I joined the Cornish Crabber Club rally late in their week, due to work commitments. We have been enjoying a patch of glorious June weather and it was especially pleasant to make my way over to Cowes and up the Medina river.

I started with no wind and then it filled in to F4-5 by the time I got to Cowes. The Solent was very busy with several fleets of yachts out racing, including some very impressive classics visiting for the Richard Mille Cup. I also saw a pair of porpoises off Lee-on-Solent, a first for me.

Once through the bun fight that is Cowes, the Medina calms down considerably and it’s a very pleasant trip up the river through the moorings to Island Harbour. This is a converted tide mill with a lock and a very characteristic round concrete control tower. The staff are super helpful and I was soon tied up on one of their generously wide berths among the other Crabbers.

The fleet had representatives of every model – Crabber 22, 24 and 26, as well as Shrimper 19 and 21; the latter becoming an increasingly popular model. The evening meal was at the Folly Inn, a classic Isle of Wight waterside location, which was a pleasant 15 minute stroll from the marina.

The following day, there was not enough water to get out until 1pm, so we rallyists had a leisurely morning. I walked up the well-laid riverside path to Newtown. A pleasant mile through woodlands, past the fields where the cleanup was taking place following the recent Isle of Wight festival.

Everyone wanted to get out as soon as water was available, to catch the last of the flood up to Gosport for our evening meal. The ever helpful marina staff had us neatly packed like sardines in the lock and out onto the river.

Once again, the Solent was thick with traffic and it was a dead run past Gilkicker and into the harbour, with most of the fleet berthing at Haslar and a few, like me, who returned to home berths before a final meal together at The Creek.