Cruising in Company begins – at last!

Cruise to Island Harbour and the Hamble.

On Monday 12th April seven CYC yachts set off, freshly released by the latest COVID roadmap step. This was the first CYC Yacht Section cruise of the year. Our first destination was Cowes Yacht Haven. A north-north-westerly wind enabled us to have a very pleasant sail down the harbour and on to Cowes without a tack. In Cowes we were able to engage in non-essential shopping for the first time for a long time and noted a long queue for the barber. In the evening we had our first out-door get-together of the year. We kept strictly to the Covid regulations by having evening drinks in groups of four or six in different cockpits.

On Tuesday we had a leisurely motor up the Medina to Island Harbour where Christian made us welcome. Those who wished to, walked up to Newport and back in the afternoon, stopping for outdoor tea and cake, and in the evening, we all dined at The Breeze Restaurant, who were very glad to see the return of customers. I was able to make my first visit of the year to the excellent chandlers there and made good use of the boatyard who replaced a broken throttle cable for us.

We had a gentle sail to Port Hamble on Wednesday in the sun but with little wind. We had another evening of drinks in cockpits before most, if not all, of us eat on board.

For the return to Chichester we had a brisk east-north-east wind which enabled us to sail down to the forts and then tack our way to the harbour entrance. It was a sunny but chilly sail. Bugsy 2, Firedragon, Windreaver, Canopus, Raven and Dawn Chorus welcomed Lunici on their first CYC cruise.

David Roberts
Bugsy 2