31st May 2026

Three boats (all Comet Trios) had a day sail from Southampton Sailing Club (where Cody has membership) to Ashlett creek on Sunday 31st May. Ashlett Creek is an interesting place to sail to because it is an inlet near the oil refinery in Southampton Water. It can be a challenging sail for the last bit up a small narrow channel often requires beating and it has to be done at high tide as the channel dries out. At the top there is a very nice pub and garden for lunch. Edmund, Andrea and Joshua sailed in their Comet Trio; Rob and Bill in Rob’s Comet Trio and James and Simon in Simon’s comet trio.

For the initial sail down Southampton water, it was a gentle breeze. We sailed there with no major problems except for the wind shifts in Ashlett creek and having to wait to cross the shipping lane with quite a few large vessel movements.

Because of the tides, we stopped outside the pub for an early lunch and we had picnic and drinks from the pub. We headed back after an hour in order to get back to Southampton SC to avoid mud walking when the tide went out.

The wind was quite fruity on the way back and had increased to a F4-5 with some big gusts at the top end of a 5 and (having checked Southampton met station afterwards) even one or two low 6 gusts. All boats made it back without difficulty and we had an enjoyable cruise. We have club membership of Southampton SC so were able to use the club house for changing and a pleasant tea afterwards. It was an ideal end to a great cruise. We plan to do some more sails from Southampton SC this year.

Simon