Lymington Yacht Haven

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Traveler A cosy boat
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- May 31, 2017
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 3 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.750669, -1.52646450°45’2” N 1°31’35” W
Day 4
A detour to an island for a swim
May 31, 2017 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
At dawn we could see the glow of the light on Portland Bill which we passed at 08.00, very slowly as the tide was against us.

By the time we reached the Needles Channel at 13.00 we had the tide again with us and as Declan wanted to have a swim, we motored towards the Isle of Wight and anchored in Conwell Bay.

We got to try out the deck shower when Declan got back aboard and then we headed for Lymington but not directly.
The entrance to the harbour in at right angles to the main shipping channel in the Solent and it's very shallow on either side of the narrow dredged channel.
We had a bit of fun when two Isle of Wight ferries appeared, one ahead after leaving Lymington and the other inbound from behind us. Was there going to be room for us?

We managed to keep out of their way and entered the harbour and turning to port and enter the marina. We tied up in our allocated berth at 17.30.
After doing the paperwork we explored the town and I recognised that I had been here before on a previous visit to the UK in the car with Maeve.
We had a nice dinner ashore at a riverside pub and returned to Eureka for a coffee before bed.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 1, 2017
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Altitude: 3 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.750662, -1.52643550°45’2” N 1°31’35” W
Day 5
Chilling out
June 1, 2017 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
When I was organising the heating I was informed that it would be the 5th before they would be able to fit it.
I had already organised crew thinking that a weeks notice would be enough. Then the weather was dictating when I travelled and here I was, a bit disappointed then they wouldn't do a bit of readjusting for an important international customer like me 😂
I hadn't allowed for them being so busy that a weeks notice wouldn't give them enough time. Anyway the result was that I'd be spending six days at Lymington as it would take two days to fit.
Lymington is a lovely place with some lovely marinas but it's not the cheapest place in the world.

If I had more crew I would have liked to do a bit of cruising in the Solent rather than staying put here but Declan was headed home tomorrow so I decided to stay put as I'd be sailing singlehanded and I don't like getting into tight spots like marinas in those circumstances.

On our first day we treated ourselves to breakfast ashore.
We explored the town and in the afternoon Declan went for a run and I did a nice walk along a coastal path to the west of the town.

We later met back onboard and had Maeve's dinner with pasta which was delicious and headed to the marina bar for a pint before putting our heads down.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 6, 2017
- 🌧 14 °C
- Altitude: 3 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.750662, -1.52643550°45’2” N 1°31’35” W
Day 10
Eureka!
June 6, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
Rich, see we're friends now! Arrived early to make up for yesterday and was accompanied by Owen his apprentice.
Yes, I checked the spelling of Owen's name and bored him to death explaining the difference between Eoin and Eoghan in Ireland.
No, look it up yourself!

Today I stayed around as Rich had by this stage realised I was half useful and wasn't getting in the way when not required.
First problem of this morning, not enough space between the toilet bowl and the bulkhead.
Solution? I offer to move it. Result? A happy engineer and another job for me to do later in replacing it.

The toilet bowl was temporally relocated and the ducting were sneaking forward to the chainplates . . . . . . . . . and at last we found as way forward into the forecabin. Eureka!

The lads stayed until 19.30, well after finishing time in commissioning the heating and Owen was returning in the morning to finish off the few bits and pieces that were left to do.
I might even be able to set sail tomorrow.

That evening it was again cold but tonight all I had to do was press the switch and feel the lovely warm air blowing around the boat.

I later found out that Moody built in the heating ducts on their later boats even if heating unit was not being fitted. What a pity they didn't do it to them all.

I wandered up to Lymington Town Sailing Club to get WiFi to check the forecasts. They we looking good for tomorrow but worsening on Thursday.
If I could get away early tomorrow, I thought I'd get as far west as Dartmouth if I sailed overnight.
I was due to meet up with Chris and Eddie in Falmouth.

I walked back to Eureka in the soft misty rain but at least the wind had eased. Looking good for sailing tomorrow.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 7, 2017
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 3 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.753879, -1.52731550°45’14” N 1°31’38” W
Day 11
The Great Escape
June 7, 2017 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Owen arrived and completed the last few jobs on the heating and by 11.00 I was ready to leave.
A breeze had picked up so I waited for a calm before leaving the berth at 11.20 and heading out bound for somewhere west.

Once out in the channel the wind increased and Eureka heeled over slightly in the gusts. It wasn't looking good with the wind being stronger than forecast.

Once I was out in the Solent proper the wind increased to the high 20's / low 30's.
I hoped this was just wind funnelling down the Needles Channel as the forecast had the wind in the low 20's at worst, more than I'd have liked but I could cope with a beat across Lyme Bay to Exmouth or Brixham.
If the wind went around to the south then I'd make Dartmouth which was my goal.

As I approached Hurst Castle just before the open sea I saw two yachts heading in and soon identified them as French.
The game was up, if the French were heading for shelter then there was going to nobody outside!

At 13.00, soon after the French yachts had past I turned and headed back in.
I thought about going to Cowes for a change of scenery but it was too far if conditions worsened and as I now had a good idea of the layout of Lymington Harbour I decided to go back the way I had come with my tail....I think you know what I mean.

I headed right up to the Town Pontoon but as expected it was full so I turned back downriver and tied up at the Dan Bran pontoon which is also owned by the harbour and much cheaper than either of the marinas.
The skipper of a nearby yacht assisted me in tieing up as the wind was blowing me off and I was surprisingly tired after only 4 hours at sea.

Later when the skipper was passing, he invited me to join himself and his wife and another couple for a drink aboard his Starlight 35.
After a pleasant hour or two I returned to Eureka in the rain and had dinner while I licked my wounds and listened to a forecast that was going to keep my tied up tomorrow.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 5, 2017
- 🌧 14 °C
- Altitude: 3 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.750662, -1.52643550°45’2” N 1°31’35” W
Day 9
Problems, problems, problems!!
June 5, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
I was up early this morning so that I'd have breakfast out of the way and everything shipshape.
I'm getting exciting and looking forward to being warm again. The last few days have been cold for this time of the year and I've been warped up well when going to bed.
If I had thought of it, I should have brought a fan heater with me but it had been lovely weather when we left Ireland.

Nine o clock and no sign of anyone, ten o clock, I'm getting anxious. Phone call made and I discovered that they didn't know anything either.
Not good!
They called back and it turned out someone had gone sick and they were now trying to get their 'Engineer' from Portsmouth to me.
Feck, how long it that going to take, Portsmouth is over 40 English miles away.

The reason I had berthed at Lymington was because their head office was just up the road, easy for them to get to me , easy for me too I thought at the time.

Anyway, the engineer arrived at 12.30 and quickly got down to it. "Yes, I was an outlet in the aft cabin, the heads, the saloon and the forecabin".
"The passage cabin? Na, wouldn't want the crew getting too comfortable"

I left Eureka in this tender loving care (I hope) as they prefer to be left to it, without owners getting in the way. Totally understandable.

I later returned and discovered that he was having problems finding a route for the duct to the forecabin.
This company were the ones who fitted heating to Moody's as they were being built in the yard and knew their way around the boats or so I was told.
In fairness I have discovered that changes were made to my early model later especially in the area he was having trouble.
It was all doom and gloom as both of us searched for solutions and by the time he left for the day, I was accepting that I wouldn't have heating in the forecabin even though Richard (the fitter) wasn't prepared to give up . . yet.

I had to eat ashore and even had only one side of the aft cabin to sleep in as the rest of the boat was out of bounds or dismantled at this stage.
There was a nice smell of sawdust as I began to fall asleep thinking, how are we going to get into the forecabin?Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 8, 2017
- 🌧 15 °C
- Altitude: 3 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.753879, -1.52731550°45’14” N 1°31’38” W
Day 12
Planning for plan B
June 8, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
I wasn't going to go anywhere today so I caught up on my reading in the morning and heading to Tesco in the afternoon to clear them out of their ready made dinners.

There was no soft rain today instead it was heavy and very wet.
I was soaked from the waist down by the time I got back to Eureka.

After dinner I headed ashore to the local yacht club to get wifi to check the forecast.
Unfortunally they were just closing but I got the password and sat outside on the porch while waving my hand at the sensors to keep the light on while I looked up the forecasts on my iPad .

Great, nothing more than 15 to 20 knts, a fresh breeze.
Ya! you got it, I'd believe anything.

It was looking like I'd make Dartmouth but not Falmouth as the winds were forecasted to rise again.

I let Chris & Eddie know I might be a bit late in picking them up.
Luckily Chris had a sister near Falmouth so they were going to stay a little longer with her till I showed up.

I headed back to the boat and listened to the wind dying down before I fell asleep.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 2, 2017
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 20 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.751176, -1.52673750°45’4” N 1°31’36” W
Day 6
Goodbyes
June 2, 2017 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
We had a slow start to the day.
Declan was heading home today and neither of us was looking forward to it. We basically just wasted time, had breakfast and lunch before heading to the train station.

The station was a good walk on the far side of the town so our slow pace wasted a bit more time.
Hugs and Declan boarded the 15.00 train on the first leg of his journey back to Birmingham and work tomorrow.

It started raining that evening and I visited the marina bar for a pint and the internet. They were having problems with the signal down on the marina.

I wander back to Eureka in the rain that had started earlier and put my head down.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 3, 2017
- 🌧 13 °C
- Altitude: 33 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.751096, -1.52685850°45’4” N 1°31’37” W
Day 7
Market day
June 3, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
I woke early but it was breezy outside and chilly onboard. I had no intention of getting up too quickly.
It's the sort of morning that makes me look forward to having the heating fitted. Only two or three days now and I'll be toasting my toes as the hot air blows through the boat.

Had breakfast aboard and then went for a shower.
I found that the five star showers were being cleaned so I had to go to the three star ones nearby.

I later walked up the town and discovered that there was it was market day with lots of stalls on the High Road and bought myself a pair of cheap deck shoes.

I visited Tesco's and did a bit of provisioning which included a few prepared ready meals that looked appetising.

There was an incident at the marina in the afternoon. A large motorboat was leaving the marina with it's new owner aboard with his wife and kids.
The 'for sale' signs were still visible and it soon turned out that he was totally inexperienced.
He left his berth very slowly and the wind blew him up against the bows of the boats opposite his berth. He panicked and opened the throttle and the noise of the scraping his boat against the pulpits, anchors etc. of the other boats was horrendous. Luckily a nearby experienced sailor jumped aboard and took over.
I assisted in bringing the boat was brought back to its berth and everyone calmed down. Amazingly very little damage was done.

In fairness to the new owner, he learnt his lesson that boats are not like cars and don't always go where you point them.
I saw him a few days later with an instructor aboard. I hope he and his family had many enjoyable experiences with the boat in the years since.

One of the Tesco's dinners was enjoyed later and as hoped was very tasty.Read more
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Traveler A cosy boat
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- Jun 4, 2017
- 🌧 15 °C
- Altitude: 39 ft
- England New Forest Lymington Lymington Yacht Haven 50.75108, -1.52715850°45’4” N 1°31’38” W
Day 8
Only one more day
June 4, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
It was cold and windy again today but people are going in t-shirts and shorts!
Is there something wrong with them or is there something wrong with me?

After breakfast I began getting Eureka ready for tomorrow. I was emptying lockers of clothes and moving the cushions to the forecabin to make space for the fitting of the heating.

I emptied the jerrycans into the fuel tank and them went to the fuel berth and got them filled again.

Later I went up the town and got a coffee and sandwich in Costa from a friendly German waitress from Dortmund.

Having looked at the weather forecast, it doesn't look good for the week.

Went to bed early to be up early.Read more
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