The weather has been dry for some weeks now, so it was no surprise that with the Newbury Yacht Club rally booked, the weather was forecasting rain for the first time in weeks! As it turned out, apart from a shower overnight we had wall to wall sunshine.
The turn out for this rally was as always high, we had 10 boats signed up and over 30 booked in for dinner, although due to their draft a couple of boats had to lay outside the Marina and come in by tender.
Carina departed Gosport in blustery but sunny conditions, but with the wind on the beam we romped along, through the Dolphin (the small boats route through the submerged barrier off Southsea). In no time she rounded the West Pole and made her way up to Chichester Marina. Free Flow on the lock had just started as she arrived and so she soon made her way to her berth.
Over the next few hours the other boats came in with similar stories of great sailing.
At the allotted time we congregated on the pontoon for tea and cakes. Anne’s chocolate brownie went down very well and I believe that the recipe changed hands many time that afternoon.
After a chance to freshen up, we all met for a short wander to look at the sights of the harbour at low tide, from there it was to the bar in the Chichester Yacht Club for a pre-dinner drink. As an added bonus, there was a 70’s & 80’s disco going on in the Club and, after eating, many of our members were seen enjoying the music; in some cases very enthusiastically!
The next morning most of us met at the Marina lock for a walk out to Dell Quay. In bright sunshine we made our way through the beautiful countryside. There is a pub at Dell Quay, (which may explain the high turnout for the walk) which served coffee and so provided a useful pit stop before heading back to our boats ready for the trip home.
The next morning Carina headed back to Gosport, the sun was shining again and despite fairly strong head winds and a lumpy sea over the bar, she had a good sail home.
A big thank you to Dave & Anne for hosting such a great event and to all those members who came along and made it a memorable night.
13th-14th May 2017