Sail 1: We're off! Bembridge to Cowes

Our boat "Fathom" is seriously slow, she's 100 years old and under sail, she averages 2-3 knots. This means we need to work with the moon, tide, and weather to get anywhere. Each day we make a passage plan using waypoints such as buoys or lining up with a tower on the land to keep track of where we are and to avoid any hazards. Sometimes these don't always go to plan, especially when the wind predictions aren't quite right.

We set off on Friday morning leaving Bembridge at 11:30 in time to catch the westward going tide which would push us most of the way to Cowes. The wind forecast was 5-10 knots Easterly veering to South Westerly by 4 pm. Our aim was to get to Cowes by the time the tide turned which would seriously slow us down. In the Solent the tide can be as fast as 5 knots, which means even at her max speed under sail Fathom would be going backward. Our passage plan included a mid-Solent rendevous with Liz and family as they crossed to Portsmouth on the ferry.

Our first passage plan went a bit like this.

Passage plan

• Bembridge Tidal Gauge to East of No Mans Land Fort 000° approx 1.8nM Beam Reach

• No Mans Land Fort to North Sturridge Buoy 300° 2.4nM Broad Reach

• North Sturridge to Royal London YC Buoy 275°, 5.4nM no sail plan, just see what the wind does.

• Enter Medina at Cowes via East Boat Channel

Total distance 9.6nM estimated passage time 3-4 hours.

We keep a log as we go along taking notes every hour or when things change. The log is written in a hurry and includes the time, pressure, weather, course, speed, position, and whether the engine is on or off. We won't bore you with the weather observations so here is what happened in note form, usually written in very uncomfortable conditions and writing positions.

Passage log

Left Bembridge harbour, heading for No Man's Land Fort. Furling head sail won't go out. Andy up front hanging off bow sprit trying to fix it, whilst I motor sail with just the main and mizzen up.

Headsail unfurled as we passed No Man's Land Fort, a bit ahead of schedule for meeting Liz as we were motoring at 5 knots to the fort. We're now making about 3 knots with all sails up. Fishfinder is beeping lots, trying to fish but too much weed.

Liz's ferry is delayed and the wind direction changed, decided to tack in towards land and hover outside the ferry port. The wake from the ferry is huge so keeping our distance.

We take picture of Liz, Liz takes picture of us (below).

Becalmed between Fishbourne and Cowes, trying to sail, not much luck. Get smashed by the wake of a motor yacht, everything flying including the pen for our log book.

The wind picks up as we get to Cowes so we end up going through the main channel entrance avoiding the incoming ferry at around 4:30pm.

No moorings available in Cowes, it's Cowes week so we motor down to the Folly Inn to get a visitor mooring there. Had trouble docking but had help from lovely couple Sandy & Pete. They're 80 and have lived almost parallel lives to us, motorbiking, sailing, traveling and both running businesses. Inspiring to meet them.

We also track our route with GPS, you can see our track on the map below in yellow.

Getting a water taxi from Folly to Cowes to do a bit of red trouser spotting. Easy first passage.

Passage reality

Not including the distance down the Medina river to the Folly Inn we thought it would be around 9.6NM and it'd take us 3-4 hours. We weren't too far off on this passage here are the stats:

Total Distance: 14.8NM

Time: 4 hours 23 mins

Average Speed: 3.4 knots

Max Speed: 7.9 knots.

The 7.9 knots must have been when the tide was behind us under motor, still not bad for an old girl.