Saturday 23 August
Yesterday we were very pleased to welcome my mother Christine and my sister Catharine onto La Bamba as it was their first visit.
Unfortunately we were so excited to have them that we forgot to take any photos! It was a perfect sunny day and we enjoyed lunch at The Haven followed by a walk on the lovely Lymington Sea Wall.
Later we met a falconer employed by the marina with his Harris hawk called Saturn. Her job is to scare away the starlings who like to perch on the masts and poo all over the decks. At this time of year the poo is blackberry colour which is very noticeable!
There are also bats who arrive at dusk and flit through the rigging with great skill, eating insects.
Today we set off late morning with the tide to enjoy the fine weather. We kept in tight going down the river as the ferry is very big when it’s overtaking!
There was absolutely no wind and we rather despaired of getting in a sail but we motored towards Hurst with help from the tide.
Fortunately the wind filled in before we got to the Needles – it was on the nose so we tacked up with the Cutter and wished we had our bigger Jib in these light winds.
We also quickly discovered that the Yankee is not a sail to go tight upwind and had a discussion about how we would pack it away until it’s time for the Trade Winds.
After we cleared the Shingles (a shallow shelf after Hurst) we bore away a bit to head for Studland and decided to try the Yankee with the Cutter.
Because the Yankee sheets are rigged outside the shrouds (wires that hold the mast up) it’s best to barber-haul her sheet in a bit with the handy billy to get a better shape to the sail.
And we soon noticed the difference! With 6 knots of wind we were doing the same through the water and often sailed faster than the wind!
So all is forgiven Yankee, we take it all back – we had the most delightful sail eating up the miles at up to 8 knots in less than 9 knots of wind! In lightish airs when we’re off the wind, 3 sails are better than 2!
We were easily the fastest yacht on the water. Which is good!
Studland was busy but we found a buoy and I used our special slip-through boat hook for the first time as the buoy had lost its mooring rope so I had to feed our rope through the metal hoop on the top of the buoy. Success on the second attempt!
Now we are relaxing, watching paddle boarders and kayaks, tolerating the few jet skis (horrid things) and I think I saw a roseate turn.
We can’t be bothered to get ZigZags out so we will enjoy La Bamba island with a lovely view of Poole Bay and Old Harry Rocks.
We tried out our new foldaway solar panels and in the afternoon sun they were giving 120W – we will get 2 more sets. David has been busy doing the electrical connections for them.
And now David can make a new handy billy just for the Yankee.
