14th JULY - NEWTOWN ESTUARY 50:43.488N 001:24.332W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Sun 14 Jul 2013 20:30
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"14th July - Newtown Estuary"
After enjoying spending time with our friends and
family in Portsmouth, it is now time to move on towards the east coast and
home. We left the quiet haven of Port Solent, squeezing into the lock with
various yachts and power boats of all sizes and then motored south the
length of Portsmouth Harbour amidst flotillas of power boats and yachts heading
out into the Solent. It was a beautiful warm summers day and everyone was
out to enjoy it. As we entered the Solent the summer weather and joy of
the being at sea again led us to be easily persuaded to turn west
instead of east. We had to motor as the predicted NW winds were in fact SE
in the Solent. The waters were full of boats of all types, ferry boats,
hovercraft, yachts with colourful spinnakers, power boats, super yachts,
dinghies, catamarans, jet skis, all sorts. In all the miles we have
traveled over the past 12 months we have not seen so many boats in one
place at the same time. Being at the helm took some concentration,
manoeuvring and constant thought as to the rules of the road, but was immensely
enjoyable in the warm sunshine.
We headed down to Newtown Estuary, an estuary
on the north west side of the Isle of Wight. Being tidal and
shallow there are leading marks showing the way to the beginning of the narrow
entrance into the estuary. These leading marks involved lining up the
disc on the distant pole into the Y shape of the nearer pole. Once in the
entrance the water (it was high tide) expanded to the left and right, several
boats were leaving and we were able to pick up one of the National
Trust buoys. This peaceful, timeless place has changed little over the
centuries and is a perfect haven for wildlife. We had only been here a few
minutes before a swan came along side and extended his/her neck to peer
expectantly over the gunwales, only to be disappointed that there was no
food on offer. The first sound to disturb the silence of this quiet
haven that nostalgically caught my attention, was the beautiful cry of the
Oyster Catchers, they are the first that I have heard since we left home
last July. For certain, we are nearly home!
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