September | 2015 | Yellow Van Mountaineering

At the start of August we found ourselves in Buttermere with a few hours to spare. The weather was good, and although it had rained torrentially the night before, our trusty guidebook told us that the rocks of Grey Crag above Birkness Comb were quick-drying, and offered a series of high-quality climbs leading directly to the summit of High Stile.

So off we set. Arriving in the comb at lunchtime, there was just one party ahead of us doing something hard; we otherwise had the place to ourselves. The climbing began with Harrow Buttress, a Diff and (we thought) a highly unpleasant one at that. The kind of climb where you wedge yourself in a slimy chimney, wiggle, and hope you go up rather than down. Any ideas of moving together went out the window as the terrain just did not lend itself to such elegant methods.

Next was a little route called Slabs Ordinary, which, slightly disconcertingly, was apparently abandoned last century after a serious rockfall and only resurrected in 2000, when “some remaining loose rock was removed and the belay relocated”. Unsurprisingly slabby, and quite delicate, the pitches were a little too short to get into any kind of rhythm. So far, our first rock climbing for over twelve months was suggesting we hadn’t been missing out on too much.

However, the final route, Oxford and Cambridge Direct, was definitely worth dragging the gear up for. I don’t know the origin of the name, but we thought it was one we should probably tick off. It heads up a steep slab and series of steps to one side of an arete, with a vertical drop on the other. We found it exposed and satisfying,with good rock and technical moves sustained for about 40 metres. No doubt the late afternoon sunshine also helped…

We were at the top a little later than expected, probably thanks to some fairly rusty ropework, and were almost certainly going to be late for our dinner rendezvous, but we still thought it worth running over High Stile and High Crag on our way home.

Unfortunately my camera screen decided it had had enough of climbing, and it would appear that we aren’t very good at taking pictures without it, so here are just a few (slightly oddly framed) accompanying snaps.

The belay on Slabs Ordinary – about 10 m from the bottom

Oxford and Cambridge Direct

At the top

At the end of July, we headed down to Poole on an extremely wet Friday night, all arriving with minutes of each other, despite all being variously delayed by the traffic and weather from four different locations. We then settled into OD1, a Westerly Oceanlord 41, vast compared to Puffin, and tried to understand the constantly shifting forecast to come up with a plan.

Luckily Saturday morning dawned sunny and cloudless, but without being calm. With a forecast of higher winds on Sunday, we switched the original plans for exploring the Jurassic Coast and headed for the Solent. The sailing was good and fast, downwind with full sails, visiting both Old Harry and later the Needles (both of which I almost missed while looking at the chart). The sail up the west Solent was made entertaining by cutting through the middle of a race, requiring fast collision regulation decisions and clear helming. After a quick sail around the entrance to Cowes, we headed in to try and find a berth. Although all the marinas were full, Folly’s Inn had a pontoon for us and we made a quick (rather too fast actually) mooring for the night. Wine, Thai curry and lively games completed a great day’s sailing.

The following day started dry and calm until two minutes after I got on deck when it started raining. We made a start after stocking up on egg and bacon butties for breakfast. Once out of Cowes, we found the wind. Breezy, but without much fetch in the Solent the sailing was good, and luckily the wind stayed in the south as we headed SW. Once out of the Solent via the north passage of the Needles, the rain stopped but was replaced by the building wind and waves regularly covering us in spray. Despite the less than ideal conditions, the crew were all smiles enjoying the boat carving out its unlikely way through the wind and waves. Again the wind had yet to turn, so with a southerly breeze, we had a fast but bumpy sail back to Poole, ducking in behind Old Harry to drop the mainsail, coming into Poole under the genoa. An entertaining dance with the chain ferry (I swear it waits for you to be really close and then moves) and we entered the deserted Poole Harbour as it started to rain again. We paused to wait for the bridge to let us back to our berth then warmed up with tea and cake. An early return, but enjoyable as the sail had been, the high winds meant it was nice to be back on land. After cleaning and clearing the yacht, we had a much more pleasant drive home.

A great weekend with fantastic people, and good to sail a larger boat that was different to Puffin and her usual cruising ground (as much as I love the East coast).

Photos by Povl and Maude.