Day Cruise to Southampton Town Quay 18 April
The Cruising Division believed it was getting into its seasonal stride with a plan to visit Southampton Town Quay on Tuesday 17 April - a new venue to see what Southampton's most central marina offered to the modern cruiser. 18 boats signed up, short-term berths booked at the Quay, and 70-plus cruisers booked for lunch ashore. The Tuesday forecast over the week end was for light winds from S or SE....
Monday morning the organiser's phone began to ring: 'the forecast has worsened mightily, we can't possibly go in 30 kts of wind, and gust of 40!'. It was true: on the chosen day the wind rarely dropped below 30 kts at the RLym platform - it would have been a horrible day's sailing, and difficult to moor up safely in a small marina.
So 18 skippers were consulted, plus the Harbour Master and the restaurant: we found we could reschedule for Wednesday 18 or Thursday 19: but our numbers would drop sharply. We chose Wednesday 18 because the sailing breezes looked better, and so it proved. Five sailing cruisers made the passage in a sparkling SE breeze and a flooding tide (one single-handed in his 38-footer): a few tacks and we were in Southampton Water sailing goose-winged for the Quay. Two burly chaps to take each boat's lines, and a comfy berth for all five behind the wave barrier. A splendid standard of service and a short walk to lunch for 20 sailors.
On the way home all chose to motor down Southampton water into a fresh southerly breeze, then set sail for a quick run home on the ebb with wind and tide collaborating; a great day out for the few! Commiserations to those who couldn't come.
Town Quay before the invasion
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and during it!
George Trevelyan, vice Captain of Cruising