Cruise Reports

May 2nd 2005
For the first cruise of the season, three Wayfarers and a Wanderer sailed to Seaview on the Isle of Wight. Julia O'Toole provided the pretty face; the other 9 sailors were all male and "knocking on"! We departed Hill Head at 1020 and reached Seaview by 1215. It was low water when we arrived so we had to approach the rocky beach with some care.

After getting ashore, we were joined by Roger Rudram and Barry Whybrow. They had followed us in Barry's 24ft motor-sailer, "Hideaway". We ate/drank our lunch sitting on the sea wall in the sun and enjoyed the views of the coast from Portsdown to the South Downs. At that state of the tide and with the clear, sunny weather we encountered, it felt as if we were in the south of France.

After a final visit to the toilets, we set off on the return journey at 1415 with "Hideaway" in company. We made landfall at Hill Head at about 1630 and were delighted to find Trish Gordon and Edie Sampson standing by our trolleys and Joy Wadham sitting ready to drive the tractor. A memorable first cruise and a great way to spend May Bank Holiday Monday.

(Photographs taken during this cruise are available here.)

June 25th 2005
Three members took part: David Farr, Bill Oswald and Martyn Sandford. One other member pitched up but his sailing partner unfortunately did not.

We took Bill's GP14 out and had good sail down to the entrance of Portsmouth harbour. As the fleet review was getting ready and some ships were already in position and others moving into position the Solent was rather restricted. Some yachts were been escorted away if the got too close. We had a good cruise sailing along the coast with good views of the fleet already in position. We left the club at 10am and returned at about 1pm, the wind was off shore generally North West and at a constant 3.

June 26th 2005
Two Wayfarers sailed to Wootton Creek; Trish Gordon with Meg and Peter Cook, Mike B with Tim Wadham and John O'Neill (latter on his first cruise). Weather fine and warm with NE F2 to 3 out and return. We sailed at 1035.

The lead WF (Mike's) was approached by a police RIB on outward journey and advised it was OK to sail through the Restricted Anchorage (RA) set up for the International Fleet Review provided we maintained a minimum separation of 200m from warships. Had we been turned away, alternative destination was Gurnard (as RA extended east to Cowes).

After dead run/broad reach on port tack all the way, we arrived Wootton Creek at 1130 and rolled dinghies up beach using inflatable rollers. Anchored a few feet off the beach was a "mock" square rigger constructed from and old Wayfarer hull and some hardboard. This was to be burnt as part of a fete later pm; beer tents and tables were already in place and a pig was roasting.

We walked the 150m up the hill to the garden of the Fishbourne Inn where, after waiting till midday for opening, we enjoyed a drink and sandwiches/baggettes under the protection of a sun shade.

We sailed at 1315 and returned to Hill Head close hauled on starboard. Mike's WF made one manoeuvre to avoid a Spanish warship coming to anchor. Again we were approached by a police RIB; this time they advised us to exit the RA; which was what we were doing. We landed at the slipway at 1430, an hour before high water.

A great day for John's first cruise; perfect sailing conditions and a great view of the assembling warships.

June 28th 2005
Three of us met up at 12 o'clock at Seafarers, Bill myself and Tim. It was blowing a force 5 gusting 6 so we thought it was off. Bill was working on his GP14 fitting a new thwart piece as one plank had been broken during our epic round the Island trip last year.

Well we hung around the club with other members watching the fleet review proceedings and finally the wind did drop a bit. The waiting eventually got the better of us and we took John Hills Wayfarer out with Tim, John Hills, Richard and I. Bill was still working on his GP and was OK about not going out, we set off in a force 5 and had a very quick trip out and back.

We timed it right and got out just as the Queen was returning from the Cowes end of the review. We were in time to give the official Seafarers salute as she went by. It was a great trip and well worth the effort. Not sure Edie was too keen when we left the club but it all worked out well in the end!

July 10th 2005
Six Wayfarers, with fourteen people, sailed to "The Battery", a public house overlooking the sandy beach adjacent Puckpool Park east of Ryde. The wind was from the NE and, when they set off at 1040, was F3-4. The wind died away as the day progressed. By the time the last boat reached "The Battery" at 1320, paddles were needed to fight the tide which had begun to run west. With high water at 1440, most took the direct route across Ryde Sands. The water was sparkling and the sandy seabed was clearly visible; some had to lift their centreboards.

Two boats were anchored; the other four were beached using the inflatable rollers. After refreshments and, for some, a walk in the park, the boats were prepared and set off for Hill Head at 1420. The wind was very light so the return trip was hot and slow. Fortunately (good planning, actually) the tide was favourable and the last boat reached the slipway at 1725.

July 23rd 2005
The Saturday cruises are not as well supported as the Sunday ones. This particular Saturday wasnt helped by light winds and the clash with the HillHead Triangulation race. But yes we did get a sail this Saturday. Our small band of dedicated cruisers turned up at the club for the official cruise at 9.45 (9.46 in my case as we overslept). As we went to get Bills boat rigged we found that the tyre was off the rim, at first thought it must be vandalism but nothing else found wrong or out of order with the boat. So we had to take the Wanderer out instead. Later found out from Eddie that it had exploded due to the heat and too much pressure on Thursday afternoon, must have made then spill their drinks!

There was very little wind when we set off about a 1 at most, we headed for Fishbourne and kept in that direction as conditions were best for that course. It got up between a 1 & 2 then about a mile out from Fishbourne it stopped and varied between 0 & 1 fortunately it picked up a bit and we had enough wind to get us into Fishbourne with the wind directly behind us as we went in. Had a pint and some food at the Fishbourne pub which was very busy, we spent about an hour there, it was high tide when we left and as we had taken the inflatable rollers with us we parked it on the grass, much easier to get it back into the water than it was to get it out!

We set off back towards the club on a broad reach in about a 2 this picked up and in mid channel it got up to a 4 so we had a very good sail back with the wind direction moving round so that we had it right up our chuff as we got back (Goose winged then came in on the jib only). There was plenty of activity at the club as boats were returning from the combined Hill Head event, others had not gone on the cruise due to lack of wind putting them off.

August 6th 2005
Ten members dispersed about 2 Wayfarers, a Wanderer and a Leader enjoyed an excellent Saturday's sailing. The cruise was to Woodside which is approximately ½nm west of Wootton Creek. This was the first cruise for Garry Butterfield and Geoff Rose, both of whom got in some time on the helm.

The Wayfarers and the Wanderer left Hill Head at about 1045 with a steady F3 from the WSW. With the last hour of easterly tidal stream, this produced an undemanding starboard beat all the way to Woodside which the Wayfarers reached by 1140. The destination, the café/bar attached to Woodside Caravan Site, has erratic opening hours. Having checked that the café was open, sails were dropped, rollers inflated and the two boats were hauled well up the beach; high water (springs) was at 1315. Having ordered their food, the crews returned to the beach to help recover the Wanderer. About 30 minutes later, a Leader approached the beach. Dave Moat and his newly-wed younger son, Chris, were on the Solent for the first time this season.

The weather was overcast but bright. Despite the apparent absence of rain clouds, there was very light precipitation while we were at Woodside; not enough to significantly dilute the beer/coffee. The wind picked up and veered a little over lunch. When we left at about 1330, the wind was a steady westerly F4. This produced a fast broad reach on port tack all the way back to Hill Head. This return trip took a little over 45 minutes.

Overnight Cruise August 19th - August 21st2005
See here for a report of this cruise.

September 11th 2005
Two Wayfarers sailed to Woodside (see August 6th), one crewed by Mike Burlingham, Tim Wadham and Geoff Rose, the other by Trish Gordon and Roger Rudram. The wind was 10 - 12 knots (F3/4) from the north for most of the day. The boats departed Hill Head at 1045 and ran under spinnaker all the way, with one gybe, arriving Woodside at 1145 just before the bar opened. Although the sky brightened for a while, the sun promised by the forecasters never quite appeared. The beat back, accomplished in 3 tacks, took about 1hr 20 minutes, a little longer than the outward leg. An uneventful but very pleasant day out.