Gary Broughton

Daytime sea breeze died quickly to almost complete calm. Everything’s well lit which makes this quite an easy evening trip.

Once the wind filled in as we travelled east in the Solent, this became one of my favourite legs of our trip. Sally loves a close reach in 15-20 knots of wind. My contribution was providing weight on the rails (and to watch for cruise ships). Lovely visitor mooring and welcome at Royal Southern Yacht Club.

Shallow bar in the Beaulieu entrance channel but the current depth is on the harbour website. Takes about 30-40 mins to motor to the marina. Henry’s Pub is v nice. Marina is the perfect venue for a picnic on deck.

A lovely kite run until the breeze disappeared in the last half-hour off Fishbourne. Strong tide off Cowes where we started sailing backwards on approach to the yacht channel. Great visitor mooring at Shepards Marina. Sheltered, nice showers. Dinner at Island Sailing Club (or a small starter in my case), a drink at RORC and another at the Union Inn. Breakfast in town before heading off. Perfect spot!