The sun shone and the wind was a pleasant 2 to 3 north-westerly as we entered the beautiful Royal Victoria Park. A great start to a weekend of cruising Southampton Water and the Hamble based on Netley SC. The forecast was for more of the same. Terry and Judy were already on site having used the quiet campsite on the Friday night.

Five boats arrived and rigged. Andy Peter was without his crew, Derek Fearn, who had to cry off at the last minute. We decided to make use of the tide rising and sailed northwest towards the docks intent on having a short stop under the Itchen Bridge and then beating up to Eling Tide Mill and the pub! As we approached Dock Head the wind decreased and became fluky in the lee of the silos and ro-ro ship. We  beached just upstream of the bridge, the great height preventing Terry demonstrating his mast-lowering skills!

After a brief halt we took to the water again and drifted towards Dock Head in very light and variable wind. Once we rounded the point the breeze picked up a little and reasonable headway was made in the direction of Eling. However the forecast had been wrong with the dying breaths making us put ashore on a shell bank in Didben Bay for lunch, beside a beached concrete barge - a WW2 'Mulberry Harbour' remnant. After lunch we set out to sail to see the Oriana in port [later discovered to be the 'Arcadia'] but the wind was disappearing so we ran back towards Netley in light airs. Just as we reached club the sea breeze picked up a little, much to our annoyance.

The four boats launched in very light wind, which quickly died totally, and we drifted where the current took us. We sat in the sunshine roasting quietly. Eventually a few breaths helped us to cross the main channel and we made landfall next to Hythe Pier. With the wind as it was there was little hope of making any greater distance.

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