Cruise Reports

April 30th 2006

Three Wayfarers set off for Wootton Creek for the first official cruise of the new season; Mike Burlingham with Tim Wadham and John O'Neill in WF9153, Mike Backmore and Derrick Kensett in WF10007, John Hills and Frank Rappini in WF10013. At midday, having drifted about 2 miles into the Solent with no sign of wind, they turned around and paddled back to Hill Head.

May 14th 2006

At 1100 three Wayfarers set off from Hill Head. Mike Buringham and John O'Neill in WF9153 had to return 5 minutes later to re-attach the rudder hold-down line. They quickly caught up with the other boats, each carrying three crew; Trish Gordon, John Hills and Roger Rudram in one, Steve and Julie O'Toole with Pete Bowden in the other. After a fast run in a force 3, they reached Ashlett Creek at midday and took on refreshments at the sailing club. Steve tried to avoid listening to the Formula One commentary blaring from the TV; he had thought to set up his VCR before leaving home. The boats departed Ashlett at 1330 in company with a GP14 and a Comet Trio sailed by four members of the Cody Sailing Club (RAE Farnborough). All five dinghies arrived Hill Head at about 1515 when the visitors were invited in for a brew, a chat and to exchange email addresses.

June 11th 2006

Four boats sailed to the Battery with members of the Cook family in two. Peter and Andrew sailed in the Laser 2000. Meg sailed with Tim Wadham in the Club's Wayfarer. The two other Wayfarers were sailed by Steve and Julie O'Toole and Peter Bowden, and Mike Blackmore with his son-in-law and granddaughter. The wind was light on the outward passage but picked up on the way home. It was warm and sunny for lunch in the garden. They had a pleasant cruise without incident.

July 16th 2006

So far this year we have not had the bet of luck with weather and a number of cruises have had to be cancelled either because there was not enough wind or there was too much. Bearing that in mind regular cruisers turned up on Sunday 12th with a little apprehension as the forecast seemed rather confused with different agencies forecasting anything from 1-2 to 4-5 gusting with no wind at all at Bramble.

Whilst our numbers were a little depleted as a race was also running in parallel we still set out with three Wayfarers with 7 members on board. Tim and Joy Wadham in one boat, Mike Burlingham, John O'Neill and Geoff Rose in another and Derrick Kensett and Mime Blackmore in the third. We were also joined on this cruise by a very young 'crew member': Mike's granddaughter Rian.

The original destination of The Battery was deemed a little optimistic bearing in mind the conditions so we decided to head for Woodside instead. Three boats set of with reasonable wind towards Woodside taking into account a strong tide pushing towards Portsmouth. Initially the wind was a little variable to say the least. About a third of the way Tim and Joy decided to turn back as it the prospects for paddling seemed to be getting stronger all the time. However, just after they turned back a decent wind sprang up which lasted pretty constantly to within sight of the beach at Woodside! The remaining two boats had a very pleasant sail to Woodside although the wind did drop at one stage and I must admit that in our boat we did resort to paddles as we were a bit anxious about being pushed onto a large Tanker moored about halfway over. When we arrived at Woodside we rolled one boat up the beach and put one at Anchor. Now completely relaxed we strolled up to the clubhouse only to find it was closed. Lesson learned (or relearned) is when going to Woodside ring first and find out if they are going to open. We decided to relaunch and sail around to Wooton Creek.

The wind by now was very good and we quickly sailed around. This time we put all the boats up the beach using the rollers. The weather, the beer and the ice cream was perfect. We stayed in Wooton for about an hour watching the world go by. The sail back was a very steady run across which took about 75 minutes. When we got back the beach outside was absolutely packed so we were very pleased to see a few members ready to help us get the boats in.

August 5th 2006

For a Saturday cruise on the day that the Club hosted the Phantom Open, a turn out of 9 people in 4 Wayfarers could be classed as "a good turnout". The provisional destination was Woodside. However, it had recently been discovered that the Beach Café at Woodside Caravan Site had closed. The tide was ideal for Gurnard so, at 1045, we set off in a southwesterly direction.

David Farr and Mike Burlingham took the van with the red-mainsailed boat of Steve and Julie O'Toole and Peter Bowden steadily dropping astern. Andy Cook with John Hills in his Wayfarer World took up a position to port (downwind). Meanwhile, Mike Blackmore and Derrick Kensett followed a scenic route! The wind, initially F1/2 from the west, disappeared almost completely just after midday. Using their outboard, Steve, Peter and Julie caught up with Dave and Mike to offer a tow. Fortunately the wind picked up to a south-westerly F2 allowing both boats to reach Gurnard before the tide turned. The first three boats anchored between 1310 and 1320. Having ordered their baguettes and coffee from the Watersedge Beach Café, the crews settled to await the eventual arrival of Mike and Derrick at 1340. Having left their anchor "at home", two inflatable rollers were used to beach their boat.

Having rested, taken on victuals and "found" the toilets (ask Julie to explain), we set off back at 1505. With the tide and wind both pushing from behind, we arrived at Hill Head in line abreast in one hour. To compensate for the extra weight (they said it was the outboard and a lot of water inboard), the O'Toole vessel flew a spinnaker; the others goosewinged. It was a great relief to find the tractor waiting. Even though she was there to help recover the rescue boats used for the Phantom Open, Joy (Mrs Commodore) was too kind hearted to allow some tired (and elderly) cruisers to drag their heavy boats up the beach - bless her.

Overnight Cruise 12th/13th August

The extensive report can be found here.

Overnight Cruise 24th/26th August

The extensive report can be found here.

August 27th 2006

While many of the cruising fraternity were away at Newtown, one crew left behind decided to make the best of the temporary lull in the wind. Pete Bowden with Steve and Julie O'Toole set of for Wootton Creek at about 1030. After a reasonably fast crossing, taking less than an hour, they arrived before the Fishbourne Inn opened. They wandered around to the Wightlink terminal to replenish with coffee and doughnuts. They set off back at approximately 1330 and reached Hill Head at about 1500, just before the strong winds returned.

September 10th 2006

Three Wayfarers sailed to the Battery. WF10007 (Derrick Kensett, Mike Blackmore and Mike's granddaughter, Rian) and WF2906 (Pete Bowden, Julie and Steve O'Toole) took the direct route. WF10013 (John Hills, Geoff Rose, Trish Gordon) took the scenic route arriving about 45 minutes later. The staff of the Battery were having an off day; "just like Fawlty Towers" Steve recalls. Shortly before the Wayfarers set sail to return, the crews were joined by Clive Dakin and Gill Butt who had sailed over in their Westerly Merlin, 'Kylara', with a couple of family members.

September 17th 2006

Doing their best to win this year's "we went on most cruises" trophy, Julie, Steve and Pete were there again with Mike and Derrick - the other serious contenders for the trophy. The two boats took about 90 minutes to reach Wootton Creek. The lack of wind when they set off to return meant that they had to row to avoid conflict with the ferry. Eventually the wind picked up to force 3 and they made it back to Hill Head by 1530.

September 24th 2006

Guess who went on the final cruise of the season? Yes, of course it was Julie, Steve and Pete in one Wayfarer with Mike and Derrick in the other. Wootton Creek was their destination, which they achieved. They were safely back at Hill Head by 1530.