More Sailing Days

I recently found an old copy of “More Sailing Days” by Adlard Coles in a charity shop. Published in 1947, it tells of Coles sailing adventures on the south coast of England immediately following the end of World War Two.

Leisure sailing in the Solent had been stopped by the military during the war years, but Coles was fortunate to have been granted an early permit to sail during 1945 in order to update his pilot guide and sailing directions “Creeks and Harbours of the Solent”. His first trip was to bring his pre-war yacht Zara, a diminutive 19 foot Tualare class sloop, from Itchenor, where it had passed the war years safely, back to her home mooring in Bursledon.

Coles entered Zara in Bursledon regatta in 1945, the first to be held since the outbreak of war. He tells of sailing the vivid red, and newly painted Zara; down the Hamble river, past sailors and marines watching from the drab, grey naval launches and landing craft which used the river as a wartime base.

Navigation at night was forbidden as a safety precaution since there were no lit navigation marks and the additional hazard of unmarked ship wrecks all along the south coast. Coles gives a good description of finding his way into the unmarked Newton Creek using the transit of a tower which was visible up on the Wight downs. Despite our best efforts we couldn’t find it on our recent visit to Newton, presumably it hasn’t survived the intervening 60 odd years since the war.

Further west there’s a charming account of Coles anchored in fog outside on Babbacombe in Devon. A fisherman appeared out of the fog rowing a small boat and after some banter and negotiation towed Zara into the harbour and safety.

At 19 feet, Zara eventually proved too small for the growing Coles family and she was sold initially replaced with the Fred Parker design Mary Aidan. She in turn was quickly superseded by the famous Cohoe, in which Coles cruised and raced extensively during the post war years.

For those of us who sail the Solent and the South Coast of England, More Sailing Days gives us a view of our favourite cruising grounds, a view which is familiar yet distant; un-crowded and less hurried. When fisherman still earned their living, working out of the small harbours and us yachtsmen were in the minority.

Hamble Weekend Scramble

The holiday weekend plus the nice weather meant that the Hamble was especially busy. Having breakfast at the town quay made for a great opportunity to just watch the comings and goings on the river.

The Pink Ferry went backwards and forwards across the river between Hamble and Warsash with people out stroling, serious walkers and cyclists, all out for the day.

A steady and seemingly endless stream of boats went down river heading out into the Solent in the near perfect sailing conditions. Few were as striking as this classic racing sloop, which was enjoying the north easterly winds to sail out of the river.

One of my favourite boats, a Memory gaff-rigged sloop, inspired by the small fishing smacks of Brighlingsea on the east coast, they are built locally on the river.

Several dinghy fleets were racing over the weekend, here a Wayfarer slips along at low water close by the Warsash shore.

Down at the river entrance the full scale of the holiday exodus heading out into the Solent, just a little too much like rush hour.

Inevitably there were one or two problems over the weekend, this large motor cruiser went the wrong side of the red marker and ran aground in the shallows - the clues were all there in the foreground.

Who's hidden the aircraft carrier?

I had a day off work on Friday, so we drove down the Solent for a late breakfast. The morning visibility was very poor, as these two shots of nearby Hill Head show.

Above Hill Head looking east towards Lee on Solent.
Below looking west towards Calshot.

Arriving in Stokes Bay at one of our favourite beach front cafes, the viz was just as bad. The yacht below was anchored close inshore, the one in the background no more than 50 yards away. Normally you can see right across the Solent to Ryde on the Isle of Wight.

The visibility was forecast to lift in the early afternoon, so planning on going for an afternoon sail, I checked all the local weather stations. One of them Ryde Web Cam, looks straight back into Stokes Bay where we had been having breakfast. We were a bit surprised to see this aircraft carrier, anchored in the Solent, mid way between Ryde and Stokes Bay. It had been completely invisible to us only a couple of hours before.

I'm guessing it's the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT presumably over as part of the security measures for the G20 last week.