Fine weather and light winds tempted many south coast members to come to this rally. The venue was up the lovely tree lined river at Buckler’s Hard. Eventually seven dinghies and two cruisers arrived. A convivial evening was enjoyed ashore in the gardens of the Master Builder. There was a poor forecast and in the morning fierce gusts were experienced while descending the river. However in the Solent the wind was only force four and ideal sailing conditions.

Wootton Creek — 30th-31st July

Apart from threats of thunder the weather was kind and eight boats eventually assembled for the night. The crews included John Perry and Josephine, Richard Hignett and Peter Glover. When we assembled at the pub we were joined by some of Peter’s friends. One of them was a New Zealander who had been living in his boat in Wootton Creek for some years and had apparently circumnavigated the globe several times. The following morning several of us took sculling lessons from Peter although I had to catch the tide.

Those returning to Chichester Harbour ended up with a fair wind and had another mini‑rally at Sandy Point. We all arrived within twenty minutes of each other in spite of being in boats of widely differing performance.

Shipstall Point (Poole Harbour) — 27th-29th August

Liz Baker in her Mayfly started on the Thursday from Chichester and reached Portsmouth. David and Jenny Jones launched at Ashlett Creek and reached Newtown: when Friday’s forecast was a headwind of force seven they decided to stay put. Liz however returned to Cobnor through Portsea and Hayling backwaters.

Len had a very hard sail from Keyhaven and took thirteen hours to reach Poole Harbour. Too tired to continue he reached the rally site on Sunday morning. Here he encountered Colin and Diana Newnes who were sheltering under Shipstall Point on their way back from the Scillies in their Maurice Griffiths’ bilge keeler. They enjoyed a warm day in spite of the wind exploring Arne Nature Reserve, and had a convivial evening aboard the Newnes’s yacht.

East Head (Chichester Harbour) — 17th-18th September by Len Wingfield/Liz Baker

For yet another rally the forecast was f5-6, although this could be reduced to 4-5 for those sailing within the harbour. Richard Hignett was the only member to sail by the open sea, launching at Lymington he reported surfing at nine knots at one point!

The rest of us launched from various points within the harbour, most meeting by chance before homing in on the rally venue. In Snowhill Creek, East Head we found Bob Klitz with his finely restored Admiralty gunter-rigged dayboat. A total of six DCA boats attended the rally although others were seen sailing in the harbour. These apparently didn’t see us tucked away in the creek. In addition, David and Jenny Jones and Mark Tingley came round by road. Most of us made the lovely walk through the nature reserve to the cafe at West Wittering. After this we all enjoyed a quiet night.

East Head (Chichester Harbour) — 17th September by Daniel Moriarty

Brian Sanderson and I, towing Pampootie, left Maidenhead at 7am and at 9:30, having met Molly, a long-standing friend we launched at West Itchenor. We were so early that the Harbourmaster had not yet opened his caboose. “You can have a day for £4.10, a week for £7.50 or a year for £37.” He noticed the badge on the mast from a previous expedition but was not impressed. Looking us in the eye he said, “No speeding, no water-skiing and no wind-surfing — I know what you youngsters get up to.” Brian and I, with more good years behind us than ahead, smiled and said nothing.

The weather forecast was north’westerly 4 or 5 so we put in a JIC reef. With the tide in our favour we made rapid progress towards Dell Quay where we hoped to meet some other DCA members. Shortly we shook out the reef and made even more purposeful headway. Having regard to the bird-watching aspect, we observed a flock of curlews flying west, a flock of lapwings going north and a flock of homing pigeons going round in circles. “Shag,” I said, pointing to a bird perched on a post, drying his wings, “No,” said Molly, “it’s a cormorant.” And she went on to explain the difference. I was sure she was wrong but said nothing, subsequently I found she was correct (women are so often annoyingly right).

We approached Dell Quay in a strong wind. Many dinghies were the wrong way up. Having removed my trainers, I stepped over the side, up to my knees in water. A few minutes later, safely moored, Molly asked me about my weed-covered wet feet. “Do you want to do your Mary Magdalene bit?” I asked, but she said no — her hair wasn’t long enough. She was going to have a hair-do at 4pm in preparation for a party with a sailing companion (a catamaran Sparkler, and Molly is all of 45.) We found a sheltered spot and had some coffee from Brian’s flask. Then with a little assistance from other dinghy sailors, we pushed off and headed back to Itchenor. We had fun tacking in and out amongst the moored yachts (Brian at the helm was masterful — but did not shout at us). At 11.30 we returned to Itchenor, cold, a little damp, but in high spirits. We retired to the pub and discussed Shakespeare (I don’t know why) then after eating our packed lunch in the car park, we bade goodbye to Molly and headed west towards East Head where we thought we might find some of our colleagues from past expeditions. The beach was deserted. Our concentration was distracted by the sight of the IoW where we had sailed a few weeks before in the Cornish Crabber. We became so engrossed that too late, we found ourselves on a sandbank about 200 metres south of the Winner buoy. With the strong wind and adverse tide, Pampootie became skittish and we had some difficulty in getting back afloat. At this point we were glad there were no other DCA members offering advice from the shore.

This time the water reached my waist so with wisdom and discretion, I removed my wallet and placed it in the boat. Later safely ashore, Brian found me checking its contents (for dampness). “Don’t worry,” he said, “I haven’t touched it. All your money is safe.”

At 7.30 we left Itchenor and returned to Maidenhead without seeing another DCA pennant.