Still in portsmouth but plan for Cowes tomorrow
Wednesday 24th May
Day 6
Position – Royal Clarence Marina, Gosport
At 0700hrs the alarm went off aboard Calm Voyager, so as usual the laptop came out and the team assessed the weather conditions online for today’s planned passage to the River Hamble. The actuals from the Bramble Bank weather station in the entrance to Southampton Water, were showing a Force 6-7’s; a mean wind of 27 knots with gusts of 35 knots. Our hearts dropped. We could not possibly take the fleet from Portsmouth via the North Channel in those conditions. We quickly rang around the fleet to tell them the disappointing news. As a test run yesterday Chris Brace took the RIB ‘Time Flies’ out of Portsmouth at high water and around to the entrance to Southampton Water and to the North Channel. He reported back that conditions were moderate with the seas 45 degrees off the bow. Outbound he averaged between 6-10 knots, and on the return trip between 20-22 knots with a following sea. These are the exact same conditions we would have seen out there today, and not at all ideal for moving a fleet of motorboats. We had made a tough, but the best decision.
We are not feeling so lonely now. Special mentions to Nimbus 320 ‘Alice B’ and Broom 39 ‘Nemota’ who despite the weather joined us, Ocean Spirit and Amazing Grace at Royal Clarence Marina yesterday. We now have a total of 4 boats at the intended start point of the cruise.
If the weather permits, our intention tomorrow is to gather the fleet in Shepards Wharf Marina, Cowes. We have negotiated berthing for Thursday and Friday, possibly even Saturday night. The forecast at the moment is looking very favourable for a passage tomorrow, with 3’s and 4’s predicted for early morning. So to take advantage of the conditions we have asked the Portsmouth, Hamble and Southampton boats to leave at 0800hrs. The dinner at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes has been confirmed.
Photos – Mission Control aboard Calm Voyager
