Here you can see the captain and first mate enjoying a well earned rest after our walk to Osborne House (and back).
Heres the able seaman in her coordinating fleece and crocs!
And as a "happy" pirate at the helm.
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and so the crew aboard Volante set sail towards The Needles. After the fairly strong wind coming across to Cowes on Sunday we were surprised to find there was absolutely NO WIND. It was like the film title DEAD CALM!!!
We tried putting the sails up, but they hung limply and so we used the tidal current to drift along the solent towards Alum Bay.
Charlie took the opportunity of perfecting her Titanic impression by leaning over the bow of the boat with her arms outstretched. You can see how calm the water is, there is hardly a ripple to be seen.
We had lunch anchored off Alum bay, watching the holiday makers going up and down the cliffs in the cable-cars and taking boat trips around the needles. Gradually the wind started to pick up so we headed into Yarmouth. Little did we know at this point that we were about to be storm bound in Yarmouth, but that is yet to happen so on with the story.
Wednesday it was decided by a unanimous vote that we would spend the day ashore and would go for a walk around the coastal path, then inland to a pub at the head of the river Yar for lunch, and then back to Yarmouth via the river walk which follows the route of an old railway.
The weather was glorious and we were soon strolling along in T-shirts with our fleeces tied round our middles. We stopped for a short time to browse the scenery along the route, and then to browse a charity shop (where a little bit of shopping took place) arriving at the pub (no name given to protect the identity of the staff) at 1.55pm, to be informed that they had stopped serving lunches. We asked very nicely if they could possibly do a few rounds of sandwiches, to which the reply was..."they've packed everything away in the kitchen". So with very empty tummies we headed back to Yarmouth where we ate a fantastic meal in
THE BUGLE public house.
By the time we made it back on board the wind was picking up again and we settled down for the night oblivious of what was to come.
Thursday morning dawned beautifully sunny, BUT.......... The wind was howling through the harbour. The Captain thought it wouldn't be too bad at sea so we started to get ready to sail. Then we watched the ferry to Lymington leave the harbour and promptly get swamped on the fore-deck by the waves. The Captain finally agreed tha there was no way we were going out in that so we stayed on board foer the day catching up with some of the household tasks like cleaning and fixing the pump on the toilet.
Sue and Andy (quartermaster and first mate) abandoned ship and took a bus ride around the Isle of Wight.
After listening closely to weather forecasts all day we finally hit the sack prepared for a repeat of the same conditions on Friday.
Friday morning was worse than Thursday and we entertained ourselves as best we could (I had my sock to keep me company!) but at about 4pm the wind dropped and we made the decision to run to Cowes so that if we were stuck Andy and Sue could at least get to Ryde and from there get a ferry back to Portsmouth! By the time we rounded the corner at Cowes the wind was blowing us about again and the waves were making it quite uncomfortable so we were very relieved to get into the safer waters of the Medina estuary.We motored up the river to THE FOLLY INN where we found a mooring and then spent a very enjoyable evening ashore sampling the delightful menu at the Folly Inn.
As soon as we were up on Saturday we headed back towards Cowes to see what the sea state was like.
It was raining heavily and the Captain and First mate were well prepared.
Fortunately the sea was moderate (waves only about 2ft high) and so we motored back to Portsmouth while the going was good!!
Back on dry land we said our goodbyes to the Quartermaster and temporary First Mate and headed home fully intending to get something to eat on the way!!!
But like all good plans this also backfired. We stopped at Sainsburys only to find that the menu was very restricted and there was nothing worth having. When we got outside the store there was a stall demonstrating Schwartz spices and so we had a couple of sample pots each to stave off the hunger pangs.
Guildford and Burger KIng beckoned, so off we went only to find they were closed for refurbishment!! Thus we ended our voyage at the Fish and Chip shop up the road from our house! (And very good they were too)
