Adventures closer to home
While attending a rally to Lymington singlehanded aboard Hejira, my Southerly 135, I cycled to Keyhaven to meet Alison and Nick Boxall, the Southerly Owners Association (SOA) magazine editors and local residents.
We discussed the prospect of taking Hejira, at 45ft, up to the Quay and ‘drying out’, which seemed achievable for an overnight out of season. SOA rally organiser Peter Bell, who lives in Lymington, offered to crew and photographed the bottom at low tide to review feasibility.
Plans came together for a November weekend when I was banished from my house to make way for my daughter’s hen party. The weather was perfect for a reach from Portsmouth to Lymington in crisp sunshine and a good Force 4 on the beam.
I moored alongside Town Quay pontoon. Whether it was the tranquil setting or the ale consumed in the Kings Head, I had the most sumptuous night’s sleep.
Peter and his son Dom arrived at 1130 for our passage on the flood up to Keyhaven. With advice from Nick Boxall, a paper chart and an accurate Navionics chart we slowly ‘conned’ our way down the tight channel. Nick and Alison, having tracked our AIS, were waiting to take the lines. Lunch at Keyhaven Yacht Club gave us time to catch up before Peter and Dom walked home while I prepared corned beef hash for one.
At The Gun Inn, I met sailors who had moored on a buoy inside the spit. As the boatyard and fishing boats use the east side, only the quay’s south side is available, with room for one yacht that can ground. It is fairly flat and unobstructed, although my mission to clean the hull around the fouled log impeller proved to be a very muddy exercise. Fortunately I could pick up water on the quay to hose down my filthy clothes.
Having pulled up the slope, my departure was delayed until 1345 when I floated off and crept out in plenty of depth. After a satisfying broad reach against the ebb, the pace dropped and I turned on the engine. Soon after Bramble Bank, early dusk made it tricky to spot the pot markers. I used the quieter water between Gilkicker and the inner swashway to drop and stow the mainsail. The lights of Portsmouth Harbour usefully silhouetted the unlit ship mooring buoys. Manoeuvring into my marina berth was easy thanks to my Southerly’s central third rudder, added behind the prop.
This just goes to show you don’t have to cross oceans to find fulfilling experiences that can be enjoyed closer to home.