As well as signing the petition, I wrote to my MEP. Here is their reply.....
"Dear Julie,
All's well that ends well - we won
The forecast for southerly light winds had turned into a forecast of S veering SW/W 15kts with gusts to around 30kts, far more to Ronhilda's liking. So it was with expectation we slammed over Chichester bar on an ebb tide into a due South 15 - 18 kts wind, even if it was raining with around 1/2miles vis.
Ronhilda's Febuary Fast Cruise - pass the Marmalade
Yet again the forecast was predicting brisk winds so I kept to two reefs and a furled Solent jib to start the cruise.
January FC: a breezy day
The fourth Fast Cruise was held on the 21st January. I had been invited on board Shearwater by Andy and Avril Ormsby for this cruise. We were also joined by Michael Forbes Smith and Ian, a friend of Andy's. We set off from Gosport around 0930 with a westerly wind at around 22 knots. On the passage out to the forts the wind was definitely building and so we opted for a full genoa with 2 reefs in the main. I was relieved to see a number of other yachts heading towards the start line and amongst the usual yachts we saw Windhover, Jof Buttery's new Arcona 430, on her maiden sail and Day at the Races sporting a new carbon fibre mast.
January FC: a participants story
The January Fast Cruise proved for us to be one of the most interesting in the several years that this challenging winter series has been conducted. The weather forecast had been looking dire nearly all week and there must have been those who were planning to forget the whole thing and turn up at the Castle by road with some muttered excuse about the weather.
Oh no! Not in this Club! Saturday morning dawned mild and noisy around the rigging, but certainly not as the Met Office had predicted. So down with the porridge, off with lines, and out to the Cambrian Wreck where familiar sails could be seen with bleary eyed anxious crews, stop watch in hand.
January Fast Cruise
7am on a January morning in Chichester Marina with the wind howling in the rigging shakes the cobwebs out.
FC 3 - Twas a dark and stormy night
‘Twas a dark and stormy night in Langstone Harbour on Friday, the Friday night before the Christmas Fast Cruise. Storm Petrel’s crew had decided that due to their advancing years, (well actually the advancing years of their crew), they would arrive at the marina on Friday afternoon, put the boat out on the waiting pontoon and get out the whisky bottle.
Fast Cruise 3 - Ronhilda's story
Ronhilda's repairs having been completed, the December Fast Cruise awaited her. With high winds forecast for the Saturday I thought it prudent to take her around to Port Solent in the weather window to test the gearbox and rig tension on Friday. Sunshine and next to no wind on the nose meant no sailing but a good shake down for the gearbox, shaft seal and rudder glands. In the evening we also welcomed Jill and Charlie as Silver tide had an alternator problem and had to scratch, so this made us up to a crew of 8.
My Sailing year 2011
As we near the end of 2011 I thought that I would recap on my sailing adventures over the past year. My first sail of 2011 was the January Fast Cruise to Hamble where Bill and Anne Lewis kindly offered me a berth on Musyk. I cannot remember too much about the weekend except that it was cold.
Transit to Desolation Sound
After a short run to the shops, in my case a bit of coffee and quick check of emails at one of the local coffee shops, we set off towards Desolation Sound, and first over-night stop at Squirrel Cove. Part motoring, and part sailing got us across in reasonable time, but then two miles before getting there, our engine sounded the overheating alarm.