We have been told by folks that the British Met. Service tends to overforecast, and to take their gale warnings with a grain of salt. Not this time! When we left the Beaulieu River the day was chatted up to be brisk. About 1100 we heard a storm warning on VHF. A couple of hours, comfortably secure on the dock in Yarmouth we had a great view of the Solent over the seawall, as the forecast force 9/10 breeze came in.

It is blowing an easy 35 to 40 knots here, and folks are still going sailing!

This fizzboat is on charter, and several of the women on board were wearing high heel shoes. They are headed downwind from Yarmouth back to Southampton. This is not the most stable of platforms, even for "protected" waters like the Solent.

With the wind has come lots of rain. As long as it doesn’t make a habit of being wet it is welcome as the rain will allow us to fill our water tanks.

Meanwhile, lots of cruising boats are joining us in Yarmouth’s tiny harbor. The breeze is gale force inside the marina, boats are maneuvering in forward and reverse, and we have yet to hear a scrape. Impressive seamanship. Once secure, the docks are alive with crews walking, looking, and chatting.

Our dock is not connected to land, so it is the harbor taxi or using the dinghy to get to the well known pubs of Yarmouth.

Can you imagine maneuvering this high windage shallow draft hull in storm force winds with up to four knots of current? Not for the faint of heart.

We would like to show you some photos of Yarmouth, but it is still raining and a bit wet for the cameras to be of much use.

So we will end with this photo of a Coast Guard chopper with a static line attached to this yacht (you have to look very carefully to see it). We assume this was practice. Just another day on the Solent.

Weather permitting we are off for Aldernay and the Channel Islands tomorrow.