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