Poole Cruise Report 07
by Trevor & Maggie Page - Kouba

Six club boats rendezvoused at Shipstal point in Poole harbour over the early May bank holiday, SixthSense with Peter and Sue Hughes were once again the advance party having already sailed down to Poole on Friday, Dawn Run, Elke Fair, Kouba and Ripping Yarns, single handed by her new owner Steve Cox , left Ashlett on the tide early on Saturday afternoon, Duncan, Jo, Cam and Rudi launched Hyper from Calshot a couple of hours later (confident that their speed would enable then to rapidly catch up!). The perfect weather of the previous few weeks had become a typical dull grey bank holiday and forecast north easterly force 3- 4 simply failed to appear along with any prospects of a fast reach under spinnaker or cruising chute so we motored past Lepe and down the western Solent.

By the time we were near Lymington the wind had filled in but, true to form it was a good F4 almost right on the nose. However it was an excellent sailing breeze and a couple of good tacks with a near spring tide underneath us soon saw us rounding Hurst Castle and setting course for the North Channel mark. Once past North Channel, Richard and Jan in Elke Fair decided to tack out south, this turned out to be an excellent decision and they picked up the stronger west-going tide. In Kouba we decided to follow the wind around the bay and while we could not even lay Christchurch entrance Head when we rounded Hurst the wind lifted a good 30 degrees as it crossed the shore around the bay, but it was not quite enough and we still had to tack out past Hengistbury. From there it was close hauled straight to the Looe channel marker. Steve Cox in Ripping Yarns discovered that a 31ft boat weighing near 5 tonnes is MUCH livelier than a 22ft boat weighing 4 tonnes and after a few pirouettes off Yarmouth he mastered his new autohelm. Given that Steve had never been through Poole Harbour before we hove-to just east of the Looe channel to enable him to catch up so he could follow us. Maggie decided to cook dinner while we waited BUT we forgot how just fast a Moody 31 can motor (especially in Steve's hands) so Steve rolled up just as we were tucking into "baked trout a la Kouba" so Maggie's special dinner was eaten in shifts as we motored into Poole!

The pilotage across the harbour to Shipstal point is a bit tricky the first time but once you have done it once its quite easy.The Wych channel to Pottery Quay is well marked with stakes and then just past Pottery Quay the Upper Wych channel turns to starboard and runs North to Shipstal. Given that we were entering at low water there was not much depth and Elke Fair did what all Ashlett boats do well…a bit of mud ploughing!.

What a great spot Shipstal is, no wonder Mike Gillingham on Dawn Run rates it as his favourite anchorage and as we approached, we were greeted by the sight of Duncan up to his knees in water securing Hyper's anchor to the shallow spit of Long Island, now that really is creek crawling at its best!

Later that evening we christened Steve's new boat with the traditional cruising pastime of attempting to eliminate all the unnecessary weight of wine and nibbles in his lockers!

Saturday dawned grey and a bit blustery and Duncan again entertained us by demonstrating the new sport of "tent sailing", before departing to have a spectacular sail home, nearly 14 knots under jib alone. Well done Duncan!

After a suitably late start the remainder of the Ashlett away team rendezvoused on the beach and started our extensive exploration of the Arne Peninsula. Unfortunately Peter's OS map confirmed our worst fears, it was too far to walk to the Pub! However the area is spectacular, abundant in birdlife and deer, although we did not manage to see the two "albino roe" which the ranger reported were near the hide. Returning for a "light lunch" on Kouba meant that some of us needed a siesta, while others decided to circumnavigate the coast of Long Island on foot, fortunately the natives were friendly!!

Later on Sunday Mike and his crew on Dawn Run and Sue and Peter in Sixth Sense had already decided to anchor in Studland bay and South Deep in order to get an early start back to Ashlett

During the afternoon the wind had continued to rise with gusts around 25 knots but in the evening it dropped away to give a pleasant still evening while we all enjoyed a communal feast on Elke Fair. The inshore forecast for Monday had been F 4-5 occasionally F6 with BBC still giving westerly 17Kts. during the evening the inshore forecast was giving occasionally F6 or 7 but by midnight the shipping forecast gave F8 later (ie around midday Monday). By 0530 on Monday the Hurst Castle website was showing a steady 30 Kts with gusts to 40Kts. Was its wise for Steve to sail an unfamiliar boat single handed when a F8 was forecast, Would Maggie's knee survive the inevitable rough ride over Christchurch Ledge. After a bit of thought Kouba, Ripping Yarns and Elke Fair all decided that discretion is the better part of valour so Jan made a few calls and we soon had snug berths arranged in Cobbs Quay marina.

At the same time Dawn Run and Sixth Sense made a safe but bumpy passage back to Ashlett and were back before we made it back by car (oh well we did stop in the Cobbs Quay Yacht club for lunch)

Steve sailed back to the creek on Tuesday and had an excellent sail with a steady 20Kts with occasional gusts of 30 Kts. Kouba and Elke Fair then sailed back later that week.

Of course we ask the question should we have sailed back on Monday, However the decision to sail always ultimately rests with the skipper and while we are all now required to prepare a passage plan and assess the weather before sailing out of the shelter of the Solent perhaps the most important aspect of any passage is: "will it be fun?"

Overall, it would have been better if we had had the perfect weather we had had over the previous weeks but despite the weather all of the crews enjoyed excellent some sailing and Shipstal point is a fantastic place to visit and we will certainly be going back in the near future.

The next Club cruise is to the Hornet sailing club at Gosport, it's an excellent venue, very friendly with excellent food, its also a shorter sail in the confines of Solent so we look forward to seeing lots more members.

Trevor & Maggie Page, Kouba