Breezy in Brighton

 Its windy today in Brighton. Force 7 at least with spray coming over the harbour breakwater. We strolled round the town while hoping the weather will improve maybe tomorrow. The picture shows Allan admiring a shop in The Lanes area that only sells plastic bath ducks. There were lots of different types on display. This seems like an extreme form of specialisation, and we wondered about the business model and how many ducks they had to sell every day to cover their overheads. There were no customers in the shop when we passed it and we didnt feel we needed any more bath ducks.

Brighton

This morning in Yarmouth there was no wind at all, but the forecast still predicted a brisk SW wind later. So we manoevered out of the harbour with a helpful shove from the harbour masters launch and headed east. And indeed we did get a brisk SW wind later in the morning, and with a fair wind and a little tide we were doing 8 knots as we went through the Looe channel off Selsey Bill. 

We are now in Brighton for the night. The entrance to Brighton marina with even a moderate SW wind is always a bit of a challenge as the waves seem worse in the narrow harbour entrance than they are out at sea and there isnt space to get sails down in sheltered water. Anyway, with Allans help it all worked out ok.

Tim helped build this marina when he was a student, but its now beginning to look a bit tired. However as always there are plenty of exotic looking yachts in the marina, and lots of static houseboats that never move anywhere but apparently people buy as holiday cottages. Some are for sale at astonishing prices. It seemed to us that a boat that might actually go to sea would surely be much more fun.

Still in Yarmouth

Bonita is still in Yarmouth. Last week when the weather might have been reasonable for crossing the Channel I was busy at home and also had no crew. Today I have come down to the boat with Allan, who is most definitely an all- weather crew. However the forecast is not good, with strong SW winds over the next few days, which would be right on the nose. 

And its pretty windy even ashore in Yarmouth today. We keep getting messages from the Gaffers gathering at St Malo and I very much hoped we would be there with them. However a deadline is never a factor that should influence whether or not you decide to leave port. If there was no meeting at St Malo, I certainly wouldnt set out to cross the Channel into a head wind with the forecast we have today. So we will make a final decision when we see what the weather is like tomorrow morning and while I might go over on the ferry it looks likely Bonita will be staying in home waters.

Solent OGA at Yarmouth

 Bonita has spent the last few days at Yarmouth. She hasnt left the harbour, partly because it has been fairly windy ( mostly SW as in the picture below), and also I dont at present have a crew. Though I can sail Bonita without crew I can't realisticly bring her in or out of harbour on my own, and have only done so very occasionally. 

However this has been a fine rally with plenty going on and a warm welcome from the Solent gaffers. There are lots of old friends here, and though Bonita has stayed moored up I have been to gatherings ashore, been rowing in a coxed four on the river Yar, and crewed in a race on the lovely and most impressive 43ft Nomad owned by Dan and Mike Shaw.

I am now back home for a few days but Bonita is still in Yarmouth in her expensive marina berth. We plan to return at the weekend and hope the weather will have settled down a bit for crossing the Channel

Yarmouth!

Geoff and I left the Swale on the tide at 4.30am on Sunday and arrived at Yarmouth yesterday (Monday) evening at 4.30pm. We had light E or NE winds most of the time, but also a fair bit of motoring to keep going when the wind was light

This is the first time I have done this journey without any stops, so why the hurry since we dont have to leave for St Malo till the end of the month? 

Partly this was because we hope to be here for the Solent OGA rally, and also I was keen to use the fair wind while it lasted. We have had easterly winds for weeks and it can't last forever. Getting down Channel in strong westerly winds can take ages and we have had plenty of experience of waiting sometimes for days in Ramsgate, Dover or Brighton hoping for better weather. So the fair wind was not to be missed. And its good to be in Yarmouth, a lovely little town.

Geoff had to go home on the ferry this morning and I did a few jobs on the boat helped by the excellent chandlers in the town. The picture shows Yarmouth pier, built in 1876 and since much restored. It is supposed to be the oldest wooden pier in the country. The flag at the end of the pier shows that the wind is now blowing from the SW. It has been SW all day today and is forecast to continue for several more days