INBOX

I stumbled upon an edition of your online magazine and must say it is by far the best information provider I have ever seen. Most motor boat enthusiasts are everyday people who have scrimped and saved for their boat, not at all the ‘jetset image’ often portrayed and even encouraged in certain other publications. Readers are looking for practical advice, real boat tests warts and all with owners comments. New ideas and products for our pride and joy are always welcome reading. I have enjoyed restoring smaller classic motorboats over many years and am at present working on a Corvette 32, like the one featured in the last issue. This is a fine ‘modern’ vessel compared to previous projects and due to lockdown I have had time to do some renovations. This included replacing the two upper decks and bathing platform with synthetic teak as the original teak-faced ply was well past its best. This proved an entertaining and lengthy project! As I’m often single handed I find close quarters manoeuvering, for example in a marina, spoiling my enjoyment so have also been installing the Holland Marine jet thruster system. This was an even more entertaining and lengthy process especially as an after fit. I should add that I am by no means an expert on restoration work but see it as a rewarding hobby, which with a bit of luck will give our heritage vessels a new lease of life. Melvyn Bond

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Thanks for a great magazine. I saw that you are featuring Keyhaven next month and wondered if the photo I took there last Saturday would be useful or for your photo page. I thought it was a great pic since it was the end of September. I have a motor cruiser berthed in Lymington Yacht Haven and I frequently cycle through on route from Lymington to Milford on sea. Dave Hooper

PRACTICAL ESSENTIAL GUIDE

They say that boat ownership is changing. Fewer people, especially in the younger age groups, are buying boats and taking up boating as their main pastime. The young, it is said, don’t want to commit to one adventure.

They want lots of different types of enjoyment, and boat ownership can get in the way of that. I don’t know how true that is, but one thing is certain, buying a boat is a significant outlay, and one that few can justify when they have mortgages to pay and children to bring up. There is also the little matter of your large investment spending more time lying idle than being

used. General aviation got around this problem long ago by forming syndicates or by joining a club and paying for regular access to an aircraft rather than owning one outright and having all the expense that goes with it. On the syndicate side, boating hasn’t been far behind, with lots of boats, especially those based overseas, being owned by a small group of people, each with an equal share of use and, most importantly a fractional cost of purchase and running costs. That goes some way to alleviating the barriers to boat ownership, but what if you want your ownership even more flexible. What if you don’t want any purchase or maintenance costs at all, and just want regular access to a

boat or boats without any large initial financial commitment, and the ability to get out should you decide to take up mountaineering? It has probably only been in the last 10 years or so that this kind of boat use has become available, but as each year lapses we see more and more companies offering to cater for those that want all the fun of boating, with few, if any, of the hassles that come with owning your own boat. These organisations come under various names and guises, but operate under similar parameters. The basic premise is that you pay a monthly fee that gives you access to a boat, or fleet of boats, that you

can book and use as you wish. Of course, there are variations in the rules in the way each scheme runs, but on the whole, you can spend a fixed amount every month, go boating possibly as often as you could ever want, and have no worries about servicing, maintenance, depreciation, mooring fees etc. All you do is pay for fuel and enjoy. You may not even have to clean it when you come back in. Does boating get any easier or hassle free than this? We spent a day with one such organisation, Lymington Boat Club, to find out more about how it works and experience for ourselves the simplicity of this kind of boating.

Lymington Boat Club, which is part of the Yacht Havens group, launched in 2018. Initially they started with three boats, a Jeanneau Merry Fisher 695, a Gemini 650 RIB and an Axopar 28 T-Top. In the second year they added a Scorpion 875 RIB to allow for parties of eight, and after discussion with existing members as to how to extend the fleet for 2020, added a second Axopar 28 T-Top with a different configuration to also allow for up to eight crew. As you will see from some of the other organisations listed later on in this feature, many of them offer different membership levels, at different prices, which allow access to different boats within the fleet, different days of the week or even different amounts of days over the month or year. Lymington Boat Club have kept it simple and have a single level of membership that provides unlimited access to all five boats. Another variation you will find among the different clubs is how they operate

their booking system. Again, Lymington Boat Club have opted for a very simple system whereby each member can only book two sessions in advance, As soon as one of those sessions is used, you are free to book another and so on. This means that all members have equal opportunities of accessing all of the boats. A session in this sense is defined as a half day, with sessions starting at 08:30 in the morning and going through until 6pm. No boating during darkness is allowed, although with prior permission your sessions can include an overnight if you book the afternoon of one day followed by the morning of the next, as long as the boat is in a marina overnight. There is a half hour slot between sessions to allow the boats to be cleaned and refuelled in readiness for the next member. Bookings starting before 08:30, or going on later than 18:00, can be arranged at the discretion of the boat club. In reality, with the number of boats and number of members, it appears that your use is pretty much unlimited, as long as you are happy to use

different boats, as there is usually something available. Bookings are made online, so you can pretty much book your next session as you are coming back in from your last one. As well as your two pre-booked sessions, each member gets a single ‘golden ticket’ per annum. This allows for a full day prebooking of any of the fleet boats, as far in advance as you wish, which is a useful feature for a special occasion or such like. There may also be opportunities to book a boat out ‘on-the-day’ if it is not pre-booked, even if you already have two pre-booked sessions allocated. It all feels very friendly and flexible, which is a benefit from having relatively few members. Currently membership at Lymington Boat Club stands at 25 and they inform us that each boat will only have a maximum of 6 members at this time. That means that as the membership grows towards 30, they will look at the possibility of adding a further boat to the fleet. New members have to be a minimum age of 25. Those with no previous boating experience will get an RYA Powerboat Level 2 course included with their fees, and each new member receives a full induction on each boat, the content of which will depend upon the experience that they have.

be used? Lymington Boat Club is a Solent based club, giving members a huge array of harbours, marinas and anchorages to visit. Trips outside of the Solent may be possible with prior agreement.

All servicing and maintenance tasks are carried out by the Boat Club, and every boat is checked over before and after each use, but in the event of a breakdown the boats come with a Sea Start membership, or one of the Boat Club staff can attend in their own support boat.

and insurance? All boats are fully covered by insurance, but each member is required to pay a damage deposit of £500.

watersports? Fishing can be a messy business so, understandably, only the Merry Fisher is available for fishing. The boat is ideally suited too, with rod holders and full walkaround decks. Watersports are allowed from the other boats.

All boats are MCA coded, which means that they carry a full complement of safety equipment, including a liferaft. Adult lifejackets are also supplied, although you can use your own, and all boats have full electronics including AIS. You can also book paddleboards and ringos to take out with you for free.

bring? Very little actually. Some food and drink, appropriate clothing, fishing rods, kids lifejackets and maybe sun cream and sunglasses if you are lucky.

The big question, and the figure is surprisingly affordable. A membership of Lymington yacht club is £8,000 a year. If you would like an additional helmsperson on your membership, he or she can be added for an extra £1,000 per annum.

Conclusion When you consider how much an annual berth in the Solent would be, (circa £7k for a 28 foot boat in Lymington) add to that insurance, engine servicing, general maintenance, Sea Start membership and of course the big one, depreciation, the £8,000 per year fee is definitely a bargain. Then just imagine not having to find, or tie up, a large capital sum, or commit to long term loan repayments, never having to think about maintenance, the price of a tin of antifoul or when the anodes were last changed, and suddenly this type of ownership really does start to make sense. OK, it’s not going to be for everyone. Those that like to go off cruising great distances and staying aboard for weekends, or even weeks, may not find that sort of boating here, but for day boaters, fisherman and watersports enthusiasts it is hard to see any real downside. With safety equipment and even ringos and paddleboards thrown in, there really is no other cost other than fuel, and even that comes with a 5% berth holder discount. If you decide boating is not for you, or you want to take a break and try something else, there is no boat to sell, no broker’s commission to pay and no tyre kickers to deal with. You just walk away at the end of your year. Picking it up again after a break would, of course, be just as easy. In the modern, no-commitment world where boating may just be one of many experiences to enjoy, a boat club may just be the perfect way to do it.

Notes: This one-boat club is ideally set up for fisherman,

although you don’t need to fish to be a member. There are two levels of membership, a six month summer membership (April to September) or a full annual, the latter costing £2,395. Both memberships provide two days per month, with additional days available for £100, if required.

Notes: There are three different levels of membership to the

British Boat Club. ‘Fleet’ gives you unlimited access to all five motorboats, plus one sailing yacht, by simply booking

your chosen vessel on the app, turning up to collect the keys and go boating. This is available for £450 per month (£5,400 per year) with no joining fee. For those with more fishing orientated plans, British Boat Club also offer a more affordable plan called ‘Gone Fishing’. This costs just £250 per month (£3000 per year) and gives members unlimited access to the three Quicksilver boats in the fleet, one each of which is kept at each of their three bases, providing quicker and easier access to different fishing grounds. Both types of memberships come with a minimum 12-month term and British Boat Club insure the boats, provide all the necessary safety and navigational equipment and deal with all maintenance and servicing, leaving you to just enjoy your time on the water. At the end of your day, just refuel, hose the boat off and walk away. The club also offer a very flexible ‘Pay as you boat’ membership level. This scheme comes with a £30 per month fee and allows unlimited daily bookings with a rate ranging from £150 to £300 per day, depending upon the boat booked. This scheme would be an ideal way to test the water, if you are not quite sure how often you might make use of the boats available. www.britishboatclub.com

Notes: The only dedicated inland waterways club that we are aware of, this Thames based operation is run by Hobbs of Henley and offers six different boats; five open day cruisers and a single motor cruiser. There are 12 choices of membership that includes five levels of ‘Club’ membership, five levels of ‘Bond’ membership and two ‘Club Infinity’ options. Different membership options provide access to different boats, with each one, bar the Club Infinity options, delivering a certain number of days per year. For example the entry level ‘Bronze Club’ provides four days a year on four different day boats for £1,275. The higher levels of membership bring with them up to seven days use of the whole range of day boats, plus access to the Linssen motor cruiser. These levels of membership, Diamond and Platinum, Club and Bond, include either three-day or one week breaks onboard. They also offer, as do the Gold and Silver levels, ‘special days’ such as Henley Regatta or overnight festival trips. The two Club Infinity levels of membership, starting at £5,300, offer unlimited access to the day boats, with Club Infinity Plus also including a day at Henley Regatta. Unlike the coastal schemes, this one includes your fuel across all membership levels, as well as the usual items such as insurance, breakdown cover, safety equipment and boat cleaning. Membership even brings with it special offers at local Henley restaurants such as The Boathouse Restaurant, The Angel on the Bridge, The Little Angel and The Anchor. www.hobbsofhenley.com/henley-boat-club

Notes: Premier Marinas partnered with Agapi to form the Agapi Boat Club in the UK. There are also Agapi boat clubs in Helsinki, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Mallorca, Marbella and Crete. In the UK there are three levels of membership, with fees of up to £10,920 per year. Entry level membership (Bronze) gives access to one boat, the Ring 680 for unlimited trips during midweek. With this plan you can only have one booking at a time. Silver membership gives access to the Agapi 800 as well as the Ring, and brings with it weekend boating and the option for two bookings at a time and an extra named skipper. Gold membership provides access to all three boats and allows for up to three bookings. You can also have two extra named skippers. Gold members also get boat cleaning and fuelling services. The two Agapi boats both have accommodation, so Silver and Gold members can also book overnight trips. Two more boats, A Saxdor 320 and an electric propulsion Rand Mana 23, are planned to be added to the fleet soon. Freedom of choice features large with Agapi boat club, so if one of the three plans is not quite right, they will happily look at formulating a plan that works

for you. This may include access to Agapi Boat Clubs boats at other bases across Europe.

Notes: This club operates a little differently from the others. The joining/annual membership fee is just £175, but you pay £150 for each day that you use one of the boats. A day starts at 09:00 and runs until 16:30. They also offer evening sessions (17:30 to 21:00) for £75. This fee structure may be beneficial to the very occasional user.

Notes: Five different levels of membership giving unlimited

access to different boats, and even different days of the week. Top level membership gives access to all boats on any day and starts at £7,342. All membership options also offer a monthly payment scheme which ranges from £320 to £644 per month.

Notes: As well as the annual fee, paid at £395 per month, there is a one-off joining fee of

£5,500. This gives unlimited access to all 20 motorboats, plus one sailing vessel. All but two of these are based at Sandbanks in Poole Harbour with one vessel each in the other two locations. www.theboatclub.com

Notes: This company also have over 30 yachts if you also

like to sail, and Boat Club membership also gives you access to a fleet of boats in 60+ locations around the world via partner Dream Yacht Charter. Fairview Sailing operate on a points system with up to 40 days possible from your points allocation, depending upon timings and notice. www.fairviewsailing.co.uk/boat-club/

Notes: A club with more cruising orientated boats and even one on the Inland waterways at Windsor. Pure Latitude uses a points system whereby you buy points to redeem against boat usage. Weekends use more points and points are spread across the seasons. For example, a Beneteau Antares 30 will cost you 30 points for one day midweek, or 45 points for one weekend day. The lowest level of membership buys you 300 points. An extra charge is made for engine hour usage.

Our club members simply reserve a boat via our App, turn up during their reservation, access the boat’s keys themselves, and go boating. On your return, just refuel, hose the boat off, and leave the rest.

Suzuki With the oceans full of micro plastics, any effort, no matter how small, to capture and reduce them has got to be commended. Suzuki has developed the world’s first micro plastics collecting device for outboard motors. The engines suck up gallons of sea water to cool them, and this water is passed through a collector that traps any micro plastic particles on the way out. It does this without interfering with the operation of the engine’s cooling system, even if the collector becomes full. The device will become an option on Suzuki outboards from 2021, and standard at some point in the future. Price £TBA www.marine.suzuki.co.uk

Garmin Garmin has introduced a new multi-band GPS antenna that is said to provide positioning accuracy to within 1 metre. The GPS 24xd uses both L1 and L5 frequencies, together with multi-constellation support of GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou to deliver this pin point accuracy. It also uses builtin magnetic heading sensors to provide heading accuracy to within 3 degrees, which means a more stable chart, better radar overlay and optimum MARPA, even at slow speeds. Price £270 www.garmin.com

Dometic Dometic has launched an electric power assist steering system that can be mounted to and integrated with all existing major outboard brands and steering systems. Designed to be used with outboards in the 90-200hp range, it integrates with existing SeaStar rack or rotary cable steering systems to deliver easy, smooth, power-assisted steering to boats that currently don’t have it. Once installed, the existing cable only operates the power assist unit, leaving the load of the engine to the electric steering actuator.

BOAT TEST

Length (LOA): 8.33m / 27ft 4in Beam: 2.9m / 9ft 6in Displacement: 3,175kg Fuel capacity: 681 litres Engine as tested: 2 x 250hp Yamaha Other engine options: Twins 400-500hp total RCD category: C10 Price from £143,950 Price as tested £164,495

The world of centre console sportsfisher style boats is a very busy one. At one end of the spectrum there are some great little affordable models like Bayliner’s Element range, and the Dolfor 500. At the other, there are some truly spectacular boats with huge amounts of power and breathtaking performance. You could quite literally spend anything from about £20k up to £1m+ in this sector and you would probably be as happy a bunny as the next man, regardless of where your budget falls. Centre console boats are a bit 36

of a leveller. Yes some may be faster, some may have a bit more in the way of creature comforts, and of course some are much, much bigger, but in reality they all offer the same thing. A fast, easy to use boat that is as perfect for a spot of fishing with your friends as it is to take your family out for a days picnicking or watersports. In terms of versatility, they are,

perhaps, the rigid boat equivalent of a RIB. With so many brands competing in this market, it won’t come as a surprise to find that you may not have heard of them all. Boston Whaler may be the ubiquitous name, but like Hoovers, Biros and JetSkis there is a whole world of other brands that do a similar thing. Robalo is probably one of those names that doesn’t roll off the tongue when thinking about centre console boats, but is it one that you should think about if you are in the market for this style of boat? We took to Southampton Water on a R272 to find out.

The R272 is the 7th largest in a line-up of nine boats that Robalo place in their ‘Centre Console’ range. These start at just 16ft and go all the way up to 36ft. The company also offer a three boat ‘Explorer CC’ range from 20 to 24ft and four-model ‘Bay Boat’ range, also from 20 to 24ft. 37

Having never set foot on one of their boats, I was very keen to see what they offer. It’s not everyday that a new brand falls under our microscope. Stepping onboard the 272 is easy, thanks to its twin bathing platform arrangement that wraps itself around the engine well. There is also a useful slither of platform ahead of the engines to make moving across the platform easy. This access is even available when the engines are fully tilted, with just enough room to slip in front of them. The whole platform on our test boat was covered in soft non-slip decking, which continued on into the boat on every accessible bit of deck. This is a standard feature on UK boats, but fitted in the UK. This means that if you prefer a standard GRP non-slip deck, perhaps because you find it easier to hose away the evidence of your fishing trip, you do have the option of not having it. A bathing ladder is fitted on the starboard side of the platform, neatly concealed beneath a lifting hatch cover. On each aft corner the platform is fitted with a cleat. These are the flush mounted kind that lift when required. While this is great to keep the bathing platform free of any toe stubbing surprises, you do have to remember to push them down when not in use. Entry into the cockpit is via a transom door and a small step down, which creates extra depth, up to 90cm, and therefore safety for the boat’s crew. Just behind the transom door is a locker containing all of the master electrics, nicely placed to allow you to fire it up when stepping onboard. Across the transom there is a bench seat that easily folds up to provide more aft cockpit space for fishing or just moving about. On the port corner of the transom there is a bait well and on the transom coaming are a pair of dual purpose cup/

rod holders. The whole transom seat assembly lifts on stainless steel gas struts to provide access to the boat’s batteries and other technical equipment. A hatch in the aft cockpit floor provides access to a deep and long self-draining locker that is ideal for ropes, fenders or watersports equipment. In the port side of the aft cockpit there is a gunwale door. Here you have the option of a slot-in bathing ladder to provide a second easy way to get in and out of the water. The quality of build is quite obvious all around the boat, noticeable every time you open a hatch or move a seat, but it is perhaps most obvious at this side door, where the heavily built door closes against high quality seals to keep the water out and all the metal work from the hinges to the catches are chunky and solid feeling. It is worth noting that, although by its very design you can easily walk around

the whole boat, the gunwales are topped with around 20-23 cm of flat non-slip surface. This means that you can also, quite literally, walk around this boat at gunwale height as well. Opposite the transom seat you have a choice. Our boat was fitted with the optional wet bar, but a second seat, rear facing, can also be chosen to provide a more sociable aft cockpit area, perhaps a better choice for a family day boat as opposed to the more fishing/watersports friendly version we were onboard. The wet bar brings a small sink, a second bait well and a large coolbox that slides out on

runners at deck level. Moving forward past the helm console, which I’ll come back to in a bit, it’s good to see that there is a minimum 53cm gap down either side, which makes getting forward very easy. A nice little touch is the padded section on the top few inches of gunwale along the full length of the boat down both sides, to absorb any knocks you may have while making your way forward or moving around the boat when underway. On the starboard side, alongside the wet bar/helm, there is fishing rod storage built into the cockpit coaming, with a convenient toe rail along the bottom.

In the bow there is a flexible array of configurations. You can set it up like our test boat, with two forward facing lounge seats and centrally mounted table. The backrests can be removed and it becomes a multiple person dinette area, you can drop the table and add an infill to create a sunpad area, or you can remove all of the cushions and, with the table dropped, have a large flat, non-slip raised foredeck, which is great as an up-tide fishing platform. Hatches beneath these bow seats lift for access to fully lined lockers below. The hatches themselves are stayed with gas struts, and you don’t even need to remove the cushions to gain access. A

further self-draining locker can be found beneath the forwardmost section of bow seating and another hatch in the floor between the seats provides access to a large bilge storage area. Up on the raised bow area, there is an electric anchor winch concealed beneath a hatch, with friction hitches so that it stays where you put it, with an anchor locker below. In front of the helm is a single forward facing seat mounted to a door that leads down into the boat’s toilet compartment. This doesn’t offer standing headroom, but does deliver a comfortable, roomy and private seated area, which will be particularly appreciated by your female crew members. Our test boat had a sea toilet installed here and a small porthole and LED light means that it is far from claustrophobic, even with the door closed. This space also offers a great place to store cushions, tables and other deckware when the boat is not in use. At the helm you get a pair of comfortable and supportive seats, both with lifting bolsters. A small ‘rubbish bin’ locker is conveniently placed in the seat base, with access to the space behind it available at the flick of a catch. The skipper and crew get a two-tier footrest and the helm is equipped with an adjustable steering wheel. This, together with the combination of adjustable seats, lifting bolsters and two foot rests means that it is easy to find a comfortable and commanding driving position, regardless of your physique and whether you want to sit, stand or lean at the helm. The steering wheel has one of those knobs that allows easy and fast one-handed steering, which is a feature I really like on this style of boat. It’s a little thing, but again provides an insight to the approach taken to quality by Robalo. I just love the way the bearings in this knob run so easily and smoothly. If you get a chance to get onboard, just try it. The helm console has space for a couple of decent sized multifunction displays, and on our test boat these incorporated the engine instrumentation, leaving the 41

helm uncluttered by traditional dials and gauges. There is a small glove box, a holder for your phone, a cup holder and two self-draining storage trays for all your personal bits and pieces. Overhead there is a solid T-bar arrangement and this provides a couple of further lockers high up, as well as some sturdy grabrails down either side of the console. The front section of the console is enclosed on three sides by glass panels that provide almost complete protection from wind, rain and spray coming from ahead. It also brings with it the useful addition of a windscreen wiper. While this arrangement is great for the UK climate, it does of course, to a large extent, remove the open boat, wind in your hair experience. To go some way to alleviating a lack of air flow over the 42

As tested 30% fuel, 1 crew, Force 2

RPM

600 (idle) 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000

Knots

3.6 5.1 7.5 8.9 13.8 21.8 25.4 29.9 33.6 38.0 41.7 44.9

LPH

5.0 9.1 14.5 25.0 35.1 47.7 58.3 78.1 96.9 127.0 147.0 191.0

GPH

1.1 2.0 3.2 5.5 7.7 10.5 12.8 17.2 21.3 27.9 32.3 42.0

MPG

3.27 2.55 2.34 1.62 1.79 2.08 1.99 1.74 1.58 1.36 1.29 1.07

Range (nm) 490 382 350 242 268 311 298 260 236 203 192 160

helm on nice days, Robalo has installed an electrically opening vent window on top of the forward windscreen. The whole helm console can also be enclosed by canvas either when underway or just for protection/security when on a mooring.

Leaving the River Test, and travelling in the 6 knot speed limit, the 272 felt like a dog on a leash, it just wanted to go. Little

blips on the throttle hinted at what was to come as the speed limit buoy slipped astern, but I was still taken by surprise. The power of the twin 250hp Yamahas was phenomenal. Rarely does a boat put a grin on my face as quickly and easily as this one. I kept dropping back off the plane, just so that I could experience that acceleration. Once I stopped messing about and got down to some serious testing, I actually struggled to get accurate acceleration times due to the swiftness that the boat passed the different landmark speeds. Nail the throttles and the boat is on the plane in around 2 seconds. It hits 20 knots in 4 seconds and is doing 30 knots on 6 seconds. Those figures are staggering for a sports fisher and are, in my experience, only matched by out-and-out performance boats. When driven hard, the noise, like the power, from the Yamahas is a joy to behold. With these acceleration figures, the top speed, although plenty fast enough at 45 knots, is perhaps rather modest. The boat can be driven hard and fast and behaves impeccably when doing so. Tight fast turns are taken in its stride, with only a hint of prop ventilation if you push it too far to help bring everything back under control. The steering is perfectly balanced and control is pinpoint accurate at all speeds. In short the 272 is as much fun to drive as any boat I have ever been on. The downside to this is, of course, the hooligan in you wants to drive it hard and fast all the time, and this will hit you firmly in the wallet. 43

Once the novelty of the power wears off, the 272 settles nicely into a cruise at what feels like a rather pedestrian 25 knots. At around 3500 rpm the noise levels are very acceptable, the ride smooth and even the fuel consumption can be lived with. In the low 20’s, the twin 250s are returning in the region of a very respectable 2nmpg. Our test day did not deliver ‘testing’ The helm can be enclosed with a canvas canopy conditions, but with regular ferry traffic and an occasional commercial vessel As already mentioned the driving heading up Southampton water we position is good, with a comfortable found plenty of confused and choppy stance, leaning or seated position always bits of sea to play in. The big flared available with appropriate adjustment. I bow dealt effortlessly with any waves, always felt more in control at faster speeds deflecting spray away from the boat and if I was standing or leaning, but that is subsequently helping to deliver a very dry often the case on this style of boat, but ride. The hull performed brilliantly, and as particularly in this case as the steering each ship’s wake was encountered I dared wheel was just a little too far away to use to leave more power on until I was hitting the full support of the seat, while keeping some decent sized waves all the way up a good grip on the wheel. Just a small to 40 knots, and finding the boat still amount of fore and aft adjustment on the remained very composed. Obviously in a seats would have made things perfect. rough sea with a continuous wave pattern The wraparound screen offers great that wouldn’t be the case but it tells me protection from the wind, and of course enough to believe that this boat would be any spray or rain that you may encounter, more than capable of maintaining a decent and the opening top window provides a pace into the sort of chop that would be perfect degree of ventilation to keep you knocking other 27ft boats off the plane. cool, should it be needed.

I didn’t really know what to expect when boarding the Robalo, it was, after all, a totally new brand to me. I was thinking that if it could mimic anything like the performance of an equivalent Boston Whaler it would be doing very well. I’m going to stick my neck out and say not only did it do that, it may well have surpassed We were blown away by the Robalo R272 it. The quality of build appears every bit as good, if not better, and the performance walkaround sportsfisher, and Robalo is and ride was pure class. Of course a boat not a name you have thought of, I would like this does not come cheap, but look at strongly advise that you get yourself the other quality alternatives and you will acquainted. Not only do I think that you find that it stacks up very well in that regard won’t be disappointed, you may well just too. If you are in the market for a sub 30ft be as blown away as I was.

LOA: 8.53m Beam: 2.84m Displacement: 2,812kg ex eng Enquiries: Dorset Yacht Company 01202 674531 www.bostonwhaler.co.uk PRICE from £243,305

LOA: 8m Beam: 2.7m Displacement: 3,084kg Enquiries: Sea Ventures 01489 565444 www.sea-ventures.co.uk PRICE from £TBA

LOA: 10.7 m Beam: 3.0m Displacement: TBC Enquiries: RBS Marine 01243 512101 www.rbsmarine.com PRICE from £224,400

QWith boating curtailed for much of this season, my first full one with the boat unfortunately, I am determined to make the most of my week off at the end of October. I am based on the Hamble in the Solent, and so far my only trips have been in and around the Solent and I want to go further afield. With a maximum of nine days available, which direction should I head in and where are the must-visit stops en-route? A Obviously it is all weather dependent but assuming good conditions I would normally suggest heading across the Channel to the Channel Islands, but in today’s climate, and with restrictions still in place in Guernsey and possibly France, I would say, ‘go west’. Nine days is probably not quite enough for the full ‘West Country’ experience, but leaving the Solent I would put some miles under the hull and head for Weymouth, with maybe a stop in Lulworth Cove on the way. Then head around Portland Bill and across Lyme Bay where you have Brixham, Dartmouth, Salcombe and Plymouth all relatively close together. Depending how long you want to linger in each place, this may be more than enough to fill your nine days. If, however you want to keep moving, you could push on into Cornwall, where Fowey and Falmouth await. With the prevailing south westerlies, heading west is usually the trickiest part of a west country cruise, leaving a return journey to be completed in the relative comfort of a following sea, but keep an eye on the weather as it does occasionally blow up from the east, which can scupper your return journey.

If you have a question, email us at editorial@motorboatowner.co.uk

QI have picked up a Shetland Family Four that has a Suzuki DT85 on the back. I have been told that the oil injection system has been disconnected and that I should pre-mix the two-stroke oil in the fuel tank. The issue is, I have been told by two different people that the ratio should be 50:1 or 100:1. Which is it? A First I would want to check that the oil injection really has been disconnected. While this is a common modification to make on some old twostroke engines, the Suzuki system is always seen as being very reliable and rarely causing trouble, so removal is much rarer on these than other makes. If it has been removed, I would pre-mix at 50:1. While some outboard manufacturers did recommend a 100:1 mix there is, as far as I’m aware, no intrinsic differences made to the engines that operate on this leaner mix. In fact, the same engines sold for commercial use, were nearly always specified at 50:1. The 100:1 thing for leisure boats was about reducing emissions and was possibly due to the reduced use that leisure engines get. Run it on 50:1 or, better still, see if the oil injection system can be re-commissioned.

QFingerscrossed I am planning to go off cruising next year, hopefully around Britain. I know that in many places I will struggle to find shorepower and am planning as best I can to not have to rely on it. I will be using gas for cooking, diesel for heating and the engine to provide hot water. I am thinking a solar charging system would be good to keep the batteries topped up so they can supply power for lights etc when I am moored up without electric. In the worse case, I could be weather bound for a few days at a time. How do I go about building a system and what size panel will I need? A A solar system would provide a good backup to your battery charger and engine when caught in port without power for a few days, but correct specification will require quite a bit of thought and calculation. The rule of thumb is to try and work out how much power you will need in a typical day. You have to include every light and an estimate how long they will be on for, any TV or stereo usage, your fridge, your water pump and even your USB and cigarette style outlets that you may use to charge things like phones etc. Think of everything that runs off the batteries that you might use on a typical day in port. Once you have worked out how many watts each item uses, and how many hours per day they will be on, you can times the Watts by the hours for each item and then add them all together to give you a daily Watt hours total. This number can be divided by the number of usable hours of sunshine per day, which is often quoted as being around 5 in the summer and as little as 1 in the winter. This will give you your required solar panel size. You will then need a charge controller of a suitable size to deal with the maximum watts that your solar panel will produce. If you end up with a 100 Watt panel for example, divide 100 by 12 to give you 8.3A. This means that you will need a 10A controller. These calculations will allow for total dependence on solar, and indefinite running on solar power. If you wanted to, you could choose to reduce the size of your panel and system a little, on the basis that you are only looking for occasional and shortterm reliance, and always have your engine available should your batteries get low.

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QI am thinking of buying a handheld VHF as a backup to the main set. It looks like prices start at less than £50 for an unknown brand on eBay right up to £200+ for a top spec radio from a well known make. I don’t want to spend more than I need to, but I don’t want to waste my money either. What Handheld would you recommend? A Having a handheld VHF as a backup is a wise idea, so you want to make sure that it works when needed. Some of those cheap unbranded radios may not deliver the performance they promise and I would avoid them, despite their tempting price. As an absolute minimum I would want a backup handheld VHF to be fully waterproof, and preferably floating too. Standard Horizon produces a couple of affordable handhelds. The excellent HX300E has a retail price of £133, but can be picked up online for under £100. At that price it doesn’t seem worth looking anywhere else. For the same money, you can also get the HX210E, which includes an FM radio receiver.

QI have twin KAD43’s in my Sealine F37 and occasionally one or the other engine will spit out its coolant. Any ideas what is happening? A A number of Volvo KAD engine models are prone to this. The usual fix is to ensure that you only fill them to the minimum line of the header tank when the engine is cold. If you fill them to the max line, I understand there is sometimes not enough space left in the header tank to cope with the expansion of the coolant when hot, resulting in the headers overflowing. Try adjusting the levels to the minimum and see how you get on.

An enchantingly, picturesque anchorage and nature reserve that is ever-changing with the tide. Keyhaven is truly a Solent hidden gem

At the western end of the Solent, hidden from view behind an iconic, historical landmark, lies an anchorage that is often overlooked. Nestling in the shelter of Hurst Castle and its high pebbled spit, lies the natural harbour of Keyhaven, with its wide, beautiful and ever-changing tidal estuary of marshes, saltings and mud flats. With wildlife, nature and watersports in abundance and in simpatico, it is home to 500 boats of all shapes and sizes and has a captivating, unspoilt quay at its heart. Keyhaven was established as a small fishing hamlet within the parish of Milford-on-sea. Historically, as a port, it dates back to the 1200s, but its natural estuary was also used for early salt

Salcombe

Keyhaven Lymington

Poole Yarmouth Cowes

Weymouth

Chichester

production, an industry that was reignited in the 1700s. Being a small port, it has also been linked to smuggling. At the estuary mouth the fearsome fortress of Hurst Castle was built by order of notorious Tudor king, Henry VIII, to protect the western approaches to the Solent from invasion. Bordering the New Forest, Keyhaven is now a leisure haven, and albeit largely undiscovered and slightly off the beaten tourist track, it has thrived this season, particularly with watersports. It also remains popular with artists and is an all-year-round spot for bird watching, with an array of wetland species frequenting the area. As a boating refuge the harbour provides a sheltered tidal anchorage. With facilities ashore, there is also the option of taking an all-tides swinging mooring, and for those who dare to dry out, a single walkashore, drying quayside mooring awaits. While the weekend boating hordes flock to Newtown Creek, for the adventurous 51

boater who loves a challenge it really should be experienced. At Keyhaven, less is most definitely more.

The Keyhaven River entrance is shallow, but becomes deeper once inside, so visitors will need to refer closely to a chart and tide predictions. Keyhaven is included in Imray 2200 The Solent Chart Atlas, and is detailed on chart page 2200.10. With depths in the entrance of 0.4m above chart datum, and even drying at certain low water springs, an approach on a rising tide, at half tide or close to high water,

is advisable for a first-time visit. Those planning to visit Keyhaven will need to be wary of the strong cross tidal currents off Hurst Castle, which can run at 3-4 knots, often creating overfalls and choppy waters, particularly in wind against tide conditions. Like nearby Lymington, double high waters occur in the Keyhaven River at, or near, spring tides. This is due to the water being held up as it floods through Hurst narrows. Such occurrences provide a useful stand, with tide prediction times and heights referring to the first high water, but after the stand the water level falls rapidly. Outside of

spring tides there is a high water stand of roughly an hour either side of high water. Keyhaven’s anchorage, and some of its swinging moorings, provide depths of up to 3 metres, but the river beyond is not really a place for large boats. Finally, be aware the anchorage is exposed if the wind is in the north to east sectors. Those coming from the west will usually enter the Solent via the Needles Channel. There is also the lesser-known North Channel, which is approached to the north of the Shingles, and is considered a much kinder route in windier weather. Hurst Point itself is easily recognisable from east or west, and adorned with a white lighthouse and, of course, the lowlevel Tudor fortress of Hurst Castle. Lying half a nautical mile north-north-west of Hurst Point, the entrance to Keyhaven is marked by a set of port and starboard buoys with transit posts in the marshes beyond, indicating a leading line approach of 308 degrees. However, with the transit

Approximate distances in nautical miles from Keyhaven entrance: • Yarmouth 2 miles • Lymington wave screen 3.19 miles • Cowes 10 miles • Poole 17 miles • Portsmouth 18 miles

• Weatherfile.com Hurst Castle weather actuals • Weatherfile.com Lymington Start

Platform actuals • Lymington Harbour Weather &

Tides • Bramblemet weather actuals from the Bramble Bank • Met Office Synoptics 5-Days • NOAA Weather data Channel

Lightship • Met Office Shipping Forecasts

Portland & Wight • Met Office Inshore Waters Forecast

Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis • XCWeather Keyhaven forecast

• *Imray 2200 The Solent Chart Atlas • *Imray Shell Channel Pilot • *Admiralty SC5600 chart pack • Solent Cruising Companion • Solent Hazards • Reeds Nautical Almanac *Available at www.imray.com. Use offer code ‘KEY2020’ for 20% off and free UK carriage. Offer expires 31st December 2020

The Gun Inn

Quay & boatyard

Ferry jetty

MARSHES FOOTPATH FOOTPATH

Hawkers Lake

Keyhaven Lake Mount Lake

Special 308° Mark

Ferry jetty Hurst Point Lighthouse

Hurst Castle

posts being often difficult to make out, visitors can, with adequate height of tide, generally edge towards the entrance buoys from an outer seasonal yellow race mark (Mar-Nov) on the outer 2-metre contour line. Note there is a 4-knot speed limit once inside the entrance. Once through the entrance buoys, another port marker, followed by several starboard-hand buoys, lead around the shingle spit of North Point and into the anchorage. Bear round

close to the spit, steering south towards the lighthouse, avoiding the urge to cut immediately across to the swinging moorings. The anchorage is located just inside the curve of the shingle spit. For those travelling further upstream, starboard markers continue to mark the curve of the deep-water channel. This continues on around to the mouth of Mount Lake, and onwards marking the edges of Short Reach and up towards the quay. It is important to note that the swinging moorings mark the deepest water, so it is advisable to stick close to the moored boats, and the starboard channel buoys mark the edge of shallows. The channel, now drying, then bears north-north-east before turning north

east again to pass closely alongside a grey stone seawall lined with small moored boats, amongst which is the Hurst Castle Ferry jetty. Further along this wall is a small yacht club pontoon, a flood-gated shingle beach with single storey yacht club behind, and, protruding out into the river, the concrete L-shaped quay itself. The white-painted, two-storey River Warden Office, resembling a lookout post, overlooks the quay, while behind this is a small drying harbour, lined with small boats. A sluice gate in the grey stone wall at the top of the harbour marks the end of navigation, and above it lies Avon Water. Keyhaven has another entrance channel further north, known as Hawkers Lake, which is named after a Colonel Peter Hawker who is believed to have dug it out, enabling a quicker route from Keyhaven to Pennington marshes. Much shallower by comparison, the deepest part is marked with Hawkers buoy, a yellow uncharted unlit buoy, and once over the bar the depth increases slightly. There are plans

There is no fuel available at Keyhaven, so refuelling prior to a visit is advisable. The nearest petrol garage is on the Lymington Road towards Lymington, which is approximately 4 miles away. Waterside fuel, diesel and petrol, is readily available at Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, and also at Lymington, at the Yacht Haven and Berthon marinas.

Lift out, storage, maintenance and marine engineering services are available at the on-site boatyard, West Solent Boat Builders (01590 642080). The boatyard uses the quay and slipway to launch and haul out vessels using its yard tractor or 9-tonne mobile crane. It has a team of inboard and outboard marine engineers on site, and is a stockist and specialist for several engine manufacturers, including Volvo Penta, also offering repower and winterising services. It also has a small boatyard chandlery-cum-café.

afoot for new, limited access visitor buoys draft can be accommodated on the first to be placed here in the near future. 12 moorings and will float at all states of Where to moor tide. In Mount Lake, the first 12 buoys are also relatively deep and can accommodate The friendly River Warden of six years, boats of around 33ft, with potential of Steve Wood, told Motorboat Owner that 36ft boats, depending on draft, tides and visitors can generally pick up any buoy, size of the adjacent yachts (allowing for as long as there is not a tender on it. swing room). Steve stressed that if you Otherwise visitors are welcome to anchor find yourself moored amongst vessels that in Keyhaven Lake, which is just inside the are smaller than your own, it is best not to spit and offers good holding. linger for long. He would also encourage If visitors arrive and are considering visitors to use their own lines to secure picking up a buoy, it is advisable to contact to the buoy and not use the mooring Steve and his team for guidance. Visitors owners strops. Keyhaven currently has can call the Harbour Office on arrival or no dedicated visitor buoy moorings. in advance (preferable) on VHF channel However, in future, to help visitors 37 or 01590 645695 (not 24 hours), or by identify moorings that are available, Steve emailing keyhavenriverwarden@nfdc. says they intend to attach yellow visitors gov.uk in advance. Note, buoys cannot pick up buoys with 2m of 8mm galvanised be reserved. The first 18 moorings from chain to moorings available for use. the main entrance are in relatively deep With its unspoilt marshes vanishing water, with the 18th mooring, KR18, being and reappearing with each tide, the outer located at the junction of Mount Lake. moorings provide a ring side seat to the Boats up to 40ft with up to a 2-metre many spectacles of nature. It is a bird

watchers paradise. In the summer you can watch the adult terns teaching their young to fish, dropping sandeels into the water for them to forage. It is a magical place. In 2021 it is anticipated that there will be seven new yellow visitors pick up buoys positioned at the eastern end of Hawker’s Lake. These will be seasonal moorings only, as they are slightly more exposed, and Steve added that these will also be close to a tern nesting site on the raised gravel beach area on the southeast end of the marsh, so they will need to monitor mooring disturbance. These buoys may be used for motorboats and bilge keel yachts able to take the ground if need be. The lake bed here is described as ‘quite hard’, comprising of gravel /shale. The overnight price for, what is classed as, a ‘large mooring’ is £18, while a ‘medium/small mooring’ is £14 per night and it is £11 to overnight in the anchorage. Short stays are also available and charges are £6 for the anchorage and £10 for the buoys. Weekly swinging moorings are also

There is a Co-op food store in Milford-on-sea, which is 0.9mile walk from the Quay and is open daily 7am-10pm. There is also a greengrocer, a fishmonger, delicatessen, butcher and a wine merchant in the village centre, on Church Hill and the High Street.

The Solent is a playground of town quays, marinas and anchorages. The nearby Beaulieu River, Yarmouth harbour on the Isle of Wight (see guide in Sept 17 issue) and the attractive market town of Lymington (see May 16 issue) are within easy reach, as are the popular local anchorages of Newtown Creek and Alum Bay. The Solent boating mecca that is Cowes is also only a 12-mile trip east. West, the ports of Weymouth (Mar15) and Poole (Jan14) are also within easy cruising distance along with the wonders of the Dorset coast, such as Lulworth Cove and Studland Bay.

available, priced at £60/£72 respectively for a medium or large mooring buoy. Toilets and showers are available for visiting boaters, sail and power, at

Keyhaven Yacht Club. There is also a Smaller boats, with drafts not exceeding cubical-style toilet block located in the car 1.5m, wanting a high water lunch stop at park on the other side of the boatyard. the local pub or yacht club, or water tank The Hurst Castle ferries act as top up, can moor against the southern watertaxis and can pick up boaters from part of the quay by arrangement with the the moorings and land them either at the River Warden Office. This section may castle or at the quay for a fee (VHF Ch 74). be used for short stays but also overnight For those using an inflatable to get ashore berthing for boats with the ability to take at the Quay, these can be tied to the outer to the ground up to 36ft. This woodencorners of the east-facing concrete quay. clad quayside has substantial mooring This 23-metre section is the deepest side bollards and is equipped with water and (all tides for tenders) and should be kept shorepower connection, the latter is clear, as it is reserved for 30-minute stays available at no extra charge. This one-boat only and it is used by fishing boats and for berth dries to a hard shingle/shale/mud, unloading. The north side of the quay is so drying legs may be useful here. A short used for launching and recovering from stay here is £12 and £20 for overnight. the slipway. Pulling inflatables up onto Full pricing is detailed on the Keyhaven the shingle sections of the quay is another River/New Forest Council webpage. option, being mindful of other users and not obstructing the sailing dinghy and Trailboating launching thoroughfare. Boaters using or A main slipway is located on the north visiting the Keyhaven Yacht Club can leave side of the Quay. The semi-enclosed tenders on its floating pontoon, this is 50 slipway, with its useful parallel quay, is metres south of the quay. accessible two hours either side of high

water and open to all on payment of the appropriate launching fee (based on length of boat), apart from PWCs which are prohibited. It is also limited to boats no bigger than 20ft in length overall. Access to the Quay and its slipway is via the un-named road in front of the Keyhaven Yacht Club and across the narrow shingle beach, driving forwards. There is a small area for trailers on the shingle area in front of the River Warden Office. Keyhaven’s River Wardens urge users not to lock their trailer so they can be moved if necessary. They also stress that facilities for launching from trailers is extremely limited and capacity is small. Users should also note that the slipway is often in use by the boatyard on weekdays. Trailer vehicle car parking is available in the pay and display, non-24hr car park on the west side of the boatyard. There is also a number of free bays in the road that runs along the north seawall, near the sluice gate. Small tender and inflatable users can again approach in front of the yacht club, and launch by hand on the shingle beach. With easier access to the slipway through its boatyard, West Solent Boat Builders also offer seasonal ‘launch & go’ and summer storage packages for boaters. Fees are payable per launch or by the purchase of a season ticket. Launch charges for trailboats under 12ft are £10, 12-16ft £18, 16-19ft £25 and over 19ft £42. Paddleboards, canoes and kayaks are £5 each. It is also possible to launch light inflatable items in the western corner of the harbour, in the shelter of Hurst Spit. The junction of Saltgrass Lane and New Lane is a popular waterside parking spot for daytrippers and campers. However, be aware the road is narrow here and the tide covers the road and its parking bays on a spring tide.

There is plenty of accommodation in the area, including two holiday parks at nearby Milford-on-sea and the beautiful marsh-front, 8-bed Old Post House at Keyhaven itself.

Keyhaven has one popular pub, The Gun Inn. Located a short distance from the Quay, it is a traditional 18th century English pub that is full of character and history, and offers excellent pub food classics, a variety of ales and a reported 200 malt whiskies. It is also well known for its dressed crab and crab sandwiches. Boaters are also welcomed at the bars of Keyhaven’s two neighbouring yacht clubs, the Keyhaven Yacht Club and Hurst Sailing Club. You can also grab a coffee or an ice cream at the boatyard chandlery. In nearby Milford-on-sea there is a good choice of restaurants, cafes and tea rooms. This includes the small and quirky watering hole, The Washhouse (01590 644665), which happens to be the old launderette, and as a micro ale pub, it offers a great range of ales, ciders and gins. Although it doesn’t provide food, you can order a takeaway and get it delivered. Local restaurants also offering takeaways include Indian restaurant, Monsoori Nights (01590 644441) and Britannia Thai (01590 642226). Finally, for that extra special night, there is the Michelin star fish restaurant, Verveine (01590 642176), which comes highly recommended by one Lymington based boat owner.

Hurst Castle is a must for visitors to this area. The Tudor artillery fortress commissioned by Henry VIII and built between 1541 and 1544, was one of a chain of artillery defences protecting key ports in the Solent, including the trading port of Southampton and the naval base at Portsmouth. Steeped in history, it was here King Charles I was held during the winter of 1648 prior to his trial and execution in London. Although adapted in the 1860s, the castle remains mainly Tudor and consists of a two-storey gun tower or keep, surrounded by an outer wall with three bold semi-circular bastions and a gatehouse protected with a portcullis. Today it offers fantastic views across the Solent and Isle of Wight and is a great place to explore for all ages. Adult admission is £5.50, concessions are £5 and children aged 5-17 years are £3.50. A ferry service to the castle takes visitors from a small pontoon jetty from

Keyhaven, and into the castle’s inlet, called the ‘Camber’ with its wooden jetty. Fares are £4 for adults, £3 for children aged 3+ and returns are £7 for adults, £4 for children aged 3 and upwards. It is also a great walk out to Hurst Castle, following the waterfront path from the quay south, crossing the footbridge and out along the shingle spit. This 2-mile walk should take you roughly 45 minutes and, don’t worry if you are finding the pebbles hard work underfoot, you can always get the Hurst Ferry back. If you are on a swinging buoy and are wanting to visit the castle, River Warden, Steve, said, landings by tender can be made anywhere in the Camber, tide permitting, providing the ferry and its landing are not obstructed, or on the inside of the spit. For those who enjoy walking or have bikes onboard, be prepared to be spoilt as there are lots of picturesque walks and rides to be had. To the west of Keyhaven and a 1½-mile walk or cycle is Milford-on-sea, which offers a charming village centre and green, and a range of restaurants, café’s shops and pubs. Follow Keyhaven Road into the High Street but you could consider coming back along the beachfront. For those who are feeling

fit, north east is the market town of Lymington. For this, walkers and cyclists can opt for the shorter inland 3.5-mile road route, or the picturesque gravel 5-mile coast path, which takes in the beautiful, historic salt marshes and ponds, but be aware, the latter can feel quite exposed in windier weather. Keyhaven is popular for watersports especially dinghy sailing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding. The estuary area that nestles behind the high Hurst Spit, known locally as Keyhaven’s ‘lagoon’, is particularly popular for paddleboarding and kayaking, and it is easy to see why, being very sheltered and shallow, with much to explore. Keen anglers are also able to take a fishing trip out from the quay to catch their tea, through fishing charter boat company, Greg Pitt Sea Fishing. MBO

SMALL BOAT ADVENTURES AROUND THE ISLE OF WIGHT

is all too easy to become overwhelmed It by fashions and expectations that lead to a game of one-upmanship, but sometimes less really is more. On a large motorboat, or even a big RIB, long passages such as cross Channel forays do not seem to be too much bother or engender feelings of adventure. On the other hand, making a moderate passage in a small boat creates a voyage of epic proportions in comparison. The little boat in a big sea 62 suddenly acquires a sense of adventure that big boats would find hard to match. Even going round the Isle of Wight in a bit of breeze takes on a new meaning. The Avon Searider 4m, which has its roots in the very Genesis of RIB building, is still relevant today, despite being a classic and offers an easy and very affordable entry into motorboat ownership. Like any true classic design, it never dates and performs every bit as well as it ever did.

RIBs have been likened to being the marine version of a 4x4. Maintaining the theme, the Searider 4m may be comparable to a good off-road motorbike, capable of going into tighter, shallower water than the bigger versions, yet still capable of making lengthy passages. Being closer to the action and having less surrounding you to isolate you from the elements enhances the experience of getting the wind through your hair. Let’s face it, a 4m RIB is hardly conducive to

Lymington

Needles

Cowes

St Catharines Point

maintaining a carefully managed hairstyle but that is hardly the point. Given a chance, these little boats are capable of some quite extraordinary feats, limited only by fuel range and weather conditions. If Michael Alexander and Richard Frere could take one of these very boats around the coast of Scotland (which they did in 1989), cruising around the Isle of Wight in an afternoon should be a breeze. We launched in Lymington under an

azure sky with only the slightest whiff of wind. There was barely a cloud in the sky and what little air movement there was wouldn’t get a yachttie very far. We looked forward to an easy run east through the Solent to Bembridge Ledge, going clockwise for a change, just for the hell of it. To provide sufficient fuel range for the voyage we had prepared the little boat with an extra fuel tank. Two 25-litre tanks were sat against the transom, because they are too big to go in the jockey console, and a further 12-litre tank was placed under the seat. 62 litres in total should be plenty to fuel the Yamaha F50 for the trip, and still have a decent reserve. In addition to ensuring we had plenty of fuel, we had a full inventory of safety kit. Nothing out of the ordinary, but sufficient to deal with those unforeseen things that happen when you least expect them. There was a repair kit for the boat’s tubes, a spare kill

cord and ignition key, a tool kit, a first aid kit, a hand held chartplotter, a hand held VHF, paper chart, compass, offshore flares, personal miniflares, whistle, lifejacket, food, drink, spare clothes, foulies, suncream, sunhat, sunglasses, oars (the Avon comes equipped with a pair in straps), bellows, a spare fuel line, anchor, chain and 50m of warp plus the usual mooring lines. Not a bad inventory for “a little boat” and one that would put many bigger boats I have been on to shame. All this disappeared into a couple of dry bags and a hard tub, which was stowed in the jockey seat on top of the spare 12-litre fuel tank. Believe it or not, there was still room for more. It’s amazing what will disappear into the boat if stowed sensibly and sympathetically. Getting on the plane, with the weight of all that aboard, and the water in the flooded keel, was a bit of a game that required me to stand, leaning well forward, right over the front of the console while commanding a great handful of throttle. At first it would struggle, but as the keel emptied the hull would level off and the boat shoot away. I found that weaving the wheel a bit would shorten the run up to take off, something that was going to come in useful later on. The run out from Lymington and over to Cowes, just to put my nose in, was uneventful. The water was as flat as a

pancake and the weather was glorious but, strangely, there was very little traffic about. From the entrance to Cowes I ran reasonably close to the shoreline, about 400m off, to the beach huts lined up along the West Ryde shoreline, and then out past the sandbanks off Ryde. Even though it was a flooding tide I wasn’t taking any chances and went through the channel markers off the forts before setting a course for the end of the pier at Bembridge. As I approached foreland, keeping a sharp lookout for pot markers, the rocks and kelp were still in evidence so I gave the shallows of the ledge a wider berth before heading into Whitecliff Bay to drift about while I ate my sandwiches and had a drink. There wasn’t enough wind to make it worth dropping anchor, so I just gave myself plenty of leeway from the beach. The next leg was a sheltered run across Sandown Bay and Shanklin, in the lee of Dunnose, but once I rounded the corner on the run to Ventnor things began to liven up. Despite the very light breeze there was a swell picking up and the wind had freshened from the south west, rather more than the shipping forecast had foretold, backed up by the coastguard notification on the VHF. The conditions are amplified when you are on a small craft, which makes listening to the shipping forecast and heeding it even

more important. The tidal current off St. Catherine’s was working up a confused sea and in the little Avon it made for an interesting section of the passage, but nowhere near the limit of this boat’s capabilities. The short, steep seas did make for a bit of a bumpy ride though, and my legs began to ache from standing up and taking the strain. The sea was mainly off the port bow, but with tidal peaking coming from all directions. I had to sit down and take the weight off my legs as my left leg was pumped from the constant working. Sitting down meant I had to ease off on the throttle, this in turn limited my view and so I couldn’t read the waves as far ahead as the extra height of eye when stood allowed. Trying to pick a route through the waves was fine until I got it wrong and met a steepening wave, this would launch the little boat at wild angles off waves that a bigger craft would have battered into submission. I was being tossed about by the conditions but the little boat was exceptionally dry and never shipped a drop, despite the lively seas, as it danced off the waves with the result of hitting some waves that I would normally steer around. This is where my technique of wheel waggling to quicken the hull onto the plane helped, as I worked the throttle as best I could to remain comfortable. After some time I finally made it across the bay between St. Catherine’s and The Needles Point. Off The Needles the sea was picking up as the tide ran over the reef, although it was much calmer here than what I had already been through. With the white cliffs and the red and white lighthouse as a backdrop, I was treated to an aerial display from a couple of old aeroplanes that were, I think, doing some photography as they played around over the Needles for a bit. One was a pale blue seaplane, the other looked like a Mustang. They were flying in very close formation, one above the other, in steep climbs, dives and dive turns. As they completed their routine the Mustang dived and flew through the eye of the

needle below the height of the coastguard meant that this section of the trip was lookout! After my battering it was nice to less taxing at a time when I was getting be able to heave to, relax and watch the tired from the exertions of a fairly hard planes for five minutes. The 4m Avon rode trip in a small boat. What little sea there the swells with ease, thanks to the flooding was came from astern and was therefore keel providing ballast at the lowest point. much less noticeable. Hurst Point came in This is the original design and it still works a rush and was flat calm. Just inside Hurst very well over forty years later. There aren’t Point, in a direct line with the mouth of many boats that remained unchanged the Lymington River, I was joined by a for that length of time and were still in dolphin which played around in the bow production and selling well? It just goes to wave for a bit. show how practical the original Searider I was concerned about the proximity of design was. the animal to the propeller and so slowed. With the aeroplanes departing I put The dolphin came right up alongside and the stick forward and headed through leant on the hull of the boat. I hove to the Needles and back across the western and the creature obviously liked human Solent and ‘The Trap’ off Hurst Castle. My contact, sticking its nose out of the water timing was spot on, the last of the flood right beside me. I couldn’t resist and

reached out, whereupon the dolphin allowed me to touch it and it stayed on the surface for about five minutes, right beside the RIB. Apparently it is quite a common occurrence. It was a new experience for me though, and one I shall remember for the rest of my life. There is something about dolphins which seems to touch the human psyche. After a few minutes with the dolphin I headed back for the river, we were approaching the top of the tide and I wanted to make recovery of the boat onto its trailer as easy as possible. Coming back up the river I had a chance to reflect on the trip. It was only a day round the Isle of Wight, the little boat had come through with flying colours and illustrates just how much fun you can have in a small, affordable boat. This was nothing to a boat of this pedigree, indeed it would seem the only restriction to what the 4m Searider can do is the fuel range and your own imagination. She proved herself in some pretty rough water, I covered just over 68 miles in 4 hours and used 32.5 litres of fuel. That is pretty economical boating and I look forward to making more small boat adventures. Maybe that old saying, “less is more”, still has relevance in today’s world after all. If big adventures in small boats interests you, we plan to run a series of features on the subject over the coming months. In the meantime, you may be interested in this YouTuber who has restored an Avon Searider and is currently on his way around Great Britain in it. Starting in London, Harry Dwyer is currently in North Cornwall, with six films covering the journey so far.