Here she is! This is a boat for me, I thought when I saw the painting “Peridot” in “Yachts and Yachts”. Mustang 30 Deep Keel Sailing yacht that looked smooth, low and very fast.
Was there more information on the Internet? I did a search and went to a site with lots of pictures. She looked good. Built in 1996, the bottom was epoxy from the new, so the bottom should be healthy. In the photos, the boat was in fairly good condition. I checked the inventory by contacting the owner and agreed with the price. He asked if I was going to Kous on the Isle of Wight to inspect the boat, but I said no, I would say that the boat sounds.
By now it was in early July, and I had to plan the boat collection and deliver Ramsgit here. I was fortunate enough to enlist the help of a friend, Dick Smith, who is the “Rear Commodore” at the Royal Temple Yacht Club in Ramsgate. Dick had maps for the South Coast, so with these tide charts he drew up a two-day voyage plan. With possible stops in Brighton or Eastbourne, depending on our progress.
I arranged to hire a car to take us to Southampton, where we got to Pause on the Isle of Wight. We found a boat at its pier and began to look around. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. I understood from the photographs that she was not a luxury cruiser, but it was just a shell with a small amount of creature abilities. There were no kitchen utensils, so a warm drink, while swimming was out of the question. First disappointment!
I checked it on a small 6-berth pier, consisting of two quarter berths under the cabin, two narrow berths and a double one in front. This last one was really very small, so it was only useful for laying the sails. I had a question: the second disappointment. There were no internal lights, so it was good that I bought a torch with me. The tools consist of Log and Water Speed, Wind Speed and Direction and a compass. There was, thank God, a pocket GPS and a fixed VHF radio station. It was only a few imbalances, sheets, wings and anchors. Conclusion: the third disappointment.
Usually we started the engine with a 12 hp engine with a sailing drive. This was done with a single lever control in the cabin. Nothing unusual there, except that the connection was immersed in the cockpit bulkhead, it was necessary to use the handle of the winch as a lever. It worked, but it was a little shaky, so there was not much confidence. I expected us to get used to this. At least the engine started to work for the first time and sounded good.
The boat seller was mainly in London during the day, so we didn’t meet him until 18:00 at the Island Sailing Club. We had a couple of beers, then we went to collect the remains of the sails that were in the club's locker. After we dragged them to the boat, we got the main folding warehouse to the boom, ready for use in the morning. Then we said goodbye, and Dick and I went to a local restaurant for dinner.
It was early to sleep with a quarter berth. We planned to leave with a wave in the morning at 7:30, so it was bright and early. Everything was locked at the club, so we had to take care of an external toilet with a cold water pool. So at least we could do our job, wash our face and brush our teeth.
We had a crazy cup of coffee on a small portable camping stove and made a sandwich each before casting the pier around 8:00 in the morning.
We moved to the Solent and took the main sail. The wind was blowing quite hard about 20 knots from the south-west, but with a bright blue sky and plenty of sunshine. We gathered in a good clip in the wind with just a grotto. We soon left the Isle of Wight for surfing along 8-10 knots. By the time we approached Beachy Head, the wind had increased to more than 30 knots. Previously, we had already placed the reef in the grotto, and they were surfing from 3 to 4 counter swelling at a very exciting pace. Regular performances were above 14 knots with the highest recorded of 16.99 knots, let us call it 17 knots, we said.
It was a lot of fun, but after a few exciting eyebrows near the Beach Head, we decided to throw off the main and motor in Eastbourne Marina. It took a little longer than expected, because the tide was against us, and the motorboat is not the best function of the boat. We would put a small arrow, but with the seas it was so much embarrassing, although one of us is very much inclined to risk aft. Thus, we turned swelled and in the safety of Eastburn Wharf.
It was only in the middle of the day, so we found that our guests were moored, tied the boat and, taking a nice hot shower, we inspected the marina. In the evening we went to the pub for a couple of pints, then had dinner at the restaurant Harvester. It was a long day, so after lunch and a cup of coffee from our portable camping stove, he went down to the early night.
Follow the next leg of our journey.
