We are leaving Brighton in bright sun but no wind so we steam towards Southampton. It is an undramatic day until we reach the Solent where the heavy traffic requires a sharp lookout. Especially the fast catamaran ferries and hovercrafts needs attention. Coming into the classic Solent waters is exciting in itself where a lot of the RYA examples is from this uneven tidal environment. We see Portsmouth and the forts protecting the harbours.
Bright (on) day. But no wind.
No wind at all
Coming into th busy Solent
You have to look out for these fast hovercraft
As we get closer to Shamrock Quay Marina we call them on the VHF to see if they have diesel. In these seconds of lost attention, we put the keels gently on a sand bank in the middle of the river. Clearly marked so it is a bit embarrassing to sit there and wait for the tide to come back. Apart from the embarrassment and a couple of inactive hours drinking coffee, no harm is done.
Stuck at a tidal bank in the harbour
As we come into the marina, there is a nice guy waiting on the pontoon that we are directed to. It turns out to be Jim Cudd, the guy at Sailfish marine that should install my water maker. This is a long story – I bought a Spectra Cape Horn water maker from him in 2014 and got it shipped. I should install it 2015 but then we found the nacelle damage and it was no point in installing it then. 2016, it should have been installed, but the engineer did not have the time to do so. I thought that everything happens for a reason so I called Jim and asked if he could install it if I come over to him. This way – I have one guy to talk to on this equipment. Jim is a full time specialist on water makers so it feels good to have the machine installed by him and get his advices.
We ask Jim about his plans as he should go on vacation this Thursday. He plan to come early Tuesday morning together with his son Ben and be done by Wednesday. We ask him for a good restaurant and he recommends a Quay Fifteen that actually is in the Marina area. He says that it is one of Southampton’s best restaurants. Sounds strange as we are in the outskirts and Shamrock clearly is a working marina. We go to have a look and find a very modest restaurant that does not look anywhere near the upscale restaurant that Jim recommended. Anyhow – we ask for a table and the nice guy present himself as Rocky and say that they are closed but we could reserve a table for tomorrow. We are a bit puzzled, it does not look like a place that needs a recommendation but to be on the safe side, we reserve a table for Tuesday. Rocky offer us a beer and we start to talk. We asked where to go next and he calls down to Ennios. He tells them that he has two good friends from Sweden that he really would like to bring to him. We are welcome to come right away and as the taxi stops outside the restaurant, we see the staff preparing an extra table. The food is extremely good tasting in a very nice setting. After the dinner, we give Rocky a call and thank him for his ideas and he tells us that he already had talked to Ennio and that he was happy that we enjoyed it. We also visit Oxford Street where there should be some pubs. Obviously, Mondays is a slow night and we go home early.
View from Shamrock Quay