9th March French Invasion
We witnessed the French invading Browndown beach whilst out for our first sail of the 2013 season. Considering the weather recently it was a beautiful day with very little wind. So little, in fact, that Tim decided we needed the engine to get home.
2013
26th March Exciting Sighting
22nm of sub zero sailing with Tim during which we sighted a seal. Winds were 25kts and the air temp maybe as high as 2 degrees Celsius. The wind chill was way below zero, but as they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing. We had appropriate clothing and, I must say, it wasn’t too bad. A bit choppy perhaps out by the Nab Tower, but we were warm. Better off than the poor individuals we spotted on a navy training yacht who were jumping into the water practicing man-over-board manoeuvres.
16th April Blowing the Cobwebs Away
Two days of force 4/5 south westerlies certainly blew the winter cobwebs away. Colin accompanied me as we sailed to East Cowes via a trip up Southampton Water and then returned via a small excursion to Saint Helen’s Fort off Bembridge. 38 nautical miles with speeds over the ground in the high sevens!
18th April The Retirn of Macaret
Now equipped with smart new hood, Macaret made her way back down the Thames to Twickenham Yacht Club. Colin had myself and friends John & Mike to crew. The new hood came in very handy during a period of heavy rain, hail and thunder, even though the Skipper resisted the crew’s requests to raise it for a good 20 minutes.
23rd May 75 Mile Trip
Three windy days in May and a 75 mile trip out through the Needles Channel, round Christchurch Bay and back home. We had overnight stops in Lymington, at the town quay (where we were entertained by Morris Dancers) and at East Cowes Marina. Lots of adventures especially on the home leg from Cowes in F6 NNW. It took three attempts to get back into our berth at Haslar. Lots of fun. Thanks to Colin for crewing.
23rd June Sailing With Gemma
Log missing
18th August Barton under Nedwood to Acton Trussell
Sounding like a hobbity journey in Middle Earth this was another canal voyage on Patience with Rob M. He has changed his moorings to Barton Marina, and we spent 4 days with him exploring the Trent & Mersey and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canals. It was the usual heady mix of good food, good pubs, tall stories and tranquillity that we have come to expect with the narrow boat lifestyle. Photos
29th August Solent like the Medeterrainian
This sailing trip had been on the calendar for many months, being the only dates Rob M could make, and with the Mediterranean weather we were blessed with it, Jan decided to accompany us. On day one we motored to Chichester because there was absolute calm with glassy seas. It was Bank Holiday Monday and the numbers of boats out enjoying the sun had to be seen to be believed. It was some time since I had ventured into Chichester harbour and I had forgotten just how far the Marina was away from the harbour entrance. Our arrival coincided with high water so no need to lock in as there was free flow movement through the lock.
After mooring up we had a lovely evening walk along the waters edge to The Crown and Anchor at Dell Quay.
The next day was equally glorious but with the added benefit of a gentle breeze. We decided to see if the wind would be strong enough for us to reach Lymington. We locked out of the harbour at the earliest opportunity with only just enough water beneath our keel, and motored serenely through Chichester harbour to the open sea. On raising sail we realised that perhaps this was going to be the 1 in 100 sail (where conditions are just perfect. i.e tide with you, wind on the beam, unbroken sun with clear skies). On arrival we tied up at the town quay and were rafted 3 out which seemed to add to the nautical experience rather than detract.
Wednesday proved to be as hot and sunny as the day before but with less wind. After a leisurely start we tacked our way sedately back up the eastern Solent to Cowes. Reluctant to go straight into the marina at East Cowes we had a little river cruise up the River Medina just beyond the folly.
Foe a bit of exercise we went on an extended evening walk (4/5 miles) to Gurnard bay and then returned all along the front via the Cowes Esplanades, having ice creams and beers to sustain us on the journey.
Our return to Haslar on the final day proved to be a repeat of weather conditions we started out with on the Monday. No wind, hot sun and glassy seas. What a wonderful country England is for sailing.
9th September Sail With Gemma Photos
Three days sailing with Gemma in a variety of weather conditions. Day 1 we sailed from Haslar to Yarmouth. The stretch from Cowes down the western solent was a wind over water situation and was very rough. Luckily we reefed just before Cowes and conditions were controllable. We rafted against a yacht called splashdown on G8 pontoon so we had no access ashore except via the harbour taxi. We took the taxi and had a nice drink in The Bugle.
Day 2 started with a beautifully calm morning after a lot of rain during the night. We left Yarmouth just as conditions changed and ran the whole distance to Cowes under jib alone being pursued by a dark rain storm. Safely berthed in East Cowes we had excursions to West Cowes and to the Folly Inn.
Day 3 was another wet day. We set off for Haslar after Gemma had been to the ‘Girls for Sail’ office looking for her lost log book. A very pleasant sail home in the rain until the wind completely failed just off Gilkicker Point and we had to motor from there. Once back in Haslar the sun came out as we tidied the boat and got ready to leave.
17th September Non Sailing Trip
Stormy weather put an end to Tom, Nigel and my annual channel islands sail aboard Nigel’s yacht Wave Wash.
I got the call from Nigel, that he was thinking of aborting the voyage, when on the way to Weymouth to catch the ferry. Tom was already in the air, so I decided to continue anyway, as a reunion of the old Sixth Sense crew would be fun. With a constant eye monitoring the weather we spent 3 days doing all the things we usually do on our sailing trips; having lively discussions, eating good food, exploring the locality, essential boat maintenance etc. except for sailing. I returned on the Condor Ferry over seas described as ‘rather rough’ just before they started cancelling passages. The weather was getting worse.
The Canal duMdi,with Rchard & Louise Photos
Day 1 (27th Sept) Lots of driving to get all four of us to our start point and with vehicles in their correct position to facilitate a one way trip. All aboard Penichette Colombieres and ready to go after briefings etc etc about 5 pm. A short trip along the canal, taking in our first double lock and we thought we'd done enough for day one. We had a lovely walk around a ridge that took in a precipitous view of the canal, then back to the boat for dinner and sorting out of bedding equipment.
Day 2 (28th Sept) A slow start, with a short cycle to the boulangerie for croissants & bread for breakfast, leaving our overnight mooring at about 11o’clock. Due to all the locks closing from 12:30 to 13:30 for lock-kepers lunch (something that took a bit of getting used to) we decided to explore Homps. An interesting town with a rich history in the time of the Cathars. We took our lunch on the move to Puicheric, where we had an extended cycle excursion to find a Romanesque church in the town of Rioux-Minervoise. the church was fascinating being circular on the outside and heptagonal inside. Every thing based on the number 7 (pillars of wisdom). A map reading error meant that the cycle ride was longer than predicted. 18km later we were back on board and heading for our last lock of the day. The 19:00 lock closure meant we could go no further today so as the drizzle set in we moored up just before the St-Martin ecluse and set to on our rabbit stoup.
Day 3 (29th Sept) A hot and humid night with rumbles of thunder and a constant lightning show. Eventually, a weather front came through and it poured with rain, but everything soon freshened up. A lovely morning. Off to Puicheric at 8 on my bike to get croissants. Cast off at 9 and caught the first lock of the day and made excellent progress to Trèbes, where we had lunch. A Moroccan tangine. Back on board we continued our excellent progress, through many locks and classic Canal Du Midi scenery, passing through the final lock into Carcassonne at 18:30. A very neat reversing manoeuvre helped by the female capitanaire saw us berthed for the night in the centre of the city. Filled the tanks with water and ourselves with pastis before an evening walk around the old city.
Day 4. (30th Sept) Caught the bus to the Cité Medieval and were on the ramparts of the inner chateau by 11:30. Lots of history and details of restoration programmes to absorb. Lunch was in the Bastide part of the town which we were getting to know quite quickly in the Place de Garnot. Our second ‘Plat de Jour’ on consecutive days. Unfortunately (and typically) we had hit Carcassonne on a Monday when all the museums and markets were closed. All back on board for casting off at 16:00 to see how close to Bram we could get. We got to within 5 km before we came across a closed lock and moored up just below the lock for the night.
Day 5 (1st October) As its October the locks now close at 6pm. So we have 1 less hour a day for our navigation. Today we have 20 locks to do in 20 km. The last lock is a 4 together staircase and the last lock through is 30 minutes before closure. We needed to get through this to be in Castlenaudray, our target for today. We set off immediately the lock opened and made Bram by 10 am, which we explored by bicycle. Bram is a perfect example of a medieval village built on a circular plan for defence against the murderous gangs that plundered this region during the hundred years war. Once back on the canal we found ourselves behind an English couple in a catamaran and a German family in one of the ubiquitous Le Boats. We shared a few locks together until the 12:30 lunch lock closure. After lunch we were now number 6 in a queue for the next lock opening, so it took us a good 40 minutes to clear the first afternoon lock. Our second lock of the afternoon (la Criminale) proved to be bit of a classic. Firstly the catamaran had grounded whilst waiting for the gates to open and was very lucky that Richard was able to help and push them off. Then whilst waiting in the lock a fourth boat joined us with a couple of Aussies on board. This meant the cat had to move up. There was a splendid show of incompetence by the two English crew on the cat who didn't seem to know how to move their boat forward. Jan intervened to sort them out. The lock keeper was a particularly grumpy woman who wanted the Germans to move up also. When the sluices of the lock were opened the water came in with such force it flooded the bow section of the Germans Le boat and as they had their front doors open their cabin was inundated as well. Much shouting and complaining. Our new Aussie acquaintances were much amused by this and started filming it all. On exiting the lock the Germans stopped to dry their boat off and the English cat also decided to lick their wounds. We never received any hint of thanks from this couple for our efforts of help. It looked after all this delay that we would never make Castlenaudray. But the Aussies and us ploughed on through the very hot sunny afternoon and we did in fact make the very last lock and managed to tie up on the town quay. We were impressed with the Grand Bassinet and remarked on how like Croatia or Greece it appeared to be. We had the meal of cassoulet that we had promised ourselves in the world capital of cassoulet (as Castlenaudray is renowned) to complete another great day in the Canal du Midi.
Day 6 (2nd October) Woke to a sunny day break with life on the quayside beginning to start its daily rhythm. The first day when there was absolutely no rush. We got up slowly, reported to the capitanerie, had a walk round the Grand Bassin, coffee in a nice boulangerie and showers before setting off at one o'clock. After a few locks we tied up in a shady place for lunch and spent a couple of hours over this. A final few ascending locks and we were on the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The first convenient place to stop was just after our first descending lock. Out came the bikes and we went to explore Riquet’s monument (the builder of the Canal) and the local area before it got dark.
Day 7 (3rd October) A stormy night. High winds made the tall plain trees sway noisily. Jan woke me in the night to tell me that she had swallowed a hearing aid battery mistakenly for a sleeping pill. All very worrying. Day break brought a Grey windy morning. The first such day we had experienced on our canal trip. We motored off through a couple of locks that we had to operate ourselves and found controlling the boat in these winds was quite challenging. We stopped at lunch time for a stroll into a town that was advertised to be as attractive from a distance as it was close up! Had another Plat de Jour and walked back to Colombieres, hoping, in these windy conditions, to find her where we left her. She was, and so we carried on through our last three locks and the final five or so kilometres of our Canal du Midi adventure before finding a berth at the Negre Locaboat base. Once moored the wind seem to get even stronger and we were pleased to be safely back under these conditions. Lots of wind noise and even some motion of the boat. We settled down for our last evening aboard Colombieres.
Day 8 (4th October) The hand over of Colombieres back to Locaboat went without a problem. We unloaded the boat and loaded everything onto the camper van. Time to leave Colombieres and the Canal du Midi and so we motored back to Argens via a short walk round Montesquieu-Lauragais and a market visit to the town Villefranche-de-Lauragais. In very dull rainy conditions we retraced our steps and passed many landmarks that we had seen going the other way at a fraction of the speed. Back in Argens we had a final plat de jour (being 1:45pm this was a big ask) at the Guingette, and then we parted company for a few days.
(Holiday blog continued in the Camper Van Odyssey)...
A Wet Day in November Sail
A two month gap between sailing trips was getting unbearable, so I persuaded Tim out for a sail in conditions that can only be described as wet. But as always when afloat - fun.
Moving Macaret for Winter
Spent this Friday helping Colin move his boat to a non-tidal mooring on the Thames, near Shepperton. The annual draw down, when the tidal part is maintained necessitates this. Jan came with me and a friend of Colin’s, John, whom I had met last time we did this, also helped. The rain tried its hardest but actually wasn’t a problem in the end. A very enjoyable day.
December Sail
Wind F 4-6 westerly, sea slight, sunshine. A perfect recipe for a winter’s day sail. We set off about 11:15 and first tried to reset the flux-gate compass by circling twice at 2 kts, taking 3 mins for each circuit, to no avail. We then set off due south under reefed gib & main averaging 7 kts. Tim had friends who sailed an Etap 21 and we met up with them just off No Mans Land Fort for a race back into Portsmouth Harbour. Not a fair contest. We beat them back by at least a mile. <b>Sunday, 8 December 2013</b>