After countless hours of planning: checking tides, studying charts, watching windspeeds and calculating waypoints for a loop around the Isle of Wight, the wind picked up making it unsafe to follow Plan A, so it was a stressful morning of 41 phone calls to rearrange boat logistics and a long journey to Weymouth for a last-minute Plan B. It would have been easy to not bother, but where there is a will there's a way!
With Sarabi on the trailer I had sort of forgotten that we'd need to put the rudder on when she was launched into the water. There was no time to get changed - our driver couldn't wait any longer - so I was straight in with my clothes on. Attaching the rudder was one thing I've been nervous about, because although I'm a confident swimmer I didn't like the thought of having to go underneath the boat. But it was actually fine, and I'm glad to have overcome that fear. Not quite the birthday dip I had anticipated 😂 !
The rest of this post is straight out of my journal. It's easier to read typed up... bobbing around on the waves does not make for neat writing!
13:35-15:35 = row. Very fun rowing out of Weymouth. Far more to see than in Burnham. Loads of people watching us / waving all the way out of the harbour and the views were lush - blue sea, cliffs and rolling green coastline. Sadly no dolphins. I know they come to this bay so fingers crossed we see some later!
15:35-17:35 = rest. Chilled out on deck. Autohelm on and no nav to do. Proper off shift at last! The stress of this morning is wearing off and I am glad to be here!
17:35-19:35 = row. It's not very choppy but the waves are rolling and poor Ana was very sick.
19:35-21:35 = rest. Had my lemon and raspberry tart from Viki. Delicious!! I was just about to offer her a taste when she dropped her oars, made a gesture to the bucket and a look came across her face that I can't quite describe but I knew exactly what it meant. I leapt to Terence and she had him just in time to chunder. Oh dear. After that passed I went back to lie on deck... a nice rest lying watching the stunning coastline go by. I was in my own ilttle world thinking how lucky I am to be here when I wass completely caught by surprise with the gals singing happy birthday and Abbey popping out of the cabin with a Wiggles the caterpillar cake! No idea how he'd been hiding in the cabin. What an unforgettable birthday. Twenty five, never felt so alive!!
21:35- 23:35 = row. Got dark. Much darker than Essex. We left the mainland coastline off from somewhere near Swanage and it really was pitch black. No boats around and a new moon. Ana still throwing up behind me on the oars.
23:35-01:35 = rest. Slept on deck; feeling too seasick to go in the cabin. Clouds cleared for amazing stars! Abbey was quite spectacularly sick. Probably me next... haven't taken any pills yet because the drowsiness was so horrendous last time!
01:35-03:35 = row. Okay I have decided that I really do not like the dark. Rowing in the pitch black sucks because you can't tell at all what is sky and what is water. Fell asleep on the oars at least twice.
03:35-05:35 = rest. Had planned to sleep but didn't get much, had to navigate our approach to the island. I woke up at one point to find we had gone on a 90 degree turn and went out on deck to put us back on course. Apparently I had been out of the cabin to add those 90 degrees but I have zero recollection of it. Ana thinks I must have done it in my sleep because I didn't say anything, and honestly I do not remember it at all!
05:35-07:35 = rowing. Mist came down which really didn't help the nausea. The others are all still chundering left right and centre. At one point I had Ana emptying her (empty) stomach behind me while Viki was vomiting over the side in front and Abbey was leaning into the bucket. Meanwhile I just kept rowing haha.
07:35-09:35 = rest. Finally got sight of the Isle of Wight! Beautiful white coastline. Mist rolling down off the cliffs. Had a go on the radios with Chris and Robbie - so fun!
09:35-12:05 = on the oars. Stopped to do para-anchor drills but didn't end up doing them; not entirely sure what we were doing and couldn't really see in the mist. Definitely not safe for man overboard drills either. Back on the oars after half an hour of indecisive faffing! Hungry.
12:05-14:05 = rest, except not at all rest because we were soon in the busy Solent so I had to keep my eyes out for boats. Then it was time to cross the shipping lane... exciting but nerve-wracking! I had my handheld VHF clipped to my shorts, air foghorn in one hadn and Navionics in the other. Most boats moved out of the way for us and thankfully there was a good gap between the cargo ships so we were fine!
14:05-16:05 = row. Glorious. So warm, so sunny.
16:05-18:05 = rest, but yet again not much rest. I did lie out on deck which was nice but I was up and down like a yoyo. The stupid AIS alarm kept going off; every time I got comfy it would beep again within no more than 2 minutes. The dumb thing also beeps to tell you that a dangerous target has moved off collision course and you're clear, but I haven't figured out how to change that setting.
18:05-20:05 = row. Delightful shift. Lots of giant cruise ships passing us on their way to Southampton. Big Navy ship too!
20:05-21:10 = rest. Once again not rest as we navigated to a spot to drop anchor.
We dropped the anchor partly because we would be rowing aimlessly against the tides if we carried on and partly because we wanted a swim. The sun was setting as we jumped in, the air was warm, we could hear the music of a wedding party on the shore, and honestly it felt like a holiday. After scraping some barnacles of Sarabi's bottom (we were horrified at how many had appeared so quickly!) we sat down together for dinner. Another luxury! It does make me slightly sad that we will never get to do this on the ocean, but it makes the moments that we do share like this now even more special.
I spent the night sleeping on the deck, making the most of the chance to admire the starry sky. What I hadn't fully considered was how much the temperature would drop and that as warm as my wonderful Gill parka is, it's not quite a sleeping bag. Also woke up with feet soggy with condensation! We rowed out at first light (not long after 3am) which became a beautiful sunrise. The tide was in our favour so we cruised round the last side of the island and into Lymington marina. Finding somewhere to berth in a new harbour was a great opportunity to use our radio skills on the VHF to the harbourmasters!
Moored up, we gave her a good clean and did a major sort out / stock take of the food we currently have on board. It blows my mind that we are going to fit 55 days worth of food for 4 people onto that boat! We haven't got half of the safety kit we'll need to take yet, and there's already stuff in every hatch! So much work still do to. And less than 6 months to go!!
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