Camping on the Thames becomes a day on the Solent

[CJL]

Well the title kinda covers it - we were supposed to go camping up the Thames last weekend but the horrendous weather forecast had us running down to the South Coast for a jaunt on the Solent.

We tried to meet up at Fleet Services on the M3 at 1030 but the M25 was absolutely rammed with Bank Holiday drivers and the M3 down near Winchester wasn't much better!

We finally made it down to Lymington at about 1330 and launched at the Bath Road slipway. As soon as we stepped out of the car (seriously in less than a minute!) the slipway attendant demanded a whopping £16.50 for one boat and £12 odd for the other one (and not even a tractor to help or hose pipe to use at the end of the day!)

We quickly launched and parked the cars down the road - no way was I about to pay for the car parking for boat and trailer! After heading out on the Solent I immediately regretted the decision to not bother with waterproof trousers and was soaked to the skin but it was so nice to be out on the sea for a bit of fun time!

Heading north we soon had Cowes coming into view and got buzzed by (I think) C2 Ribs running two boat tour and moored up next to some mega expensive ribs and the Red Jet ferry at Town Quay. A quick bite to eat in the pub and we were on our way back down to Yarmouth to meet up with some of our group who didn't want to face the windward leg.

The berthing master at Yarmouth kindly lent us a bit of Quay wall to grab some Ice Creams to sustain us for the long trip back to Lymington and the hard work of recovering the boats.

For me it was great to get back on the Solent after nearly a 3 year absence and I'll be back again soon!

C

[CJL]

Some more pictures

[CJL]

and the last ones

[Hightower]

Glad you had fun! Come and visit us in Fareham/Gosport the Car/Trailer parking and launching is much cheaper

[C2 RIBS]

Hi Chris, Yes that was us off Cowes with the two Ribeyes and a party stag. They were running late so we were trying to give them a bit more by Egypt point before they dropped back to Cowes for some food and back to Portsmouth Gunwharf. I did see you but sorry did not recognise you. Come over next time. All the best

[CJL]

Originally Posted by Hightower

Glad you had fun! Come and visit us in Fareham/Gosport the Car/Trailer parking and launching is much cheaper

Thanks for the invite Andy. I've launched in Gosport before - remember that trip we did where we had breakfast in the lightship ages ago? but the public slip we used there dries so we had to really charge back to in time. Unfortunately it was all to no avail and we ended up without water and a drive to Hayling to pull it out there.

One bad experience clouds everything!!

C

[CJL]

Originally Posted by C2 RIBS

Hi Chris, Yes that was us off Cowes with the two Ribeyes and a party stag. They were running late so we were trying to give them a bit more by Egypt point before they dropped back to Cowes for some food and back to Portsmouth Gunwharf. I did see you but sorry did not recognise you. Come over next time. All the best

Will do!!!

C

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by CJL

Thanks for the invite Andy. I've launched in Gosport before - remember that trip we did where we had breakfast in the lightship ages ago? but the public slip we used there dries so we had to really charge back to in time. Unfortunately it was all to no avail and we ended up without water and a drive to Hayling to pull it out there.

One bad experience clouds everything!!

C

Woops They were the days.....2004/5? Breakfast on the Lightship.....How costs have gone up

You can time it so that you get an entire day out like next weekends Tides where I'll be launching at 8am and spending the whole day on the Island to return in the evening. But of course this doesn't always tie up with Pre organised Cruises.

[chrisl]

CJL
glad you had a good day out,much better than camping.Nice pics, but who is the chap in the black/blue drysuit ?
I have a feeling that I may know him.......
Chris L

[wiLlfish]

fuk mee i thort lenny maclean waz ded