Muddy Waters

The flood begins to make on a dreamily still spring morning. A family of geese stir, as a tongue of water licks toward them across the salt marsh. They swim lazily among the sun warmed shoals. Beyond them, a yacht sounds cautiously out of the river. She hugs the witch-hatted markers, of the dredged channel, making for the mist shrouded form of the Isle of Wight. Seeking the security of deeper water.

To landward, a grid iron of mirror calm ditches drain the marsh. Each framed by a mantle of richly fragrant, chromium yellow, gorse bushes.Their heady scent hangs in the air, filling my lungs.

Further back, a russet red brick New Forest farm house stands on a slight rise. Boats are pulled up on the meadow, outside the five barred gate which guards its entrance.

I'm paying a visit to Discovery Yachts in Lymington. They now own the moulds for the shoal draft Southerly range. Discovery are applying the custom build approach, for which their larger Discovery ocean roaming yachts are famed, to the smaller Southerly range. Among the improvements on offer are a Solent, twin forestay, Rig (triple, if you count the gennaker) and a below decks helm position. Both are at the top of my wish list for the perfect passage making boat. The Solent Rig to provide a ready rigged, perfectly set foresail, whatever the wind strength. The sheltered helm position for those times, on overnight passages, when even the spell cast by the sparkle of myriad stars above, and the flash of phosphorescence below, cannot ward off the chill of the pre-dawn dew-fall.

The ability to reduce draft to 0.7 metres, by lifting the ballasted swing keel, would also open up cruising options, particularly in the muddy waters of my North Sea base. Timings for crossing the swatch ways would no longer be critical Passage Planning factors. New anchorages would open up.

The question is how much windward performance, particularly in a breeze, would be traded for that shoal draft flexibility; and whether that trade off would work for me.

Stargazer's ability to happily sail, on any point, in any wind strength between 8 and 28 knots is one of her great delights.

Memory Lane

Today a crisp south westerly force 6 rattles the palm fronds on Poole Quay.

Beyond the shelter of the sea wall, white horses cavort...

...jostling the fishing punts on their moorings.

The inner harbour lies tranquil and reflective.

A fisherman lolls contentedly at the helm, basking in the spring sunshine, heading homeward to Holes Bay after an early start. His work stained craft chugs past the immaculate ranks of, Star-Wars-storm-trooper black & white, Sunseekers marshalled outside the build sheds. A glorious embodiment of the notion that there are as many ways to enjoy being on the water as there are people on the earth.

I have come on a (road) trip down Memory Lane, to my former home town.

In the boot of the car is the alternator off Stargazer's new engine. The reason for my journey. During the week the Balmar alternator and serpentine pulley arrived at Merlin's workshop as planned. However, to be sure of fitting the two together to deliver exact belt alignment, their engineer wanted the alternator supplied by Yanmar to use as a template. I have brought it with me.

 That magic carefree moment, when we can cast off for our first sail of 2019 and blow the winter cobwebs away, is drawing tantalisingly nearer.