Oh ello :)

Well Ciao Bella may still be kicking back with her feet up on the front lawn but I have managed to sneak out for a few days.

A couple of weeks ago Lapwing Paul and myself struck out East in Lapwing.  Lapwing is a bilge keel Corribee and is no stranger to to the posts on this blog.  On Saturday 8th July Paul brought Lapwing to the end of the pier and we loaded up with beer, cider, rum and some other stuff. We caught the Easterly going tide late afternoon.   We had a very loose plan which involved trying to go to places we hadn't been before.
We put this plan into action straight away by going to Keyhaven.   I had anchored at Hurst before but never been down the river to Keyhaven.

The sailing club at Keyhaven is very friendly and there is a great pub across the road.  Unfortunately we'd missed the time for food at both.  The moorings are for and aft and although it was a calm night anyway, it did seem well sheltered.
The next morning we slinked off to Cowes to kill some time before moving on to Bembridge.  Because of the tide times it was working really well.  We were abl to stagger our journey East giving us time to enjoy stops on the way while we waited for the tide to turn again.

I like Cowes, it is good value compared to the likes of Lymington and Yarmouth.  There is always space and the town is a funny mix of boat people, locals and tourists.  We had a proper lunch to make up for the lack of food the night before and took it easy.  Ice cream as always was high on the agenda.  This launched a week long pondering over who the famous late film producer from the Isle of Wight ice cream family was.
While there 'Islay Mist'  came in. Islay Mist had recently been sold by one of our club members and the new owners were sailing her back to the East coast.  Funnily enough, she had come from the East coast when Pat bought her.
The time to leave Cowes came around and we pointed Lapwing out of the Medina, passing the new break water and back into the Solent where an enormous motor yacht was at anchor.  Not sure how an honest wage pays for something like this ;)

The journey to Bembridge was very pleasant, passing the splendour of Barton Manor, Osborne House and the faded glory of Ryde with the hovercraft belting backwards and forwards.  One of the enjoyable things about going to a new destination is planning the approach.  Bembridge has a definate channel to follow and we didn't want to mess it up.

Bembridge harbour itself is lovely.  Most of it dries at low tide giving a twice daily change of scenery. We took the footpath up to St Helens and tried a couple of local 'Goddards' beers.  Good beer which helped to wash down the good food.  Back on board we had a reasonably early night as the tide to Chichester would be quite early.
The crossing to Chichester harbour was pretty straight forward, although with few landmarks a good compass course needed to be followed and a good look out for shipping was required.

 We entered Chichester harbour almost before we knew it.  The conditions had been pretty good.  Not really knowing the harbour or how quick the water disappears, we made our way toward Bosham.  The harbour is a sprawling network of channels which invite you to explore.  Not far into the harbour we spotted this wonderful Corribee which had been converted to junk rig by  Spence, it's owner.

At Bosham we picked up a mooring not far from the sailing club.   After consulting the almanac I phone the club to see what the score was with visitor buoys.  I started to say 'Hello, we've just arrived at Bosham' when a voice came back and just said 'bos'm. I guess I've been told.   Anyway, the mooring were someone else's responsibility.  A chap was swimming out to his boat and said, so long as we were gone by midday on Monday, we could use his mooring... sweet :)

BoSHam is a beautiful place although there is not a lot there.   We had a cracking steak and chips at the 'Anchor blue'  To save ourselves from sending the whole day in the pub, we walked around the village twice then walked to Fishbourne.. Fishbourne is a place which I will try to avoid in the future.  Back in the bussom of Bos'm we popped into the sailing club where we were made to feel very welcome.  They weren't doing food so we pottered back to the Anchor Blue for another hearty meal.

Tuesday was a somewhat wet and dull day. as the water slowly filled the creek we made plans to go to Dell Quay for lunch and then find shelter in Emsworth Yacht haven for the deluge which was expected over night.  It was a shame the weather was so poor as pootling about the harbour was what we really wanted to do.  The trip to Dell Quay was great but getting back to Emsworth was a wet and tedious venture.  After a day like that, the cost of a walk ashore mooring and a hot shower is irrelevant.

Even better we had arranged to meet fellow Hurley 20 owner, Sparrow Steve, for a beer or two.  Emsworth is a nice looking town with plenty of pubs, but you'd better like Fullers :)  Sadly the last high street bank had just shut it's doors leaving the town with just one ash point in the Co-op.  However, none of these things worried me as I do like Fullers and I had no need for a bank.   Another high calorie high protein meal was taken.  Steak and Ale Pie and chips :)

Wednesday morning came and everything looked brighter, apart from the fact I'd been sleeping in a puddle and had been dripped on all night.  We had time to kill so took a dry stroll around the town until the tide was in enough to release from the yacht haven over the sill.  Unsure of how far we'd get, we thought we'd be be happy to get as far as Ryde but hopefully Cowes.  As it goes, we had a great days sailing an made it as far as Newtown creek, with a little help from the motor for the last hour.

Newtown creek is one of my favourite places but even on a weekday evening it is quite busy.  Picking a place to anchor is nerve wracking, as is the moment, some hours later, when you realise the anchor is slipping through the mud.  We didn't have the will to paddle ashore so Pasta Aribiatta was the dish of the day preceded and followed by Beer, cider and rum.

We woke early on the Thursday as we would need to be underway by 6am if with didn't want to spend another 6 hours in Newtown creek.  The lure of a warm shower, coffee and icecream was enough to lure us across the solent again to Lymington.

It had been a perfectly windless morning so we didn't even attempt to raise a sail.  We motor into Lymington, following the ferry, at around 7am.  By 8am the town quay was buzzng with activity. What a contrast to Newtown.  

 We stayed at Lymington until around 2pm.  Which gave me time to have a much needed haircut and a Chicken Jalfrezi at Wetherspoon. The trip back to Poole was excellent.  We had a decent breeze all the way back and make it back to the mooring before all the water disappeared.  It was great to be back on a pocket cruiser.  Lapwing is a great little boat but she aint my Ciao Bella ;P