Job done - arrived Bosham 1530 July 16th

After a couple of layover days in Lymington, and a dash home for an important village party it was time to continue the journey East toward Bosham and also meet up with the Solent and Chichester Shrimpers who were having their annual rally.



And so on Monday 13th July accompanied by Mary, my wife, we proceeded from Lymington for the short trip to Bucklers Hard, up the Beaulieu River. Mary is definitely a fairweather sailor and likes calm seas. Unfortunately there was a bit of a blow on the Solent that morning and all did not go quite to plan. There were a couple of boom hitting head incidents and of course the head belonged to Mary and not me so that wasn't a great start to her participation in the Creep! After a short sail to the racing mark at the entrance to the Beaulieu River used as a waypoint it was time to drop sail and motor up the river. This operation was made a little more complex as the topping lift had got caught ( it was too loose ) in the gaff jaw and thus the main would not come down. While sorting this out in quite rough water a number of very large yachts were actually racing toward the mark we had used as our waypoint. This was not a good place to be having a problem with the mainsail. Some interesting dialogue was exchanged by Mary and myself as we sorted out the topping lift. One little quip from Mary - " I hate sailing"! I'd better pick a calmer day for our next outing! Once on the river we had a quiet motor up to Bucklers Hard and I awaited the arrival of the Chi and Solent Shrimpers who came the following morning.



About 16 Shrimpers and a couple of Crabbers eventually arrived and we were all conveniently moored alongside a pontoon beneath the Master Builders Hotel. Introductions were made and a lot of fun was had by all. The plan then was to sail to Bembridge, overnight there and then go on to Northney on Hayling Island with the Rally. Unfortunately mother nature stepped in and threw a gale at us and we were stuck for another day at Beaulieu. Bembridge was cancelled and Northney was the destination for yesterday the 16th of July. I decided that I would sail to Chichester with the Rally and then separate and go on to Bosham as the weather forecast was looking grim for later that day and the following one.



For the first time on my trip the wind was against us as we beat up through the Solent with an ever increasing breeze. We had started with a F2/3 and probably finished on a F4/5. My crew for the last leg of the journey was Joanna Turnage, a Lymington girl and great friend who had crewed for me in Rock during part of Shrimper Week a couple of weeks ago.



Entering Chichester Harbour was a very special moment for me as I think the last time I had sailed in the harbour was when I was about 12 years old having been brought up in Birdham.



We found our mooring easily, cleared the boat and with the help of the Bosham Sailing Club went ashore. After nearly 300 miles in the Shrimper from Rock the job was done.



I am now at home completing this blog and I have been asked to write a fuller account of my trip for the Shrimper Owners Magazine so for those of you reading this who are members - you'll see another version later - if you can bear it!



Love to all and particular thanks to all of those who helped make the whole trip possible.



Brian and Andrew Smith of GB Smith and Sons Rock who helped prepare the boat,

My crew members - Richard Goodman, Peter Innes-Ker, Philip Currie, Richard Sargent, Joanna Turnage and Mary Biggs ( for that important leg of the journey );to her too for victualling the boat and being a big support all through the trip. Final thanks to Martin Pumphrey for giving me such good advice throughout the planning of the trip in the early stages and right up to a few hours before we departed Rock. ( If I've forgotten anyone I'll remember them by the time of the later Shrimper Owners article!



Julian ( Bybyn-Bubyn Shrimper 384)

Very nearly there with no thanks to the MoD!

We finally left Fowey after staying one day longer than planned due to the gales blowing both outside and inside the harbour. It was not comfortable sleeping aboard BB during the gale.
We departed Fowey at 1100hrs on July 7th bound for Salcombe. We had the toughest conditions that day with very disturbed seas across the entrance to Plymouth as a squall blew up. Sea conditions were rough and a lot of strain was put on the rudder stock - which manifested themselves later. ( I have some ideas for the Crabbers in this respect.)We recorded the fastest time thus far on the trip of 7.9knots on the log. Again the winds were favourable being N/NW 4/5 occasional 6. In fact our mother ship Resolution recorded a steady 20-25 knots all day so we fair blew along! We arrived at Salcombe at 1830 hrs after what was a hard days sailing. We moored in the Bag in blissful comfort well out of the wind. I examined the rudder and found that the metal bracket into which the rudder stock is held had worn loose and the stock itself was too loose in the bracket. The simple screw arrangement is simply not strong enough in the conditions in which we found ourselves. We made a couple of temporary modifications with the aid of matchsticks and evostick! This helped to a degree.
The next day we left our mooring at 0345 and motored to the Bar which we crossed at 0400 and set sail for Portland Bill and Portland Marina. This day I had Philip Currie crewing and his wise counsel was much appreciated! Another day of 4/5 winds gusting 6. This day was to prove a very long and hard day's sail. With roughish seas there was little time for food - two kitcats and two cups of teas and some water kept me going but we had had a good meal in Salcombe the previous evening. The rudder continued to give me concern and screw tightening was made during the voyage - not easy leanin gover the stern with the boat pitching and tossing. It all held together until Portland.
We had planned this leg of the journey on an average speed of 4kts but in fact we averaged nearer 6 and thus arrived earlier at Portland Bill than we should have. We used up our waiting time by sailing inshore to later join the quieter inner route around the Bill which we went by at 1700 hours in perfect tidal conditions. Having rounded Portland Bill we hardened up sail and had a good beat up to the new Marina where we arrived at 1900hrs. A total journey time of 15 hours! By this time our log reading was 212 miles. We slept soundly after a pub supper and good shower.

July 9th saw us leave Portland at 0945hrs bound for Yarmouth IoW. We began by motorsailing as the winds immediately outside Portland were light however they were to chnage quite quickly and we had more of the same winds that we had enjoyed most of the week. We decided to detour to Lulworth Cove and were very nearly there when I saw a power boat approaching us at great speed! She came alongside and asked our intentions. We replied that we were bound for Lulworth and then were going to sail along the coast eventually bound for Yarmouth. We were then advise that the MoD were carrying out live firing in the area and that we had to change course immediately and head South for 5 miles or so. ( OK - we didn't check if firing was scheduled so it was our fault but it did mess up our plans!). This detour did delay our timing somewhat and later on we did find ourselves in a bit of pickle as we passed St Alban's ledge where the tides run very strong. We got caught up in the tides but not the race at At Albans. The worst we had was a speed throught the water of about 5kts and speed over the ground of less than a knot! Not a comfortable position to be in. However with the help of the engine and strong winds we broke free and made for Anvil Point and on to Bridge Bouy and the Needles Channel. We timed our arrival at Hurst narrows well and had a terrific spring tide to take us through. We recorded 10.5 knots over the ground!! ( A Shrimper record??). We arrived at Yarmouth at 2015 so another long day's sailing. An excellent dinner ashore followed by whisky aboard Resolution saw us collapse asleep around midnight.

July 10th Resolution and BB go their separate ways. Resolution sailed home to the Hamble while BB motored across the Solent to Lymington where she is now for a couple of layover days. There is no doubt that having Resolution as a " mother ship" has been an advantage in this cruise, and I am extremely grateful to Peter Innes-Ker in particular who liked the idea I had last winter and decided he'd like to join in. It has been a huge experience and terrific fun.

Next week will see BB joining in with the Chichester and Solent Shrimper area Cruise week before closing on her final destination of Bosham next Saturday.

This has been a terrific week's sailing - the weather has been broadly kind, wind direction perfect - just a few miles to go before the Creep is over!

Two photos are attached ( there will be lots more in due course ). These were taken yesterday between Portland and Anvil Point. Until the next posting............... BB

Gale bound in Fowey but Lands End is behind us!

Here we are in Fowey. Ricard Goodman and I arrived here on Saturday afternoon from the Helford River. I had planned a layday for yesterday as the first Richard was replaced by the arrival of Richard Sargent and were due to leave early this morning for Salcombe but mother nature has beaten us by sending a gale straight through our path so we are holed up here until hopefully tomorrow when the weather window looks like opening again.

This is the first opportunity I have had to add to the blog so here goes with a brief resume of progress so far.


We left Rock Sailing Club a few hours after the Shrimper Dinner - well fed and moderately well watered! We cast off the club pontoon at 0130 on Thursday in pouring rain, thunder and lightning and flat water. Not being night eyes adjusted it was more difficult than I had imagined, although I did appreciate the lighning flashesd which illuminated the bay momentarily. I know the estuary well in daylight but the dark was something else. We edged out under motor to the Padstow navigation buoys and then eased out past Stepper Point and headed down the coast still under motor as we were being well headed. As dawn broke we hoisted sails and managed to motor sail to St Ives where we arrived at about 0930. We stayed in the outer harbour before the tide allowed us to go in and take a mooring on the drying sand.

I will write a longer version of all of this when I am home so bear with me as I write this concise version of events.

We departed St Ives at 0400 on Friday bound for Lands End. Winds were pretty much on the nose as we left so we motored on until a change in wind direction allowed us to hoist sails. As we moved further south we were joined by a large school of dolphins who simply played alongside the Shrimper for half an hour or so. As we got closer to Lands End the sea state changed and became progressively more confused throwing BB about a bit but all the time we remained dry and she handled remarkably well. The sight of the Brisons and the Longships for me was quite a sight. After months of planning and reading up on what to expect - here we were about to round the end of mainland Britain. We rounded at 0730 and changed course for the LIzard.

The handheld GPS has worked very well and I was pleased to have done all my waypoint entries back in the Spring. We changed course for the Lizard with the intention of heading for Newlyn

However the wind was set fair and I decided to sail on the Helford River having consulted with our mother ship Resoltion who was just leaving Fowey bound West. We arrived at the Helford at about 1400 hours within minutes of Resolution - a remkarkable coincidence. We moored up together on a vistors buoy and both of us took good advantage fo the facilities provided by the luxurty 42 footer that is Resolution - complete with electric flush!!

After a shower and supper at the Helford River Sailing Club we slept well aboard BB. The folowing morning we sailed on to Fowey in a brisk breeze allowing us a superb reach. We managed 6.3kts at one stage and had an exciting sail to Fowey where we arrived in the early afternoon. Resolution joined us a couple of hours later and we rested up together.

I am going to pause this now and will return at the next opportunity. Having done our on-line weather checks I am reasonably confident that we can leave tomorrow morning. Until the next time - farewell for now BB

Departure brought forward - we are off in the early hours

After consultation with numerous weather charts etc we have decided to bring our departure forward to the early hours of Thursday 2nd July, my daughter Pippa's birthday!!). The boat is fully prepared and ready to go. Richard Goodman has just arrived so we are a crew. Peter IK and I had our last race this morning with PIK at the helm and we cam a respectable 6th. A good way to finish Shrimper Week and now we just have the dinner tonight and we will be away hopefully at around 0200 hrs. Love to all amd more anon. BB