Kalessin of Orwell: Beautiful Beaulieu

On our competent crew course mentioned in the previous post, our colourblind instructor Roger refused to take us into the Beaulieu river, despite its beauty, because he said it was too expensive. Perhaps that's why I have always had a slight hankering to go there. Nowadays as well as the many moorings there is also a marina at Buckler's Hard and that's where we went, although in the end Sam was so worn out by his adventures in Gosport that he didn't get off the boat.

It was another short voyage from Gosport with only about 40 minutes of actual sailing before the wind died yet again, and then a gentle motor up the river with the last of the flood. It is indeed very beautiful, and rather expensive. We were on the work pontoon which would have been a good option to get Sam ashore. I was disappointed by the walks around the area though. On Monday 28th, our arrival day, I went for a short walk after dinner (and after Sam had gone to bed at 8.30pm) but found that the path to Beaulieu itself was awash with puddles in places, and had high hedges on both sides and no view of the river. I'd just managed to divert down to the waterside to take the photo below when the heavens opened and I was totally soaked. Remembering that the boat had most of its hatches open, I tucked my phone into my knickers and started running back, but my eyes were so full of water I couldn't see at all, and had to slow down. Fortunately David had managed to close all the hatches although things were a bit damp. Not as wet as me though.

Upper Beaulieu river, 10 seconds before the rain started

Tuesday was fortunately grey and cool so I was able to work on the CA Newsletter, which took a large chunk of the day. I'd been hoping to meet up with Peta, the CA's PR lady, who lives close by, but in the end she was too busy which was perhaps just as well. By 3pm I'd sent off the PDF and thought perhaps I'd stride off down the Solent Way towards Gins Farm. That proved just as dull as the path in the other direction however, so I returned to Buckler's Hard and did a bit of tourism. I got two discounts in the museum, one for being old and one for being on a boat, so it was worth visiting.