you feel like you are not being pitched around uncontrollably. Little did we know! 1st mate Hannah took the helm while Captain Stan checked all the ropes and such and she got to yell a few choice words at some of the speeders trying to wash us away as we got caught almost immediately out of the harbour.
It was very choppy all of the way to Poole and Seasick Molly made sure to live up to her name, though training has meant that she stayed in the head while she was sick! After coming into Poole bay, things got even worse, I had dozed off to the pitching of the boat and both me and Seasick Molly got rudely awakened by a flood of water coming in under the windows and gunnels. As we came to a place called Christchurch Ledge, Corisande began to roll as well as pitch and we touched water on both sides we were rolling so much and as it became apparent we had a leak in the forward cabin; though only when the boat sloshed side to side. A sheet of water came in and soaked poor Seasick Molly making her run for cover on the floor, where she thought it would be safe. However it was then all the things all the side fell down on top of her. The rest of the boat was just as bad and we lost a mug and glasses that were fixed down. Capt Stan had taken over the helm and both he and Hannah were holding on for dear life upstairs. While Molly tried to get back onto the bed by jumping from the floor, but during her jump we pitched to starboard and she hit the roof instead! So I picked her up together on the bed with me just as we heaved to the other side and I got to hit the roof too! Molly had enough by this time and hid in the head to stay out of the way.
Hannah came to check on us and sat with Molly and took up the seasick cause as well, though not that she was going to tell Capt Stan! She quickly made her way back to the top deck where she could watch everything with Capt Stan. Bless!!
Needless to say if we wanted adventure we got it today, this was the longest 3 hours of the trip and ever! Having arrived in Poole quay, it was like heaven, I felt like jumping off and kissing the ground! It was hard to believe the difference between the outside and the inside of the harbour. It was amazing coming into Poole harbour having only seen it by car and walking along the quay. Now being on the other side, you felt strangely separated yet so near, as it was so peaceful in the marina. After that trip a few drinks in the pub was required to calm the nerves!
July 30th Yarmouth day 2
Can't get much closer than this!!
We stayed in Yarmouth a second day hoping to spend some time at the beach, yet when we woke up the day began grey and miserable. So as you do, we got up late and the captains played with the engines! Seasick Molly thought it was most interesting what the captains had uncovered and was most annoyed when she was shut away in the forward cabin! 1st mate Hannah, 1st mate Pamela and I decided to go for a sail in the dinghy with the electric motor and had an adventure scaring the local wildlife with how quiet we were. Particularly a large Herring gull who had a large fish and had to try and run as it was too big to fly with!
After our trip exploring the River Yar we met with the Captains and set to Yarmouth for Lunch, which was good timing as the sun began to come out. So we hurriedly got back to the boats to change into swimsuits for our jaunt to the beach. After arriving at the small beach adjacent to the harbour we could watch all the boats and ferries in the Solent busily on their way, while Captain Stan took the time to have a snooze. Hannah went beach combing and Pamela went swimming. The views from the beach were amazing and in the distance you can see what seems to be 100’s of sailing masts in Portsmouth harbour, that look similar to a forest of trees! There is rarely a dull moment in the Solent and it was very easy to lose track of time watching the world go by.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
July 29th
Morning arrived bright and early having been woken by many day trippers frantically trying to get out of the harbour for a day’s adventure. Following on the slack tide, Bonny rose and Corisande , having made the decision to make a trip to Yarmouth the night previous made preparations to move. With Capt’s Stan and David planning our course though the many obstacles awaiting us, the crew quickly made ready to sail. Getting out of Bembridge harbour was very easy, a lot easier then getting in and what was to come!! After passing the 3 forts that protect the way into Bembridge it became a free for all of every type of boat imaginable! With boats, Ships, cargo holders, ferries, sailing dinghies, etc, vying for space in the Solent. Both Bonny Rose and Corisande more heavily were pitched to and from for most of the 3 hr trip to Yarmouth, the other side of the Isle of Wight. AT one point we even had had the aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious following behind us. Both Capt Stan and 1st mate Hannah thought they maybe being boarded for some unknown reason, until Illustrious changed course to sail down farther the Solent leaving us behind..
Having dealt with the excitement of being overlooked by an aircraft carrier, we then had the wash from the Isle of Wight Hovercraft going to Ryde from Portsmouth and the Ferries going to Yarmouth, where we were aiming for. Everything that could fall down inside did, including me, by which time Seasick Molly and I made the decision to go back to bed where it was safe and leave the more adventurous crew to their excitement.
1st mate Hannah was allowed to keep the helm throughout the journey and sailed us in most of the way into Yarmouth Harbour, where we rafted to Bonny Rose again on Pilings marked out near the Isle of Wight Ferry!! An interesting night this will be! We spent most of the afternoon watching the ferry toeing and frowing and the harbour masters guiding boats into the harbour. Yarmouth is a very energetic place full of interesting sailors and a few motor cruisers. In fact we met someone in Bembridge who said he was excited to see a Broom 30 having made its way this far!!
July 28th- The adventure continues from Shoreham to Bembridge, Isle of Wight
Have had some internet issues so these next posts are obviously time lagged!!
Up early to ail for a 6hr trip to Bembridge Harbour, on the Isle of Wight. The sea was a millpond coming out of Shoreham and continued for most of the trip, with it only getting choppy near to the Solent. As it was so still the crew were having trouble keeping awake and were regularly catnapping between times on the Helm. Capt Stan allowed 1st mate Hannah to have the helm for most of the trip allowing him to doze away quite happily dreaming of the waves to come! Seasick Molly and I were quick to position ourselves in the favoured bed in the bow. There was little to see as we were too far from the shore and a mist had settled on the distance, so an expanse of Lobster pots and the aft of Bonny Rose were the most exciting visions.
Bembridge is protected by 3 forts which after coming through you then need to follow a course of Buoys into the harbour that keeps sailors from the high sill that protects the beach head at Low Tide. Having arrived outside Bembridge harbour, the master was called and we were told to anchor till High Water as the sill was very difficult to manoeuvre at that time and we could get stuck. So we rafted to Bonny Rose who anchored for both of us and 1st mate Hannah was the first to jump in to the sea (with a little help from myself!) Feeling left out the crews of both boats and Capt Stan jumped in as well. While Capt David of Bonny Rose took to his dinghy as one should! Seasick Molly decided to watch from the deck, rather confused by the shenanigans of the Capt and his crew!! Attempting to be serious, Capt Stan decided to look at his prop shafts and detangle them from bindweed. The water was very clear and we could see the bottom for 8ft. After a fair time in, everyone went to clean up and we decided to make our way into the harbour, led by a sailing boat that got stuck half way by his keel. Oh Dear!! We waved as we sailed past and suggested perhaps a longer wait, which I am sure was appreciated by the crew of the sailing boat!!
The Harbour was full when we arrived and the Harbour master had thoughtfully gone home so we rafted against Bonny Rose who also had to raft alongside another larger boat and set off to scavenge for food before it was too late. Bembridge Harbour or rather Duver marina which is within the harbour is very lovely and quaint, with plenty to see. Everything is a far walk away but you are very near the dunes and can fish off the side for lobster and crab. The harbour is split with one way going to St Helen’s a small village and Bembridge village, which is a bit larger. Walking to St Helen’s you walk along a causeway that divides the harbour and is a beautiful site with some fantastic wild flowers and a few select ducks to lead the way. After walking into St Helen’s we found a terrific pub full of local life and very friendly, where I got to enjoy an amazing fish pie stuffed full of Prawns, mussels, oysters and salmon. Stuffed to our hearts content the ladies of both crews decided a chocolate feast was required which the Capt’s Stan and David watched us eat in disgust. (Though I am sure there was some secret envy as well!)
Finishing our time at the pub and having decided on our movements for the next day. The intrepid travellers went back to the moorings minus torches and in the very dark night. With the Capt’s Stan and David leading the way and the crews feeling their way back after having been left behind. We finally made it back to our beds for a good night’s sleep.
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