A couple of weeks ago Lapwing Paul and myself struck out East in Lapwing. Lapwing is a bilge keel Corribee and is no stranger to to the posts on this blog. On Saturday 8th July Paul brought Lapwing to the end of the pier and we loaded up with beer, cider, rum and some other stuff. We caught the Easterly going tide late afternoon. We had a very loose plan which involved trying to go to places we hadn't been before.
We put this plan into action straight away by going to Keyhaven. I had anchored at Hurst before but never been down the river to Keyhaven.
The sailing club at Keyhaven is very friendly and there is a great pub across the road. Unfortunately we'd missed the time for food at both. The moorings are for and aft and although it was a calm night anyway, it did seem well sheltered.
The next morning we slinked off to Cowes to kill some time before moving on to Bembridge. Because of the tide times it was working really well. We were abl to stagger our journey East giving us time to enjoy stops on the way while we waited for the tide to turn again.
While there 'Islay Mist' came in. Islay Mist had recently been sold by one of our club members and the new owners were sailing her back to the East coast. Funnily enough, she had come from the East coast when Pat bought her.
The time to leave Cowes came around and we pointed Lapwing out of the Medina, passing the new break water and back into the Solent where an enormous motor yacht was at anchor. Not sure how an honest wage pays for something like this ;)
The crossing to Chichester harbour was pretty straight forward, although with few landmarks a good compass course needed to be followed and a good look out for shipping was required.
Tuesday was a somewhat wet and dull day. as the water slowly filled the creek we made plans to go to Dell Quay for lunch and then find shelter in Emsworth Yacht haven for the deluge which was expected over night. It was a shame the weather was so poor as pootling about the harbour was what we really wanted to do. The trip to Dell Quay was great but getting back to Emsworth was a wet and tedious venture. After a day like that, the cost of a walk ashore mooring and a hot shower is irrelevant.
Wednesday morning came and everything looked brighter, apart from the fact I'd been sleeping in a puddle and had been dripped on all night. We had time to kill so took a dry stroll around the town until the tide was in enough to release from the yacht haven over the sill. Unsure of how far we'd get, we thought we'd be be happy to get as far as Ryde but hopefully Cowes. As it goes, we had a great days sailing an made it as far as Newtown creek, with a little help from the motor for the last hour.
Newtown creek is one of my favourite places but even on a weekday evening it is quite busy. Picking a place to anchor is nerve wracking, as is the moment, some hours later, when you realise the anchor is slipping through the mud. We didn't have the will to paddle ashore so Pasta Aribiatta was the dish of the day preceded and followed by Beer, cider and rum.
We woke early on the Thursday as we would need to be underway by 6am if with didn't want to spend another 6 hours in Newtown creek. The lure of a warm shower, coffee and icecream was enough to lure us across the solent again to Lymington.
It had been a perfectly windless morning so we didn't even attempt to raise a sail. We motor into Lymington, following the ferry, at around 7am. By 8am the town quay was buzzng with activity. What a contrast to Newtown.
