The inshore forecast indicated heavy rain and S-SW winds F5 perhaps F7 for the Sunday which understandably put some members off. Liz Baker drove down to Chichester Harbour on the Friday night but discouraged by torrential rain and the weather forecast, did not set off. David Taylor and a friend set off in a Skipper 17 from the Hamble but met bad conditions out in the Solent and put back. Phil Nash sailed in with his son in a deep-keeled yacht. and saw some of us in the distance but could not make contact. Don Alexander also sailed from the Hamble on the Friday evening in his Mirror 16 but when entering the creek his motor failed and with the ebb too strong to row against, had to anchor in the rain for most of the night with only the shelter of his brolly. Most of the Saturday was in fact fine, and Geof Wright and Claire had a problem free reach from Southampton Water in their Cornish Coble. Meanwhile I unwisely elected to launch my Leader from Emsworth, shooting Haying Bridge to emerge into the Solent from Langstone Harbour. Here the southerly wind was pushing up steep and crested waves against the fast ebb and I was hard put to avoid being flooded. A small yacht was under power ahead and I have never in my life seen a boat thrown about so badly. Being reefed down to 50% of mainsail progress to windward against the steep seas was very slow. It took me over eight hours in all to reach the venue.

Our worries over the F7 for Sunday proved groundless. In fact conditions were moderate except for a short blow mid-morning.

Poole Harbour Weekend 24th - 26th August

Mark Tingley set sail from the Hamble in his 14 foot Roamer at 05.30 on the Thursday, but struggled all day against strong headwinds to reach Christchurch Harbour. On Friday the forecast was for Force 5 headwinds with a gale warning — ‘50 mph gusts’, according to the Keyhaven notice board! I launched my 14 foot Leader at Keyhaven and waited at Hurst, hoping for conditions to moderate. In fact they got worse, so eventually I returned, fairly scared and almost out of control under working jib only. Meanwhile the intrepid Mark somehow got through to Poole. On Saturday the forecast moderated to ‘gusting Force 7 with heavy showers’, still enough to put members off so when I relaunched at Redcliffe on the River Frome below Wareham, I was glad to find Liz Baker in her new 12’ 6” Cormorant and Joan Abrams and Sophie in Joan’s 12’ 9” Mayfly. Apparently the Mayfly had been dropped and holed by a ‘helper’ during launching but fortunately Peter Clover repaired it on the spot. Peter had left in his 12 footer to explore the Piddle, the small river of that name. I sailed to our Shipstal Point venue where I found Mark Tingley and Chris Jenkins in his new Potter AX at anchor, the headland providing good shelter from the blustery wind. Next morning we were joined by Leader 1173 for the cruise in company and explored the more accessible creeks and islands on the south side of the harbour, anchoring at our Saturday night venue Jerry’s Point. Conditions moderated on the Monday but there were still gusts up to Force 6 and heavy showers around. It was still a wonderful weekend with superb scenery, deer feeding unconcerned on the marshes and seals playing nearby.

Fowley Island, Chichester Harbour 7th - 8th September by Liz Baker

At 7.30 pm on Saturday, just as the sun was setting, a motley collection of boats was seen heading for Fowley Island — four WW Potters, a Westray 16, a Roamer, a beautiful double ended Ness Yawl, a Torch and my own Cormorant. It was a very slack neap tide, there was scarcely enough water in the lagoon to accommodate us all.

But where was Len? Some of us had met for lunch at East Head and Len had set off from there saying he was going to circumnavigate Haying Island and try and link-up with the flotilla coming through from Portsmouth. Frankly I was not surprised when he failed to materialise with the flotilla of Martin Corrick and Bill Jones in their Torch, and a new face, Alan Glanville in his Ness Yawl who’d launched at Ferry Point as they emerged from under Langstone Bridge. However even I was surprised when Len told us later that he’d not only circumnavigated Hayling Island, but Portsmouth as well!

Len and I had landed before, on the morning tide to deposit sacks of scrap timber. With this I now lit a bonfire to supplement my barbecue. Later everyone gathered round too and shared my sausages and baked potatoes.

“Hello there!” — a lonely voice out of the darkness heralded Len’s arrival, but too late for the tide. He had to sit it out on the mud for the night and join us in the morning.

Hurst Point 21st - 22nd September by Liz Baker

This was a strange rally; apart from myself and Sophie Annetts with my Cormorant Tessa, everybody else decided independently to hike out with packs on their backs!

We launched at Keyhaven and sailed gently down to Lymington and back through the creeks and a bit of open Solent. When we returned to Hurst at 5.30pm it looked like becoming a rally of two. We proceeded to erect our tents and assemble a bonfire and barbecue. Then a lone figure appeared, pack on back heading purposefully our way — Mark Tingley. I was already cooking sausages when two more figures appeared out of the gloom, also bearing packs… and more sausages. These were John Perry and Josephine. So in the end we had a cheerful party sharing sausages, baked potatoes and a bottle of wine.

Next morning two more figures appeared, also with packs — John and Linden Kuyser had escaped for a few hours from alterations to their house and come for breakfast. Then a familiar yellow Tarpon was seen sailing into the creek — Joe Scott paying a brief visit.

So a good end to the season, albeit a little short on boats. See you next year!