After welcoming, introducing and briefing everyone on safety in the ship we had lunch, pasties and soup! The wind was a steady force 5 and the clouds threatened more rain, but we prepared for sea and set off down the Hamble. We arrived at Hamble Point buoy in Southampton Water with the wind gusting to Force 6 from the West. Andrew, Sarah and Tom (this was Tom’s first sailing trip) all worked together to hoist the No. 2 jib. The engine was turned off and we were sailing south past Calshot at 7.5 knots with Tom at the helm.
At Hamble Point, we had put a routine traffic radio call to Southampton VTS, letting them know we were outbound for the Isle-of-Wight. They told us about a large tanker inbound and to give it a wide birth. We could just see it through the rain passing Cowes entrance. We turned our navigation lights on as the visibility had reduced and the wind was increasing as a new squall blew towards us. By the time we had sailed south of the Thorn Channel, the wind was a steady gale force 8. We tacked and sailed astern of the tanker, which now had one of the large tug boats assisting it. This was all very exciting, but quite enough for our first day, so we tacked once more and sailed straight over to the Isle of Wight and moored in West Cowes Yacht Haven.
We all had a good meal of sausages, mash potatoes and vegetables, followed by bananas and hot custard, yum! After we had done the washing up, Peter volunteered to look after the ship while everyone went ashore, socialising in the Anchor, with Andrew and Tom challenging some of the regulars at snooker.Tuesday dawned, with more high winds and rain, so the morning was spent shopping in Cowes. At 11:30 we slipped our moorings and headed out into the Solent, towards Portsmouth. The wind was force 5 from the west. This time Joanna, Alison and Richard hoisted the jib while Louise assisted with the helming. It was all down wind sailing to Portsmouth, with the wind steadily increasing and pushing ‘Donald Searle’ along at over 8 knots. We dropped the jib as we turned into the small boat channel opposite the war memorial and motored into Portsmouth Harbour having been given permission by the Queen’s
Harbour Master. We moored at Gun Wharf Quays and the crew had a run ashore to look at HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose. After a beautifully cooked beef stew, potatoes and veg and then rice pudding with peaches for dessert we all went ashore for ten pin bowling. Les scored the highest with 140!Wednesday dawned dull, misty and very little wind. We left Portsmouth and headed north west along the Solent with Stephen on the helm. As we passed Cowes the wind picked up and we sailed on toward Yarmouth. We radioed Yarmouth Harbour Master requesting a birth alongside, only to discover that there was a ferry on the slipway being repaired and that we would have to moor outside the harbour on the buoys. As there was another gale forecast we turned and headed back and went into East Cowes. Nick arranged for us to have a guided tour around the RNLI factory, where they build the inshore lifeboats. Great to see the skill and care they take in building these powerful rescue boats. That evening we had a lovely meal ashore together and finished off with singing sea shanties back on the ‘Donald Searle’.
Thursday morning we set off from East Cowes and our crack team, Andrew and Tom hoisted the jib once more, with Chris assisting on the helm. The win
ds were still high so we sailed up Southampton Water, following yet another tanker under tow which turned and docked at the refinery. In the afternoon with more rain threatening we sailed to the entrance to the Hamble, dropped sail and motored to our mooring at Universals. We had our last meal together, baked potatoes, curry and grated cheese followed by hot apple pie and custard. After tidying and cleaning we had group photos on deck and then had to say goodbye while dodging the rain.My thanks go to all who helped make this another successful Gemini Sailing trip, well done. This includes Chris Matthews and Frank Pitts for their preparations before the voyage.
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