Well, we did it.  The editor was skippering a Halberg Rassy 40 for a delightful family who wanted a day that was 'not serious racing, just enjoying the event'.  We had no spinnaker, so it was sail handling and tactics that would pay off. We couldn't see the start line as there were just too many yachts, and not wanting to push in to the mele at the apparent line, we held back at the start.  A lovely sail down the Solent, then avoiding the pile-up at the Needles took us too far to seaward and, as I discovered later, lost us some tide advantage. Then round St. Catherines, with a few tacks across the fleet (we were on starboard tack against the majority port, so apologies to those who had to scatter) to Bembridge, then a few more to avoid Ryde sands, and home.

A great day, with a lovely meal at the end of it in Hamble. We were placed 35 out of 41 in our class, so room for improvement but not a disgrace.  Glenn Smallcombe, sailing Quantum Leap, a Sunfast 37, beat the entire Sunsail fleet and came 8th in his class.  Well, he always was an excellent sailor. 

Tell us your Round the Island story on the Forum.

We have been following live-aboard sailors Rosie & Brian since they left Angelsea, nearly a year ago...

An enforced additional day or two in Agia Efimia, Kephalonia, sitting out gales, and the added benefit of free internet at the dock courtesy of the local town hall means that we can catch up with overdue communications. Not least of these is to add another episode to our Big Adventure, now we are another 1000 miles on and heading towards the first anniversary of our trek.

Happily we are still on speaking terms and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  Brian continues to find more improvements to carry out on Alixora, as well as the usual maintenance issues of which more later. The season has started in earnest, with far more yachtie traffic on the seas.  When we reached Corfu we crossed the path of about 30 Sailing Holiday yachts heading out of Gouvia marina which were the first flotillas of the year.

7th March 2010 - Tunisia

My only excuse for the long gap in updating you on our travels is that we have been quite busy, but not going very far.  We stayed another 2 months in Tunisia, missing out the fishing ports I am afraid, staying one month in Monastir and another in Houmt Souk, Jerba.  So not much sailing to report on apart from the two overnight journeys chasing the sun further south, and now a two day sail to Malta.  Although we had researched the smaller harbours and been given coordinates for the narrow channel through the Kerkennah islands, I think these might be better explored during more predictable and calmer weather.  Neither of us really wanted to be trapped by the weather in a fishing port for a week or more and the weather patterns never really settled down sufficiently to allow anchoring overnight with any degree of safety.

Is membership of the Cruising Association (CA) worth the £118 annual membership fee?

That was the question back in October last year when Rosemary and Brian (currently in Tunisia) wondered about it aloud on our forum.  In response, the Cruising Association kindly allowed Sailers to have a good look around their website, join MedNet for a month, and generally have a poke about under the deck boards.

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