Foggy New Year

Friday 30th December... Fog, Fog, Fog....that's all i can say about today really! We came down yesterday evening, arriving about 9.30pm and straight to bed (well after a Rum and Coke of course). It's really calm, with amazing Force 0 wind. After a Saffy walk this morning, we spent a couple of hours playing with our new toy....the Parasailor. Did you say 'what's a Parasailor?' According to the manufacturer's website, it's a 'Spinnaker with a Wing' for safe and easy downwind sailing. Still confused?? Well once we've managed to fly it there'll be photos on the blog for sure, so watch this space. Meanwhile, here it is in the bag.....

Thesee's Christmas Present 

In complete contrast to the beautiful weather here during our last visit, the fog horns have been sounding all day long in the harbour. We assume from the ferries, as anyone would be completely crazy to go out sailing today. From the boat we can only just make out the channel markers in the marina.

So we stayed inside for the rest of the day, all three of us fighting for best position in front of the fan heater. Dean started making an inventory of 'things' which he has stored here there and everywhere in every nook and cranny he can find (or not find as the case seems to be).

Saturday 31^st December… We planned to get up at 6.30am, but one look outside and it was still foggy. Our plans to sail to Bembridge for New Year seemed in jeopardy. We switched the VHF radio on to listen to the QHM (Queen's Harbour Master) Channel 11 for Portsmouth Harbour shipping movements and information. By 7.45am visibility had improved greatly and QHM announced the fog alert had been lifted. So we sorted ourselves out and got the boat ready. The weather was still really calm and so Linda had her first practise driving the boat out of the berth.

We made our way out of the harbour, giving the QHM a wave on the way past. After all, he probably hasn’t seen anyone in the fog for over two days. 

Still dredging in the Solent

Once out the other side of the forts we headed south west. The wind was about 6 knots, the sea calm and we took the chance to try out the Parasailor. We could have done with a bit more wind, but on the whole we were very pleased, and we didn't break anything!

Peter the Parasailor

At 1pm (high tide) we approached Bembridge. It’s a shallow entrance and so we can only arrive at or around high tide. Linda was steering and didn’t realise she was a bit too far off centre when the boat touched the bottom and stopped! Fortunately we were only going slowly, and Dean quickly came to the rescue and managed to get us off the sandbank and on our way into the harbour again. Phew! That was a close call. I had visions of spending New Year at an angle of 45 degrees. Typically, there was a boat right behind us to witness women’s driving. Never anyone around when you do a good manoeuvre is there?

Tanker at anchor 

This afternoon we had a lovely walk along the seafront and around the sand dunes on the Duver. We love it here, and so does Saffy.

Of gorse it's Dean

Firework tree

Back on board Thesee, we got festive once again and raised the fairy lights up the mast. Linda had to laugh, she said 'Dean can fly the huge parasailor on his own, but those fairy lights need both of us'!

Well I’m writing this with only 3 hours to go to midnight and the New Year. Hope we can stay awake long enough to enjoy the local fireworks.

Happy New Year 2017 xx

Christmastime

Monday 12^th December…  Well it’s that busy time of year again, but we’ve still made time to visit Thesee.  No need to rush today though so we didn’t start out until 9.30am. After last visit’s escapades we’ve managed to take back control of the Blog from Saffy Dog, and she has had all her privileges removed including being barred from blogging, facebooking, and tweeting !!

It’s rather dull and grey down here in Gosport, but the water is very calm, virtually mirror-like. The fairy lights are going up the mast to brighten the place up…… The Cockayne family have arrived everybody! So we took a walk to view our pretty fairy lights from afar, and in the darkness on the way back down the gangway onto the pontoon Linda put her hand right in the fresh pigeon poo on the handrail. How lovely!

Tuesday 13^th December…  Today started with rain showers and whilst we waited for these to pass Dean gave Linda a spontaneous lesson in changing two diesel filters in the engine (a pre-filter, and a main filter). She also learnt where the diesel shut off tap was, and how to bleed the system. Mmm interesting…. Then we took a stroll to the Chandlery in Gosport to buy an anchor chain bag.

After coffee, biscuits, and then lunch we spent the day doing jobs around the boat, Dean finishing off his security grill fittings for the hatches. This job has been ongoing for a few months now, and I think he is glad to see the back of it. Late afternoon Linda took Saffy for her afternoon walkies. In the marina there is now one pub, one restaurant, and one coffee shop. They all looked very welcoming with their Christmas decorations and candlelit tables.

The weather forecast looks decent for tomorrow, so we are planning to take Thesee out for a sail about.


Wednesday 14th December...  My word what a wonderful day for sailing. The sunny weather forecast lived up to expectations, and we departed our berth at 11am as per Linda's passage plan. The wind was South East Force 4. It was high tide, and after leaving the harbour we sailed our way along the Inner Swashway, and across the Solent to Osborne Bay on the Isle of Wight. At first we found ourselves almost drifting due to no wind, but about half way across the wind filled in and Thesee's top speed was clocked at 9.4 knots, wow! 

Here we are at anchor

Dean wanted to re-calibrate the anchor chain counter and so we headed into Osborne Bay (a very popular anchorage in the summer) and dropped the hook. We ate lunch outside in the cockpit and watched the cargo ships coming and going for an hour or so.

APL Temasek bringing cargo into Southampton

Sometimes it can be uncomfortable and bumpy here, but today was perfect conditions for anchoring. Here's a photo of Dean and Saffy enjoying the December sunshine. Today was one of the best sailing days we've had this year, we cannot believe it's Wintertime. 

No hats and coats today, ho ho ho

The return journey was just as good and as it was nearing low tide we took the Outer Swashway back into Portsmouth to be on the safeside. (It's deeper than the inner one). Time was getting on and the sun was setting, so whilst Dean was helming, Linda took the chance to get this lovely sunset photo. You get a thing about sunsets when you're a sailoress you know....

Sunsets at sea are the best

As it happened, a warship was following us into the harbour. Our mainsail was still up and we couldn't get the opportunity to go head to wind in order to drop the sail. So we had to just keep going until the warship turned off into the Naval Dockyard. 

Once back in the marina we wanted to put the fairy lights back up, as one of our neighbours had commented how nice they looked. Well everybody knows how tangled fairy lights can get and ours are 50 metres long! It wasn't an easy job getting them up the mast in the dark and Dean had one or two (...maybe more) temper tantrums during the process. Oh no....more rum and cokes needed quickly.

We'll be back soon Thésée....you can't keep us away for long xx

Newtown Creek

Saturday 3rd December...

Well here we are once more, I'm getting more used to coming here now. We called at Southampton on the way down today to collect some more rope. How much of the stuff does anybody need. A couple of meters for a good dog lead should be enough for any body.
Any way we managed to get the heating on straight away and the place warmed up to a nice temperature in no time at all.

I managed to snap a couple of quick photos to show you some of the jobs that were being done about the place, it's windy and cold and to be quite frank it's better in side so I retired to the main saloon for a quick afternoon snooze while they carried on.

Some of the Gosport rope mountain

The new lifting davit

Anyway once some of the jobs where sorted out we went out for a quick walk before dinner. I had a great time sniffing around some of the old buildings and the trees after the local dogs, then back on board for my dinner, yummy. Just thought I would have a quick blog while they make their own dinner and then we can have a laugh at strictly. They all look a bit lame to me.

Sunday 4th...

Well were here at last. I slept well last night all wrapped up in my blanket snug as a bug. A quick walk this morning for the usual sniff about and then we were on our way. A cold but chilly day with a nice 18 to 20 knots of wind. Dad ran with two reefs in the main and a reefed genoa for most of the way. The pair of them made a right pigs ear of trying to pick up a buoy in Newtown Creek. Mainly Dad's fault the way I saw it! Mum was great at the helm despite Dad giving garbled instructions. Anyway were here now and safely tied up for the night. Luckily the heating's on. I've had my dinner and watched the sunset for a couple of minutes, (too cold for more than that).
Looks like they want me to pee on the boat tonight as the dinghy has not been brought out for use to go ashore. I'll mess Dad about for a while of course as I normally do and then go back to bed. Pee on a boat...you must be joking.

Sunset over Newtown Creek

Monday 6th....

I had a bit of a restless night although it was peaceful, not a sound and pitch black. We all woke to the the sound of birds calling. We popped our heads out and watched a seal looking for his breakfast (sorry no photo) Dad once again tried the pee on a boat routine....nutter. 

 Mum looking for the seal

Sunrise Newtown Creek

Anyway we had some breakfast. Gravy bones for me of course. We untied the buoy at about 10.30 and headed to Cowes for some diesel.While Dad was filling the boat up Mum tried in vain to make me have a pee on the fueling pontoon, ha ha another nutter....

We had a nice motor sail back to the Ryde area and then sailed back into Gosport. As soon as we had tied up Mum took me for a pee...whoppeeee. Could have gone another few hours without I recon.

We had a nice walk to Gosport to pick up a few bits and bobs and then the pair of them caught me updating the blog...yikes. Hope I still get my dinner.

Blogging Saffy dog

At least my non peeing episode kept them from putting the fairy lights up!

Sea Survival Course

Saturday 19th November.... What an exciting weekend we have been looking forward to. Our boat club (BOA - Beneteau Owners Association) have organised a Sea Survival Course which we are attending tomorrow in Southampton. More about that tomorrow then! 

Today was also a very special day, as our friends Sue and Colin had invited us to stay over with them at their home in the New Forest. It was a cold, frosty, but sunny morning and the countryside views on our journey were just magnificent. The sky was clear blue, the trees various shades of rust, and the fields were bright green with white frosty coating. The colours were just so vivid i couldn't help admiring the beauty of it all. 

We stopped off in the New Forest to give Saffy a quick run about

The weather wasn't to last though. At lunchtime we arrived at Sue and Colin's place and spent a really lovely afternoon with them at their home. They made us feel so welcome. By evening time the heavy rain had arrived, but it didn't stop us heading out to the local pub for a tasty meal and bottle of wine. What a fabulous day we had. Thank you so much to our lovely hosts. 

Anyone for pudding?

Sunday 20th November... Up bright and early, and after yummy freshly baked croissants, we headed to Ocean Safety in Southampton for the Sea Survival Course. A morning classroom session ensued and Steve (our instructor, and fellow BOA member) gave a very interesting and informative talk on safety at sea, and prepared us for the pool session where we would be practising boarding a liferaft.

There were eight participants on the course, and we all arrived at Andark Dive Centre and changed into our oilies. Linda was a little apprehensive knowing she would have to jump in at the deep end (and hope her life jacket would duly inflate!). But all was well and we had a really brilliant and so enjoyable two hour session in the pool. 

Dean prepares for his first dip of the day

Thumbs up from Linda, all is going well

Dean's turn to haul himself aboard

Back in the water again, Linda's enjoying this too much!

Knock Knock, help me in please

Now it's time to get out 

Faking waves.....you need a sprayhood Dean

Huddling together for morale and spotability

Waiting our turn to board, make sure you hold on correctly everyone

Swimming backwards is the only way

Now we have to right the overturned liferaft

After all the fun but serious activities, it was time to return to the classroom for the rest of the day's instruction. Everyone said what a fantastic day it had been, and we are extremely grateful to Colin for organising this event, Steve for giving his time and expertise, Steve's family for looking after us all, and to BOA for supporting skills days such as these. 

At 5pm we said goodbye to everyone and drove to Gosport because we are staying on Thésée until Tuesday. An early night in bed as we are feeling worn out after a superb two days. 

Monday 21st September... Time to dry off those waterproofs now! Not an easy task to do on a cold day. We hung them up in the aft heads overnight and left them to drip happily. Now they are airing pride of place in the saloon and we have been dodging around them all day. 

Dean was working on his davit fixture, having crafted a small wooden base for mounting it upon. A bit more tweaking is needed, so more of this next visit. Then he completed the fixing of one of the new removable security grills. 

There is a strong wind warning for tonight....50mph. We have been told that the wind two nights ago reached 70mph and there were a few burst fenders around the marina, but no serious damage done thankfully. It's definately not sailing weather at the moment. 

Tuesday 22nd November.... I don't usually 'blog' on our departure day, but thought this photo taken this morning was worth it. Stormy skies still....

How are we going to top this great weekend? xx

Yarmouth Weekend

Saturday 5th November..... Today we left home even earlier than usual as we had a busy agenda. First stop was at Baseline in Swanwick for screws, then we headed over to Birdham in Chichester to pick up a davit that Dean had purchased on ebay.  We had a quick lunch at the lovely ‘Boat Café’ at Chichester Marina and subsequently made our way to Littlehampton where we had arranged to view a second hand watermaker.  

We didn’t get to Thésée until 5pm and it was getting dark and cold. We were just unloading our bags when we realised that we (ok Linda) had left Saffy’s bed at home. We had taken it home for washing after our last visit, and had forgotten to repack it. Linda is definitely in the dog house! 

It was Bonfire Night and we had hoped to see plenty of fireworks but although we heard quite a few, we didn't get to see much. Thésée has lots of windows but you can't really see much at night unless you go out into the cockpit. After doing this once or twice you soon get fed up.  

One of the reasons for visiting this weekend was because it was opening night at The Victualler. It’s a new bar in the marina and we have been watching the renovation work going on for the last few months. The building itself was the old bakery/granary used by the Navy in the olde days.....arrr pirates. We made the effort to go and have a drink to support 'the local community', and I think we were both pleasantly surprised with its charm.

Sunday 6th November... Brrrr, it's cold. All heaters on this morning to warm us up. There was actually ice outside on the cockpit table cover. We had an hour or two before our planned departure to Yarmouth at noon, and Dean once again did a few jobs including stowing the new davit in the aft cabin for now. 

It's a calm morning here as we await our departure time

Royal Clarence is a Transeurope Marina

The wind forecast was NW force 4/5, becoming force 5/7 with possible gale force 8 later. Great! It's approx 4 hours to Yarmouth so we knew we could make it before the high winds set in. We got going, putting two reefs in the main sail and a full staysail. Average wind speed at 13.00 hours was 20 knots and we made good progress only having to tack twice all the way. We were pleased with our new found AIS boat spotting skills. We had been keeping an eye on an approaching large dredger for a while, the AIS having shown its destination as Cowes, and so giving us plenty of warning to keep well out of its way. It sounds strange, but it's really useful to know where another boat is heading. 

After you pass the headland at Cowes it gets much quieter, with hardly any boats about this afternoon. Linda likes it that way. At one point we were doing 9.2 knots and having made good time we reached Yarmouth Harbour at 15.20pm. On arrival we approached the pontoon. The wind was blowing us on quite hard and somehow Linda decided to throw her roving fender over the side for extra protection, but forgot to hold on to the other end of it! So it just floated off underneath the pontoon. Fortunately Dean and the harbourmaster secured us and Linda was left red-faced. That's two days running she has been in the dog house. 

Monday 7th September..... Things went bump in the night, and bump all night long for that matter. From 2am the swell started rolling into the harbour and slapping against the hull. It wasn't uncomfortable, just annoying but you kind of get used to it and try to sleep as much as you can. After breakfast we took Saffy for a walk, we really like Yarmouth. It's a lovely little village with plenty of green spaces to keep Saffy happy. Here's a selection of snaps we took on our walkabout.....

Best back gate in the land

Quirky chimney pots

Looking out towards the wooden pier

Are they doing the conga?

A pretty address

How's that for a garden?

Fancy rooftops

Fancy signage

We've been in here a few times...

....but not in here yet

They're always closed

Swell still rolling in

Thésée baby

We are here

We had calculated that we needed to depart by 12 noon to allow a good tide to take us eastward. However, it was still blowing hard and we were being pinned onto the pontoon. Dean summoned help from the harbourmaster, who was only too happy to assist. Dean used a technique called 'springing off' which kicked the stern right out and the bow in, this allows you to reverse out if you have boats fore and aft of you. The harbourmaster then towed the bow round into the wind and pointed us in the right direction for leaving. Usually we would use the bow thruster to do this, but it's not always adequate if the wind is too strong and you just end up back on the pontoon. The plan worked perfectly and we set off up the Solent. 

The sea was moderate but Thésée handled it superbly. We opted for the same sail set up as yesterday and we were steaming along, up to 9.8 knots on occasions. I have to say it was very cold and breezy out there, it certainly blew the cobwebs away. We made it back in 3 hours and coming into Portsmouth Harbour we passed the huge Mont St Michel ferry on its way to Ouistreham. 

Wouldn't like to be any closer than this!

Dean getting the fenders ready for our arrival

Lovely weekend again, very cold but at least we didn't get wet xxx