Laying up Rally to Bembridge October 2024
Published 17:37 on 23 Oct 2024
5 Boats joined the Laying up Rally
- Mandalay : Sarah, Martin and Toby
- Fairwind : Sue and Barrie
- Sante : Judy and Simon
- Hobo : Pam and Ron
- Snoopy : John and family
The week prior to rally I was anxiously keeping an eye on the forecast as force 7 winds were forecast and I had a Plan B up my sleeve. In the end I decided to go ahead with the rally as planned as it looked as though the strong winds would kick in over night and would die down by the time we would need to return on Sunday. Luckily the wind did as it was told.
Mandalay set off on for Bembridge on the Friday to make the most of Bembridge in the fine October weather. Annoyingly the wind was a bit too light to enjoy a good sail across. The other 4 boats joined us on Saturday and had a much better sail across.
Because of the strong winds and the number of people we enjoyed our pre-supper drinks in the shelter of the marquee on the hard at Duver Marina. Luckily the marquee didn't set sail as some of us had feared. We walked up to the Vine at St Helens who did us proud for a convivial and informal supper.
An early afternoon high tide on Sunday meant that we had a leisurely start, and we all wandered down to the Baywatch for breakfast, where we were served breakfast indoors and on plates!
Breakfast at Baywatch
Preparing to set sail back to Dell Quay
We all left Bembridge as early as the tide permitted to avoid the rain that was forecast in the afternoon. We had a cracking sail back although overcast, enjoying a comfortable F3-4 southerly wind. This meant that we were all tucked up back at Dell Quay before it rained late afternoon.
It was lovely to welcome Judy and Simon on Sante to our rally as Martin and I hadn't met them before and we look forward to seeing them on our rallies next year.
Sarah
