Delivery Trip Part 2

The next day and a fair tide was to be had about 10:30 so we didn't rush to get up but did wake up to a good bit less wind and a more favourable looking sky. We had a bit of breakfast and provisionally planned to try for Weymouth which we hoped to reach around midnight. After hanging round a bit we decided to push off about 09:30 since we would be pushing a bit of flood but it would give us longer to get down the Solent. Leaving Sparkes was much less of a drama and we got away smoothly and started down the main Chichester channel again. There really was not much wind and we found ourselves motoring into a very gentle westerly. The various landmarks of the Solent slipped past and even speeded up a bit once past the Horse Sand Fort when the tide turned in our favour.

Just about lunch time we were passing Osborne bay and the house where Queen Victoria lived. Now it seems to be a very popular lunchtime anchorage but we continued on towards Cowes. I was down below making toasted cheese when we sensed that the wind was starting to fill in. Out came the jib and off went the engine so we could pass the home of yachting in proper style. We proceeded to have a great sail down the western solent with lots of tacks being crossed and even a session with a thing called boatphotos who take pictures of boats on spec and publish them on a website where you can then buy them.

With a strong spring tide under us and a good force 4 to 5 we fairly whistled down the Solent. The only two moments of minor drama were when we encountered a surprising but short lived tide rip just off Yarmouth and then just as we were in the Needles channel another boat avoiding action didn't work for him and we were forced to make a hasty tack from starboard to port. As we raced down towards the famous chalk escarpment of the Needles I took a decision and floated it to the other two which was that we should carry on past Portland Bill and aim for Torbay rather than Weymouth. A bit of discussion and we agreed on this. I also suggested we try two six hour night watches rather than the more conventional three. In retrospect I am not sure about the wisdom of it. Mostly it was nice to get a full six hours sleep but when 0400 came round I couldn't help reflecting that I would be getting relieved at that point rather than facing another two hours.

Anyway, that was for later. First we tacked right off the lighthouse but could only lay the entrance of Poole wit the persistent westerly. We arrived off Bournmouth about six and I set a course offshore and instructed Matthew to hold it for a good ten miles or so to give us plenty of offing to make it to the Bill. I then retired below. A few hours later I felt the boat change course and definitely slow down. A bit later on still and the engine came on. Finally, about two hours later I came up with us about ten miles south of St. Albans head and no wind whatsoever. The tide had definitely turned against us.

The weather was not so nice either. The wind persisted on it's absence apart from a very small puff from due west and bands of rain made themselves known as well so it was down to a monotonous chug first up to Portland Bill and then across Lyme bay. It seemed to take forever to get round the Bill but then I felt like a cork being popped out of a bottle as it seemed the next time I looked the light was some ten miles behind us. Six came around and I woke Matthew up and retired back to the forward cabin.

About three hours later I heard the jib being got out and the engine died. We were sailing again. I dozed for another hour or so and came on deck to see the Devon coatline ahead of us. The wind was freshening and I suggested we bear off a bit to make for Dartmouth rather than Torbay. There followed a lovely fast reach though she became a bit overpressed as neither of us really wanted to put a reef in. Then we were coming in past the Mew Stone and had arrived back in very familiar waters. For the first time we were in a boat too big to go on the small boat pontoon just outside the Dartmouth Yacht Club and we tied up to the 'DL' pontoon just above the Town Quay. After a bit of a rest, we rushed ashore for showers and a celebratory lunch and drink in the DYC. We were out of time as we were faced with a mammoth train ride to get back to pick up the car in Emsworth so made plans to move her on to Torpoint the following weekend.

It was great to finally use Sarah G for the sort of passage making we aquired her for and our faith in her also increased, the bit where we were overpressed on the approach to Dartmouth was particularly instructive as she became quite heavy on the helm but not unmanageable though I do usually work to not hang onto too much sail as the wind rises. All in all, a very good time was had though we would have preferred more consistent winds and less rain that is the sort of thing you have to put up with in UK waters.