Newton Creek

Time for a little Catch up.. I'm a bit out of sync with this one :)    A few weeks ago John and myself went for an overnighter to the Isle of Wight.   The Tides were at awful times for us to go, I like to get out of the harbour on the last of the ebb tide when going East. This Meant leaving around 2am.  We had our stuff ready and got to the club at 2am... bugger, As this was the weekend of the Super moon I'd missed the tide by minutes.  The tender was still afloat but I knew it was pointless trying to rush to get out.  Plan B.. Have a cup of tea then have a nap for an hour or so.

With a fresh departure time of around 5am we headed out to Ciao Bella.  The wind was a gentle North Easterly which, after a motor out of the harbour and along the East Looe channel, allowed us to head straight for the needles.  

As the sky started to lighten and the Sun made an appearance we felt blessed to be out here.  Our original plan had been to go to Cowes and find some where to watch the England v Wale rugby world cup match, but with the later start that needed rethinking.  I thought Newtown Creek would make a great stop over while we waited for the next tide to take us to Cowes.

We got to the needles channel as the tide started to slacking so pressed the outboard into service and motored in through Hurst and on to Newtown against an ever increasing tide.  

Once in the Creek we motored towards the Anchoring zone and picked a spot to drop the anchor.  I was at the pointy end while John steered.  About 100 yards from where I wanted to be the engine spluttered and cut out.  John used the forward motion to steer us to a safe area, away from other boats,  and I chucked the hook over the bow.

I had a quick look in the tank and although there was some fuel in there I  assumed it was just too low for the pick up pipe to reach.  

I thought there had been plenty of fuel, clearly we'd run the engine hard getting up the Solent and used it all?   I made us a pasta lunch then we settled down for a kip while we waited for the tide to change and allow us to make our way under sail to Cowes.  

I woke a while later suspecting something was wrong,  because we had anchored without choice we were out of the channel and had taken to the mud as the tide dropped.  We needed a plan B ver2.   

Cowes was now out of the question. We would now wait until she was afloat and either try to slosh the fuel enough to fill the carb or sail or paddle to get us into the channel so we could leave when we wanted.  I would also call on the good will of Liam, who lives on the Island to bring a can of fuel over for me.  Liam was a star and said he'd meet us at the pub after the Rugby.  

Newtown Creek is Beautiful and the amount of wildlife is fantastic.. I know very little about wildlife so I wont try to describe what we saw beyond some birds and fish :)  The unmistakable's were the pair of Kingfishers, giving us a fleeting glimpse of iridescent blue as they flashed past. Eventually Ciao Bella floated and I primed the engine.. only to get a face full of fuel!  The pipe had split and was clearly drawing in air.   If we hadn't been so tired when we arrived I would probably of  checked it,  a lesson there.  Anyway, pipe shortened and working, we repositioned the boat and pumped up the coracle for a paddle up to the quay and a walk up the the pub.

After a belly full of good food Liam came over to give us the fuel and the bad news about the Rugby. Always good to have a catch up with Liam. 

The next morning we prepared to head back to Poole. We left before the the high tide to catch a back eddy which would give us a head start going to Hurst.  This made it interested getting out of Newtown Creek as the tide rush in through the entrance was pretty quick.

The run back to Poole was great, we had the wind and tide with us and flew back.  The excitement started as we approached the Swash channel.  The sea state had been really good all day but with the tidal conditions this weekend there was a huge amount of water coming out of Poole and the wind was trying to blow it back in :)   It was like being off St Aldhems.  We eventually made it in to the harbour, there was no point heading for the mooring as it would be high and dry for a while yet.  I turned left towards south deep, just wondering how far I'd get before running aground... the answer was not far :)

Stuck in the sand again I put the kettle on while we watched the mud islands appear around us.  A great sight, the coastal birds were gorging themselves on the freshly uncovered feeding grounds.

We weren't the only people getting stuck.. Motor boats, a Dinghy?  and even the harbour Master :)  We were in good company.

and this is what caused all the grief :)  Great to see, taken from my bedroom window :)