With constant easterlies, it was evident that we were't going to leave Gosport for a few days, although it looked as though Sunday might have southerly winds. Lucilla and Mark had to rescue their car from Portland and then Mark had to take his dad to a doctor's appointment on the Monday. So on Thursday 20th they headed off to Portland. They both had to go, because Mark had lost his glasses. He had a spare pair at home but couldn't drive without them....
Meanwhile I was very pleased to meet up with Rob Pudney, who worked out how to get Sam on and off the boat way back in the spring of 2013. We also met up and sailed with him and his lovely wife Jo in Brittany in 2016. They were a devoted couple who didn't have children and were very self-sufficient. Jo developed early-onset dementia and died in March this year at just 58 years old. It has been an incredibly tough time for Rob, who cared for her devotedly (and impatiently) while he could, and visited her every day when she had to go into a care home, even though in her last days she knew little of what was going on around her. He still has his Westerly Storm although he hasn't really sailed her in the past five years. We managed to take around three hours to talk of past joys and future plans. I couldn't persuade him to come sailing with me but he is planning to sail his own boat... soon.
And the next day I realised how close I was to Lee-on-Solent and got in touch with Jonty and Wyn, who sailed with us even longer ago, before Sam's stroke, in 2011 in Denmark. They took me out to lunch, and perhaps even better, to fill two cans with diesel, which meant I could leave Portsmouth without having to queue for fuel at Gosport marina. I am lucky to know so many lovely people. That includes my sister who heroically came back down to Gosport on Sunday morning ready for an afternoon departure with the tide. I had been to the office at Haslar to point out that they had only charged me for three nights when I was staying four, It turns out I was entitled to a Westerly Owners' discount which I hadn't claimed so they let me off the fourth night, which was considerably to my advantage, and also said they didn't mind what time I left as the marina was relatively quiet.
So at 1610 we headed out of Haslar in very much nicer conditions than when we came in. The tide didn't really turn in our favour until well after it got dark and then finally picked up speed, although we were just motorsailingin very light southwesterlies. During the night we were passed by Challenger 3, one of the 72ft Clipper boats which belongs to the Tall Ships Trust. As I write this post I have belatedly realised that she is the same boat which Guy sailed on in 2009, exactly 15 years to the day earlier! Later we were passed by the Dutch tall ship Thalassa. We also met Sørlandet, an even bigger Norwegian tall ship, sailing slowly towards us. What a great night for sail training!
We reached Sovereign Harbour around 0330 and despite the usual worries about being able to see anything at all, managed to lock in and tie up in the very empty visitors' area. I also hadn't realised that Lucilla had never been in a lock before. The original plan was to leave six hours later, but Monday was looking a bit windy, so we got a day of rest in this very sheltered basin.
Distance run: 63 miles
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| Challenger 3 in the dark |
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