Hythe Marina Village

We spent the morning in Lymington checking Jomima over and cleaning off the salt and grime from the journey from Brixham. We had been offered a mooring at Hythe Marina Village. It is owned by some friends and they very kindly have let us use it. We have not been to this marina before and miss timed our arrival. The tide was rushing past at 3 knots and we had to negotiate a narrow channel to get into the lock. It was a great relief to pass through and enter a very tranquil marina.

It is a lovely spot sheltered from most of the wind that had risen again to about F5 today. We are very grateful to be here.

Goodbye to Brixham

They say that patience is a virtue but I know that I am not very patient. However, if you rush to go somewhere in a small boat, when the weather is not ideal, then you may not live to regret it.



The end of April came and went. On the evening of the 15th May we finally saw a potential drop in the high winds that have plagued us for so long. This, we hoped, would enable us to cruise the 85 miles to the Solent. We set off at 7:00 am to catch the tide in the right direction and programed in to the GPS a stop at Weymouth. The weather was not perfect but good enough to keep going. After 20 miles you can't see land in any direction and we had reached the point of no return. It was as close to continue to Wemouth as turn back to Brixham - so we carried on. As we approached Portland Bill we could see a very large ship on our route, but not on the radar. As we got closer we could see that it was a Naval Warship. It did not actually appear on our radar until we were only 4 miles away, by which time we could see it very clearly indeed. I don't know what they paint them with but it makes them look like a small fishing vessel on the radar. We chose to go around it.



The sea had calmed down so we decided to head for the Solent in one hop. Five hours after we left Brixham we were mooring in Lymington; greatly relieved that we had finally managed to travel past Portland Bill without incident. If you have watched the air sea rescue program you will know what I mean.

Brixham

Time for a break now. Jomima is clean, polished and painted ready for the new season. Hopefully the next journey will be to the Solent at the end of April. We are heading back to Nottingham for a rest after all our hard work. However, I managed to get an engineer in to change the oil and filters for the two gear boxes. Everything in power boats seems to be on a large scale. With two 6 litre diesel engines I suppose it has to be to cope with the high torque loads. It will be interesting to see how they perform with everything from a channel crossing to rivers and canals to cope with planned for this season. More news when we begin our next journey.

Wedding Aniversary

By lunch time Jomima was back in the water and ready for the return journey to Brixham. However, Ann had taken the bus to Totes for a visit one of her favourite shops, Stone Fabrics. This would be for the last time for a while so some summer fabric was added to her collection. Ann arrived back by 2:00 pm and we had a rapid journey back to Brixham. With a clean hull and calm sea Jomima hit 25 knots as we rounded Berry Head. This is the way that all motor boating should be.

Today, is our 36th Wedding Anniversary. I had arranged for us to have dinner at the Royal Castle Hotel in Dartmouth and, to get a table by the window, I had let them know it was our anniversary. By the time we got to the last course we were already full but finally settled on a local ice cream and two spoons. When it arrived, the chef had gone to town and produce the above specimen. What an excellent way to finish the evening.

The Lift Out in Kingswear

Watching the guys, at Darthaven Marina, lifting and manoeuvring 10 tons of boat is always a joy to watch. They carefully positioned Jomima, as requested, on the key side with the stern of the boat facing Dartmouth, which is across the river from where we were in Kingswear. This will enable us (if the weather improves) to sit at the table near the helm and admire the view. If you could buy a flat here I am sure that it would cost you nearly £1m. Sadly, most of our time will be spent working hard on painting (anti-fouling) the bottom of the boat and polishing the top sides of her. I also had to swap the anodes (it would take me too long to explain what they are here), polish the propellers and rudders and generally get her ready for the new season. Not much chance to admire the view then. Fortunately, the weather did improve and we were able to get her finished by the 9th April.

The Start of the Season

We had intended to move Jomima to Dartmouth, for her spring refit, on Saturday or Sunday. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. With waves crashing over the harbour wall at Brixham, we decided too stay put in our nice cosy birth. I watched the tides and wind and we finally ventured out at about 6:00 pm on Monday. We travelled relatively slowly at about 10-12 knots. That was enough to stop most of the rolling, caused by the easterly wind hitting us on the port side, but not so fast that we would crash into the waves. We finally surfed into Dartmouth at 7:30 pm and had a relaxing bottle of wine. Fortunately, nothing was broken and we were ready for a lift out the following day. As you will see from the photograph (right), all is calm in Dartmouth. Outside the estuary, it was a different story all together.

Cruising in 2007

Many times I have said, "when I retire we will take Jomima across to France and then travel south through their wide and pleasant canals and rivers". Well, I have now taken early retirement. So it is now time to make plans to keep that promise that I made to my wife Ann and, of course, Jomima.

The planned route is for us to leave Dartmouth, at the end of April, to travel to the Solent. At the end of May cross to Cherbourg and then make our way to Paris during June 2007.