Easter Rally - a blustery South Coast cruise

With ten yachts and their crews committed to the south coast Easter Rally the prospect of a highly successful weekend was eagerly anticipated. So on Thursday afternoon we set off in high spirits from Langstone Harbour with a full larder and an enthusiastic crew ready to meet with friends and sail for pleasure for four days in this the first holiday festival of the spring.

We turned the corner, set our sails and headed for the harbour entrance in what appeared to be a pleasant moderate breeze. As the Nab Tower appeared over to the south east we saw ahead of us a line of white water and a training yacht struggling to put in two reefs at the harbour entrance. Strange, we thought, as we began to whack in to a nasty little head sea, this doesn’t look to us to be the peaceful weekend we were looking for!

We pressed on, the intrepid crew bravely hiding behind the spray hood, which by this time was fielding buckets full of cold spray and arrived in good time at the Folly Pontoon to join the Commodore who regaled us with the story of the dreadful conditions he had endured in Southampton Water.

Meanwhile over in the Beaulieu River our rally organiser, past Commodore Keith Irons, was fighting to get Silver Tide ready for the weekend. With a sigh of relief he was at last ready to fire up the engine and get under way. Not too fast, what was all this black smoke gathering in the engine compartment, not good news at all.  Well that was end of that, no cruising for Keith this weekend but he does have a mobile phone.

Thus began the Easter Cruise of 2010.

Good Friday dawned with a yellow clad rain sodden profile appearing in our companionway to inform us that he was proceeding to the first stop on the Cruise before this damn rain and wind got any worse. Unimpressed with these pearls of wisdom we steadfastly carried on with our breakfast and set off in our own good time, picking up a bedraggled crew member in Cowes on the way and by late morning we were beating merrily to windward up the western Solent with sunshine peeping through the clouds and the prospect of better times to come.

The crews began to gather in Lymington through the afternoon, some looking not a little damp and fed up but a warm welcome and a superb on board fish and chip supper raised spirits and gave hope for better days to come. Thanks to our new Rear Commodore South Coast Iain Muspratt who not only shepherded us to our berths but arranged and collected our on board suppers. Iain you are certainly welcome to stand for re-election next year.

Weather forecasts were scrutinised over supper for clues about tomorrow’s weather with the prospect of a 5am wake up and a bounce around the outside of the Isle of Wight. Force 4 to 5 with 5 to 7 cyclonic later was enough to put off all but the most hardy. In the event four crews set off early on Saturday morning towards the Needles, one turned back and the rest made it round to Gunwharf Quays, our second night stop. The rest, including your author, took the rather more relaxed option of a shower, a late breakfast and a dangerous sail back down the Solent with a stop for lunch in Osborne Bay.

Supper took place at the Spice Island pub in Old Portsmouth accompanied by liberal deluges of rain throughout the evening, and so to bed and thoughts of Easter Sunday tomorrow.

Gunwharf proved to be more peaceful than normal and Sunday morning dawned with lighter winds and the choice of Easter Day service at the Cathedral or a sail back down to our third stop at Gins Farm on the Beaulieu River. Everyone arrived safely on the afternoon tide to be allocated berths on the RSYC walk ashore or island pontoons. The river is a haven of peaceful water and idyllic scenery. Supper at Gins Farm lived up to its usual high standards with a mouth watering carvery choice, speeches from Commodore David Roache and a presentation of fun awards for the outstanding achievements of the weekend by Keith Irons.

We pay particular tribute to Mike de Villiers and his family who battled bravely through the foul weather on Good Friday, to the crews of Isis, Odin and Floating Point for battling round the Island and to Mike Forbes-Smith for attacking the wind and tide at the Bridge which sadly proved too strong for his doughty Memory 19.

Special thanks go to Keith Irons for organising the rally and commiserations to him for the problems with his engine which we hope will be quickly rectified.