Lymington to Studland, 24nm
Tuesday 8 July
Tomorrow it will be exactly a year since we first set off from Sweden bringing La Bamba to her new home in England. It seems a very long time ago because La Bamba is such a big part of our lives now.
Kevin, who crewed with us on our maiden voyage, came to visit this weekend and helped with some boat jobs.
Like me he likes birds and enjoyed the sea wall as much as anyone in Lymington.
Then today we set off, leaving the Solent for the first time since we got back. We are pausing our upgrades, which are very nearly finished, and are going to enjoy some South Coast sailing and try out our new main as we go.
We have bought this new one from Sanders Sails as it is a more floppy sail, not so high tech as the North Sails one we already have, and will do a better job downwind, being a lot more tolerant of sitting on the spreaders for days on end.
We have called her Sally, she is very white and cheerful looking.
We were going to try out our new Yankee foresail too,
but unfortunately it got ripped while she was being bent on so she’s gone back to Sanders for repairs.
The tide took us through Hurst and past the Needles in less than 6 knots of wind.
We saw a helicopter actually land on the Needles lighthouse which is a first for us!
We picked up a freshening breeze as soon as we passed the last shingles buoy and were soon storming along at 9 knots.
The wind had backed round from the North to the West so we put in a few tacks.
After I had stated what lovely sailing this is and no white horses, the wind cranked itself up to 18 knots and we touched 11 knots boat speed a few times.
Even better sailing! And the forecast was entirely accurate.
We weren’t planning to go too far today, just getting our sea legs, so we headed over to Old Harry rocks off Studland.
These are brilliant white chalk stacks that erode into the sea and look very much like they used to join onto the equally dazzling Needles sticking out from the Isle of Wight.
Harry used to have a ‘wife’ but she fell into the sea in the 19th century and he has a smaller and stumpier one now.
In the bay, happily in the lee of the now 20-23 knots Westerly winds, we picked up a buoy. Hooked first time naturally.
They have 10 tonne and 5 tonne buoys here & plenty of them. La Bamba weighs about 10 so perfect for us.
There used to be anchorage here, but they have an anchor exclusion zone now to protect the sea grass and sea life. The buoys have been put here in instead and cost £15 per night – (which you pay with a parking app!) and because they are in situ permanently, the grasses can grow over their anchors instead of being ripped up by loads of yachts coming and going.
There is a very posh restaurant just here so it gets popular in the summer for lunches out from Poole harbour.
We tidied the boat, ate our sandwiches and enjoyed watching other boats hook their buoys slightly less successfully than us.