Portuguese Racing Sardine Club

Nestling in the heart of the Hampshire countryside, at what is reputed to be the source of the Hamble river are the headquarters of the Portuguese Racing Sardine Club

 Given its location at the accepted source of the River Hamble  racing can now only be held on extremely high tides, perhaps an effect of global warming, excessive dredging or marina development on the river. 

Alternatively it may be that the headquarters are also the gents toilets at the Hampshire Bowman pub, the decline may be just impact of the UK nanny state causing increased sobriety?

 

Underwater crop circles ?

Maybe should have saved this for April 1st, extreme low water are these examples of the mud version of the mysterious crop circles or perhaps a damp version of the Atacama geolyphs?

 

Busy day at Keyhaven

Despite the poor summer weather there were variously good turn outs for events at Keyhaven with fleets from Hurst Castle SC and Keyhaven YC bustling for space

I forget the event but there was a varied fleet ranging from SCOWs and Lasers and upward in size.

 

Nelson's other Column

Set back slightly from the top of the chalk ridge that is of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth Harbour is the original Nelson's column.

Built in 1807 to 1808 as a monument to the famous Admiral, his success at the Battle of Trafalgar during which he was mortally wounded by musket fire from an nearby French ship, the column also provided a useful sea mark for navigators.

Designed originally by John Groves the column stands 28.3 meters / 92 feet 10.5 inches high standing on the 300 feet contour line, funding of £3,000 was raised. by the donation of 2 days pay from all who took part in the battle, which considering what they had gone through during the battle seems a little onerous.

the column was rebuilt in 1899 but retains the original bust of Nelson which looks out over the harbour

I confess that despite having lived in the area for over 25 years I didn't know of it's existence until my recent visit.

Miss Ningi

I've featured Miss Ningi before, she's a Cara 16 a nice open gaff rigged day sailer designed by John Shuttleworth, sadly all too few were built.

Seen over at Birdham Pool it's an ideal boat for pottering around the large natural harbour.

 

Folk Boat Friday

 Nice example of a wooden, I think Scandinavian Folk Boat waiting on the pontoon at the Royal Lymington YC.

Destination Dieppe

We hadn't really considered Dieppe as a destination, having last been through there from the Newhaven ferry some 40 years ago, but since we were staying just up the coast we thought we'd take a look around the town.

 

The ferries stopped running in the. early 2000's  and the inner port is now a marina surrounded by cafes, bars and restaurants. At the far end of town stood on a high promontory is the Musee Chateau de Dieppe, well worth a visit and with great views over the town and out across the bay.
 

Nearby we came across this place, it's not clear if it's a shop or a museum or a mixture since a lot of items were for sale, some really interesting stuff.

The old town is given over to a lot of boutique shops catering to tourists with an eye to high fashion items.

Some old buildings dating back right up to the ramparts of the chateau, in the center I think that's the Church of St Jacques, twelfth century gothic which was a stage for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela - the modern day Camino.

Clearly the local classic boat restoration club has it's work cut out with this one.

Interior of St Jacques are these amazing crarved stone screens to many of the side chapels, which are an indication of the wealth of the port in former years.

Not all working boats are waiting restoration, this local lugger was operating day sailing.

 As well and the inevitable tourist cafes and bars, there were more than a few authentic places to eat clearly catering to locals, and as you would expect really good fish menus. All in all a very pleasant surprise and well worth a visit.

Early Morning

For a variety of reasons I've stopped going out early along the river in the past few years, more or less since the dreaded COVID started, but with a fine start to the day and rain in prospect by mid morning I decided to get out relatively early.

The sun was coming up over the trees on the east shore of the river lighting up all the boats, the river was still and reflected the hulls and masts perfectly.

Alas the weather was coming in sooner than forecast as can be seen in the western sky, shortly after getting home the "heavens opened".

Appropriately named "Storm Chaser"

 

Thames stroll

Arriving early for some meetings I took a short stroll along the Thames Path along the river, the Thames at this part is tidal with strong currents on both the ebb and flow.

Docklands as it's name suggest are the old London docks, the ships are long since gone as are many of the wharves and warehouses, replaced by expensive flats and at the huge mega bank towers.

At low tide layers of history are occasionally revealed, here showing the remains of at least 3 previous wharves and who knows what other debris, some of those rocks would be from a recent demolition or left over from the building of the Tower of London who knowes.

A hundred years ago or less this creek would have been full of small lighters and other craft, dried out on the mud, unloading or loading. It's good to see some of the warehouses still preserved alongside the new flats.

I tried to find out some history of Molines Wharf, but other than the price of flats there wasn't much found by google, this stretch of the river has been docks and wharves since the time of Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake so probably some interesting history.

The Grapes, to echo the previous paragraph, has been a pub since 1583.

Finally I took a stroll around Limehouse basin, there's a lock to enter and leave dependent on the tide height out in the main river. Seems like quite a few live-aboard boats and certainly makes for a nice "pad" in London.

This is what you do if you live in a hi-rise but really want a garden with a view of the river, very neat and I imagine very expensive.

 

Festival de la Mar

Le Treport is seaport with a long history of fishing and more latterly tourism on the "Alabaster coast" of France. The town hosts a biannual event in July August each year to pay tribute to the sailors who have lost their lives at sea.

 The fishing fleet turned out dressed overall and decorated for the parade together with a navy vessel, the lifeboat and a few other large local craft out in the bay.

On return the fishing boats took up a water fight, drenching each other with their power hoses at close quarters in what what is clearly a regular and popular part of the festivity.

It wasn't long before the boats came close alongside the harbour wall to wash down the assembled festival goers. There was in all probability alcohol involved

It's clearly a major local event, the town was packed with visitors and locals on what was a perfect summer's day.

 

Autumn Equinox

 The Autumn Equinox is upon us, the nights draw in earlier, the rate of change in the seasons is at it's height.

With the changes come contrasts which bring out some dramatic scenes and fantastic colours. Perhaps with a better camera and more application I could capture photographs which do justice.

 The words of Henry Wordsworth Longfellow seem very appropriate

Thus alone can we attain 

To those turrets, where the eye 

Sees the world as one vast plain, 

And one boundless reach of sky

 

Down on the spit

Itchenor is a delightful village in Chicheter harbour, plenty of space for hauling out but I can imagine that's a windy, cold and in hospitable spot for doing winter maintenance.

 

Club Nautique Creil Sur Mer

Creil Sur Mer is a village at the eastern end of the Normandy coast nestling between tall chalk cliffs, the Club Nautique has a small clubhouse/workshop and a secure compound for cars, boats and trailers.

The coast here is challenging, the nearest safe harbours are Le Teport to the east and Dieppe to the west and launching is across a wide and steep shingle beach

Added to those challenges the tidal range is around 8 meters, so the club had laid this heavy duty runway and a cable winch for launching and recovery.

It all seems to work pretty well, our neighbor (of the house we were staying in) was out fishing most days taking advantage of the settled weather.

 

Luggers

Selection of small luggers passing by the balcony in Fowey.

These two relatively small boats both with a foresail and mizzen in additional to the lug mainsail are very much is the tradition of  working boats, the sail plan keeping the working area clear, but has the opportunity to set a large sail footprint. The short and wide hull form was something seen on both sides of the channel.

A simpler rig just main and jib, looks a very relaxed

Modern interpretation the Nigel Irens designed high tech, 37 foot lugger Roanna is simply lovely, I managed to speak with the owner who had long admired and  purchased when the boat came up for sale from the original owner a few years ago.

 

Echo 90

The French have some interesting training and day boats, this example is an Echo 90 spotted in Le Treport recently.

The Echo 90 is a 9-metre ketch rigged day boat, with twin rudders and open transom.the builders claim it proves to be efficient and fast, thanks to a large sail area and an asymmetrical spinnaker while the modern design gives it great stability and allows it to navigate safely even in strong winds.

Operated in Le Treport by the sailing school Sensationlarge.com, it can take up to six sailing out in the Baie de Somme

LOA	9.14 m
Width	2.92 m
Draft	1.05 m
Weight	1,400 kg
Sail area	37.3 m2

Built by A.C.B Chantier Naval Brittany  , they also have other interesting boats in build - the Maraudeur, La Caravelle based on a Morlaix boat which is described as "rustic boat is somewhat reminiscent, all things being equal, of Citroën 2CV" and the MiniJi a 1/7 scale replica of the 12 Meter JI from the America's Cup

Fishing

Interesting fishing boat, good cover come rain or sunshine, low draft and a nice stable hull.

 Twin outboards are each relatively small but give redundancy. Looks like they have three rods deployed.

End of Summer

August bank holiday and US Labour day holiday weekends have past, the rate of change of daylight hours is racing toward the dark winter evenings ahead. 

 There's normally a noticeable temperature change around mid September so make the most of the next couple of weeks if the weather holds.