July 17 – Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
By Joe Barrett | July 17, 2012
After refuling, which involved reversing into the smallest space imaginable, we left Cowes in a brisk westerly wind and very choppy waves. The good news was that the sun was shining brightly.
On the horizon a huge yacht was raising sail. It was “Velsheda”, a 36m restored J class. “Velsheda” was originally built in 1933 for Mr W.L. Stephenson, owner of the Woolworth chain of shops. She was named after Stephenson's three daughters, Velma, Sheila and Daphne and raced with the greatest names in classic yachting including “Britannia”, “Endeavour” and “Shamrock” between 1933 and 1936.
Velsheda - J Class yacht in the Solent
As we continued SW along he Solent the wind increased and the sea started to come up. The plan to go to Poole was aborted as we approached the Hurst Castle as the wind was gusting over 25 KN and would be worse outside. With a SW wind the swell would be horrible. Time to run into Yarmouth. A total of 10NM run. Not the best days total but at least we have moved on.
Once in Yarmouth the fog came in which re-affirmed the decision to abort the trip to Poole. Yarmouth harbour began to rapidly fill up with yachts all battening down for tomorrows forecasted bad weather.
Sunset over Yarmouth
It looks like there may be a chance to leave on Thursday afternoon and head for Weymouth.
More tomorrow …
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