title Cowes Week(end) - Cowes, Isle of Wight - 7th - 8th August 2004 intro A trip to the Island to hang out with the yacht gang, and to see mates Sean and Ray who were both racing in the regatta (in the Contessa 32 class). dcp_7216 Saturday starts with a stop in Ipswich for a hair cut, and to get fitted for a wedding suit (being best-man for mate Andrew, pictured in the beer garden of the Grinning Rat) dcp_7218 Nosher arrives in Lymington to get a ferry ticket, but ends up having to wait a few hours first. Cue a wander down to Lymington waterfront. dcp_7219 dcp_7222 dcp_7223 Nosher actually lived in Lymo for a few months... dcp_7224 ...this is looking down the hill towards the quay. dcp_7226 With a few hours to kill, there is time to pop around to Hamish's to catch the end of a barbeque. Hamish and Jignesh hang out in the conservatory dcp_7228 Hamesprog 1, Bruce, jumps around dcp_7230 On the ferry out to the Island, looking back up the river towards Lymington dcp_7232 The Royal Lymingotn Yacht Club, from which Nosher sailed a few times as a teenager dcp_7234 More sunset river scenes dcp_7237 dcp_7239 In Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. The place is heaving dcp_7240 dcp_7242 Ray (chum from school, centre) plus a couple of his crew dcp_7243 Ray and Sean drink beer dcp_7244 Some of the crew of Ray's boat, "Confusion" dcp_7247 Later on, getting the water-taxi from Yarmouth to the bed for the night, the yacht "Drifter", moored out near East Cowes dcp_7249 On the boat, Sean makes use of the nearest bog dcp_7251 More beer. It was a warm, clear night, and Perseid pre-cursor meteors were in the sky. A top night for sleeping on a boat. dcp_7252 Nosher hangs out dcp_7254 7am the following morning dcp_7256 Milling around the harbour dcp_7257 dcp_7260 dcp_7261 dcp_7262 Sean sits in the cockpit of "Drifter" dcp_7264 Nosher cleans his teeth dcp_7265 Back on the water-taxi heading back to Cowes dcp_7267 dcp_7269 Breakfast in the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. Ray and Jim read the papers dcp_7271 The crew of "Confusion", a Contessa 32 dcp_7272 dcp_7275 The sailors embark on a launch out to their mooring dcp_7278 Looking back to the Island Yacht Club dcp_7280 dcp_7282 A thousand yachts in the Solent dcp_7283 on the Promenade dcp_7286 The crowds are gathered to watch the racing dcp_7287 Another class of boats on the starting line dcp_7292 A mixture of Squibs and Redwings dcp_7296 The starting-line dude furls a pennant dcp_7297 Behind him another starting-gun goes off dcp_7304 Back on Cowes' High Street dcp_7305 dcp_7307 dcp_7308 Scoping out some of the boats in the Yacht Haven dcp_7310 dcp_7314 After the race, Ray, Malcolm Ford and the crew indulge in some quality burger-van nosh dcp_7315 dcp_7317 On the way back to the ferry, a quick detour to Alum Bay. Pictured: the Needles dcp_7319 The famous multi-coloured sands of Alum Bay dcp_7325 dcp_7330 dcp_7332 dcp_7336 Motionless Carousel horses dcp_7337 Wightlink Ferries wanted to charge more than the original ticket price to go earlier, so Nosher had an un-planned extra few hours in Yarmouth, this is the pier dcp_7339 dcp_7342 Yarmouth town centre dcp_7348 The slipway outside Yarmouth Yacht Club dcp_7349 Nosher does another self-portrait dcp_7350 On the wall of the car park, a 50s (?) advertisement for "Charabanc Tours Daily"