Hardy Cruising Club 2009 Channel Cruise

The early part of this year, at least on the East Coast, was windy and cold, but at last at the end of May the weather changed just in time for the cruise – a bit later than the last 2 years.
Mark and Sally arrived in Lowestoft on Friday morning looking somewhat harassed after a slow journey from North Walsham only to find that there was a Dutch visit at the yacht club to slow them further.However the weather was calm and Mark managed to make up for the delays on the way South and even managed to discover a new wind farm on the way.
Our starting point was Gosport and after a very pleasant afternoon on various boats and the local pub Sally managed to rally the troops for dinner at the Old Customs House in Gunwharf Quays.
Martin and Margaret Quirk (Last Lady, 32), Robert Lerwill (Runwell, 32) and his crew joined us for the dinner but were unable to make the rest of the cruise. Pat and Larry Iveson (Jalina, 36), Geoff and Sandra Forbes (Cassandra Jay, 36), Perry and Martine Wilson (Kismet, 50) Mike and Sandra Kearney (Callisto, 36), Colin and Rosalind Osmer (Ondine, 36), Bruce Grainger and Peter (Crew’s Gold, 42), Simon and Kay Galley (Kayos, 42), Alvin and Rob Wilby (Eryri, 36) made up the rest of the fleet in Gosport and with Malcom, Ian and Sheryl we were quite a big (and noisy) group.
The meal was not quite as good as we have managed in the past, but the company and conversation were great, and we even made the last ferry for a change!

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful with a NE 3 to 4 forecast, but few of us saw the dawn! The early birds (Eryri) left about 7, then the main group at about 9, followed by the greyhounds at about 10.30.

Alderney was to be our first port of call on Sunday but we decided it was untenable due to the wind being in the North East. So we decided to go straight to St Peter Port in Guernsey instead.
The weather was lovely and sunny and the wind and sea conditions were light for the bigger boats and reasonable for the smaller ones. Some boats went East of the Casquets, others braved the Swinge in ideal conditions and one group dropped into Braye for a break in the sunshine while the tide turned.
Eventually the whole group arrived in St Peter Port and joined Bernie and Hilary Pearce (Dolphin, 50) and Brett and Nina Joce (Pasiphae, 50) were already in Guernsey as they came over direct from Plymouth on Friday before the NE wind picked up.
Ian and Sheryl were on Ondine (36) with Rosalind and Colin Osmer which was the first time on the Hardy cruise as they took delivery of their boat earlier in the year. Geoff and Sandra Forbes kindly lent Malcolm a berth for the week.
Some of us went out for a lovely curry in the evening which went down well with a few beers! Others didn’t quite get to the curry house and stopped at another restaurant in the main street having failed to get a burger even nearer to the boats.
The weather was glorious again on Monday and Mark and Sally (Lysithea 50) and Perry and Martine had a long lunch and then decided to have a party on Kismet with everyone invited! We even had some French potential customers join us for a while.
Richard and Ingrid Long (Icarus, 36) and Paul and Moyra Marshall (Namaste, 42) with David and Joan Sibthorpe (owners of Beau Vita, 42) onboard arrived from Poole and Fowey respectively in the afternoon and just made it over the sill.
The next day was beautiful again (Tuesday) and with a few headaches, Sally, Mark, Perry and Martine decided to take the ferry to Sark and enjoyed the walk to Little Sark and had a lovely lunch in the Hotel Sablonnerie.
Mike and Sandra on Callisto moored up on the outside Monday night so that they could go to Sark on Tuesday. Bernie and Hilary on Dolphin and Brett and Nina on Pasiphae and Alvin and Rob on Eryri decided to moor up in Sark for the night as well.In the evening Sally managed to book a meal at the Guernsey Yacht Club which went down well with a few glasses of wine in the sunshine overlooking Castle Cornet.

Wednesday - yet another gorgeous day. Some of the boats decided to go to Sark and left about 10 to have a day ashore and stay there overnight on the mooring buoys.All those already there except Eryri left Sark mid morning to make the sill at St Helier.
Sally and Mark on Lysithea, Perry and Martine on Kismet and Bruce and Peter on Crew’s Gold decided to cruise over to Jersey in the afternoon. Simon and Kay Galley (Kayos) stayed in Guernsey and looked round the Island but had to head home on Thursday.
Thursday - another sunny day. A recovery day in St Helier including a long walk to St Aubin and back.
The boats that had gone to Sark went puffin-hunting on Ondine (successfully for a change!) and then moored in Port Gorey for a short run ashore.In the afternoon all but Eryri (who stayed another night and saw even more puffins and then went back to St Peter Port), eventually rejoined the others in St Helier and it was nice to see everyone again. The late arrivals found a Portugese restaurant still open and a few of us went to a fish restaurant which was fantastic and after a few brandies we all decided to go to bed.

On Friday (yet another beautiful day) Kismet, Pasiphae, Dolphin, Callisto and Crew’s Gold left for Alderney, but after speaking to the harbour master there all but Kismet diverted to St Peter Port again – the NE wind was still making too much swell for a comfortable mooring in Braye.
Mike and Christine (owners of Blue Harmony, 32) arrived at 9.30 with both cars and showed a few of us around Jersey as they live and keep their boat there.True to form Mark and Sally didn’t get up early enough for this, so they looked around the Underground Hospital which was interesting.
The forecast for Sunday was becoming windier each day and those crossing the Channel back to the Solent decided to cross on Saturday instead. So Ondine and Cassandra Jay left St Helier soon after the sill opened and went to St Peter Port to join the others ready for departure the following morning, and about the same time Lysithea left for a rolly night in Braye with Kismet.

Richard and Ingrid Long on (Icarus 36 - retired) and Larry and Pat Iveson (Jalina 36 – resting!) decided to extend the cruise to St Malo and possibly Granville before returning to the South Coast.
Ondine, Cassandra Jay and Eryri made their way home on Saturday as the forecast was good enough at SE 3-4.Unfortunately the forecast was incorrect and it actually was E, SE 5-6. Rosalind on Ondine remarked that it was a bit lumpy but the boat cut through this easily and how pleased she was with the boat.

Cassandra Jay headed back through the Needles Channel, Eryri went east of the Isle of Wight and Ondine had a night anchored behind Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour before running back to the Solent with the forecast Sothwesterly on Sunday.
Perry and Martine also made their way home from Alderney to Burnham-on-Crouch on the east Coast and Mark and Sally decided to stay another day in Braye.
Sally and Mark cruised to Ramsgate Sunday and stayed over Sunday night and the winds were SE 5-6, no problem for our boats.

It was an excellent cruise with unusually good weather for us even though most of us didn’t make Alderney. It was also a record for the number of boats on the cruise and many more owners now know each other.Hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves – it certainly appeared so!

Let’s have your ideas for 2010!!