Sunday 24 May
Today we welcomed Sam and Rosemary onto La Bamba. Sam was our first crew back in Henan in Sweden when we first got La Bamba and will be joining us for the ARC; Rosemary has never sailed before.
Sadly the forecast was accurate and there was absolutely no wind. So we drifted down with the tide to Cowes. We got Lily flying very slightly.
The crew explored the boat.
After Cowes the wind set to a lovely 10-13 knot Easterly and we had some nice tacking with everyone having a go at the helm.
We got as far as Ryde with a good view of the Solent Forts.
After turning back we furled out Lily the Pink and headed for home reaching 7 knots.
There seemed to be an invisible line dividing the windy Solent East of Cowes from the becalmed Solent West of Cowes because as we crossed that line the wind just disappeared and we had to furl up Lily and put the motor on.
A good opportunity for Prosecco on the foredeck.
We think we have a convert in Rosemary, who brought us a delicious spinach & feta pie, and Sam will be back soon to help us get La Bamba down to the Canaries.
It’s a heatwave back home in Ascot but pleasantly warm here on the water. Thanks for coming Sam and Rosemary!
