Cowes and Gosport Cruise May 23rd -26th

With 4 boats booked on this midweek cruise and warm sunny weather for the week ahead, 2 boats headed off to Gosport on Monday to break the journey to Cowes. The cruise briefing on Monday evening was made easy with the two remaining boats and we were very pleased to welcome Chris Boutle and Avril Fowler from Aibrean on their first CYC Cruise.

Tuesday saw us taking the westerly tide from the Bar Beacon where we had a fair tide down to Cowes with a slight breeze from the West and clear sunny skies. Meeting up with the others at Shepards Wharf marina at West Cowes we had drinks and nibbles in the evening sun aboard Sweet Lil II.

On Wednesday, we had a very pleasant 4.5 mile walk along the old West Cowes to Newport railway line and stopped at The Bargeman’s Rest. Shaded from the hot sunshine we all enjoyed a light lunch and drinks on the patio overlooking the river. Returning to Cowes the lucky ones took advantage of their bus passes and the rest of us completed the journey on foot.

A dinner had been arranged for Wednesday evening at the Island Sailing club were we all enjoyed a meal and drinks in the conservatory. The views over the Solent and Cowes entrance were enhanced by the slowly setting sun and we had a very pleasant evening.

Strong winds had been forecast for the Friday so early Thursday morning Teise and Flapjack headed back to Chichester taking advantage of the easterly tide and moderate breeze. Sweet Lil II and Aibrean headed off to Gosport and had a pleasant evening in the Castle Inn. As predicted on Friday we had a Force 6 on the nose all the way back to Bar beacon but the bright sunny day made the journey more bearable. Back at Chichester we met up with the other boats and most of us finished off at the Yacht Club for the evening.

By Clive Bowles