Swanwick February 2006

Date: February 11 - 12 2006
Boat: Blue Scherzo, Sadler 32

Trip:
Portsmouth; Swanwick; Portsmouth

Days: 2
Skipper: Gerry Raby
Crew: Betty, Roger

I forgot to take my camera for this trip so here is a random photo from the Goodwood festival of speed to break up the text

I have to admit to being a bit of a fair weather sailor. Sitting in the cockpit in warm sunshine with drink and paper is always appealing and I have always hated being cold. However I have on a couple of occasions ventured out at the sharper end of the year and figure I must be becoming some kind of masochist (like the rest of those out presumably) as I do perversely seem to enjoy it despite the cold and the rain. Anyway my former work colleagues had brought me some boots a harness and a few bits and pieces as a leaving present so I figured I should at least try out the boots, although I would be happy not to have to try the harness! The weather turned out to be not really so bad and even a few glimpses of sunshine were seen in spite of the morning ice on the pontoons. Initially however it seemed that we may not even leave the salubrious surroundings of Port Solent as Roger, Betty and myself gathered round for Gerry's safety and orientation briefing. Halfway through Gerry made the classic error of praising the total reliability of Blue Scherzo's engine. Of course the subsequent engine start demonstration resulted in five minutes of repeated "chug chug chug wheeze bang stop" and a subsequent period of group anxiety as half the saloon was dismantled, a filter eventually unblocked and reliability restored. We motored out into a virtually windless and dead flat calm Solent where a man overboard practise resulted in scenes of confusion rarely seen outside of Warmington-on-Sea. Subsequently some radio practise was organised for Betty who's course was the following weekend. A curious thought springs to mind - if you are reporting a man overboard how many persons are on board - 4, dohh!, 3? Lunch was taken at anchor on the eerily calm and silent sea,the light opaque with just the barest hint of colour in the sky, winter sun breaking through light cloud. Only the absence of an ethereal fog prevented potential assault by skeletal pirates brandishing cutlass and hook. Ahrrrr, one wonders what sort of Mayday that would prompt?

Following lunch some wind appeared so rather than proceeding down the Hamble to do some boat handling as earlier planned we set off toward Southampton to do some delightful sailing. We had virtually the whole area to ourselves giving unbroken views of the fuel terminals, a sight surpassed only by the aroma. With Roger navigating using his very nice hand held GPS/plotter we avoided the temptation to cut the corner at the entrance to the Hamble and proceeded incident free to Swanwick where the crews of Fizzgig, Summer Song and Lucreece were already knocking back the post sail lubrication. A short cabaret was provided by yours truly in the form of deck swabbing much to the amusement of Fizzgig's crew, John resplendent in his duck shooting hat. Most pleasant pre dinner drinks were hosted by Summer Song as we all crowded below to get out of the cold. After dinner the crew of Blue Scherzo set off up hill and down dale to a quaint local hostelry a scant 20 minute walk away expecting to see most of the other crews, but alas no one else had dragged themselves out of their warm cocoons. The excursion was however a welcome opportunity to walk off the excesses of Gerry's large and delicious curry with all the trimmings.

Sunday dawned an even grey with steady rain and a stronger wind. We had the luxury of a late start as Gerry wanted to visit the chandler to look for replacement nuts to fit his problem sea cock (titter ye not misses). We had a good and lively sail with a brisk cold wind back to Portsmouth where we had a grandstand view of three tugs picking up and manoeuvring a large container ship. All in all a most pleasant weekend spent in delightful company.