I am a new member and very much enjoyed my first trip in November on Gliding Kestrel skippered by Colin and Sandi. The January trip offered the next opportunity but I was a little apprehensive because I have no experience of winter sailing. However the weather can be kind at this time of year. Also, from what I have seen so far, the Ashdown skippers are an experienced and level headed bunch and so I had confidence in their judgement about the sailing conditions.

My confidence began to be undermined when at the Wednesday evening pre-trip get together I leaned that the weekend organiser Gerry Raby had pulled out due to other commitments. John Alden assured me that the trip would nevertheless go-ahead. Sure enough early in the week of the trip I had a call from Alan Waller inviting me onto Lucrece so things really were happening. That call was followed on the Thursday night by a call from David Norris saying that Alan had regrettably had to pull out due to a finger injury and inviting me onto Whisper. Fine I agreed to that. Within an hour I had a call from Gerry to say that I was in fact to sail with John on Fizzgig. So before the trip had begun things had moved very quickly and I was on to my third boat. Also a friend I introduced to the club had just pulled out of his first trip. Was this me? Had there been any adverse feedback about me from November? This was against a background where the forecasters were threatening gales for the weekend! Should I be concerned that these events were an omen about events to come?

Nevertheless I packed plenty of warm and waterproof clothing and duly reported to the control room, aka The Crown & Anchor, on the Friday evening. John confirmed that I was still with him on Fizzgig, so things were looking up. I also met the 'old sea dog' Bill (50 years sailing) and Richard who were also to be on Fizzgig. Roy and Pauline would be joining us first thing on Saturday. David, skippering Whisper, would be sailing with Guy, Gary, Janine and Mike.

I found Friday night on board very cold and we awoke to an announcement from Alan that there was 'ice on the deck and pontoons so be careful'! Alan was not sailing but had stayed overnight on Lucrece. The good news was that he had come on board to make us early morning tea.

Venturing out of the boat we found a clear, bright, dry day with little wind. So far nothing like the forecast. Our planned 9am start was delayed to 9.30am whilst we thawed out the pontoon hoses to fill Fizzgig's tanks. By that time the frost had thawed generally so we set off with the target destination as Cowes but this was flexible depending how the weather developed. Whisper followed a few minutes later.

We motored out of the harbour and enjoyed a pleasant sail through the forts into the Solent and on to Cowes. There was a chilling but useful Force 3/4 wind from the southwest on a calm sea. We basked in welcome warm sunshine for some time and this helped to take the chill off the wind. The Solent was very quiet with only the odd ferry and cargo ship for company. Arriving about 2pm at West Cowes John managed to find, and manoeuvre Fizzgig into a visitors berth belonging to Cowes Corinthian Sailing Club. This is a small club with a homely clubhouse and bar with sea views, plus shower facilities, etc. One of the advantages of winter sailing is the lack of competition for such facilities from other boats. Whisper moored alongside about 3pm. David had been putting the crew through their paces with some deviations for some useful practice manoeuvres - man over board and the like.

Our arrival times left plenty of time to search for bargains in the quiet Cowes shops. Pauline and Janine were much more successful at this than the men. Both crews ate on board. The evening finished with everyone getting together on Whisper for a round of Whisper Orange devised by David. For those who have not yet enjoyed this experience suffice to say it is both refreshing and sleep inducing.

The night was much warmer and so I slept better. We awoke to find a grey morning with drizzle and little wind. Both boats set off about 8am for the return sail to Chichester. It was important with the still threatened southerly gales that we were in Chichester Harbour before high tide at noon. Apparently entering the harbour on an ebb tide is not advisable. Quoting from the Chichester Harbour Conservancy website 'Mariners should be aware that ebb tides in the entrance to the harbour can attain a rate of up to 6 knots on springs. When falling tides coincide with strong winds from a southerly sector a dangerous sea may be encountered.'

Fizzgig, and I believe similarly Whisper, attempted to sail in the approx. force 2/3 southwesterly. But this unfortunately proved inadequate to meet our time scales so had to resort to motor sailing. It was very pleasant cruise back in calm seas though and there was a strange feeling of emptiness in the Solent. Ever felt lonely in the Solent? In our case we could not see any other sailing boats except Whisper ahead in the distance and again there was very little commercial traffic. Having the Solent to oneself at a weekend is another of the pleasures of winter sailing. Both boats returned safely to Chichester and were moored about 1.30pm. John allowed me the privilege of helming Fizzgig through the freeflowing lock which was very brave of him!

Our thanks go to David and John for inviting us on to their boats, organising us and for ensuring a safe passage. We are also grateful to Gerry for his background work despite the fact that he was unable to join the party. So it was a very enjoyable weekend so what had I been worried about?

On Monday we awoke in East Grinstead to howling winds and lashing rain and the Chimet website recorded 40 knot southerly winds at the Chichester Bar Beacon!

Tony Styles