Solent Sailing

by Andrew Kazimirski

A three-day cruise in the Solent in the spring was what Anne-Marie and I wanted - and Gerry and Mary kindly provided one on Blue Scherzo, their Sadler 32 moored at Spider Lake. A relatively new skipper, I hesitate to reveal how hospitable and competent Gerry is, for fear of it getting harder to get a berth on his boat!

Finding Blue Scherzo on the Hardway Sailing Club Pontoon was pretty easy, and Lymington sounded an appropriate destination for a sunny day with the prospect of light or nonexistent winds. In fact we motored all the way with a flat sea, the cruise thus starting very quietly and undemandingly. That suited us very well while we were only slowly getting our sea legs. The Solent was lovely in the sunshine and the arrival at Lymington Yacht Haven was straightforward. We easily spotted the ferries plying between Yarmouth and Lymington, then the Racing Platform and finally the red beacon "Jack-in-the-Basket" showing us the way in.

A walk to the town for browsing in the shops and enjoying the sunshine in a tourist-like fashion was a very nice way to spend the late afternoon. Lymington is a stylish sailing centre which has preserved its old world charm, ideal for a stroll ashore. The Yacht Haven's excellent clubhouse provided great views over the harbour as well as a palatable dinner. If you ever get a chance to hear Mary's travel tales they will make your hair stand on end!

The next day the theme was still "relax and unwind, definitely no rush". Back to the town in the morning and a serious purchase: a good Gill jacket for Anne-Marie at last. What better plan then than to head for the Hamble after a delightful leisurely lunch in the cockpit. Now it was time to sail and put the crew through their paces, negotiating the shipping and avoiding the Bramble Bank. Everything went like clockwork except a slight confusion between Hamble Point Marina and Port Hamble - surely dear readers that must have happened to some of you??!! If you like Lymington you probably like Hamble too, very similar places in lots of ways. However, I have to report that in May 2004 neither the showers nor the bar at Hamble Point Marina rated more than 1* whilst Lymington Yacht Haven rated 3*** if not 4****.

Monday brought a change in the weather and to the general character of the cruise. Winds up to Force 6 and mostly clouds represented a challenge for Gerry and I, but a definite stay down below for Mary and Anne-Marie. The sail back to Portsmouth Harbour was exhilarating with the wind behind us. We experimented, trying alternately mainsail furled and headsail furled, finishing with an incredible near planing arrival at the harbour entrance. What a contrast to how the cruise had commenced! We needed to make a landing on Hardway pontoon to offload gear, more easily said than done in fairly wild conditions. I hailed a man on the pontoon who took a line from the bow and we managed to winch our way in. Once there we realised a halyard had caught round the radar reflector necessitating the crew winching the skipper up the mast. Once more I was in great admiration of Gerry - in view of his newness as skipper, I found his clarity of command and seamanship generally quite extraordinary.

Our things safely stored in the cars it was off to Spider Lake to moor in time for the water taxi to pick us up on its last run of the day. A huge thank you to Gerry and Mary for a superb Solent cruise!