Dandelion 140

 

More often than not, Stargazer finds herself the smallest boat, on passage, in any port that she visits.

But, shortly after we arrived, a sixteen foot Wayfarer dinghy made fast beside us. Swiftly erecting a commodious boom tent. Before the sun set and an evening chill set in.

An ingenious, folding, 'gallows' spreads the canvas roof and sides wide. With the boom, resting upon it, to act as a ridge pole. Affording full, sitting, headroom within.

The tentacles, of autumn, may grip the temperatures, of the extremeties of the day. However, by mid morning, a summer heat shimmers in the still air, of Sovereign Harbour. Tempting one and all to linger, whilst the tide rises.

Aboard the Wayfarer, a folding solar panel recharges navigation devices. Before she puts to to sea, through the lock. Bound for Beachy Head, and beyond.

Leaving, as Stargazer's yarning partner, the forty six foot, Our Lizzie. Her rich history proudly recounted by her current owner: Through fishing vessel, inter-war gentelman's yacht, Dunkirk 'Little Ship' and Admiralty gun-boat. To a full restoration, in the skilled hands of, the shipwrights-in-training of, the Lowestoft International Boatbuilding College (LIBC). Emerging to begin a new career, providing bespoke 'sailing adventures,' out of the Royal Clarence, in Gosport. And an elegant floating home, to her skipper and first mate.