UPDATE: Due to the rampant spread of Omnicron I have pushed back our visit to the Little Ship Club to Tuesday February 22nd, On Tuesday nights, the LSC have their regular club night and on this occasion they have a talk scheduled by Miles Featherstone Deputy Harbour Master of the Port of London Authority.
By kind invitation of the Little Ship Club Commodore Barrie J Martin, Oxted Offshore have been invited to pay a visit to their club. The LSC is the only sailing club by the Thames in the City of London and has been providing unique entertainment to sailors since 1926.
Little Ship Club London
The LSC run regular events at the clubhouse, please see the following link for a full list: https://www.littleshipclub.co.uk/events/club. The LSC is equipped with a full bar and kitchen and are able to provide dinner which is usually a fixed menu (main course with vegetarian option and dessert or cheeseboard) for under £20/head. Please note the kitchen needs to know if your planning to stay for dinner a week before the event.
Last October we were able to charter Lutine from Lloyd’s Yacht Club for an out of season four day weekend which proved to be quite eventful due to the weather. Working through the weather windows we managed to get to Weymouth via Poole from Gosport.
The trip was enjoyed by all and so early in 2021 I booked Lutine again with the plan of getting to the Chanel Islands. Due to Covid it was decided that the Chanel Islands wouldn’t work and Dartmouth would be our destination.
With the weather closing in and the forecast looking grim we departed Gosport and had an uneventful sail down to Yarmouth.
05:30 Saturday 2nd of October. After a lovely meal in Yarmouth involving hot rocks and raw meat we were up before day break in order to reach Weymouth before 12:00 at which point 55kn gusts were predicted.
Lutine berthed in Yarmouth
Safety tethers were issued to the crew partly because of night sailing but also because of the poor forecast.
Five hours and 38 miles later after a very wet, windy and bumpy sail into 30kn of wind we arrived in Weymouth around 11:00. With two reefs in the main Lutine managed the conditions with ease and reached speeds upto 12kn. Special mentions go to Bill who had prepared Marmalade rolls for breakfast and also to Peter who navigated us safely around the live firing range in Lulworth Cove.
Mark looking after the Starbord Winch
Weymouth wasn’t very busy so managed to secure C2 berth which is located right in front of the Harbour office and facilities. The afternoon was spent catching up on sleep and drying out our gear.
Drying out
After a lazy afternoon and several pints in local hostileries we had an excellent dinner in Ming Wha, although 9 hungry sailors in a Chinese restaurant is always a recipe for confusion as you can imagine.
We have been using the Splitwiseapp app to divi up the bill between us, if only we could work it out.
After a tot of navy 100% proof rum we headed to our bunks for a good rest.
Next morning we woke to the smell of bacon and sizzling sausages being prepared by Kevin R who gets a special mention as odly enough he doesn’t eat meat.
Breakast for Hungy SailorsThe perks of being Commodore – Coffee in bed
We departed at 11:00 and set sail downwind for Lymington in what promised to be another fast sail in strong winds.
Forrce Nine Sail from Weymouth to Lymington
We were not disappointed, sailing under a reefed jib alone we reached speeds of 15 knots surfing down building seas in severe gales that gusted 45 knots.
Back in Lymington we strugled to find a restaurant open late on Sunday until eventually striking lucky with an excellent Sunday roast at the Ship Inn
After more heavy rain overnight we set sail East back to Gosport making the most of the persistent 27kn winds blowing in from the West.
We were lucky enough to book Lutine for the weekend at the end of Cowes Week, with Paul May as skipper and a crew of 8 Oxted Offshore members. Lutine was carrying her full racing sail wardrobe, so an exciting weekend beckoned, especially when a low developed off the Scottish coast on Friday and delivered lively winds all weekend! Peter Puttock takes up the story:
Have you ever thought you’d like to try offshore sailing but don’t know where to start? You’re in the right place!
To give you a real, hands-on feel of what sailing is all about – and maybe set you off on a whole new adventure – Oxted Offshore Sailing Club will be hosting a small number of Sailing Experience Days in the Solent during the autumn of this year and Spring 2018.
Andy Giles and Jane Paulson on their Bavaria 33 Cruiser ‘Stiletto’ are making a leisurely cruise to island of Ikaria in the Eastern Aegean – Andy’s roots. Jane posted this tribute on her blog at the end of May.
Four yachts and 17 club members joined the Oxted Offshore Spring Rally to Poole over the weekend of Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April. The weather was kind with plenty of sunshine and no rain, but fickle winds of just F2 or F3 set the scene for an interesting Rose Bowl Challenge! Continue reading →
Bob Perry is organising a cruise around the Southern Ionian Islands in Greece at the beginning of July for one week. Dates are still to be fixed, but departure date will be sometime around 3 July.
If anybody would like to join in Bob can organise a bigger yacht or a second charter, depending on numbers.
Please contact Bob directly or via the comment box below for more details and to register your interest.
Following on from last years successful trip to Skiathos Nicky and Howard from Nautilus Yachting have kindly organised for another event this year in Greece’s beautiful North Ionian including Paxos and Anti-Paxos. Three boats are already confirmed for the flotilla departing on Sunday September 29th for Preveza airport and arriving back in the UK on Sunday 6th of August.
