Indian Summer

You wouldn't believe this pic was taken today, October 3. An Indian summer has struck southern England, bringing the warmest October days since records began. So we are all furiously getting out to enjoy it as it will be the last chance we get for months and months and months.
One of the few joys of being one's own boss is that one can give the worker permission to skive off occasionally, so as the rest of the year is predicted to be dreary and cold I sloped off in the afternoon to take Kittiwake out for a little fishing trip down the harbour. Didn't catch anything, predictably, but had a lovely, lovely time.

See how the current holds Annie against the pontoon.

On Saturday I rowed up the lovely River Hamble with Langstone Cutters, but left my phone in the car so these pics are courtesy of crew member Graham Lloyd. No fewer than 13 people turned up wanting to get the good row in before it gets cold, so we took Clayton skiff Mabel and Mike Gilbert's Cornish pilot gig Annie. Hamble River Rowers were out in strength too.
Lessons learned:
1) When launching into a river with the tide making at high speed, don't move the boat from the slip to the pontoon however convenient it looks. The current will jam you up on the pontoon and you will have to fight the boat off. Launch directly off the hard where there is no current.
2) When securing the boat on the trailer, check the loose ends of the tie-downs are properly secured or they will wrap round the axle and bring you to a complete halt on a busy intersection and you will be very embarrassed.

The Langstone Archipelego

Went out with Langstone Cutters in the Clayton skiff Mabel today. The forecast predicted a heavy shower midday, so we got out the instant we could get Mabel in - she lives on a mooring 200 yards out in the harbour that only gets wet a couple of hours before high tide.

It was a bit breezy and the wide expanse of Langstone Harbour gets quite choppy compared with the relatively narrow channels of Chichester Harbour, so we stayed at the top end where the waves were more manageable. This also gave us a chance to row round the islands.
North and South Binness Islands, Long Island and Baker's Island were dotted with lights in the Second World War to distract attention from Portsmouth on one side and the air base at Thorney Island on the other.
It got blitzed regularly, according to the fascinating Langstone Harbour WW2 Decoy Site:

"To help protect Portsmouth from German night bombing, a series of 'Q' decoy sites were built in Langstone Harbour and on Sinah Common Hayling Island. These elaborate constructions consisted of two main elements. Firstly a string of carefully positioned structures were erected, mainly in the north of the harbour, which when lit from the inside would mimic the effect of light shining through chinks in doors and windows in a carelessly blacked out area. The second, and most crucial element of the deception plan was the deployment of decoy fires known as "Starfish" sites. These decoys were designed to present to the enemy pilots a convincing illusion of a city under attack.
This site was often dramatically successful; on the night of 17/18 April 1941, over 140 enemy aircraft were lured away and un-loaded in excess of 200 air-dropped munitions, originally intended for the City of Portsmouth, into Langstone Harbour and Farlington Marshes. This was the most successful Q-site operation of the entire war."

The islands are now owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who maintain it as a reserve and very successfully too, judging by the huge flocks of godwits and Brent geese we saw. Then an osprey appeared, majestically soaring overhead, and all the birds buggered off sharpish.

When Mabel gets going, the tough change their underwear

The crew of pulling boat Mabel went out for our first training row today in preparation for the Great River Race in September. We didn't capsize, run aground, hit an iceberg or anything. It's looking good.
In the picture, Mark Taylor, Peter O'Sullivan, Carol Baptist, Dawn Thisby and Jenny Munns.
Go Mabel!