A lazy morning in comparison to the last few. We left the anchorage around 0900 and motored out of the stunning Alum Bay, raising the sails as we lost the protection of the bay and we struck out towards Hurst Castle.
The wind was blowing a solid 14 knots but the wind indicator on the boat was not indicating that. Regardless, we had full sails up as we made 8 knots up the Solent, aided by the current.
I’ve learned a lot from Hugo this week, and today’s lesson was about sitting/standing on the lee (downwind) side of the boat so you can see the tell-tales on the genoa. Sailing to these means you can get as close to wind as possible - when they lift, bear away. On Precision you can really feel the boat lean over and accelerate when in this power zone. It’s important to have crew looking out though, as on this side you can see bugger all in terms of where you’re heading. Not so easy single-handed on Lucice, but good advice all the same.
The Solent was reasonably busy on this sunny day and we had a few crossings on both starboard and port tacks, which definitely made Elpie a little uncomfortable. The rules of the road are clear though, and most sailors on the Solent are comfortable knowing that each party will do the right thing, even if it sometimes seems a little late.
We tacked on the contour lines to try and keep in deep water, making best use of the tide, and made really good time past Totland Bay, Colwell Bay, Yarmouth, Newtown Harbour and Gurnard. As we came into Cowes Green we were hit by strong gusts caused by the acceleration zone around Egypt point, this is something to remember in lighter winds.
After a couple of hours we’d made it to Cowes, dropped the sails and motored in and onto Precision’s dock. A quick pack, inside clean and wash down of the boat and we said goodbye to the crew and Hugo and took the short walk home.
It was a fantastic trip. All kinds of weather, great islands to visit - though more time is needed to explore properly, and experience gained on channel crossing, multi-tide navigation, furler-fixing and general sailing. I’ll take some time and write up my general thoughts later. Today I need some R&R.
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