Back on the Water.

Tide, Wind and Weather.

On Saturday we got out on the Solent in our little yacht. The tides are something we seriously have to consider when planning a trip as the Solent is renowned for it's interesting and strong tidal ebbs and flows. With it being a new moon it was particularly full and strong.

We motored out of the River Medina around 10.00 the weather was muggy and murky with a few spots of drizzle in the air. We hoped for a little breeze enough to fill the sails and give us enough power to fight the tide but once out pass the breakwater at East Cowes, not a whisper of the wind was evident.

So while we waited for the breeze to fill, Skipper cast out the fishing line and we motored East.


This is the new marker for Shrape, a shallow area where many boats get it wrong and bump their bottoms on the mud when racing.

Early afternoon and still no wind and no fish either! We decided to make for our mooring and had our picnic lunch as we motored back up the river. The tide was rushing out and the sun broke through.

Our new outboard did it's work well and was very economical on fuel too, just wish we could have had a sail though...

Clipper Round The World 2011

Sunday was a completely different day a good breeze with warm sunshine. The Solent tide still very strong. Not us sailing today though instead we walked round to view the start of The Clipper- Round The World Yacht Race from the sea wall in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes.

It is a race created by Sir Robin Knox- Johnson for ordinary people to be able to go on an " once in a lifetime" extra ordinary adventure! Please go to the website below to find out more and follow the race.

http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/

See my June blog too, we were sailing alongside one of these yachts ( for a very short while) before they raised all their sails and we off.

I love to watch the starts of the big races and wish them good seas and safe journeys.

Sailing is such an adventure even if you are only in a little dinghy pottering up and down the river. With the water,breeze and a sound little boat you can let your imagination travel.

Spinning At Quarr, A Busy Open Studio 2011

It was a lovely week at Quarr Abbey for Open Studios. We were very busy with just over 1000 visitors attending. I took my spinning wheel along to demonstrate spinning. It was great to share my craft with so many interested people, the children were particularly fascinated by the process.

Most of my handspun yarns was snapped up and sold, I think it certainly helps to explain and show people how the yarn is produced as they then have a better understanding of the skill and time needed to produce a handspun yarn and because it is spun with local fleece from Island sheep, it is lovely to hear people are so pleased to get their hands on some special stash for a project they have in mind.

My handwoven work was also very popular and I gained a commission which I look forward to working on in the next few months.

All in all it was a brilliant week to show, sell and share my love of knitting, weaving and spinning and I look forward to returning to Quarr Abbey in November (I'll blog further details about that soon).

Sailing Around The Greek Isles

Just back from sailing around the Greek Isles again. This is our third visit to this beautiful part of the world.
On this trip we joined a flotilla sailing out from Fiskardo.
Our yacht was the lovely Marian a Gib'Sea 302. She was a dream; nice and roomy inside and very easy to handle. The first couple of days we had a good breeze for sailing and Skipper and I had her creaming along making 8.5 knots with a couple of reefs in her sails.




Later in the week the wind was less only F4-5 in the afternoons, so with full sails and happy hearts we sailed our Marian down the East side of Kefalonia calling in at Ay. Euphemia and Sami. Then our route took us around the southern tip of Ithaca calling at Kioni and Frikes. Continuing up to Lefkas island and stopping over at Sivota before returning to Fiskardo.

Maybe because we live on an island or maybe just because it's there...

Skipper and I decided to sail around the little island of Atoko.

We saw Dolphins lazily swimming off Arkudi Island (an island we circumnavigated in 2008).

All the way around Meganisi was achieved in 2010

and with our journey's route taking us completely around Ithaca for 2011, it feels really good to explore such beautiful and magical places.

A motto of such wonderful sailing is

"Another Day, Another Bay"

Now I'm back I must Cast on and get knitting, spinning and weaving once more to put some more pennies in the sailing fund-

so as I can once again Cast Off

My Open Studio event (please click on link opposite for more details) starts Thurs 21st.

If you are on the Island, love to see you there.

New Jacob Fleece- Follow the Process Part One

It was a gorgeous sunny day when I popped down to the South of the Island to collect my newly sheared Jacob fleece. This is the flock seeking the shade of the trees even though they really can't be too hot now they have been relieved of their winter woolly coats.


This is the sheep who "grew" my fleece for me! Obviously looked the wrong way when I snapped the photo! but at least you can see what lovely marking she has which will give me a wonderful blend of colours to spin with.


It is a large fleece and is in very good condition, in fact the sheep is a prize winner, so I'm thrilled to have such great raw material to spin a lovely quality yarn from.

This photo shows you the underside of the fleece. I hope you can see the "hand" quality. Hand is the term used to describe how the wool feels, initial feeling is that this fleece is springy, soft and pleasant. I shall be sorting the fleece according to it's variations in fineness, fibre length and crimp.

You can see the crimp in this photo. When I spin the yarn I will also be selecting by colour as I want to mix by plying a handspun "black" with a handspun "white" bobbin together to produce a blended yarn.

I plan to lightly wash a small section of the fleece to assess it further, but as it is so lovely and fresh I think that I will be able to spin it "in the grease" with ease.

A Breezy Day On The Solent.

On Saturday we had a little sail in the Solent. Having checked the weather and coastal forecasts we knew that a big fat weather front was approaching for the weekend carrying lots of well needed rain for the Island.

So Skipper planned a short sail out on the Solent while the wind was still manageable for our small Sunstar 18.

Once out of the river Medina we had a good SW F3-4 and we raised full sails and creamed along making 4-5 knots of speed.

I like to think we gave this lovely "Round The World Clipper" yacht a run for her money! sailing on the same tack together before she sped off- well she was much bigger than our 18foot and had a lot more sail area, especially when her crew raised a third sail!

The wind blew stronger the more we headed to the North shore and the sea was pretty lumpy out in the centre of the Solent. We tacked around heading back to the Island shore and lowered our mainsail and sailed under jib only. We were in more sheltered waters here and making 3 knots we leisurely made our way back to Cowes.

Arriving at " Cowes Roads" the entrance to the harbour just as both the Red Funnel High Speed Red Jet and the Car Ferry were passing.

Also spotted this Helicopter which had landed on a very small space on the harbour wall!

The pilot was taking photos of his amazing feat too!

Sailing back up the river under jib only was a bit tricky as the wind was swinging through a westerly and then southerly direction, but here on the Island the sun was still shining.

Back on our mooring we had a delicious late lunch of Cornish pasties, hot coffee and a generous slice of ginger cake.

The Isle Of Wight Music Festival was on all this weekend just up the river and when the weather is good we sleep aboard on our mooring, enjoy listening to the music, have a glass of wine and cook our supper on board. Sometimes we take the dinghy up a little closer to view the big screen of the main stage from the water.

Not this year, we knew what was forecast...

Heavy rain and F7 Winds

Skipper little planned quick sail before it was too windy was excellent. Sunday was a snug day at home happily watching the rain "water" my garden. Those poor Festival goers, hope they enjoyed the weekend all the same.

Retained The Cup For Weaving!

I'm very pleased to say that I have won;

The Marleen Upson Memorial Cup For Weaving for the second year running!

It was presented to me by the Isle Of Wight Spinners, Weavers and Dyers Guild.

The following photos are the stages of the winning item in creation on my loom.

My inspiration, my beautiful new rambling rose in my garden, just coming into bloom.

I chose the colours of the warp


Warped up the loom.

Weaving in wide stripes of multi colours

A close up of the woven fabric.

On display.

The finished piece makes a lovely table runner or small throw to decorate a chair or drape at the foot of a bed. It's soft muted and blended colours of early Summer gives a warmth and easy country style.

Mirror Dinghies- A Race To The River Fest!

The River Fest is an event held at Newport Quay (I blogged about it May 2010-see old posting).

This year the MMA organised a Mirror dinghy race up the river with the finish line at the Quay.

Five Mirror dinghies took part on a glorious day of sunshine and a good F3-4 S to SW Breeze.

The start was delayed for about half an hour as the safety boat was still aground on her swing mooring, but once the tide had washed in a little more, the five minute hooter sounded and we all tried to gain the best position for a good start.

I was hoping to take photos of the actual racing but we had superb conditions for sailing and it became a very exciting race So I was very busy crewing!

Out in the open river (opposite Island Harbour) we had a fantastic sail; choppy water, a strong breeze and all the little dinghies with sails hauled in tight beating up against the wind, each trying to gain an advantage and calling Starboard on each other. It was tight racing.

We needed to tack all the way up river and as it was about 3 hours before High Water the river became more and more shallow as we approached Newport with a combination of this and the wind becoming less and less as we passed through the more built up banks of the Medina we needed to put in shorter tacks.

Carefully daring to tack last minute before hitting the mud, the race became tense and painfully slow. Every tack crucial, Skipper whispering "Lee ho - make it a good one".

We were in the lead by the time we reached the Newport Rowing Clubhouse, but slipped down to 3rd as we entered the Quay.

Amazingly bit by bit Skipper edged us back to 2nd and then it was neck and neck for the line. We put in two very quick tacks and got a little wind lift and using this to our advantage we glided over the finish line!!

We had won!

A brilliant race, quite exhausting but excellent fun!

So I'm pleased we have won a Cup for the season already.