Royal Air Force Yacht Club

Home again – 22 August! Tony & Sarah Boas

We are again leaving Ione in Ayamonte, this time for 3 weeks, and will return on 12 September. We last put some pictures on the blog a fortnight ago in Chipiona, so a résumé of the last couple of weeks:

 We spent a couple of nights in Chipiona on 7 & 8 Aug before setting off to Mazagón, some 30 miles to the NW.  With very little wind, this was a motor for most of the way.

Dear All

It is communal postcard time again!! But probably the last postcard as we now have a ‘blog’. To follow our progress and get our news look at our web diary on http://blog.mailasail.com/ione This will give a map of our movements and a whole lot of reports. Ignore the ones just entitled Position as this is our way of putting in our lat and long on the map, the other rep[orts may give news and pictures!

  The first 12 days

 Having not seen Ione since December, it was a pleasure to get back on board on 24 May in Punta Lagoa Marina near Vigo. The boat was in good order, having been looked after excellently by Alfredo Lagos at his yard in Bouzas.

Chris Aps

My wife, Jan, had saved and bought eight weeks of annual leave, four of which were to cruise the Dutch canals in our Beneteau Antares 9.80, a seaworthy, twin-engine fly bridge cruiser.

We had had the boat from new and she was our first command. Two years’ cruising, the Yachtmaster Coastal Theory and CEVNI were enough stimulus for us to take the plunge and cross the Channel, however daunting that still seemed. Sea Jay is based in Brighton, a mere 50 odd nautical miles to Lymington. Amazingly, it is over 65 miles going the other way to Dover, our cross-channel launching point.

A DISTRESSED SITUATION

 As recent new members and the owner of a motor boat, I was asked if I could write a contribution to the newsletter from a motor boater's position. The following is a true event which we unexpectedly found ourselves involved in.

Some years ago we used to do our boating in the Bristol Channel. A place feared by many for its severe tidal steams, especially on springs. The tidal range can be as much as 14 meters with the tide running at 8 knots, but apart from the muddy brown water, it can be an interesting area to explore!