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Too wild and Wooley to watch comfortably watch fireworks, but great for Sailing.
Firework Cruise.
October '08 Cruise
Wooton Creek & Shamrock Quay. Superb Sailing.
October Cruise
Sailing.
Sunday Monday Cruise Sept '08
Portsmouth, Stokes Bay, Warshash & Ryde. Great Weather, great company.
Sunday & Monday Cruise.
Remember him?
Keyhaven Cruise
Not much wind but a superb destination and a cracking weekend.
Keyhaven.
The Anchor Weekend!
Three boats - three harbours.
Not the best weekend for an anchor cruise, or any other sort of cruise, although all the crew seemed to enjoy their weekend.
Nimue left left Poole on Friday heading for the Solent, but strong easterly winds confounded her plans and she went back to Poole.
Sea Holly spent Friday evening in Portsmouth Harbour, guests of Portcheseter Sailing Club. On Saturday we watched Lively Lady return from her round the world voyage (SH was the only yacht to welcome her in), then poked our nose out for an hour or so before returning to the harbour, sailing to Fareham and then back to Hardway SC for the evening.
Fizzgig stayed in Chi harbour, motoring and sailing down to the entrance and up to Emsworth before sailing back to Chi marina for dinner on board.
Sunday was pretty horrible with strong winds and poor visibility in drizzle and heavier rain. FG stayed put her berth. SH motored the short distance from Hardway SC to her berth at Gosport. (SH's berth is just about in the centre of this picture - http://www.ashdownsailing.org.uk/AnchorWeekendRough/target11.html
Not Anchor Weekend
IOW Prom Cruise!
Loud music, raucus singing and plenty to eat and drink. Hard to imagine a better weekend.
IOW Prom Cruise!
Ashdown SC Week Cruise '08 - to France
A fantastic cruise.
6 boats, 24 crew, 5 ports visited, very good week.
BS, RM, Opalescance and Nimue crossed to Ouistreham on Sat with some good sailing en route. LJ and SH motored most of the way on Sun, arriving Mon morning in time for the Ashdown water-bus service to Caen via Pegasus Bridge (3 boats taking all crew).
Deauville and Honfleur (2 nights) followed. Opalescence, LJ and MN crossed back on friday from Honfleur, with BS, RM and SH going to Fecamp and departing Saturday.
Ashdown SC Week Cruise '08 - to France
Ashdown SC Gentle May BH Cruise '08
Yet another cracking cruise. With a strong NE breeze Fizzgig flew west to spend Friday at Gosport while Raggamuffin made a 65 mile trip from Brighton up the Itchen River. Both boats saw great downwind sailing in surprisingly warm weather and a fairly calm sea. On Saturday in sunshine and light winds Summer Song came out to play and all three boats met up at Hythe Marina. Fizzgig stopped for lunch at Owers Lake and were treated to a tanker heading into Fawley up the narrow shallow channel.
Monday morning was payback time for the fantastic blast on Saturday with heavy rain and a strongish NE breeze to battle against. Fizzgig decided to suffer the initial wind and rain and were rewarded with sunshine once out of Southampton Water while the other two boats decided to break the return trip up a bit.
A fantastic cruise. On a rainy bank holiday weekend we probably saw more sunshine than the rest of Southern England and were treated to some superb sailing!
May '08 Gentle Cruise
Cherbourg Cruise - May '08
Cracking long weekend trip to France.
Cherbourg Cruise
April Cruise '08
Another great cruise and once again the wind didn't let us down!
April Cruise
Feb Cruise '08
Some Training, a good laugh and a race.
Bit cold but very good fun.
Feb '08 Cruise
Cruise Jan '08
A fantastic weekend with plenty of breeze and a flatish Solent. BS left Port Solent Saturday and Sunday for two day sails, and even found time for a wander round Portchester Castle.
Jan '08 Cruise
Fireworks Cruise Nov '07
Eliona, Summer Song and Blue Scherzo celebrated Guy Fawkes night with a night cruise up the Solent to enjoy the Fireworks from the water.
Eliona spent Saturday lunchtime in Priory Bay while Summer Song and Blue Scherzo enjoyed the quaint charm of Gunwharfe Quay! All three boats then crossed to Hardway SC to enjoy a beer and an excellent Chinese takeaway before setting off. All the Boats stayed at west Cowes and (after a quiet beer or two in Cowes) had the luxury of sleeping late on the Sunday morning before drifting home on the tide.
Highlights? Free Donuts, Eamon 'Fenders' Furlong, Gypsy Moth, and of course, the balmy weather!
Fireworks Cruise Here.
Cowes Cruise Oct '07
Lady J, Summer Song, Transay Mhor and Blue Scherzo sailed over to Cowes Corinthian for the ASC early October Cruise. The boats enjoyed a smooth run West through the Solent and most of the boats Anchored for lunch in either Osbourne Bay or Thorness Bay. (The drunkards who shunned the hook for a run up to the Folly for a beer, know who they are!)
The evening was spent in the hospitable environment of Cowes Corinthian YC.
A great weekend's sailing in the last few days of summer.
Cowes Cruise Here.
New Destinations Cruise Sept '07
Eliona and Diamond Life joined forces to visit Marchwood Yacht Club a new destination for most of the members. The Elionas stopped on the way for a swim in the warm waters of Whitecliff Bay and detoured round the Nab Tower on the way back when there was a bit of breeze. Both boats enjoyed a great chat and a meal in MYC's excellent clubhouse.
See images from the September 'New Destinations' Cruise Here.
Ashdown SC Maintenance Weekend March '07
Agonising labour, barked knuckles and eyes stinging from anti foul. ...and that was the fun bits!
Seriously, all the members enjoyed a great weekend helping boat owners prep their boats for the new season, punctuated by one or two well earned beers at the Ship Inn, Itchenor, on the Saturday night.
March '07 Ashdown SC Maintenance Weekend
We cracked open the sun tan Lotion for the Sunshine Cruise on Jan 13th-14th '06. The plan was a sail up to Cowes to Shepards Wharf, arriving after dark. Beating against the tide in a good steady breeze allowed the boats to pack a great deal of fun into a short distance over the ground. In the evening the crews ate on the boats then adjourned to Cowes Corinthian YC for a chat and a drink. Sunday dawned bright with about 10 knots of wind from the SW to give all the boats an enjoyable, but gentle, sail back. Sorry to the crew who didn't get a sail this time, there will be more boats out for the Feb cruises so apply now! Many thanks to David for organising a terrific cruise, with the Solent at its uncluttered best!
See images from the January 'Sunshine' Cruise Here.
Ian Green has been keeping a blog of Ashdown sailing trips over the past two years. Great images - and outstanding reading.
Ian's Ashdown Blog
The forecast for the November '06 cruise was terrible. Predicted 85kt winds seemed to kill any hope of sailing, and the cruise was cancelled. However three boats thought there was a possibility of a sail, and were rewarded with mainly benign conditions. (Although a short lived 42kt squall set the crews grinning!) Blue Sherzo and Sea Holly sailed to the Folly on the Isle of Wight, while Fizgig took advantage of some superb sailing in Chichester Harbour. (Many thanks to Nigel for the cruise images.)
See images from the November '06 Cruise Here.
The club paid a second visit to France in June '06 when the destination was St Vaast for a superb cruise meal at Les Fuchsias. Two of the boats on the Cruise enjoyed an overnight stop off at Brading Haven on the way back. Although the wind let us down, the flat seas allowed at least one crew a glimpse of Dolphins and the wind gods did play ball on the final day!
See images from the June St Vaast Cruise Here.
In May '06 club members sailed to the Channel Islands and France. We enjoyed some fantastic weather, superb sailing and a lightening quick charge across the channel!
See images from the May Cruise Here.
On a rather chilly mid winter weekend at the begining of 2006 the club decided to stay in the Solent and enjoy an Amble up the Hamble to Swanwick. Chichester Marina was actually frozen and Lucrece, the first boat out (as always), literally broke the ice on her way out.
See images from the February Cruise Here.
Video of Blue Sherzo mooring at Swanwick Marina is here: BS_Swanick.avi(3.1mb)
Ashdown Members: We need your suitable cruise pictures for this page & your own pictures (or text reports) for the members' trips link. Can you help? Conversely if you want one or more full size versions of any images on the site then contact details are here.