Venus and Mars, and Jupiter too

I was at the station waiting for the horrible o'clock train up to London watching the dawn break in the eastern sky. It was incredibly clear with a bright light which clearly wasn't a star.

A quick google on the phone revealed as I suspected the bright object was Venus, but the big surprise was that the smaller objects were Jupiter, Mars and Regulus.

Saturn is also visible in the evening twilight and I was keen to show Joseph, but alas we have cloud cover.

The following morning I got up early to clear sky and managed to get the picture above. I think what it shows is Venus the bright one, Jupiter off to the left and lower in the sky, Mars just above, Regulus was visible to the naked eye but didn't come out in the photo.

According to the very helpful  earthsky web site they should be visible for most of October for all you early risers.

Concise

Team Concise trimaran on the pontoon at Hamble Point.

MOD70 trimaran described as " latest generation of absolutely identical trimarans aims to combine modernity and performance, safety, reliability and cost control." Hmmm, not quite sure about that last point, but I guess it's all about relative cost and they sure are fast.

Laser 13

Our friend Glenn had recently bought a Laser 13 and asked us along for his first sail, not that he really needed any help, just with a new and unfamiliar boat it's useful to have a couple of extra hands along.

I've sailed the larger Laser 16 so it was a great chance to try out the smaller boat which is probably more suited to single handed or two up sailing.

At risk of sounding like a yachting journalist, I have to say it's a well designed and well though out boat, everything is to hand and simple to use. We had the boat rigged and on the water in no time, it's light weight makes handling ashore easy.

It was a gusty day, but with a reef in the main and three of us (well two and a half as Joseph's still only 6) there were no dramatics as we sailed down the Beaulieu river.

Glenn sails from the Royal Southampton YC at Gins farm which is a lovely spot on an unspoiled Solent river as the panoramic shows.

We had a good sail, the laser proved to be an all around good boat, a safe and sporty family dinghy and is in fantastic condition.

The club bar had closed by the time we got back and put away so we retreated to the Master Builder's in Buckler' Hard which is just one of the hardships of sailing on the Beaulieu.

Up the creek

Well Badnam Creek to be specific, it winds up past Mercury marina, from the main river if you didn't know it was there you would wouldn't notice it it.

A summer evening low water, the air is still and filled with the ozone and scent of weed exposed on the drying mud. The boats high and dry, egrets and birds picking along the last of the water for tasty morsels.

Indian Summer in the western Solent

Seen from Lymington and Keyhaven salt marshes during an early September day, hazy sunshine, light winds, does it get any better than this?

Dinghy racers gather just outside the Lymington river.

And further west, down off Hurst Castle the Keyhaven fleet also prepares for a start.

While others stay aboard in the harbour and catch up on a few jobs and maybe some maintenance in the nice weather while the wind is too light for sailing.

Fishing and crabbing off the old pier.

Taking the opportunity to row around safely in the flat calm.

Yachts lay quietly at their moorings as high water fills the channels among the marshes.

Children sailing and playing.

Horses enjoy a cooling walk along the shore.

The Observatory

Down in the salt marshes between Lymington and keyhaven, on a point on the path are two strange looking shed like structures, close inspection reveals they are an art installation.

Described as a sculptural installation, one of the buildings is an artist's workshop while the other is an open observatory which can be rotated using a winding mechanism inside, so it's possible to follow the sun or the stars or just simply change the view across the marshes, open lake and the Solent.

The project began as part of Winchester Science Centre on the south downs, but has been relocated to Lymington over the summer and I have to say looks very at home in the new nautical setting.

It was certainly proving to be a popular stopping and talking point with walkers and cyclists when we were there. The artist in residence changes often, outside the workshop was a cabinet where people were invited to swap or leave items and write about them in a book.

Ada

Seen alongside at Dell Quay what looks a traditional local boat, gaff rigged and fitted out with an engine.

Traditional clinker built (lapstrake if your reading this to the west of Cornwall), she looks to be a stout and seaworthy inshore fishing  craft or similar.

Sadly there never seems to be anyone around to ask, given it was lunch time perhaps the crew had adjourned to Dell Quay Sailing Club or the nearby Crown and Anchor.