I'm sure I'm not the only one who has those days when if it can go wrong, it will! Thus started our cruise to the Solent. The intention was to join the other club boats for some of the trip, which rapidly started to look like it was not going to be the case.
After the traffic and every other form of hold up, I finally arrived at the boat, no provisions yet, and only enough time to drop of my gear before collecting my dad, who was joining me for the trip, from the station. On opening the hatch, I was greeted by water sloshing round in the cabin! Oh great, the boat is sinking!! Up-the-creek before we started!
A tip I picked up somewhere, I have no idea where, was to taste the water to see if it was salty or fresh. Without a thought I shot down the companion way and dipped my finger for a taste. It didn't taste good at all, but I was relieved to find it was not sea water! Good news that she was not sinking, but bad news as the first day of our trip was now going to be taking the cabin apart to find which tank or pipe was responsible for 30 gallons of water in the cabin. Fortunately, the club bar was open, so after much pumping we sought refreshment and food, then turned in for the night.
In due course a loose tank connector was discovered and re-sealed, tanks re-filled, provisions purchased. The wind was light and from the East, so a gentle shake-down sail round the bay and back to the club bar before collecting fish and chips seemed the best plan.
Saturday provided very light wind and also light rain, so the departure was delayed yet again as we were supposed to be enjoying ourselves!
At last, Sunday came with a decent SE wind to allow us to make for Poole. The gunnery range was clear, so a fairly fast passage was made via the inshore route round St Albans head. The wind slackened as we turned the last headland to run for the Poole entrance, but this was a perfect opportunity to get out the spinnaker, which really got us going. After a gentle motor across the shallows, we anchored in my favourite spot in South Deep – a little creek near the islands.
Monday was spent exploring more of Poole Harbour, including sailing up to the entrance of the Wareham River, and once the tide was sufficiently in, circumnavigating Brownsea and the other islands via the creeks that nearly dry up when the tide goes out. We brought up in a small pool just south of Bownsea for the night - this did however mean that we had to leave at 0730 the next morning or we would be stuck for much of the day!
The plan for Tuesday had always been to get into Christchurch. The tide wasn't till later in the afternoon, so after our initial early start we anchored just inside Poole entrance for breakfast before setting off. A brisk SW soon had us out of the East Looe Channel and along to Christchurch. We arrived a couple of hours early to assess the sea conditions on the bar before committing to the entrance. It looked pretty good, so hove-to on the off-shore tack for an extended lunch. Despite the rising wind, the bar still looked crossable, so with the last hour of rising tide we gingerly entered the Christchurch entrance. The channel is very narrow and full of moored boats, but that was the easy part.... trying to find the channel up to the town itself proved impossible... Admiralty charts, Navionics charts and the red and green buoys supposedly marking the channel were all in disagreement.
Yes, we went aground on the mud, and with the strong wind the boat just wanted to pivot round on the spot, which made getting off difficult.... to immediately get stuck on the other side of the six-foot-wide channel. Sensibly, I think, we decided to abandon Christchurch completely, so headed back out the entrance and over the bar. Sadly, this did mean also abandoning the prearrange night on the sailing club pontoon, food in their club house, and my planned train journey back to Weymouth for the GC meeting that night (sorry Tim!). The alternative would have been a huge risk of getting properly stuck up-the-creek since we were after spring tides and each successive tide would be less than the last – we might still be there now!
Once back out in the bay, the strong SW saw us roaring along the coast and into the Solent via the North Passage, seas building all the time! It was an exciting sail with two reefs in the main, and allowed us to sail right into the Newton River (Newton Creek as we like to call it) and anchor for the night. Beautiful anchorage as always, but did the wind howl in the night! My investment in a larger anchor and extra length of chain certainly made it easier to sleep that night.
Wednesday brought more strong SW winds, but as we were running low on beer, and other provisions, we set off for a sporting sail to Gosport. It didn’t take too long as we recorded 7 knots through the water regularly! This is maximum hull speed, so with a bit of tide under us it was a record passage. After filling diesel and water tanks, and purchasing the required provisions from a handily placed supermarket, we continued up the estuary past Portsmouth and found another nice little creek to anchor in for the night.
The strong SW winds did not give up on Thursday either, there was nothing for it other than to spend much of the day beating backdown the Solent to Newton Creek. I’ve recently installed an AIS transceiver on my boat, so had a look on Marine Traffic website to see our track that day – 13 tacks if I remember rightly. Once in techy mode I also looked at the recorded wind speeds for the area, which reported speeds well into F7 territory at times. I am, however, pleased to report that my dad, at 91 years of age, was able to take the helm and steer like a pro for the whole passage! – I clearly have much live up to!
After another restful night in Newton Creek, Friday morning was the chance to make a passage back home… Wind forecast for SE to S then strong SW late afternoon. It was worth a try, with Poole, Studland or Swanage if wee needed to bail out. An 0730 start in order to catch the tide in the Needles Channel and round St Albans Head. Once in the Needles Channel, I was again pulling down the second reef in the main and rolling up more Jib. The visibility was pretty poor, the sea quite large, but a fair, if not just strong, wind made a fast passage to St Albans.
Obviously, in a large sea and with lee-shore, we took the outside route well south of the ledges. On turning to head directly to Weymouth the wind started to increase further. For a short time, we ran goose-winged at great speed. The wind did proceed to swing into the SW and blew even harder. The seas still crept up in size, then even more so, as the water starts to shallow into Weymouth bay. We got sight of Portland and Weymouth at about three miles, which was the queue for the rain to be turned up to max. Everything vanished out of sight again.
Eventually, the Nothe Fort and harbour breakwater appeared out of the gloom again, and in due course, with the waves brimming to the top of the harbour wall, we were able to turn into the harbour and sheltered water at last. On looking back at the wind speed records again, there was quite a spell with winds reaching 45 knots – F9 in real sailors’ language, so I forgive the little ship for dripping seawater over seemingly everything inside! Fortunately, the next morning was good and sunny, and allowed everything to be packed up properly in the dry.
So, starting seemingly up-the-creek, then navigating creeks, then nearly getting stuck right-up-the-creek, we spent some good nights up creeks, and despite the creaking ship, the creaking crew and I made it back make safe and sound. On reflection, a very good voyage!
Paul Burger, WINTERS MAID
Submitted on 20th July 2023