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Additional Event Archived Event Reports | Shepards End of Cowes Week Rally
Three canine friends, two very well behaved children and an extremely well behaved grandmother expanded out contingent and seemingly a great time was had by all. Following the customary welcome drinks and nibbles on and around Aeolus, the majority enjoyed great fare and Cowes hospitality at The Duke of York pub – very close to Shepards. Live music was everywhere (at least 10 venues across the town) and queues of party-goers were everywhere.
16 walkers plus dogs undertook a guided walk through Cowes High Street, Victoria Parade and Sea Front, taking refreshments at the half way point. Many opted to retrace steps along the virtually flat terrain, whilst the hardy foursome took the shorter, but steeper return route via the Zig Zag path, Baring Road, Northwood House and back to the High Street and the Marina.
Thankfully, most of the racers were keen to return to their home ports and many left Shepards quite early on Sunday morning, leaving the way for the cruisers to make a comfortable, calm passage back to Portsmouth on the morning flood tide or onward journeys for those extending their stay. Port Solent Yacht Club Rally to Beaulieu River 25-28th July 2025
Friday night involved a ‘pontoon party’ held in the events area decorated with Port Solent bunting and attended by everyone. The pop-up restaurant provided a wide range of food options which were very tasty. We even had an unexpected low-level fly past by the Red Arrows! On Saturday morning we had the option of two walks. One walk was led by Warren and Judy to Beaulieu Village. The other walk was to the Turfcutter’s Arms in East Boldre who were hosting a Beer, Cider and Music Festival. Nineteen of us enjoyed the walk there and were rewarded with excellent food and live music.
More fun was had on Sunday with a tender rally down the river to the Gins Farm pontoon. Gins Farm (the Royal Southampton Yacht Club clubhouse) is a delightful spot on the river with views out over the Solent. An excellent Sunday lunch was laid on for us and again we were treated to live music, this time a rather good saxophonist.
Thanks to the crews of Old Possum, Merlin, Pleasure, Brilliant, Ventus, Ismana, Sea Air, Pure Spirit, Sea Dream, King Hi, Falaise, Reef Knot, Moon Shadow, Moonshine, Lucca, Thomas Hardy, Quirky Lady, Paxi Moon, No Faffing, Saskia, Aeolus, Déjà Vu and Amalfi for joining in with everything and making the rally such a success. Our personal thanks also go to Julie and Richard for hosting us on Paxi Moon and the committee members for their support.
Sarah and Peter O’Donnell Themed Bembridge BBQ Rally
We closely monitored the forecast all afternoon and decided to bring the evening drinks and barbecue forward to 5pm so that the cooking could all be done before the rain started, we knew we had good shelter in the marquee regardless. Well it did cloud over as forecast, and we did have rain almost exactly as forecast around 7pm - 6 drops in total I think it was although it might have been 7 - and that was it!! Who knew? But no complaints from us.
We woke up on Saturday morning to fierce and cold winds, consistently blowing 30 knots through the marina. Unfortunately this strong wind meant that Scooby and Shoogly Monster who were meant to join us that day were unable to do so.
Bembridge harbour had their own ‘Gig Fest’ sailing event on that day, and they had invited us all to their live music event on the quayside during the evening - this followed on nicely after our picnic so we all decamped back to the harbour, although we were back to the chilly wind again, we all enjoyed the evening and more dancing (again led by Dancing Queen Thea) kept us warm (along with cosy PSYC hoodies for a number of us!) Sunday morning was ‘do your own thing’ and as we couldn’t leave Bembridge until lunchtime due to the tide, most of us enjoyed a lazy morning before setting off back to our home berths. Once again we had some strong winds, but as they were on our Port beam the sailboat sailors amongst us flew home under sail and we were almost back at Port Solent before we’d left Bembridge! Until the next time……. Julie - First Mate |
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PSYC
assembled a great turnout eventually - despite the engine gremlins –
the fleet comprised 7 sailing boats (Hai Kuo, Highland Lady, Amelie,
Moonshadow, Westray, Scooby and Aeolus) and 6 power vessels (Skye Raye,
Thomas Hardy, Blitz, Moon Shine, Happy Place and Deep Blu). Shepards
Marina was chaos as Friday racers were returning or short staying while
our fleet was assembling. Some boats were asked to move 3 times as other
skippers changed their plans and the dockmasters did their best to
accommodate everyone’s wishes. The chopping and changing was too much
for some while others overcame mechanical challenges and Sea Air
unfortunately limped back to base with more serious issues preventing
Nicky and Richard from attending..jpg)
We
were treated to a spectacular (and free) firework display at 21:30 with
our boats providing superb view points. At 23:30 there was a further
light show over Northwood Park – though many of us had crashed to bed by
that time - but our youth contingent apparently enjoyed the second
show..jpg)
Finally,
the climax of the rally was pre-dinner drinks on the balcony and dinner
at The Island Sailing Club. We were very well looked after.
A
great turnout of boats attended the Beaulieu River Rally at Buckler’s
Hard. A good mixture of motor boats and yachts although sadly, our own
boat ‘Legato’ did not make it due to delays with standing rigging
replacement! Perhaps a first for the rally leaders to run a rally
without a boat?
That
evening we had a Port Solent themed marquee area for a cook you own
BBQ. Plenty of conversation mingled with delightful cooking smells and……
more live music.
We had fantastic weather throughout, a great mix of people, some of whom were new to PSYC rallies, and all went to plan.
We
left Port Solent on Friday morning with not a breath of wind, so once
again it was motors all the way to Bembridge, most of us arriving around
lunchtime. Sadly High Time had to pull out because Sue was ill, (hope
you’ve recovered now Sue) and My Valium had also pulled out. However,
Adriana, Aeolus, Amelie, Astrid, Happy Place, Highland Lady, Jango, King
Hi, Moon Shadow, Moon Shine, and Riptide, with Social Members the
Besants, all arrived in the beautiful sunshine, all sceptical that we
could possibly have the torrential rain and thunderstorms forecast for 7
o’clock that evening. .
The
marquee had been duly decorated with bunting, Derek set up the music of
the late 60s and early 70s, everyone turned up dressed in their Flower
Power finery, and a rum punch all round got the party started. There was
a good atmosphere (Bembridge had kindly provided us with boards to
cover the shingle) and, led by Highland Lady’s Dancing Queen: Thea, much
dancing to round off the evening. It’s great that everyone gets into
the spirit of themed events.
As
we had a beach picnic planned for the afternoon, with shared ‘faith
supper’ food arranged we were concerned if it was going to be doable. No
one likes sand in their sandwiches! Or sitting out in a cold wind. We
were unable to have use of the marquee, so a word with the helpful
marina staff suggested we could shelter at the end of the beach,
immediately under the sea wall. Derek and I did a recce and sure enough,
it was a lovely sheltered spot. So at 4 o’clock everyone gathered in
the marina car park, complete with picnic chairs, tables, food and drink
- and we set off across the dunes for what turned out to be a very
pleasant picnic on the beach in the sunshine and a happy afternoon was
spent by all, accompanied by more mellow seventies music supplied by
Derek.