Sun Odyssey 37, “Dumbledore  ”, from Hamble Point, April 23  -25 – report by Bernard Smyth

Crew: Jeff Birkin  , skipper, Joe Buxton  , Penny Luck  , Jill Hunter  , Xavier Uldry  , Rhian Phillips  and Bernard Smyth 

We were supposed to go in a Bavaria 36, Appaloosa, but it had been damaged so we were given the superior yacht, Dumbledore, at no extra cost.

Some of the crew got down to Hamble Point early for the handover and were joined by all the others by early evening for drinks and a meal in the marina's Ketch Rigger bar. We were well supplied for "afters" with home-made goodies like Welsh cakes, shortbread and Min's cake, from a delicious recipe from Rhian's grandmother.

Next morning, Xavier caused some amusement when he discovered that it's not possible to pour Weetabix from the packet! We slipped at 8.45am and sailed over to the IoW in sunny Force 4 to do some ferry gliding practice alongside a pontoon. Only problems with the boat was the sluggish throttle response that had you thinking the engine had died or, worse still, that you had accidentally selected the wrong direction. We anchored off Newtown Creek for lunch and made for Lymington for an overnight stay after dinner at the crowded and noisy Kings Head Inn in town. Like the previous night, meals were around a tenner.

Next morning there were fog patches mingled with sunny spells and Jeff got us all practising turning the yacht virtually in its own length in the marina. We sailed off into the Solent in a 20-knot wind and practised gybing as we made our way to Newtown Bay for lunch at anchor. On the sail over to the Hamble, a sudden lurch of the boat sent Joe flying across the saloon bearing a cup of coffee, most of which went over Jeff. But, worse, Joe collided with the door of the heads, wrenching the lock out of its housing. Luckily Joe was unhurt, but the teak doorframe wasn’t. Going up Southampton Water, we reached 8.4 knots in a gust and we were tied up by late afternoon for a food share-out and tidy-up for the handover after 51 miles of sailing.

As Jeff drove off, his car made a strange sound and he found the starter motor had "died". Luckily Joe and Xavier were still around to give the car a push-start and follow behind to make sure all was well

most of the way to Bristol.