Well a big adventure has sprung upon Ciao Bella. I was contacted a while ago to see if I would be willing to assist Dave Selby from PBO with his 'Marlin's Mission' quest. For those who don't know, Dave has sailed his Sailfish 18 from Maldon in Essex to Southampton to promote the pleasure of sailing small, cheap boats on a shoe string. A task made more difficult by the Viral disorder that Dave suffers from called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
I left Poole at about 11:40 on Monday on route to Warsash. Quite excited as I've never sailed into Southampton water before. The forcast was for very light winds but it was just about perfect. Force 2 from the south gave me a good run across Poole bay and Christchurch bay in 4 hours.
I had to tack a couple of times before dropping through the Hurst channel. There was a bit of a chop coming through but nothing to exciting. :)
Another two hours saw me approaching the entrance to Southampton water. Unfortunately the wind was dropping and time was running out so it was time to start the motor.
The sunset was absolutely fantastic over Fawley. Time to head for Warsash sailing club.
Dave was at Warsash to meet me, as was another Hurley owner, Dave Edwards and Justine with there absolutely stunning Hurley 18 called Womble. I never seen such a beautifully restored GRP boat. We spent the evening in the Rising Sun at Warsash.
The next morning we all set off together to sail to the town quay. The wind was very poor and we spend most of the time drifting sideways so eventually had to start the motors again.
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| Marlin |
On the way up Dave did a radio interview with Radio Solent and a photographer from Practical boat owner came to the quay to meet up and get some press photos.
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Womble, above, is just stunning and pictures do not do it justice. |
Ciao Bella getting dragged out at the town quay slipway.
The boat show stand starting to come together. On tuesday we were pretty much the only people here.
Dave working hard
By Thursday the site was much busier.. we are neearly ready to go. Come along and say hello. We are on stand A134.
Marlin's mission - http://www.classicboat.co.uk/news/marlins-mission-small-boat-voyage/
http://www.pbo.co.uk/dave-selby/marlins-mission-en-route-southampton-boat-show-43573
Good God! Ciao's the featured Hurley 20???! Blimey! See you Sunday!! :o))
ReplyDeleteHehe, thought that'd make you smile. See you tomorrow. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see some realism encroaching into the Boat Show. Let's hope it continues.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark, we had a hoot. Nice to be doing something where there is no commercial sell. Just trying to enthuse and enable people to get on the water. I think the big surprise was that although plenty of people were aware of the availability of cheap boats, they were less aware of availability of more affordable moorings, maintenance and storage.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI am considering of purchasing a Hurley 20 bilge keel. One of the important factors is the width of the trailer needed - I would need to know if the boat fits to my trailer. Do you know the distance between the keels at the tip/bottom, please?
hi any news on this years sailings
ReplyDelete