Shake down sail

Arion's West Indian Adventure
Hermione & Douglas Pattison
Fri 10 Jul 2015 17:57
Boat jobs are now on hold as it is time to have some fun at last! Our children, Arthur and Alice are staying with Grandma and Grandad and we set sail on a glorious summers evening, waved off by our friends Graham and Anne off Hayling Island, which was very special. There was no wind in the Solent, so we motored most of the way for a pit stop in Yarmouth, avoiding the foul tide.

Hermione relaxed at the helm with the new stereo playing. Not much wind, magical!!

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The following morning, we had a cracking sail west to Weymouth with increasing wind all
The way. This was a great opportunity to put the new gear through its paces and practice putting in reefs without the distraction of the children.

Once alongside in Weymouth, we set to work cleaning the boat. Not a pretty sight! We could then enjoy an evening out in the town as
It was the seafood festival and the town was buzzing.

On Sunday we picked up the children after a lovely supper with Grandma and Grandad and
Bedded down for a few hours before Hermione's first night passage to Studland bay. We left with the tide at about 1am and had a fabulous 10 knots from the west. It was a magical sail and we arrived in Studland at 6am, just inTime for breakfast with Fiona and Peter Black. We spent a wonderful day with them, before setting off in the afternoon on what was to prove a rather fruity trip back to Yarmouth!

We were very relieved to be In port after a very rough and wet crossing and decided to have a day on the Island, visiting Osbourne house which everyone enjoyed. We then returned home safely with a brand new job list for Arion!!