Day 3 Fri 18 May Chichester to Poole
There's a sailors'saying, that the weather forecast is too inaccurate to rely on but too important to ignore. So we're keeping track of how often the Met Office gets the wind and weather wrong. Three out of three so far: today there was for all useful purposes NO wind (forecast 3-4 SE) so another day motoring. Not only that but there was 'nothing to see, folks, move along there' because of the fog which descended (that one was forecast) as we left the western Solent. In fact the only wind we had all day was in the marina, necessitating a very tricky springing manoeuvre to get off our berth! Once down the harbour channel and over the bar (thankfully at high water) we headed for the Forts, passing close to No Man's Land Fort (picture) and westward along the coast of the Isle of Wight. Passing Cowes we had fun dodging a serious racing fleet with spinnakers all round us and crew lined up along the weather rails. We would have liked to take the Needles Passage to get some nice pics, but by then the fog had arrived and we settled for Hurst Narrows and then across Christchurch and Poole Bays in poor visibility. We entered Poole harbour avoiding the chain ferry and the Poole-Cherbourg ferry and berthed in the Town Quay Marina. I discovered that the further west you go the more expensive the fees - a staggering £41 here for a night! Walk into town, visiting the chandlers and scoping out our evening's entertainment, then back for fish and chips aboard. On the quayside there was a car owners' rally, with a lineup of more Porsches that you could shake a big stick at! The Antelope in King St had a live band - the JuJu Men - with 'Retro R&B'and we settled down for a couple of hours of music on a comfy sofa, before heading home for an early night. Tomorrow's plan is a later departure (allowing for Shopping) to catch the tide round Anvil Point for Weymouth.
Prof Irving Benjamin