Friday 11th March

Extreme Sailing

We spent Thursday night in a bar at Port Solent. Then, also unbeknown by Sid, we got on board the two Jeaneau 37 yachts that we had hired from SunSail. A few more beers.

I didn't get much sleep that night. It was cold. It was really cold. And it seems that my sleeping bag zip was buggered. There was either a considerable earthquake or a significant amout of snoring going on.

The morning was nice and bright as we made our way to Tescos for a 'full english'. There was even talk of having to motor due to the minimal wind.

We were joined by Chris, Tom and Radar who turned up in the Fluid Tuition RIB.

The wind is evidently rising now, so we hire some wet-weather gear. I believe that the tea-boys wig is optional

Eventually, after all the inventory tedium we get on our way. As we leave Port Solent, past Porchester Castle, we are shepherded by the RIB which is dropped of later further down the harbour. On our boat we have Me, Sid, Jez, Euan, Iran and Stuart.

We pass local sights such as the Naval Base, the new Spinnaker Tower (opens soon) and HMS Warrior (where the wedding will be held).

So what is extreme sailing? This is what happens to a nice little jaunt over to the Isle of Wight for lunch, when the wind gets up to Force 7 (near gale). On top of which we have a significant amount of waves.

We have a hard beat up to Cowes, starting with a single reef, but very soon becoming fully reefed. Several people start to feed the fishes, but I retain my breakfast.

When we get there, we repair to the Anchor for some lunch and a beer. The journey back has the wind behind us. Surfing down the wave has our speed peaking over 10 knots.

We gladly re-enter Portsmouth harbour. We have been instructed to return the boats by 5pm. However as we approach Port Solent lock with minutes to spare, we find that they haven't bothered to tell us that there isn't actually enough water to get in.

Eventually, after the tide has risen sufficiently we get in and can move on. A quick race down the coast and we check-in to the Travel Lodge in Brighton. After a de-louse we are out and finally find a pub that lets us in - hampered by the admission that we are a stag party.