17th July - Littlehampton 50:48.374N 000:32.621W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Wed 17 Jul 2013 21:52
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"17th July - Littlehampton"
Once again we woke up to a glorious summer's
morning and after breakfast set off gently down the river to Cowes and the
Solent. We didn't even trouble to put up the mainsail, which is quite
unheard of for us, there was not a breathe of wind, the sea was flat calm, a
sheet of glass just like a mill pond. The only disturbance was that of the
wash of the Isle of Wight Ferry and a gigantic container transport ship.
We followed this giant up the edge of the shipping channel but its powerful
engines soon left us far behind as it disappeared into the haze.
We dawdled along enjoying the Isle of Wight
coastline and the hazy skyline of Portsmouth, which is so changed since I last
sailed in the Solent some 35 years ago. We noticed a group of several
Kayaks making their way from Ryde towards Portsmouth, as we got closer to them
we realised that each pair of Kayaks had a swimmer in between them. We
assumed that it was probably a Charity Swim, they had certainly chosen the right
day for such a marathon swim as there were no waves to upset the rhythm of the
swimmers. We passed them by, hoping that the approaching Ryde Ferry would
slow down for them.
Eventually, the cats paws arrived on the water and
after the 10 minute rule to check that there was indeed enough wind to sail by,
we cut the engine and hoisted up the sails. The silence of the engine
was bliss as Whisper began to calmly move along, chuckling as she
gathered speed through the water. We enjoyed our sail whilst we
had lunch in the warm sunshine, but before long we had to start up the iron
horse again so that we had some direction through the narrow Looe
Channel.
We decided that we would call into Littlehampton
and make contact with our friends from Middleton on Sea and catch up on their
news. Also, I had a sun hat to return which had been lent to me in
Antigua! Thank you Dean, your hat was very much appreciated and I have
left it in the safe care of your Mum.
We spent a wonderful evening with our hostess
and enjoyed a long telephone conversion with our absent host who is currently
working with the Tall Ships Race in the Baltic. We enjoyed the luxury of a
night in a proper bed, which did not bob about and were totally spoilt with
a Full English Breakfast this morning. We even had our laundry
washed, as well as coming back to Whisper ladened with wonderful goodies of
jam, chutneys, cake, lettuce, beetroots and spring onions. It
was like visiting ones Mother or Grandmother, there were always gifts of
lovely homemade things to take away with you. Vicky you are a gem,
thank you so very much for your hospitality and "homemade/home grown hamper" and
especially for remembering the wicked desire for Rum 'n Raisin ice-cream.
It was deliciously scrumptious!
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