8th June to 8th July this year, which I suppose to some is a long cruise, but not for us and we only kept to the Solent. This was because we had to be able to return home easily to meet hospital appointments. Nevertheless we had a good time on Hurkur and went to a few new marinas. Our first stop was Northney in Chichester Harbour, after a very early morning start from Sovereign, alarms at 4am no less! We left Hurkur there for a few days whilst returning home, then when we returned went across to East Cowes, then on to Newport to sit in the mud for a few days. We joined a WOA rally there and met some new people, which was very nice and we all had a good time eating, drinking and chatting. On the way back down the Medina we stopped for a night at The Folly on the mid stream pontoons, never been there before, it was peaceful and very pleasant but there was a strong wind blowing across the river, so we didn’t venture out on the dinghy. We could have got a water taxi to the Folly Inn but were enjoying the quiet too much.
We then had to high tail it back to the mainland as we had a last minute call from our son to say there was a hospital appointment the next day! We went into Royal Clarence in Gosport which was a small, charming marina. We liked it so much we ended up staying there for two weeks, although we were away for a couple of days during that time. It gave us the chance to take advantage of the Museums and all that the Historical Dockyard had to offer, including free us of the water taxi back and forth across Portsmouth water. Weather was hot, hot, hot, which has been the theme for much of this summer so far – quite extraordinary! We had intended to visit Sparkes or Northney again before we returned home, but they were fully booked so left from Gosport and went straight to Brighton where we stayed for a few days and met up with sailing friends Brian and Karen. We had now completed our month away to qualify for Cruising Credit for next year! Because we were told if you don’t use it you lose it!
The trip back from Brighton was going well until all the water alarms under the engine went off at Birling Gap. Panic stations, Eddie went below and found gallons of water in the bilges, and had to sponge it all out as our pump wouldn’t fit in the small area under the engine. We were able to keep the engine going, thank goodness, and limped back to Sovereign Harbour. We called them up to request permission to keep the engine going in the lock, in case we couldn’t re-start it again. That was fine with them and we were very glad to get back to our berth. It turned out to be a tiny hole in the pipe that leads from the heat exchanger to the exhaust elbow. Eddie has now fixed it, but of course as he took things apart came across other problems including a ceased starter motor, so it proved an expensive repair.
We’re now hoping to have Hurkur up and running again very soon, maybe sea trials on Monday. Photos below to provide a little light relief!!!
Northney Marina
Some of the Westerlies at Newport Rally
Sunset at Royal Clarence Marina, Gosport
The Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier in dock at Portsmouth