That was The Summer Cruise, that was...

Tuesday 3 September—Home  to Yarmouth.

 

It turned out that the extra wait in Brighton had been very worthwhile, as we had a very enjoyable cruise home. The conditions were near-perfect, with flat seas, no wind, good visibility, a following tide, and no incidents.

A slight course variation needed here

Extracts from the ship’s log:

Engines 984, water 1/2, Fuel full, All checks OK.

 Waypoints: Looe buoys, Horse Sand Fort, Cowes, Home.

A waypoint reached on a tranquil sea

This pot can be seen in most seas

0855 cast off.  Cloudy, dry, slight, F1. 2800 16.3 log 15.5 sog, AOK, ( port engine temp 200F, dropping to 90C)

1000 13nm@255T to Looe. Slight. Bright,

 

 

 

  

1030 5nm@257T to Looe. Diversion for  fishing fleet.

 

 

This one is completely invisible at any sea state 

1100 Smooth. Sun. Crew sunbathing aft. Ideal. 16.4 log 17.5 sog. Great conditions. AOK.

1120 Horse Sand Fort. 2800rpm 16.5=. Sunny. AOK.

1200 +3 kts of fair tide. Egypt Point. Flat. 18.5 sog.

1225 Yarmouth fuel dock. Fuel 197 lt, £156 plus vat.

Osborne House, Isle of Wight

 John & Sue, our “shore crew”, were standing by to welcome us and give a lift to pick up the car, which we did after a lunch and a rest. It is always great to get home, and to sit basking in the Yarmouth Harbour sunshine, being welcomed by familiar faces.

 

We took just the essentials home for the first run, and we enjoyed just being back again in “Westward”.

After a  few cups of tea, and a nap, we went out for dinner at “The Hut”, in Colwell Bay nearby, and we watched very contentedly as a magnificent Sun slowly sank into the Western sea, bringing a fabulous summer adventure to a lovely close.

The Sun goes down on "Summer 2013"

 

 

Monday 2 September -Ready for the last leg

Monday 2 September



Loitering with intent?

 This was a very tranquil day, and all the more so in contrast to the lively excitement of yesterday. Gill made a short pilgrimage to the Marks and Spencer shrine in town,

If only they all used such visible markers

 while the convalescing skipper sunbathed, snoozed, watched the traffic, and chuckled at the antics of a nosy seagull on the boat next door.

We had a very nice dinner at “Memories of India” on the boardwalk, and we were ready for the off.

 

Friday August30 to Sunday 1 September - Recuperating in Brighton, and a family party!

August 30 to 1 September in Brighton

The combination of post-viral effects and a hard day at sea had been too much for your blogger, and a period of enforced rest was necessary. Although feeling OK at rest, the short walk to and from the nearby “Asda” was enough to completely discharge all stored energy levels and reinvigorate all kinds of muscle pains and aches, so immediate onward travel plans were cancelled.



Built from scratch by hand 13 years ago

Friday August 30 remained much windier than forecast, although there were welcome sunny periods between showers. Brighton marina dues were £26.10 per night, with an underwhelming discount of 10% after 7 days. The resident nurse on “Middle Watch” removed the stitches from the biopsy of 10 days ago, and the rest of the day was taken up with communicating, resting and watching the ever-changing comings and goings of the marina. No outings.

Recuperating like this

 

Saturday 31 August was a very pleasant day, with ample sunbathing, and no excursions, except for Gill’s foraging trip to the supermarket, where she gathered up the ingredients for another superb dinner on board.

 

 

Pizza delivery

 

Sunday 1 September began rather earlier than hoped, at 6am, when an enthusiastically noisy party of Sunsailers arrived on the adjoining berth and had a lively meeting about the overnight sail they had had. The big event, however, began a few hours later with the arrival of of our family visitors for a boat party.  Michelle and Jason, with Dylan and Macy, and Nadine and Jeremy with Molly, plus ourselves, made a total of nine happy souls for most of the day.

Nadine does story-time

 

Always best to start young

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a welcome drink and orientation, “the boys” were dispatched to the pizza shop, while all manner of party antics were carried out aboard. It was a great family day.

 

 



Tom, Gill, Macy, Jason, Michelle, Dylan, Nadine, Molly and Jeremy