Folly Dinghy Dash to Newport Rally (20 - 22 Aug 2024)
Published 12:13 on 3 Sep 2024
This rally was always going to form part of Nemo's annual holiday on the Solent. We had a lovely sail to Yarmouth on Monday with an enjoyable evening in the town. On Tuesday morning it was an easy hop down wind and with a following tide to Cowes and then up the Medina to The Folly Inn.
The berthing crew asked us to wait on one of the eastern pontoons while boats on the mid-river pontoon were sorted out. This was easily achieved (with a little patience) and we were soon tied up on the floating pontoon for the duration of the rally. Various Club boats then arrived and tied up either directly or rafted-up.
On the first night we had Nemo, Bonito, Misty Moon, Fruitbat and Kik. A few boats got in touch to say that conditions were not looking favourable (too windy on the last day) so they dropped out. More on this later……!
Also attending The Folly mid-river pontoon was a rally by Chichester YC, 12 boats booked and all turned up to enjoy themselves.
In the meantime, the Haslar boats set about getting their dinghies prepared and tested for the "Dash" up to Newport the following day. One of my crew, Ash, and I thought we'd better check our tender and what better way than to putt over to The Folly for an early evening pint! Most enjoyable to sit and watch the peaceful river.
There then followed the traditional Pontoon Party once again ably organised by Rally Leads Brian and Hilary Masters on Misty Moon. Plenty of friendly chat and everyone enjoyed the lovely nibbles Hilary had prepared.
We had organised for the Folly Water Taxi to take us all over to The Folly for our evening meal where we enjoyed great service, all sat together, delicious food and lovely views as the sun went down.
The following day Ann and Julie decided to dip out of the Dinghy Dash up river in favour of a trip to Osborne House. Neither of them had been there before and they thoroughly enjoyed their day.
One of our boats had to depart that day due to work commitments which left 4 dinghies and 8 brave folk zooming their way to Newport for around mid-day. Some decided to have a brief look around the shops, some visited the art gallery whilst others settled down in the patio area outside The Bargeman's Rest to enjoy a drink before lunch. A very easy and enjoyable meal was had by all in the warm sunshine and then it was time to head back in our dinghies to the boats.
Back at The Folly Gareth aboard Kik noticed that the line securing the bottom of one the Club's battle flags had parted company and the flag, together with its halyard, was now doing the Bob Dylan thing: Blowing In The Wind! How to retrieve the flag and halyard? Ash came to the rescue and volunteered to be hauled up in a bosun's chair and get it back. Very brave and helpful Ash: rather you than me! I used to have no qualms about climbing masts and heights but those days are long gone for me! Gareth was very grateful and now owes Ash a pint at a future event.
The second pontoon party was a slightly different format: as there weren't as many of us Hilary and Brian kindly invited us on board Misty Moon where we sat in the cockpit, chatting and enjoying an hour or so swapping sailing yarns. All in all a very pleasant evening.
If you have some boating stories to tell we have planned a "Members Evening" on Friday 11th October at The Hornet where you can come along and share your experiences with like-minded members of the Club; it should be good fun!
The next morning the remaining 4 boats departed in their own good time. Nemo was last to go and once out of the shelter of The Medina soon experienced the forecast high winds on her next trip to Bembridge Harbour. It was pretty tough: gale force 8 winds but we made it and with some help from the kind berthing folks at Bembridge were soon safely tied up. Whew!
As ever, it is up to each skipper to decide what to do and I can understand some people dropping out but we hung on, got to our destination and had a very enjoyable time, most of the time!
See you at the next rally.
Jem Nicholls
Related
- Folly Dinghy Dash to Newport mid-week Rally 2024 (20 - 22 August)
Last updated 18:29 on 9 September 2024