Blog 01: 11-16 June – A Slow Start !

Astraia is our Nauticat 42 sailing yacht, seen here on our mooring in the rather grey waters of the Bosham Channel.  The grand plan for Summer 2017 is to sail to Northern Spain and sunnier climes!

I’m afraid this won’t be a very exciting blog as we’ve not got very far yet!!

We spent the winter in Chichester Marina, doing maintenance, and Charles fitted a water maker to desalinate sea water for drinking and washing, making us less dependent on going into expensive marinas.  Here’s Caroline helping us to put the finishing touches to Astraia before she is re-launched …

And here’s Astraia back in the water and looking quite smart …

A bit more polishing and cleaning of the decks and cabin …

… and we were smart enough to have a little farewell drinks party on board on a lovely sunny Sunday.  People dropped in throughout the afternoon …

One guest even arrived at the party by boat!

Here we are with all the empties at the end!

So now we thought we were ready to go – but then a propeller problem stopped us in our tracks!  We had to go to the scrubbing berth at Itchenor and ‘dry out’ alongside the piles so we could adjust and refit the propeller.

Charles set up his table and chair underneath the boat as if he was having afternoon tea, but the idea is to catch all the tiny screws and split pins as we take the propeller off.

Here the propeller is almost back on again.  We had to then wait until the tide came back up, and we got back to the marina about midnight.  At least it did the trick, and the propeller is working fine now.

So, eventually, we really were ready to leave – this is our final evening in Chichester Marina – looking nice and calm …

Sunday 11^th June

Our friend Alexander joined us for the first leg of our journey – the weather was bright and sunny, but there’s actually a lot more wind than is obvious in the picture …

At last, we’re through the lock and on our way!

A final glimpse of Bosham as we leave – the sea is already looking a bit choppy and we’re still in the shelter of the harbour!

It got windier and rougher as we headed out to sea …

… and the waves got bigger with ‘white horses’ on top …

It got greyer and even rougher in the West Solent – the effect of wind against tide …

We were very happy to reach the Newtown River on the Isle of Wight and pick up a mooring – it’s surprisingly calm in here – and the sun’s come out again!

The following day, we set off westward again towards Poole or Weymouth – we decided it was too windy and unpleasant to make a Channel crossing – this is what it was like off Hurst Castle – pretty unpleasant!

We decided only to go as far as Poole and get a safe and comfortable berth there, as Charles had to go off to Germany and Belgium for meetings.  Here we are passing ‘Old Harry’ as we enter Poole Harbour …

… and into the Poole Quay Boat Haven, where I will use Astraia as a holiday cottage for a few days while C goes off on his business trip.  It’s very central and handy for the town …

Now a quick look round the interior of the boat for those who haven’t seen it before:–

This is the main saloon, which is both lounge and dining room, and sometimes doubles as an office! We have a CD and DVD player in here, games, cards, books etc. There’s also a table outside in the cockpit and a lot of the time we’ll eat outside (see pictures of the drinks party).

We can also steer from inside the main saloon if the weather is nasty …

This is the master cabin with a king-size bed and small settee at the side …

… and this is our en suite shower room, one of 2 bathrooms on board …

There are two other cabins, one with a small double berth and one with 3 berths.  In this cabin the bed continues round to the left and is bigger than it looks in the picture …

This is the galley, with the third cabin beyond. The galley has a two-ring gas cooker with oven, and we also have a microwave and a portable induction hob which work using shore power if we are in a marina or from the boat’s generator. No dishwasher or washing machine!!  There is often a laundrette in marinas.

So I amused myself in Poole for a couple of days and actually had a lovely time exploring some of the old parts of the town …

This is the old Custom House with its Town Beam dating originally from at least the 16^th century and used for weighing goods coming into the town and charging duty accordingly …

I wasn’t so sure about this modern sculpture, ‘Sea Music’ by Sir Anthony Caro.  The blue iron sculpture is meant to have the feel of the sea, waves breaking, boats, masts and sails and I quite like it.  The stairs and walkway are meant to allow people to ‘experience the sculpture and be within it’, but unfortunately it gives it more the ambience of a car park or railway bridge!  And spoils the view of the sculpture itself.

One day, I got out the folding bike and cycled along to Sandbanks …

It’s a lovely ride along the shoreline (about 4 miles each way) with some beautiful views in almost tropical sunshine …

I treated myself to a delicious lunch at Rick Stein’s restaurant which enjoys a spectacular outlook over Poole Harbour …

And one evening I had a thoroughly good night out at the Lighthouse Arts Centre watching the musical ‘All or Nothing’ about The Small Faces – a real nostalgia trip down memory lane!!

Of course, Sod’s Law being what it is, the weather has at times been good for sailing while Charles has been away – let’s hope it continues over the weekend and we can get across the Channel at last!  Fingers crossed!