Our journey from Breege to Brixham had a short interlude on The Hamble River, where our cruising companions “The Wheelers” joined us on Hendrix, their Beneteau Oceanis 41.
Our pause on the Solent allowed us to watch some real Yachties displaying their craft, as the Around the Island race was on the next weekend. On race day after the 1700 or so, competitors had begun, we ventured out from Hamble to get a glimpse of them disappearing through the Needles Channel, our eagerness found us mixed up with the stragglers, so got a close up and learned a few manoeuvres from the late starters.
Having decided to swap Port Hamble for Yarmouth on the Isle Of Wight, we tacked across the Solent in 25 – 30 knots of wind over a short steep chop, entered Yarmouth harbour and rafted up along side other visiting boats.
Having decided to remain on the Hamble for a few more weeks, we were fortunate to also witness the Portsmouth leg of the Americas Cup from the seaward aspect, good old BAR came up trumps winning the weekend overall keeping the team at the top of the leader board.
The Solent is not just the spiritual home to regattas, yachty types and Howard’s Way, but also the cruise liners have a long history in the inner docks of Southampton, ships of all shapes and sizes depart weekly for remote destinations, filled to the brim with expectant tourist.
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