"Normal" Life 50 43.53N, 01 44.33W
Saro's Gyda
Derrick Thorrington
Mon 27 Jun 2011 20:37
Our friends, Sarah and Warwick duly arrived on their boat Murava, exactly on
time and rafted up with us, Tamarisk having left in the morning. We had
quite a bit of catching up to do and this was carried out with the help of a
"Welcome Back" bottle of Fizz and another rustled up
dinner aboard. The following day was spent enjoying a companionable
long walk around the coastal path (with a convenient refreshment stop half way
and the reward of a clotted cream tea at the end!)
Note the Great
British summer wear!
Next day we bade farewell to Warwick and Sarah and headed east with a fair
forecast, hedging our bets on whether we would cross Lyme Bay immediately or
stop over at Dartmouth to wait for some
inclement weather to pass by. Dartmouth proved to be the best bet so we headed
into and up this beautiful river to anchor just below Dittesham, surrounded by
steep green and wooded hills and lovely scenery. What was not so lovely however
was the weather for the next two days. It blew very hard and absolutely poured.
Creek on the
Dart
Unable to stay inactive all this time, the mate set of to walk to Dartmouth,
returning later in the day soaked to the skin despite full waterproofs and boots
but having enjoyed the lovely countryside and historic sttreets of the
town. The rain held off for long enough in the evening to row ashore and enjoy a
meal in the Red Lion, at the back of the village. It was a great pub, mainly
frequented by locals and also contained the Post Office, a small shop and a room
with local crafts and knitted goods. Very characterful, friendly and
welcoming.
On Sunday 19th June the Met Office forecast was extremely
inadequate, predicting winds of F5 to 7 in Lyme Bay. We could only interpret
this as a 5 with maybe gusts of 7. After much deliberating we decided to head
out very early in the morning in order to coordinate with the Christchurch
tides. We dressed in full waterproofs, lifejackets and harnesses As we nosed out
to sea in the dark a double reef was set in the main and a single in the
mizzen. We braced ourselves for the onslaught and nothing happened. There was no
sign of a gale at all! We shook out the reefs, shed a few layers of
clothing and enjoyed a great and comfortable sail across Lyme Bay, past Portland
and the Purbecks. As it was evident that we would arrive at Christchurch
entrance far too early for the tide, we turned into Swanage to wait. Although we
didn't bother to launch the dinghy to go ashore, I managed to catch up with my
good friend Pam as she stood waving on the beach while we conversed on
our mobile phones. A few hours later we eventually gave in to the
engine in Poole Bay as the wind died, in order to make the tide into
Christchurch before the last of the light faded.
It was a pity that we had had to deliberate for so long in
Dartmouth as the girls had planned a welcoming picnic, hoping that we would
be entering the harbour in the afternoon. Nevertheless we were waved into the
Run by two enthusiastic mothers a dog and Eleanor who then rushed around to the
sailing club to join us for a homecoming nightcap. We were
back.
Christchurch
We were reluctant to leave our "home" that night but the following
day, "normality" had to be faced. Green Flash was gradually unpacked over the
next few days and we relocated to our house which had been beautifully cleaned
and tidied for our arrival (all evidence of wild parties
erased!).
One effect of living on a small boat for the year was a rash of
clearing out in our first week home. The Charity shops of New Milton were
restocked to overflowing with unneeded clothes and unwanted
books.
We are now firmly reabsorbed back into the Nation's workforce, with
lovely, lovely memories of people. places and events and are are already
champing at the bit to do it again!