We all slept well and awoke to a breezy, drizzly grey morning. After a leisurely breakfast, copious mugs of coffee and a brief discussion we decided to head for Cowes despite the conditions
Once out of Portsmouth and across the swashway, we had just enough angle across the stiff breeze to make sail
With 18 to 20 knots of wind over the deck, I again chose to set the mizzen and genoa without the main.
And to my considerable delight Pagan sailed beautifully, even with a reef in the genoa, making over five knots through the water and pointing up well
We were slowly overhauled by a sloop of similar size carrying reefed main and genoa who was pointing up no better than us and having a much wilder time of things. At times, as we sat in comfort with the boat virtually upright, we were able to inspect his bottom almost to the keel root!
The ketch rig really is the business for the cruising sailor! I've christened this mode of progression as "Lazy man's sailing" and I thoroughly recommend it!
Although I regretted not donning my foulies and relying on my lightweight showerproof jacket, otherwise it was a surprisingly enjoyable sail
We arrived, slightly soggy but deeply satisfied, in Cowes after about three hours. Berthing in East Cowes Marina nearly went awry when the spring line came off the centre cleat (we need to improve the arrangement thereof) but timely assistance from fellow yachtsmen on the pontoon saved the day
After a crew conference about the weather forecast for the next couple of days, we unanimously agreed to stay put here until Saturday so I duly booked us in for three nights
(Friday looks a bit brisk to say the least with up to F8 forecast in the gusts)
So it was on with the covers and up with the cockpit tent
We decided to eat ashore and enjoyed an excellent meal and decent beer (for me anyway, the girls were on lager and cider)
We'll now relax and explore Cowes before deciding on our next move. (We almost certainly won't head back East to Chichester Harbour now, where I'd provisionally planned to spend the weekend)
Once out of Portsmouth and across the swashway, we had just enough angle across the stiff breeze to make sail
With 18 to 20 knots of wind over the deck, I again chose to set the mizzen and genoa without the main.
And to my considerable delight Pagan sailed beautifully, even with a reef in the genoa, making over five knots through the water and pointing up well
We were slowly overhauled by a sloop of similar size carrying reefed main and genoa who was pointing up no better than us and having a much wilder time of things. At times, as we sat in comfort with the boat virtually upright, we were able to inspect his bottom almost to the keel root!
The ketch rig really is the business for the cruising sailor! I've christened this mode of progression as "Lazy man's sailing" and I thoroughly recommend it!
Although I regretted not donning my foulies and relying on my lightweight showerproof jacket, otherwise it was a surprisingly enjoyable sail
We arrived, slightly soggy but deeply satisfied, in Cowes after about three hours. Berthing in East Cowes Marina nearly went awry when the spring line came off the centre cleat (we need to improve the arrangement thereof) but timely assistance from fellow yachtsmen on the pontoon saved the day
After a crew conference about the weather forecast for the next couple of days, we unanimously agreed to stay put here until Saturday so I duly booked us in for three nights
(Friday looks a bit brisk to say the least with up to F8 forecast in the gusts)
So it was on with the covers and up with the cockpit tent
We decided to eat ashore and enjoyed an excellent meal and decent beer (for me anyway, the girls were on lager and cider)
We'll now relax and explore Cowes before deciding on our next move. (We almost certainly won't head back East to Chichester Harbour now, where I'd provisionally planned to spend the weekend)
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