Its a Dogs Life!

I talked them into leaving the river and heading down the coast to a Marina in Gosport.

They were getting frustrated with the weather, having troubles making updates to the blog by radio, the switch on the wind generator burnt out and I think they ran out of ideas for using peas.

I was getting sick of waiting patiently to be ferried back to shore for a run.  I know I have to get used to being on the boat all the time, but there is only so much you can do when it is windy and rainy outside.

They left the anchorage at Itchenor made the short jump up the Solent to Portsmouth.  After filling up with fuel, another job they forgot to do before leaving, they attempted to CRASH LAND in the slip they were assigned.  Now they got the boat in there, I have no idea how they are going to get it out.

It is windy, rainy and horrible here too, but at least I am not taking my life in their hands every time they run me to shore in the dingy.  They do not have to worry about crazy Belgians who keep slipping anchor and heading for us.  They just have to worry about how they will get out when the weather improves.

. Can’t complain if you want to have one last dose of British summer time weather before leaving the island….wind, rain with sunny breaks that just give you a tiny hope, before it turns windy and rainy again.  Oh I will miss British weather!!

I have had lots of walks and amused the local pub owner with my love of orange slices.  I am not really amused by having to wee on my boat, wear a life jacket in the dingy or have the mud rinsed off of me at the harbours hose pipe.

I have enjoyed watching all the small sailboats race by us and scaring away the local harbour master so he cannot collect any anchoring fees.

We are planning on heading west and are waiting for winds coming from anywhere else but west.  Patience!  No reason to beat into the winds yet when we have until

Hi my name is Quinn and I am here to introduce you to the world of cruising through the eyes of a dog.  Not any dog, mind you, but a dog who has seen it all! I may be only 11 months old (profile to follow), but I tell you I have seen joy, suffering and mayhem already that would last most of you a life time

It all started when I was a ‘adopted’ by a pair of ‘yachters’.  They were on their final year before endeavoring to circumnavigate the earth and wanted a dog to protect them from pirates.  Growing up to be more of a lover (see Brighton, UK) then a fighter (see Irish Terriers)

So they decided pirate alley was not the way to go.  The Caribbean beckoned.

  They needed money to try and travel around the globe so they both worked like ‘me’ except all the naps and fun.  Then they decided to do all the boat fitting up in 6 weeks.  I would not recommend this as I have never seen such mayhem.    Every job they under took required parts that took 2-3 weeks for delivery.

Then as they tried to finish every job they had lots and lots of visitors to see them off.  These visitors never took pride in distracting them from work and had great pity as they recovered from ‘good bye’ hangovers.  I never complained as they slipped me naughty burger’s and ‘tit bits’.

Then they had a final ‘good bye’ party but they never left? 

Why?

Something about waiting for the weather.  I thought it was sunny, but they said they needed WIND, but also the right TYPE of wind.  Five days later they snuck out just before dawn to finally leave on a new adventure.  They tried to sneak out but I made sure to wake up all the neighbors at 4am.

So now I am joining them on their adventure to circumnavigate the globe.  They have now officially started..but it has been a bumpy start. 5 nautical miles from their launch point in Brighton, UK their engine broke down.  They raised their sails in dead air making only 1 Knot and tried to find the fault.  They greatly feared they would have to sail back to the marina and get towed back to their berth, but they were lucky and it was only a blockage of the fuel filters.  2 hours, 1 litre of diesel fuel, a primary and secondary fuel filter later and they were back on their way.  So glad they had some spare filters and fuel on deck for emergencies.  Just too bad they never changed the fuel filters before leaving!!!!!!

Eight and a half hours, one fruit cake and a package of cashew nuts later and they were anchored up off the small village of Itchenor up the reaches of Chichester Harbour (see map).  Finally I can get ashore.  Terrible rainy weather and winds have set in.  Typical!  But first weather break I know they will have me traveling again.

We are still in Gosport Marina in the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour. My owners are running around doing laundry, repairs, getting propane and groceries…..and of course helping me update my blog. They just got a weather forecast that is favourable for an early departure tomorrow followed by a 24 hour run to Dartmouth.

I forgot to tell you about their hairy entrance to the harbour here. It is a tight entrance with lots of ferries, pleasure crafts and even giant navy ships, Portsmouth is a naval harbour, all trying to come and go. As we were entering we backed off as one hover craft and two ferries all tried to enter with us. Just as we entered another ferry decided to try and leave Portsmouth. We got pinned to the western shore with two giant ferries beside us each going a different direction. We managed to catch it on camera.

I will update you on route to Dartmouth and tell you how they did getting out of their marina berth!

We leave tomorrow. After 9 years we finally leave Brighton and our adventure begins. We are off to Itchenor to chill out for a few days. We need it after the hectic boat preparations over the last 6 weeks. Spirit of Argo is stocked and ready to go. Quinn has had a special haircut for the occasion!