DAY 1 SATURDAY
Fleet of 1 arrived – the Taylors.. Very blowy and raining so no sailing.

DAY 2 SUNDAY
Fleet of 1 – Taylors sailed to Gurnard IOW, struggled against spring tide
and force 4 to 5 on way back into Calshot.
The windsurfers loved it - The Creek was full of them.

DAY 3 MONDAY
Fleet of 2 but 3 crews. Noyces and Callaghans arrived. Force 6 NW so no sailing.
Walk in PM , BBQ in eve and a late retreat to Keymer house for drinks and chats.


DAY 4 TUESDAY
Fleet as Monday and wind as well so no sailing. Magic of Calshot, saw QM2.
Taylors went cycling to Beaulieu. BBQ and retreat to Spinnaker Bar. Mercury plummeting.

DAY 5 WEDNESDAY
Fleet as Monday, force 3 to 4, both sailed to Hillhead with Colleen going with Terry and Dale
– she fell in love with the Laser 16. Todays magic saw QE2.

DAY 6 THURSDAY
Fleet of 2, Force 3 NW, sailed and motored to Bucklers Hard.
Anchored on the mud as the tide was atouch low. 6 of us for meal in Spinnaker Bar at Calshot,

DAY 7 FRIDAY
Noyce and Taylor for coffee at Rising Sun Pub Hamble ( Little wind so motored there)
Evening was start of Volvo Ocean Race so we sailed out to Bramble Bank and
saw the 6 Boats racing by from their start at Portsmouth. Also saw most of the Global Challenge Boats
out there doing some marshalling.

DAY 8 SATURDAY
Woke up to see wall to wall sails off Cowes to the Needles marking the start of the Round the Island Race.
Now a fleet of 3 as the Taylors and Noyces joined by Paul and John in their 16 tog with their sons Mathew 9 and Ben 13.
Sailed to Gurnard for lunch - avoiding 60,000 ton tankers en route.
Reached to Lepe for afternoon ice cream and a reach / run and beat !! – wind all over the place ! - back to Calshot.
In all saw Tankers, Car Transporters, Containers Ships, and Cruise liners – never a dull moment in the Solent

DAY 9 SUNDAY
Fleet of 3 as above sailed to Hillhead, Force 1 so patience required, where landed with the Cocklers
and walked the boats in the last bit as it was low tide and super shallow.
Final sail back with a Steady 3 beat – blue sky – perfect sail to end the week.
3 happy boats arrived back at the Calshot slip.

Brill week !!

  
  



By Dick