Once again the weather blessed the ladies on Jane’s weekend earlier this month.
Chrissi de Quincey, Claire Morrill, Clare Klaire and Fiona Bone joined Skipper Jane Mancini onboard Eagle on the afternoon of 6th October. We readied ourselves and the boat to leave her home berth at sunset, and headed down a very quiet Hamble river watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon and a neaps moon rise. There was a perfect WSW F3/4 breeze so we hoisted the main sail, turned off the engine and sailed quietly through the shallow waters towards Osbourne Bay, out of the way of the flotilla of cruise liners and container ships heading out of Southampton Water.
Clare was our fabulous navigator with Chrissi at helm and the rest of us counted light sequences on a dark, dark night whilst being questioned by Skip on the variety of boat and ship navigation lights that presented themselves to us. With the turn of the tide we furled the main, motored to Cowes and onto a pontoon north of The Folly for our delicious pre-made dinner stew of beef, vegetables and wine with potatoes, an obligatory gin and tonic, chocolate, and our bunks.
Skip was ready and eager on Saturday morning so after her little trick of waking us by turning the water pump on, she made tea, and toasted bagels with bacon and eggs and we made the most of the falling tide and moderate breeze pushing us off the pontoon to each practise, in turn, mooring against wind and tide. Change of helm to Claire, and Nav to Chrissi who took us out the small boat channel from Cowes and towards Chichester Harbour, we had similar winds to the previous night so the sails went up and the engine went off.
With several yacht races going on in the Solent, Skip once again got our brain cogs moving with information and questions about the stand on vessel, when to jibe, best set and point of sail etc. What’s great about the club weekends is the crew participate with all aspects of the sail, each having a turn and getting fully involved, questions are welcomed and discussed and we learn from so many different scenarios under the safe, calm, and constant watchful eye of the skipper. It is a completely different learning ground, for all levels of experience, than chartering a boat or sailing with your usual crowd.
A lunch of quiche, pre-made salad and potatoes on the hoof, we sailed all the way in over the sand bar at Chichester with changes of helm on the way. An earlier than anticipated time of arrival in the harbour allowed for an hour of tea and cake at anchor off East Head where we could watch the hive of activity around us from dog walkers onshore, to small sailing dinghies darting across the river, and where the above photo was taken. We then navigated up the almost too beautiful river to Chichester Marina, where Skip took us through the lock and glided beautifully into our berth for the night. A few of us hadn’t visited the relatively new restaurant by the marina lock so we walked there for our gin and tonic and stayed a little longer than planed for diner when the menu and wine tempted us.
Sunday morning, sunshine and very light breezes greeted us, so Skip navigated first to the Marina fuel pontoon, where Clare filled the tank, then out of the lock and through the immediate first stretch of shallow water before handing over helm to Fiona who looked slightly nervous as she had only helmed the day before for the first time in many years and was a little wobbly in more ways than one! Though Fiona was worrying about the narrow river, Skip happily told her that her brief was to not hit anything, and then handed over to Chrissi and Clare to share the responsibility of getting her down the river, their brief was to communicate clearly and to not go aground! Fiona’s boat handling soon became very good indeed and we exited the harbour safely. We then motor sailed while new Nav Claire planned our route west, Skip wanted us to go through the submarine barrier so Claire checked depth of tide and completed a superb job as we passed through the small goal with its red and green posts! She then took us into Portsmouth Harbour and helm Chrissi picked up a buoy for our lunch stop of jacket potato, cheese and beans. Perfect comfort food for our exhausted brains!
A late, warm afternoon with no wind and Skip gave us a couple of hours off so we could enjoy a quiet and calm Solent and reflect on a busy weekend full of personal achievements, while she took us on a direct route back to the Hamble and a very controlled south facing ferry glide onto our home berth. We all, once again, had the best weekend with great company, food and buckets of confidence gained from our achievements.
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Our non formal constructive activities are run by experienced club skippers to ensure that everyone gets the benefit of their expertise and knowledge, at a cost of £180 per person for weekend events, including the cost of fuel, with just food, and moorings beyond Universal Marina as an addition.
If you would like to book a place, please don’t leave it to the last minute, book club events online by signing in through the members area of the website www.spreadeaglesailingclub.co.
Please do join our closed Facebook group ‘Spread Eagle Sailing Club’ where members regularly post pictures of their ventures on Eagle and other news including information on the Solent hazards.
As always, please continue to share your stories and pictures of club or general sailing events with the editor Jane
Please contact Event Co-ordinators Ian Hyde & Christine de Quincey if you have any questions.