9th September – Tuesday – Southampton to Beaulieu and Yarmouth

We sedately made our way around the corner to Beaulieu.  A short one hour hop to take in the sights of the Beaulieu River arriving at 13.15.

The entrance to the river is peculiar in that it is in the open water of the Solent, marked by the sign (above).  You then follow a channel of markers which guide you to the marina, winding along the river.  The channel follows a long spit of low lying land.  We arrived at almost high tide and were amazed how far the water fell and the land it revealed, which had looked like reeds on passing.

The water had been at the top of this jetty.  It was another super moon night and the marina staff said they had not seen the river so empty for years.

They told us we could walk to the village of Beaulieu along a riverside walk, which was a beautiful and shady 2 and a quarter miles (which felt longer).

As we arrived in Beaulieu we got our first glimpse of the wild donkeys.  We knew there were horses roaming in the New Forest but did not know about the donkeys.  They seemed oblivious to the comings and goings of the village and the tourists and wandered about happily, but they do live here. 

Mick won today’s Ice Cream challenge with Liquorice Ripple.

We then walked back to Bucklers Hard which is a historic boat yard next to the marina.  There is a museum, historic cottages and old chapel.

The cottages line both sides of the street and there is an excellent pub at the end, where we sampled a pint. 

Info:  The facilities are good but a bit old fashioned.  There was no phone signal at all and very little wifi.  We did not find any shops, so go prepared.  At £37.50 per night, we thought it a bit steep.  You are paying for the location, location, location.

10th September – Wednesday – Beaulieu to Yarmouth

We chose to leave Beaulieu as we were told there was a regatta arriving and we would have to move anyway.  On the way out of the river there was a large boat on our tail, we had to move in to let him pass.  It turned out to be Tom Cunliffe, the author of our Pilot Book and sailing legend, in his new boat.  Bit like seeing George Best played football and he passed us by.

We left at 11:45 and arrived in Yarmouth at 15:30.  It was a sunny day with light wind and we had a pleasant sail across, apart from another impromptu ‘man over board’ drill to save my shoe.  I was trying out my Croc sandals which I only usually use in the showers.  I have seen lots of people sail in them this year, but I caught my foot on a rope and over it went, fortunate floating face up so it was pretty easy to scoop out of the water with the boat hook.  Problem was we were not far from the marina and the tide was running so we overshot Yarmouth and had to apply more engine to get us in passed the Lymington to Yarmouth ferry.

We had a walk around the small town and found a good antique shop.  Some of the other shops closed at 16:00 which I found strange for a tourist spot.

Info:  Yarmouth marina is only £24 per night but you have to buy a token for the showers.  The facilities are good and the staff are friendly.  There is a Costcutter in Yarmouth 5 minutes walk from the marina.  It is a very busy marina as people use it as a hop from the southwest and vice versa.

11th September – Thursday – Yarmouth

We stayed in Yarmouth to catch up on a few jobs. 

When we were based at Largs on the Clyde we would often see the ‘Waverley’ which is the last seagoing paddle steamer.  We saw it so often we thought it was stalking us.  It makes a very distinctive noise, so you hear it before you see it.  We heard that noise again today and popped our heads out of the cabin to see the Waverley, full to the rafters with punters. It apparently sails the Bristol Channel, the Solent and the Thames and returns to the Clyde in October, who knew.  But lovely to see her.

We need to come back to Yarmouth to explore further.