Day 44 – Brighton to Lymington, 74nm

Friday, 16 July

The final leg of our journey all the way from Uddevalla on Thursday 4 July was into La Bamba’s home port of Lymington. We cannot believe we are here or that we have actually come all this way in our little boat.

After the near gale yesterday there is actually no wind whatsoever. So we motored the vast majority of the way, sometimes trying to motor sail with the jib up.

It’s a lovely sunny day and soon we can see the Isle of Wight on the horizon.

There are lots of familiar landmarks. Alex waved to his Grandma in Shoreham and soon we could see the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.

Soon we were in the Solent with Bembridge on the port bow,

followed by the pretty town of Ryde. Suddenly we have found all the other yachts, pleasure boats and some ship traffic too.

At this point we remembered all the ferries. There are 3 lots: from Portsmouth, from Southampton and from Lymington. Of these the scariest is the speedy cat from Southampton into Cowes that emerges from nowhere.

Finally, as we rounded Cowes, drenched in the memories of spinnaker concertinas off Egypt Point in David’s Dad’s Contessa 32 over 30 years ago, a beautiful 12 knot wind arrived!

Of course the wind was on the nose and we beat the last 2 hours down to Lymingon.

The silver Solent wanted to welcome us home in the way she knows best, that slog against the tide at the end of a full day exposed to the elements.

But this time it’s a lovely sunny evening. And we have the fastest boat on the water.

The direct miles were only 58 but we did an extra 16 miles thanks to tide and tacking. But those 16 miles were the most fun!

We got in around 6pm and were given a berth just a few spots away from where South Haze (the Contessa) used to live.

And to make it perfect, David’s cousin Esme was on the dock to meet us with Molly and Dolly.

We celebrated the safe and happy conclusion of La Bamba’s maiden voyage. Very delighted that Alex, who set off with us from Henån way back in July, was also here for the finish!

We have to leave her for a couple of days to go to a memorial for my lovely long-term neighbour, Sheila, tomorrow. But we will be back and there will be more posts so don’t despair – I haven’t even posted those French limericks yet!

Thank you for following our journey – we really appreciate all the comments we have received from you. There will be more adventures to come as this is only our first trip – please stay tuned!