Michael Lithgow

It was supposed to be a sunny and calm day. The sun was there but it was also very windy. Average was 18kts but frequent gusts up to 23kts. Solo sailing this weekend. Took a couple of attempts to get along side other boat. Challenging - steering, throttle, run forward for on line, the. Run back for the other, then to the helm and being blown off. Once tied up went for a drink with Jackie and Lily Li. Martin and James outside of them on Cornish Crabber.

Storm Floris came through today - another good reason to be in Ocean Village for the final night rather than Yarmouth. We left at 0815 and even in Southampton Water the wind got up to 20+kts. Out on the Solent it was 25kts gusting 30kts. Cowes Week racing abandoned. We had a relatively pleasant motor sail down with the wind just forward of the beam. The wind at Mercury was not took o bad and after docking we went for a warming breakfast whilst listening to the wind howling through the rigging. A pleasant end to a great few days sailing.

A tale of two sails. We left early to get over the bar. As we went out a Dutch boat had run aground as they had drifted outside of the very narrow channel. They were rescued and pulled off. The Eastern side of the Solent was okay - winds 11-15kts but as the day progressed so the wind increased in strength. By the time e we were off Cowes they were 23-25kts with wind over tide. Penny decided that breakfast had not agreed with her and presented it to Neptune. The plan was to go to Yarmouth but beating down the Western Solent during Cowes week was not going to be fun. So we turned right and went up Southampton Water to Ocean Village - avoiding tankers, ferries and other sailing craft abandoning Cowes Week racing. Ocean Village was peaceful and quiet. We had a lazy lunch and then cocktails on the fancy hotel before going for a Sunday roast.

We were unable to leave much before 1130 to ensure sufficient height of tide over bar. Although being neaps there was probably sufficient. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and egg rolled we lifted the anchor and raised the sails in a light northerly breeze. Once out I to the Solent we pulled up the asymmetric and sort of sailed and drifted down the Solent. We were in no hurry as the bar at Bembridge would not be navigable until 1530. We arrived just in time and motored over with .4m to spare! We were allocated an inside berth. I was a little nervous as there is not much room for manoeuvre around the back and my depth gauge did go down to 0m. But we got I and had a nice evening aboard.

Teri, Penny and Gabrielle arrived around 6pm and we decided to sail that evening I g to the Beaulieu River and anchor overnight. More of a motor than a sail! Only one other boat between the 2 posts you could anchor. Took a couple of goes to get the anchor to set. This was partly due to two old buoys that are of not value but take up space and risk having your anchor chain wrapped around. A very peaceful evening with bolognaise sauce, pasta and red wine to the music of oyster catchers on the water.

Had a lovely morning g on the beach with the grandchildren before motoring back to the Hamble for supper and Euro Football finals. Well done England!

First sail with grandchildren. Spent weekend at Bembridge for their families weekend. Motor across against the tide but arrived at the bar with more than a metre under the keel.

A lovely stop over in Studland. I had hoped for a little more wind on our final day but sadly very little. An uneventful motor sail back to the Hamble

We were sad to leave Dittisham. A great place to stay, tranquil and spiritually peaceful. We left at 0600 with mist in the valley which we thought would disappear once we broke into open water. It did not - 1/2 mile visibility for the entire day. It did not clear till 8pm that night. We were going to head for Weymouth by the timings for Portland were tight so came 5 miles offshore around the Bill and headed for Studland Bay. The last 4 hours were painful with tide against us and making barely 2.5kts over the ground. In by 2100. Over 14 hours. An M&S Shepherd Pie, a bottle of Spanish Red plus a shower in the dark off the swimming platform and we were befitting feel human.

We decided to leave Torquay a day earlier partly due to weather forecast and partly as we had exhausted Torquay. Weather was not too bad - 12kts ish but the swell on the sea was very bad. Coming up to Berry Head we had the wind on the nose and motored. Once round the corner a degree of laziness kicked in we powered our way to Dartmouth. We were undecided whether take berth in the town or travel up to Dittisham and am pleased we chose the latter option. Great location and in stark contrast to Torquay.