Chichester Yacht Club Motor Section Virtual Cruise 8-10 September 2023

Chichester Yacht Club Motor Section
September virtual cruise report 8th – 10th September 2023

The Thackers kicked proceedings off by announcing they were, in Jackie’s words, off bobbing down to Lymington, then Yarmouth before ending up (possibly) in Bembridge on Sunday. The van Klaverens with family in tow (not literally) responded that they were Lymington Town Quay bound – their first stay on the new(ish) pontoon berths up there. Not to be outdone, the Hances were heading for Gosport for a couple of nights. The Edmunds were absolutely determined to get out of the lock to grab a buoy; plans thereafter looked a little woolly though. The Cricks were off to Keyhaven then Westward Ho! (not the village in North Devon, Claire) but hopefully as far as Dartmouth. As the Cricks were leaving the harbour, they espied the Wheelers returning from a cruise to Portsmouth. And so history will record that this was how the Motor Section’s First Virtual Cruise started. Of which this is the official Virtual Cruise Report. Well it’s virtually a report…

The Hances felt privileged to watch HMS Queen Elizabeth, aka Big Betty, one of the two new aircraft carriers departing Portsmouth on Friday. Hope they dipped their ensign!

By 2045 on Friday Cambermet was as quiet as a mouse,– a perfect weekend for a Motors cruise.

Saturday dawned bright and clear with a glassy calm at Chi Bar Beacon.

The Edmunds found themselves on the fuel pontoon and therefore on the wrong side of the lock, but that was soon rectified and by 0814 they too were off, heading for Island Harbour with a dinghy trip planned for the Medina. Soon to be joined by Ian’s parents, Rod and Elaine on Ariel Galene

The Wheelers had an ethereal return trip from Portsmouth.

The Waverley, was spotted on her annual Isle of Wight excursion. Built on the Clyde in 1946, she is the world’s last remaining sea-going paddle steamer. A magnificent sight.

By Saturday lunchtime the van Klaverens were swimming in Osborne Bay – girls, boys and buoys! And the Armfields were dolphin spotting near the needles. Yes we detected that it was a yacht but as it was motoring it’s given termporary membership on account of the great photo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cricks lunched at RLYC, always a lovely spot from which to watch the world go by on the Lymington River – and such lovely staff too! The Thackers agree – they had been there on Friday night!
And as the weather was mediterranean-like, the Hances were dining on tapas in Cowes. Being a bit bashful there Nick!
The van Klaveren clan dined on fish and chips and champagne. What better dining partners!
During Saturday afternoon the Thackers pushed on to find a buoy in Studland Bay, where Jackie swam around Mascaret. We hope David passed her a brush to give the hull a scrub down… News from elsewhere recorded that the Gordons were on the Thames, the Armfields canoeing (kayaking? – Ed) to Medmerry and the Hunts on a very glamorous ship off Scotland.

And because it’s always a lovely surprise to see the sun go down (actually it’s the earth’s rotation – Ed), and the weather was perfect, we allowed members to record the scenes – Cricks: Keyhaven, Edmunds: Island Harbour, Thackers: Studland (well done to Jackie for giving David some useful tasks!) and the Wheelers at CYC:

A lovely end to a perfect day. Goodnight John Boy, goodnight Elizabeth and so on…

… the Thomsons meanwhile had headed to the heady delight that is Port Solent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday saw a lovely sunrise for the Cricks over Keyhaven and Caroline (believing that sharks couldn’t get into the river) took a quick pre-breakfast dip.

 

 

 

Plans for the day varied. The Lawrences returned home from a stay in Newtown Creek. The Edmunds departed Island Harbour in the rain, took in a swim at East Head then headed home. The Thomsons left Port Solent, again for home. The van Klaverens also headed home via Cowes to see the start of the Ocean Globe race.

The Thackers waited for the tide, then headed across to Cowes and on to the Folly Inn, grabbing a space on the walk-ashore pontoon. The Cricks had a quiet trip across Christchurch Bay, ending the day in Weymouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Edmunds inhaled the last possible moments from the day at East Head before a wobble back to Premier marina and the van Klaverens were already there.

 

 

 

 

 

And so the virtual cruise came all too swiftly to an end. As always, great company, good food and wine, fabulous locations ands plenty of friendly banter. All done virtually for a change. Great stuff!! What could be better…

Epilogue. On Monday the Thackers returned to their home port in Gosport and the Cricks headed on West, arriving in Dartmouth during Monday afternoon.

Gavin Crick
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