5th September – Friday – Brighton to Southampton and Cowes

We really like Brighton and look forward to returning. 

Up to 05:20 for a 6:00am start.  56 miles to Southampton, therefore a 10 hour journey.  The weather was mostly cloudy, with occasional wind and quite a flat sea.  So mostly motor sailing in the busy channel.

Info: Ocean Village marina is a modern marina in the centre of Southampton surrounded by new build flats.  Good new facilities with hotel hairdryers, and the only plug available is in the Laundry Room.  There is a Tesco Express 5 minutes walk away.  Asda and Lidl in Southampton are 20 minutes walk.

Walked to the Tesco and tidied the boat.  Made space for Andy (Mick’s old friend) to sleep when he arrives tomorrow.

6th September – Saturday

Andy travelled to Southampton by train and then walked the 30 minutes from the station.  It was a very sunny day so we sat and had lunch before departing for the Isle of Wight. 

We were joining Graham and Pauline at their ‘Moody Owners Club’ rally (Moody is a type of boat) at the Folly Inn.  Sadly we did not have any windy and motored to Cowes.

When we arrived at approx. 16.30, and rafted 4 deep onto the other rally boats.  Just in time for drinks with Graham and Pauline and then Pimms on the Pontoon. 

The Pontoons at the Folly Inn are not connected to the land and so we caught a water taxi to the pub. £2.50 return, as you have not an option but to return.  Good night had by all, good food and company.

7th September – Sunday

We woke to a very misty morning and we all had the intention to stay and have breakfast to let the mist clear.  However the problem with being on a raft is that you leave when the earliest person needs to go and unfortunately the boat on the inside of the raft needed to go.  So we all peeled away and set off back to Southampton.  Another very busy morning leaving Cowes but a good experience for Andy who did a great job as chief look-out.

Pauline and Graham on ‘Liberty’.

Our early start turned out to be a good move as we got a call from friends Nigel and Debbie, saying they had been to Beaulieu Motor Jumble and were in the area.  So as we arrived back at Southampton they were stood on the quayside waving us in.  It was a scorcher of an afternoon, so we put up the canopy and sat drinking wine and eating nibbles and enjoying the day.

During our chats we heard music coming from the other side of the marina.  A Hindu society had hired a ferry boat to take themselves and their flowered offering out to sea.  It was a very lively and colourful scene.

It was a lovely unexpected surprise to see Debbie and Nigel, and we really appreciated their visit.

We had homemade curry and chapattis on the boat that night.

8th September – Monday

We had a full breakfast today on Andy’s last day and he treated us to bacon and homemade jam.  He left us at 11:00am to walk back to the station.

We don’t see Andy too often and it has been great to have a proper catch up and see him looking so well, we really appreciate his visit and the effort he made to come and see us.

We walked to town in the afternoon to top up at Lidl.  We passed the Queen Mary II bringing back happy memories.