Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 4

Sat 29.6.13: Havelet Bay, Guernsey.




We're anchored under Castle Cornet, in Havelet Bay.




It was a fast sunny crossing, from Poole. The wind a perfect F4 to 5 (from the west).




Mid channel there was plenty of shipping to dodge...




....the AIS took the guesswork out of it though!




Next stop Cawsand Bay!...but not before a good night's sleep and a day in Guernsey.
(Delayed posting - no 3G signal)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:South Esplanade,Saint Peter Port,United Kingdom

Into The Mystic Cruise 2013- update 3

Fri 28.6.13




We scudded down harbour, in a westerly force 4 to 5, with the ebb under us, this afternoon; to anchor under Old Harry's watchful eye, for the night.




I'm enjoying a coffee in the evening sunshine. Relishing a summer of cruising under sail.




We weigh anchor for Havelet Bay (Guernsey), and points west, on the 04.00 tide tomorrow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Ulwell,United Kingdom

Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 2

Thur 27.6.13: Holes Bay, Poole.




Made it aboard, just, before the rain front arrived. It's brought some wind (still from the west) with it, to speed us on our way.




The aft cabin is filling up. I take the berth cushions out and use it as a giant locker, on extended cruises.




The plan for tomorrow is to drop down harbour, through the bridges, on the ebb; and anchor at Studland, ready to make a dawn start for Alderney, on Saturday. It would be bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Woodlands Avenue,Bournemouth,United Kingdom

Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 1

Wed 26.6.13: Holes Bay, Poole.




The Long life provisions are all stowed, aboard Stargazer.




Tomorrow I complete my last mentoring session, of the summer, for the Princes Trust. I'll shop for fresh bread and fruit on the way back; and move aboard.




The forecast is for a week of westerly winds. We'll need to find ourselves a slant, to make progress westward.




I'm thinking day long tacks : Poole, Alderney, Cawsand Bay (Plymouth), Helford; and then hope for a shift south or east, for Scilly and Ireland.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Woodlands Avenue,Bournemouth,United Kingdom

Into the Mystic

Stargazer surfs through the harbour entrance, harnessing an easterly F6. I drop the double reefed main, in the lee of Sandbanks. We run into South Deep, under jib, to anchor, in mirror calm water, off Green Island.




Verdant foliage scrambles, precariously, down golden sandstone cliffs. Black mouthed caves beckon mysteriously.




Astern, beyond the narrow channel, cattle placidly graze on flat meadowland.




A day boat whispers past; silently exploring the maze of creeks.




I sit and watch as the sun goes down...




...and listen, spellbound, to Van Morrison incant "Into The Mystic," through my headphones:
"We were born before the wind,
Also younger than the sun,
Ere the bonny boat was won as we sailed into the mystic,
Hark, now hear the sailors cry,
Smell the sea and feel the sky,
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic."




Anchored off Green Island, my thoughts have turned to the Emerald Isle. I leave on a 10 week cruise, at the end of the month, bound for craggy Atlantic anchorages. Whether they will be Breton, Scillonian or Irish; time, wind and tide will decree - as we sail into the mystic.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Wilkins Way,Poole,United Kingdom

Seal Watching In Newtown Creek

A lone Harbour Seal, hauled out on the point, surveys the steely, pre-dawn stillness expectantly.




The sun languorously rises from its slumbers and peers, bleary-eyed, over the horizon...




...to suffuse Newtown Creek with a rose-pink glow.




The glow hardens to a white-gold spotlight, as the sun climbs higher. It picks out, raucous, Barnacle Geese, hunkered down in the sedge.




Black Headed gulls cackle and posture; like Mummers strutting a Village Green.




The tide glides in silently...




....covering the teeming banks and shoals.




A black hulled lugger spreads its tan wings, dragonfly-like, and ghosts, on a zephyr, between green fields.




Oyster Catchers take to the water, dagger bills poised.




Yesterday evening, Stargazer rode a fair tide and a, south easterly, jolie brise (F4), to bring us to this haven of birdsong and tranquility:




Past the recumbent, pyjama striped, cliffs of Colwell Bay, we flew;




Past the tall finger of Hurst Point, with the tide boiling under us;




Past, the bulldog squat, Fort Albert, and into the Solent.




We sound into Newton Creek,as the setting sun paints a crimson exclamation mark across our anchorage.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Isle of Wight

Studland In Summer

It's Friday evening. The sun is setting on a working week. It paints Old Harry a honeyed gold. Stargazer swings contentedly at anchor. I sit reflectively, eating my supper and drinking in the view.




A regal bird of passage alights for Saturday breakfast; before silently taking wing again, bound for some distant shore.




The morning sun glints off cobalt sea and silvered sand. Lone dog walkers are joined by gregarious sun bathers. Beach boats race, excitedly, around the stately anchored visitors, like so many playful children.




Sea mist swirls around Harry's shoulders. The Poole shore, The Island, and even the green dome of Ballard Down's summit, disappear from view.




We are left: sparkling summer butterflies; basking in the sunshine, within our silky white cocoon, of sea mist.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Studland Bay