Summer Cruisers Rally 2024

Participants Sue and Barrie Pearson in Fairwind of Dell Quay.

Nobody volunteered to lead the 11 July Summer Rally, but Sue and I wanted to join it and set the dates aside. After a delay due to an unfortunate and excessive admin load, off we went on Sunday 14 July with me pretending to lead the rally, after a coin toss you understand. The rough plan was to replicate Fairwind's late 70's/early 80's duty free gin runs to Alderney, but this time DQ - Studland Bay - Alderney - DQ. Noticing some smoke emitting from Fairwind's exhaust going down the harbour, the cross-channel part was ditched with immediate effect. Great debate about how much smoke there was and what it meant, but for sure Alderney was out. It also meant that crossing Lyme Bay was out. Pity. We then made it up as we went along; first stop Lymington.

The weather was the usual British affair with intermittent sunshine, wind, no wind, showers and torrential rain. This meant plenty of reading/walking/bus riding/eating out, a sort of land lubbers rally.

We set out accompanied by dolphins in Hayling Bay, arriving at Lymington Town Quay Sunday evening in readiness to sit out the torrential rain the next day, likely sitting under our cockpit tent. The rain let up late afternoon to enable a quick trip to the M&S food hall late in the day and a short walk to replace the 4.5kg gas bottle at Force 4 for a mere £40; maybe 66% more than I paid last time? Love Calor Gas Ltd, a really "together' company?
The following day was fair, so a walk around the Lymington & Keyhaven salt flats (a first for us) was a delight with the icing on top finding the "Salterns Sailing Club,' this for children and run by children.

Salterns was founded in the 60's by Major Tony Hibbert MBE MC and boasts a long list of Olympic Sailors in its alumni. I thought it might be a charity of some sort and indeed it might be but given the Charity Commission's Register search engine is so very poor, I could not find the name. Worth looking at as an example of how to encourage children to get involved with the running of a club. That evening we dined at the Kings Head, sitting in the "Press Gang Corner'. I asked if there was any historical significance to it but was met with total puzzlement by the young waitress who I suspect had stopped at the Romans.

Next off to Pottery Pier, north side of Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour. We had a Lovely fetch once we passed Hurst Point taking us to the southern end of the Poole Fairway. The tide was too low to use the East Passage. Pottery Pier was not crowded and as usual, delightful. Must keep it a secret! Our usual trip ashore and walk down the island to the NT café for lunch is always enjoyable. On our return whilst sitting on our dinghy taking in the lovely Pottery Pier beach and general surroundings, a sun worshipper approached and asked if it was OK to sunbathe on said beach. We were taken aback that visitors from the northern parts of West Sussex should be asked such a question by a local motor boat skipper. He apparently lived on or close to Sandbanks.

After two nights there, we upped anchor, motored very gently down harbour to avoid a "heavy throttle smoke embarrassment" and then sailed to Portland Marina. Yet again a lovely fetch across Weymouth Bay in the sunshine once we had cleared the Lulworth Ranges, arriving mid-afternoon. The very friendly staff found us a finger berth for a few days quite close to the amenities (note: the staff use bicycles / electric scooters / golf carts to get around the vastness). For a few days, there was much use of feet (walking) and bus passes. Portland Bill, Nothe Fort (rhymes with nose), the wonderful Hamiltons café way east along Weymouth Beach and of course the Lobster Pot close to the Bill lighthouse with its splendid views of the Race. Weymouth seemed to be hosting a scooter rally with a great number riding around with blaring horns, reminiscent of the "Quadrophenia" times.

The weather forecast included one very wet Tuesday 23rd with mainly SW winds, so we utilised that day getting wet and thrown around on our way back east to Studland. Very wobbly with one of those infuriating forecasts; W or SW 3-5, becoming 3 or less later. Why can't they just say, "we cannot accurately predict the wind strength in the morning, but it will be wobbly going east'? "Genoa only' was a wise choice by the skipper due to the mainly side on swell.

The lovely Studland (must keep it a secret) was reasonably empty wonder why? Good to see that there is a full complement of eco-mooring buoys now, outer ones rated 10 tons and inners 5 tons. Scratch of head; registered tonnage or displacement? Fairwind is registered at 7 tons and 11/100's so we picked up a 10 tonner. Sue calculated that her displacement weight was just under 4 tonnes, so we could have moved inshore, well, maybe a draught of 1.6m might have been an issue?

Much walking again, this time deciding to go passed Old Harry and do a loop over Ballard Down, back down to the lovely Manor Farm tea rooms in Studland for a light lunch. Nervous stop at Old Harry on the way, seeing families with young children awfully close to the cliff edge.

Slightly less, but still wobbly and of course a very wet (again) sail back into the Solent on the 24th with poor viz at times. John Martin said he was going to be at Hurst Castle to take a photo of us rounding the Point. Half way across Christchurch Bay we gave him an e.t.a. so that he could be ready given we expected a fast rounding. We clocked 10.1 knots over the ground in the North Channel. He took this wonderful photo of Fairwind in the far Western Solent. Thank you for the effort John and yes, all forgiven for staying in your Motorhome.

We picked up a mooring in Newtown. Lovely place; must keep it a secret. We had intended to stay a couple of nights, but then after a certain amount of lounging about realised that we would get mixed up with Cowes Week on the Saturday heading home. We did not relish swarms of big, fast boats heading straight at us as they tacked down the Solent as we went less fast east. This sort of thing never used to bother us, but age suggests a little more wisdom and of course, for sure a little less agility. We left Newtown on Friday on a lovely day but with little wind, a Force 3 or less behind us but with the promise of more southerly sea breezes later. Apart from a short section of motoring near the Forts to avoid a ferry and a container ship, we sailed all the way back to our Westlands mooring with the sea breeze setting in as we entered the harbour.

We had a lazy Saturday on our mooring doing some maintenance works and disembarked at high tide late in the day. On the smoke problem, we eliminated many possible causes, leaving a build-up of soot in the exhaust elbow, same in the first part of the 22-year old exhaust piping and hopefully not, but piston rings. Still thinking about the logistics of repair!

It was a good break even if it was short. Sue and I have a very busy week before we are off again with Sue leading the Beaulieu Rally (August 5th), followed immediately by Tim's Round the Wight Rally, Yarmouth to Bembridge. Looking forward to both, wind and weather permitting.

Barrie Pearson
Crew, Fairwind of Dell Quay
28 July 2024