A BBQ Against the Odds

A midsummer barbecue can be a delight – if the weather cooperates and the wasps stay away. Yarmouth is a favourite location for club barbecues: memories of hot sunny afternoons melding into long summer evenings, a bonfire on the beach. But a successful barbecue party takes some organising, and the popularity of Yarmouth meant that we could not secure a peak-season Saturday booking of the visitor berths. So, an October barbecue on a dark autumn evening – really? It should have been a disaster.

But wait – the climate is changing. The forecast was promising. And so, a total of 15 vessels and 42 optimistic crew were registered for the Yarmouth BBQ.

Sea Otter’s Slow Passage to Yarmouth

Yarmouth IOW can seem a long way from Chichester Harbour, especially with light westerly winds and adverse tides. So, Sea Otter slipped her Itchenor mooring on Friday lunchtime, aiming for Cowes that day. But it was slow going, and we had only reached Gosport before darkness fell. Out of season, Premier Marina was very quiet for the Friday evening of a promised sunny weekend. The only disaster here was that the marina office could not get our visitor gate fobs to work. We had to wave to the cute nightshift operative on CCTV to be allowed in.

A sunrise start at 0710 on Saturday. Motoring slowly against a westerly wind, at midday we were among the first to arrive at Yarmouth, just beating the change of tidal direction. Others with more patience (or stronger motors) set out later and arrived throughout the afternoon. 10 of the 15 registered boats turned up. Had disasters intervened for the rest? We listened out on Ch16 and occasionally saw the Coastguard helicopter tasked to another crisis, but it seems that the rest of the fleet had not been consumed by a tornado, as we may have feared. Any disaster may only have been limited to the non-appearance of an Ocado delivery with BBQ supplies, causing another crew’s weekend to be ruined.

My Lady’s Proud Return

One delightful arrival was My Lady, the beautifully restored 84-year-old wooden gaff yacht of Chris and Craig, sporting easily the proudest bowsprit and with her huge ensign dipping a tail in the water. The restoration had been expected to take 3 months, but in the event it lasted 3 years. Not such a disaster once the fantastic results are seen.

The Beach of Disasters Past: HMS Gladiator, 1908

We skipped the promised pontoon drinks in order to bag a spot for our BBQ on the beach to the west of Yarmouth before darkness fell. This beach was the scene of a genuine maritime disaster in April 1908, when the Spithead-bound cruiser HMS Gladiator was in collision with the America-bound liner St Paul in a blizzard. Gladiator was hit midships and turned over on her side in the shallows. The troops and crew on board struggled to get ashore in the freezing water. 27 died, of whom 23 bodies were never found. To recover the vessel, concrete emplacements for winches were built on the beach to haul the ship upright – they are still there. The ship was refloated in November 1908 at a cost of £60,000, but was then sent for scrap worth only £15,000.

Barbecue, Bonfire and a Bracing Dip

More cooking parties came stumbling along the shingle as the sun went down – the evening remaining remarkably warm. The charcoal was lit and torches were brought out to check that the sausages were properly cooked through (another potential disaster averted). After eating, one boat crew slipped away to the pub, being unable to resist watching Ireland thrash Scotland in the Rugby World Cup (England had earlier that day narrowly averted, by 1 point, what would have been a disastrous defeat by Samoa).

Back on the beach the charcoal embers were mixed with driftwood and gleanings from the nearby woodland to create a bonfire. More raw chipolatas were spotted when a few rash individuals decided on a skinny dip in the sea. This is not to be recommended in the dark after drinking. However, unlike the Gladiators, all were safely recovered to the beach, and a potentially salacious episode of Saving Lives at Sea was avoided.

Flirting with Success

After carefully clearing the BBQ detritus on the beach, I understand that carousing (and maybe even some flirting) continued back at the harbour, especially on board ‘Fallen Angel’. Overall, the BBQ weekend can be counted as a definite success, and not a disaster at all. However, would we be pushing our luck if we were to make an October evening BBQ a regular event?

PS: Another Disaster Remembered at Itchenor

Sunday morning dawned, sunny and still, for another long motor back to Itchenor – a rare outing for the cruising chute, having had nil effect. The luggage was offloaded at the West Itchenor jetty before Sea Otter was returned to her mooring. I waited with the luggage by a bench that I noted had been erected to commemorate yet another disaster. In June 1944, Itchenor was the base for the 601 LCM flotilla of landing craft for the invasion of Normandy. They left on 5th June and supported the landings for 6 weeks, ferrying supplies from ship to shore. On 21st July 1944 they were recalled to the South Coast. However, they ran into a formidable north-westerly gale. 11 of the 16 landing craft did not make it and foundered. 32 men perished.