Graham's Isle of Wight Row

I arrived back in Mudeford just before 12 noon today after an eventful 12.5 mile passage of 4hrs 30 minutes. It has taken me 7 days of rowing in a variety of conditions to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight and was much harder than I expected. Since I abandoned my original plan of rowing in windless conditions with smooth seas and decided to go when the weather seemed reasonably good, I have experienced a good share of wind and waves. Today’s row is a good example. The decisio n that the forecast looked good enough was made at 12.30 yesterday and we were on the 3pm ferry, retrieved the boat at 4.30pm then looked for a B&B for the night. I left Freshwater Bay at 7.20am and rowed under the white cliffs below Tennyson Down towards the Needles, in lovely calm conditions. I stopped to look at three caves in the cliffs, known as Kitchen, Parlour and Cellar, where in the 17thcentury, a Lord Holmes would apparently entertain his guests! The swell surging into Cellar created a very lo

You can follow my progress back to Mudeford on this link: https://safetrx.rya.org.uk/sharetrip.html?id=FERD8NRKKFNH&token=4evueri9ahb512k6aatkp91chj Leaving about 07.30

This morning the weather forecasts for Freshwater Bay and  Mudeford looked  as if tomorrow morning Sunday 14th  July  will have only light winds .    I’m  therefore now back in Freshwater preparing  to make a start around 7.15 to 7.30 tomorrow morning. I will have to row against the last of the incoming tide  for the first 4 miles , aiming  to reach the Needles  at around 9.30, which is the time of high water when the currents should be slack.  I will then continue rowing for another 1.5 miles to get round the southerly tip of the Shingles bank before turning north west ,  heading back to Christchurch.   Total distance  is  about 13 miles. I should arrive back some time around 11.30 to 12.30 and will land on Avon Beach halfway between the two cafes.  I will have to row into the harbour later when the tide is in. Photo of me leaving Avon Beach at the start. If anyone is interested in followi ng my progress on this passage , shortly before leaving Freshwater Bay

Reeth Bay to Freshwater Bay, about 13 miles. We returned to Reeth Bay at about 1pm to find only two other people there. I registered my passage plan with the C oastguard and fitted out the boat. No sun cover on the boat today as the weather was dull with drizzle, my first wet day, and virtually no wind. The forecast was for a south-easterly light breeze, force 2, increasing to force 3 later. I set off as the tide was turning in my favour, the sea being slightly disturbed as I rounded St Catherines Head and the lighthouse. The sea soon became fairly calm and I carried on about one mile offshore to clear the rocky Atherfield Ledge and other rocky areas. St Catherine's Point in the distance, about 8 miles away. However after about two hours the wind started to increase and it quite quickly became a full force 4. The waves also got bigger, rolling up behind me with white horses on their tops. The boat was rocking and rolling, I had to work the oars hard to stop

We returned to Shanklin at 1pm and found a brisk breeze from the south, again the direction I was to start, and the sea was also choppy.  The plan was to row round Dunnose Point at the time the tide would be turning to reduce any rough seas, and then on to Reeth Bay, at Saint Catherine’s Point. I was uneasy about these two headlands and the wind, so decided to delay my start and just go to Ventnor. The Shankli n Rowing Club is located on the prom nearby so I called in and spoke to the club top man (I think) to ask him about the difficulties in rowing round the the nearby Dunnose Point and he said they never go near it. I pressed him further but got no useful info.     The sea was looking a bit choppy so around 2 pm I decided to row out, and if it was too rough I would then turn back. The waves were not too large so I carried on but when I got to Dunnose it got really rough, the boat being knocked around. I considered turning back then but thought it would be too risky to turn

Bembridge to Shanklin Another 9 miles this afternoon, leaving Bembridge just after 2pm and heading for Shanklin.  I would have liked to go a bit further today but the weather was overcast with a cool breeze, against me again, also the tidal flows were not ideal for passing the two headlands after Shanklin. Fairly calm sea at first. The sea matched the sky, looking grey, becoming slightly choppy and uninviting for the first hour, making me think that ending up in the water here would be very different from the practice capsizes in Christchurch Harbour.  I passed through two areas of rough waters, one when I found myself in a rough and noisy patch of water.  I had accidently cut the corner of Bembridge Ledge, a rocky ledge that extends about 400metres from the headland at the most easterly point of the Island, thinking that with the height of the tide, I should have around 6ft of water beneath me.  I looked quickly at my 'chart plotter' (an old ipad with marine cha

I left Cowes (photo of me leaving the Cowes marina) with the tide  at 4.40 in the afternoon, heading for Fishbourne or further if possible. Slight wind and waves at first which eased off and the water became reasonably calm.  There was a strong sun and the red-ensign sun cover, made in haste just before starting the challenge, was great at keeping the sun off me.  I passed Fishbourne, waiting as a car ferry departed, then carried on outside Ryde Pier. Hovercraft from Portsmouth came in behind me.  The tide was low springs (very low) and Ryde sands extended in a huge arc about a mile out from the shore. Some people had walked to the edge of the sands and were fishing or swimming at the edge. I rowed right ro und the sands, getting noticeably closer to Portsmouth, then turned towards the south and continued to Bembridge.  Since the tide was low (there are 16 ft tides here), I rowed very slowly past scattered rocks, outside the approach channel and up to a beach which had parking plac

Headwind, rough sea, slow progress I departed from Yarmouth just after 8am, intending to row past Cowes and on to Fishbourne / Wootton.  There was a moderate breeze from exactly the direction I was heading. However within half an hour the wind had strengthened and I was pushing into quite rough seas, although helped by the Spring Tide in my direction. For the next hour I had to row hard to keep the bow pointed into the waves. By big boat standards the waves were not large, but in a small rowing skiff they definitely were and th ey were bouncing me around non stop. If I stopped rowing to take a quick drink of water the boat swung sideways to the wind and rolled crazily. I was generally keeping a couple of hundred metres from the shore on the basis that the ‘wind over tide’ would make it rougher if I went further out.  Then one point I heard a noise like a small waterfall behind me (ahead- I’m looking backwards), and I looked round to see a wide line of frothy waves. I turned to tak

   Wind over Tide, best avoided! I’ve made it to the Isle of Wight, which is a good start. I rowed the boat out to Avon Beach yesterday evening due to tides and left it on the beach overnight. Set off from Avon Beach at 7am this morning, super calm weather but the wind steadily increased and I had choppy seas for most of the row to Yarmouth. To cut the expected hot sun and also to make me more visible to other boats, we had made a sun cover using a 5ft x 3 ft red ensign. It lo oks a bit eccentric but kept the sun off me until the wind made me uneasy about leaving it up, so I took it down just off Milford on Sea. Exciting pass through Hurst Narrows entering the Solent, water swirling in all directions. Then in the Solent there were a couple of patches of really choppy seas, sideways on as I was crossing to Yarmouth. The wind was at the high end of the forecast and blowing directly against a strong Spring tide. Anyway I made it in 4 hours and in one piece, so I’m really chuffed.

My apologies to everyone who has not seen information on the progress of my rowing challenge.  I found that I could not access this blog on my ipad whilst I was on the trip, despite me spending many frustrating hours trying to make it work. I'm now briefly back home, having almost completed the challenge.  I made it right round the Island to Freshwater Bay yesterday Monday 8th July, one day later than originally planned.  It has been an eventful journey, quite difficult at times, but satisfying for me and rewarding for the charity Children On The Edge, with sponsorship/donations now approaching £1,000 and hopefully more to come. Unfortunately for the final leg, winds of force 3-4 were forecast at either Freshwater or Mudeford for several days at the times of the two daily tidal windows for rounding the Needles.  Rather than continuing to pay for accommodation on the Island for an uncertain period, it made more sense to come back home and I will return to finish the challenge h

Start on Tuesday!   The current four–week weather forecast indicates that the weather through July will probably be similar to June. Since I have been ready to go since mid-May, I have now decided to stop waiting for one full week of calm weather. The current daily forecast shows Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday next week (2/3/4 July) as having reasonably light winds in the mornings, so I’m proposing to START EARLY ON TUESDAY MORNING, 2nd July. If the winds stay light for these three days , I should get to the far side of the Island. If necessary I will then wait on the Island for a few days for better weather so that I can carry on and complete the challenge. I will post more info before leaving and will also post daily updates of my progress. Distance marks every 5 miles. Click on map to enlarge The map shows my planned route round the Island from from Mudeford, stopping at Yarmouth, Wooton (Fishbourne), Sandown or Shanklin, Reeth Bay at St Catherines

Safety Please click "READ MORE" to see the entire post. I have really enjoyed going out to sea training at least a dozen times recently and, although it slows me down, I can cope with rowing in small waves. However if the waves are a bit higher rowing becomes difficult, especially when they are coming on my side. Bigger waves and the wash from passing power boats (also big ships and high-speed ferries in the Solent) can also be a problem unless I turn to take them head on.  Several people have asked whether I’m going wit h a safety boat, but I don’t think this is necessary. It would be stressful for me and I doubt whether I could find a safety boat and skipper prepared to go at short notice. A phone app ‘RYA SafeTRX’ enables me to report my trip plan to the Coastguard each day before leaving (I’m already doing this on my longer sea training trips). It sends my location to them every 10 minutes and I can also call for help with it. I also have a Personal Locato

I am raising funds for the charity  Children On The Edge : https://www.childrenontheedge.org Please click " READ MORE " to see the entire post. I have chosen the charity 'Children On The Edge' to benefit from sponsorship of my rowing challenge and have set up a charity fundraising page to enable online donations/ sponsorship: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Graham.Myers Children On The Edge are a small but very efficient charity based in Chichester, who provide critical help for children overseas who are 'living on the edge' and are often overlooked by other agencies. Typically, they will provide shelter, support and schooling for children who, through conflict, ethnic cleansing or persecution, may have lost their parents, family members, homes and familiar surroundings and could be alone and frightened. Since I will be covering all the costs of my rowing challenge, every donation will benefit the charity in full. If you prefer to don