Swanwick Dinghy Dash Rally 23rd-25th August 2025
Published 15:02 on 2 Sep 2025
Saturday morning started a bit cloudy, with plenty of sunshine and very little wind. Most people left Haslar mid-morning and motored gently up towards the Hamble. Seatangle hung out a foresail, but progress was slow without the engine.
Misty Moon arrived to be met by Michael and Ann, whose boat, Minalto was already in a berth for an extended stay. We, and they, then went around helping other members of the rally to moor up. Everyone was allocated a finger berth, which meant that we were scattered across all the pontoons from A to G. However, we were still able to make our presence felt by flying battle flags and dodgers.
Brian went for a walk to the Swanwick Lakes, a nature reserve north of the marina. It was formed by old clay pits, dug for the Bursledon Brickworks, and now filled with water providing a beautiful habitat for wildlife.
An unofficial (byo) pontoon party was organised next to Misty Moon before the short walk to the 'Old Ship' for a pleasant evening enjoying our evening meals.
Rick and Shirley, with Zoe on Josselwasp had been on the waiting list for the rally, but were so determined to join us, that they booked into Deacons (on the opposite side of the Hamble from Swanwick Marina). On hearing that Arvid had a problem with his outboard motor, Rick with Ian and Brian worked to sort out the problem, so that Arvid, Jenni and Bertie, the dog were up and running just in time for the 'Armada' of 13 dinghies setting off.
The weather was perfect with very little wind and plenty of sunshine. It was great to see so many people out, either on the water in dinghies or on paddle boards, or on the water's edge fishing or crabbing.
Some towing was required, but everyone arrived in good time for lunch at 'The Horse and Jockey' at Curbridge. Rick, Shirley and Zoe really turned on the style by arriving on paddle boards in pirate hats with a skull and crossbones flag and their parrotlet in its cage. We had three dogs in total with us: Ludo, Jazz and Bertie who all seemed to enjoy themselves.
We all had a good lunch before making our way back down the river to Swanwick. There was lots of banter and some more towing was necessary, but all people and animals returned safely to their boats.
We regrouped at 5.30pm for a pontoon party followed by a shared meal, which was a delicious mix of hot and cold, savoury and sweet.
On Monday morning, Steve and Vizma went for an early breakfast, Outside the marina, a steam lorry was passing.
We all made our way back to Haslar in a South Easterly breeze of 10-15 knots. Misty Moon enjoyed tacking down the Solent, while watching some of our motor boats take a straighter line!
Thank you to everyone for participating in such a fun weekend, helping each other when engines were flagging and providing such lovely food for the shared meal.
Hilary Masters
Related
- Swanwick Dinghy Dash Weekend Rally 2025 (23 - 25 August)
Last updated 14:17 on 3 September 2025