The Shakedown Cruise

After the weekend gales, weather was still disturbed down here on south coast so we decided to delay our departure. This enabled some further modifications and minor adjustments to be done. By Monday night we were ready for the off early on Tuesday 1 May, only 2 days behind intended schedule. Enjoyed a lovely sunny sail East from Itchenor towards Eastbourne. Wind was not quite strong enough for us to cover the 60 miles in reasonable time without help of engine. Never mind, it was an enjoyable and relatively warm day on the water. The Sovereign Harbour at Eastbourne has a magnificent marina with excellent facilities. This location has the added attraction of being very near to the home of Mick's cousin Jim and his wife Wendy. They joined us for dinner on board - the inaugural cruise 'dinner' - and most convivial it was too.

The next day, 2 May, we set off back the way we came, another 10 hour motor sail but the weather not nearly so nice, cold and occasionally wet. But the shakedown proved its worth as The Engineer found water ingress to the engine compartment so we needed to get that looked at back at Itchenor. That has been sorted now so we are off again tomorrow, 4 May, destination Poole Harbour. Intending to sail south of the Isle of Wight to make the most of the forecast north-easterly force 3/4 wind. Son Ivor and partner Marina are joining us for the weekend, so next challenge will be to arrange the rendezvous-vous. More of that anon!

D-day! Or is it?

Friday evening - the lull

Saturday evening - storm brewing

Unfortunately not, no. Gale force winds have kept us pinned down on pontoon in Itchenor Reach. Apologies to anyone who might have been looking for an update yesterday, my 'draft' post created last night, as the winds were increasing, was inadvertently deleted when our 3G signal was lost! To summarise, the weather has delayed our embarkation date by at least one day and maybe more.

Dismantling the water system

The Engineer in tight spot