Helen of Hamble sails to Poole for the first time
We really wanted to go to the Poole OGA rally this year with our boat Helen of Hamble. In the twenty five years that we have been sailing in the Solent waters we have never been past Hurst Castle, so together with Mike and J in Roma we sailed from the Hamble river on Thursday evening down to Yarmouth in a south westerly, on the nose as usual, to overnight so that we could leave for Poole in the morning on the ebb tide.
We had an idyllic sail across Christchurch Bay with a gentle south easterly blowing, arriving in Studland Bay about 1130 where we anchored with other gaffers for lunch in the warm sunshine.
However as it was becoming uncomfortable in the bay, with the easterly onshore breeze, we left Studland Bay, and the invite to the BBQ in the evening on the beach, and sailed off to enter Poole harbour about 1300. We headed for a quieter spot in the harbour called South Deep where we anchored for the night, along with several other gaffers anchored there.
Saturday morning was very leisurely with a lovely fried breakfast and coffee on Coriander; later Mike Warren and I were invited by Mike and Janet aboard Passager for the Gaffers race in the afternoon. We motored out to the start to find the wind 20 gusting 30 knots, so a reef and small headsail was decided upon, and I must say that Passager is a lovely steady boat in those conditions. I was the camera man taking action shots of the race . Mike Gurney got the timing just right and we were first to the start line with the three other boats hot on our heels, Susan J, Charlotte Elizabeth and Corncockle, we reached the first mark still ahead but by the second they had caught us up with Susan J gybing and rounding the mark first, but all the boats were so close, and some were carrying too much canvas, I thought, so that there was nearly a coming together. We then headed for a mark off Bournemouth Pier and having rounded it we hardened up for the beat back to a mark off Studland, and this is where the other three boats left Passager behind and after the third or fourth tack we were getting nowhere, so the skipper called it a day and we motor sailed back in good time for the evening meal.
Saturday morning was very leisurely with a lovely fried breakfast and coffee on Coriander; later Mike Warren and I were invited by Mike and Janet aboard Passager for the Gaffers race in the afternoon. We motored out to the start to find the wind 20 gusting 30 knots, so a reef and small headsail was decided upon, and I must say that Passager is a lovely steady boat in those conditions. I was the camera man taking action shots of the race . Mike Gurney got the timing just right and we were first to the start line with the three other boats hot on our heels, Susan J, Charlotte Elizabeth and Corncockle, we reached the first mark still ahead but by the second they had caught us up with Susan J gybing and rounding the mark first, but all the boats were so close, and some were carrying too much canvas, I thought, so that there was nearly a coming together. We then headed for a mark off Bournemouth Pier and having rounded it we hardened up for the beat back to a mark off Studland, and this is where the other three boats left Passager behind and after the third or fourth tack we were getting nowhere, so the skipper called it a day and we motor sailed back in good time for the evening meal.
The weather was getting worse through Saturday with a rising wind and a risk of rain on the way, we were picked up from our boats by Dan and Mike Shaw in Susan J. The tide was quite strong and Dan was a master boatman to pick us all up from our boats that were in South Deep, I think I counted 14 aboard and we were taken to the Royal Motor Yacht Club on the other side of the harbour about two miles away. The evening, spent in delightful company, was over all too soon and as we were taken back to our boats it was obvious that the wind had risen to a force 6 and the trip back in the dark was a little cold and wet from spray, it was also difficult to see the narrow channel back to the anchorage. When we eventually got back to the boats it became apparent that one of the boats, a 23 footer, was missing ! A search found that the boat had dragged its anchor about a third of a mileaway and re-anchored itself without hitting any other boats, wow! I slept until 0200 and then took a look outside, when I noticed the boat was swinging around a lot and that we or the other nearest boat, Coriander, had moved closer to one another, so I got dressed and after checking the anchor, sat on the floor of the cockpit for an hour until the tide turned and straightened the boat up in line.
In the morning the wind was still there and the rain had set in, all this had changed somewhat to the forecast we received on the Thursday before, but that is British weather for you. There was a meeting of phone calls between boats and it was decided that a few of the smaller boats would move to the marina at Poole Quay and then we would go back home on the train. East Breeze, Roma, Moon River and Helen were all soon safely moored up together in the marina where we could also see Nightingale snuggled up in a berth opposite, so we all piled over to our friends and were treated to a very welcome warming Sloe Gin by Ron and Beth. We covered Helen up and caught the train back to Bursledon, and on the way two of the larger boats, Coriander and Young Alert, phoned us to say that we had made the right decision after all as they had had a very wet, tiring, and uncomfortable sail back, which made us happier about leaving our boats for a day or so.
After looking at the weather for the week ahead we organised ourselves and our friends to return to Poole by train for the Wednesday and enjoyed, albeit with typically no wind, a nice six and a half hour motor sail back to the Hamble river.
A very enjoyable adventure even if we did have to pay for the mooring and train, but hey it goes with the territory and I feel privileged to be able to do it any way. Many thanks to the Royal Motor Yacht Club and team for a lovely weekend, lets do it again.
