The final chapter - back to Marchwood

Rosinis heads to Svalbard
Bob Hendicott
Thu 13 Sep 2018 20:56
I’m now back at Marchwood Yacht Club, having arrived earlier this evening.  It’s a strange feeling thinking about all the places the various crew - Julian, Steve, Meryon, Giles, Chris and Barney – and I have been to with Rosinis since I last sat here. It feels a bit like a dream already and will certainly take a while to sink in completely. 
 
When I left Ramsgate yesterday morning I wasn’t quite sure how far I’d get before stopping or where the stop would be.  Heading NE through the Dover Straits it’s possible to play the tides to gain, in effect, two consecutive fair tides; one from the Channel and the other from the North Sea.  But what goes around comes around, and heading SW the opposite occurs.  At worst I thought I may need to anchor off Dungeness (one of the classic sailing vessel passage anchorages of old) to avoid the worst of the foul tide, but by leaving at 0640 I managed to carry the fair tide all the way through to Rye Bay where the adverse tide was much weaker, and within about three hours I’d picked up the new ebb tide in the Channel – a fair tide again.  By 1600 I was alongside the Royal Sovereign Light Tower, and an hour later 2nm south of Beachy Head, which was only just visible in the drizzle that had been around for much of the day.  By 1900 it was getting dark and the setting sun silhouetted the Rampian wind farm south of Shoreham.  By this stage I’d decided I would either stop in Chichester Harbour or press on to the Solent, despite having to face another adverse tide, making it a slow passage between the wind farm and the Owers light off Selsey Bill.  However, the Solent tide soon picked up and at 0520 I was at anchor in Osborne Bay, just east of Cowes.  Although I’d managed several hours’ sleep in 15 minute catnaps, I was ready for more and was soon asleep.  The next I knew was that it was mid morning and I could hear the engine of a boat circling very close by.  I looked out and to my surprise there was my good friend John in his RIB.  He’d been tracking me on AIS and came to welcome me back.  So we had a couple of hours chatting over coffee in the sun in the cockpit: very pleasant.  In the afternoon I sailed the final few miles back to Marchwood and was moored on the Club pontoon at 1930.
 
One of the best bits of advice I had when planning this trip, given by a skipper who had already been to Svalbard, was “Just do it!  It’s easy really”.  Well, whilst there were some challenging moments, it actually wasn’t difficult, but it has been a big undertaking.  Altogether I’ve been away 97 days and sailed 5638nm, some of it in extremely remote parts of the globe, and I’m now really looking forward to getting home.  My advice, were anyone to ask, is that it’s an incredible experience, well worthwhile, and, with careful preparation, the right crew, and the right boat, it is easy really, so just do it.  I was very lucky to have a great crew and a great boat............and a great wife who let me go.  Thank you.
 
The attached photos show Royal Sovereign Light Tower – the maritime equivalent of a 60s block of flats; the setting sun silhouetting the Rampian wind farm; my surprise visitor in Osborne Bay; and the night vista from the MYC pontoons.

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