Haslar marina, Gosport

It may be midsummer, but we have  persistent easterly winds, grey skies, rain and very little summer warmth. No risk of sunburn today! However the easterly wind was less strong than yesterday and I felt there would be advantages in moving the boat to Portsmouth harbour. I was a bit anxious about this as, with her quarter mounted propeller,  Bonita can be difficult to manoeuvre in a marina and there are plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong for the single-handed sailor. Many times my boat handling in port has been saved from embarrassing disaster by a quick witted and agile member of my crew. 

Leaving Yarmouth required a bit of patience- there was a steady stream of motor boats, most of them broad in the beam negotiating the narrow harbour entrance. Bonita needed to turn to port under motor to get out of the harbour, and that needs a great deal of space. Once out we had a pleasant tack to windward up the Solent with the tide. There were lots of boats out racing with their colourful spinnakers.

I wanted to come to Haslar marina in Gosport as I know it quite well, it has plenty of space and very little tidal flow. Also the staff are sympathetic to the problems of handling old boats. Fortunately all went reasonably smoothly and Bonita is now securely tied up in one of the inner berths. We may stay here, like Mary Poppins, until the wind changes.

As is often the case with seaside towns, Gosport seems to get rather less interesting the further you walk from the harbour. It is still claimed to be the ' Millennium town' as it was on our visit in 2013. It's no clearer what that means. 

The picture shows the old Cowes chain ferry which crossed the Medina river for years, now moored off the seafront and looking very sorry for itself. Presumably there are people who buy and sell old chain ferries, but this one can't have much of a future to look forward to other than a trip to the breakers yard. It's more modern, much more expensive and rather more glossy replacement in Cowes still seems to be plagued with teething problems that didnt seem to trouble the old ferry.