Weather window disappears for a Channel crossing but all is not lost....
Tuesday 23rd May
Day 5
Position – Royal Clarence Marina, Gosport
It had been a very quiet night aboard Calm Voyager as the wind had dropped off during the night as forecast. With no wind howling and no lines snatching overnight the boat was very still, not what we have been used too.
The rude awakening came when the alarm clock went off at 0400hrs this morning? ouch!
After checking the weather on the internet yet again, Neale and Claire quickly threw the lines off. After being prised from their beds, with cups of tea in hand we left Chris and Richard on the pontoon with the RIB. The plan was that they would leave with the faster boats and arrive in Cherbourg first.
Calm Voyager came out of Portsmouth just as it was starting to get light.
As we passed the forts, all you could see between the Nab Tower and us were lots of anchored container ships, they had obviously come in to the Solent to seek shelter overnight. This was not a good sign. The Solent was deceptively flat.
After safely dodging lobster pots, travelling further out past Bembridge the sea began to change. The wind gradually increased as we headed out parallel with St Catherine’s Point and waves began to build, the bow was dropping into troughs bigger than the boat itself.
“Looking at the forecast for the rest of the week, and into the weekend, it is clear that a Channel crossing and return is not possible within the timescale available” Neale says. With that in mind the MBM team frantically worked on plan Z, amendment 8, this entails a Cruise Dinner at Haslar Lightship, followed by four days of Solent port hopping. Another meal is planned at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes on Friday night.
