(Kelpie is a Wayfarer Dinghy: LOA 16’; Beam 6’1”; Draught 3’10”)

I have owned Kelpie for two years now and have cruised extensively from the Needles to Chichester and Bembridge. I have always dreamt of going further westward but the weather usually stops this. As September 1980 drew to a close it looked like I would have to put it off for yet another year!

On the 29th September I set off on a short ‘end of season’ cruise. I had a gentle sail from Keyhaven, where Kelpie lives, up the Solent to Newtown where I spent the rest of the day exploring the ‘upper reaches’ of the Clamerkin River. I picked up a mooring for the night at about 1700 and after listening to the shipping forecast and studying the tidal charts I realised that the weather was perfect for going to Poole. I therefore turned in early ready for an early start.

30th September. At 0430 I woke up and peered out of the tent. The night was pitch black and it was drizzling slightly with no sign of any wind.

By 0530 I had eaten a quick breakfast with hot coffee to wake me up. I took the tent down and hoisted full main, leaving the genoa and working jib lashed on the foredeck ready for use. It was still pitch dark when I left the mooring and I had difficulty finding my way through the moored boats. Once through the entrance the wind picked up and Kelpie started to bowl along through the murky darkness. The cold soon penetrated through layers of jumpers, oilskins and lifejacket and the rain thickened and visibility dropped until the lights of Lymington were just blurred smudges of colour on the otherwise black surroundings. We ploughed on across the Solent close hauled on port tack, passing astern of a brightly lit dredger working on Solent Banks. When the flashing light of Hampstead Ledge Buoy was well over the port quarter I tacked and headed for the dim lights of Yarmouth.

As we slowly sailed down the island coast, punching into the steep Solent chop, it imperceptibly grew lighter as the dawn came and the cloud broke.

By the time the shipping forecast had come and gone it was light enough to hoist the genoa as the wind was a steady force 3 westerly and the visibility had cleared. I put Kelpie on self-steering (a piece of string) and, after clipping my safety harness on, I scrambled onto the foredeck to release the genoa. It was soon hoisted and sheeted in. The difference to the speed was remarkable and we roared off past Yarmouth leaving a trail of white foam astern.

The tide was by now running at its fastest through Hurst Narrows, which meant I could expect to find 5 knots of current against the wind in the worst spots. By putting in a couple of tacks to dodge the worst overfalls we got through without incident and headed off through the North Passage, north of the shingle banks, towards Milford-on-Sea.

The sea was very choppy in the strong tide and Kelpie pounded and slammed into the waves making slow progress at first. However, as the morning went on the wind decreased and the sea calmed down and Kelpie and I continued a long, very slow, tack along the coast. The sun broke through at about 0800 and the sea turned clear blue. We had a very pleasant sail across Christchurch Bay, past the Experimental Oil Rig leg and on towards Hengistbury.

However, as we crossed the Christchurch ledge the tide turned against us and progress virtually ceased. After a while I decided to wait for the next tide in Christchurch. It was low water with the tide still ebbing over the bar so I had a very tricky job getting in, but eventually made it and anchored inside the harbour for a second breakfast.

I spent a very enjoyable morning exploring the harbour on the rising tide and sailed up to the town quay to buy some extra provisions. After lunch I filled the thermos, made some emergency sandwiches and listened to the shipping forecast, which gave variable force 4 winds. As the wind had backed to SSW and freshened slightly I decided to start out before the tide changed.

Once out of the harbour I tacked around Hengistbury Head and then eased sheets a fraction and headed across Poole Bay on a close reach. Kelpie roared along beautifully over the crystal clear blue sea with flecks of spray coming over the foredeck and the lee bow wave thumping into the genoa foot.

Sandbanks was just a tiny lump almost over the horizon but it slowly grew larger until after 2 hours superb sailing we entered Poole Harbour for the first time and bore away to the north of Brownsea Island to find a sheltered mooring. I picked up a vacant buoy and, after putting the tent up, began cooking supper. The mooring turned out to be extremely rough, in fact, and cooking was a hazardous operation.

I turned in when it got dark at about 1900 and listened to the cry of seagulls and curlews, and the occasional weird sound of the peacocks on Brownsea Island.

1st October. Woke at 0645 to find I’d missed the shipping forecast. I set off under full sail at 0730 after a quick breakfast. The tide took us out of the harbour as there was very little wind. A large red sun peeped through the low cloud but soon disappeared above it. The dawn had a rather worrying red glow to it but the wind started to pick up from the west and once over the sandbanks I was able to hoist the spinnaker. I steered a compass course for Hengistbury as the visibility was very poor and the Old Harry Rocks were just dull outlines only a few miles away to starboard. At first the cliffs of Bournemouth’s seafront receded into the mist but then the wind began to freshen and as we bowled along across the bay the visibility improved until I could see Hengistbury Head as a low bump on the horizon far ahead.

At 0900 the dim outline of the Isle of Wight appeared, and I decided it would be more interesting to go back via the Needles Channel. I therefore gybed the spinnaker over and altered course to starboard slightly. The wind began to increase and by the time we were due south of Hengistbury we were surging down the waves at a good 5 knots. With hindsight I should have dropped the spinnaker but I hung on to it as I was enjoying the ride!

From the Christchurch Ledge to the Needles we averaged over 7 knots with some very spectacular surfing down the waves. I thought I had the situation well under control until I realised that I had mistaken the Bridge Bank pillar buoy for the Fareway Buoy. Therefore instead of being able to bear away when I spotted the smaller SW Shingles Buoy I in fact had to luff up. With the spinnaker up and the wind now freshening considerably I had a worrying 15 minutes trying to get to windward of the right buoy. Eventually we made it, and I was able to ease sheets and have a gentle run up the Needles Channel. The big seas that had been building up off the Bridge Bank soon disappeared and once through the tidal overfalls of Hurst Narrows the Solent seemed beautifully flat and calm.

I tacked into Keyhaven River to find that the mooring was on the mud as the tide was too low!

And so ended a very enjoyable first cruise outside the Solent, with an important lesson learnt in the dangers of not reducing sail soon enough.