My brother and sis-in-law were in the UK for a visit last weekend, so we hopped the train to Portsmouth/Gosport to sail and play tourists. It was a three day bank holiday weekend.
Waiting for the ferry to Gosport
The wind was a touch high on Saturday to take them out sailing, so we spent the day visiting the
HMS Victory, fishing and dining aboard our Rival 34.
Yes, Victory has lots of guns.
Three stern chasers could be fitted through the stern here.
On Sunday, we were ready to sail and took off for the Isle of Wight. We had a great sail to Cowes, motored up the Medina River, and rafted-up for lunch at the Folley Inn.
Classic boat on the Solent-- note the crew on the bowsprit.
Entering Cowes.
Southern Rival is rafted up.
The sail back against the wind was even more enjoyable, and SR did great in 10-13 knots of wind.
Southern Rival is in the groove.
Steph at the helm.
Back at Gosport, we had pints of hand-drawn ale on the upper deck of a converted Lightship with a beautiful view of Portsmouth Harbor as the sun went down. On Monday, we trained home and spent the afternoon in Hampstead Heath, enjoying Stella Artois and playing cricket.
Walking into the Heath.
David makes a play.
A full photo gallery of the weekend is available here--
Sailing and Playing the Tourist
My brother and sis-in-law are spending the next two weeks in Italy before returned to the UK for another three day weekend. We plan to sail farther afield then.
Meanwhile, my wife is off for a seven-day cruise across the Channel to the Channel Islands next week. I get to do a similar trip to Normandie in June. In July, we'll all be back in the states for a visit, and my brother and I will sail our Cal 20 about 100 miles up the Columbia River to Astoria.