{"id":2445,"date":"2023-09-13T09:09:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T09:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/?p=2445"},"modified":"2023-09-13T09:11:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T09:11:06","slug":"2445-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/2445-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Needs Oare Point<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” \/][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” \/][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” \/][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” \/][\/contact-form]<\/p>\n

There are precious few places in The Solent where you can anchor for nothing \u2013 certainly not with shelter from all quarters.<\/p>\n

Of course, you can be a cheapskate and refuse to give a fiver to the National Trust in the Newtown River \u2013 but the volunteers are so charming when they come round in their dory that it seems churlish to refuse.<\/p>\n

The other spot I can think of is Needs Oare Point in the River Beaulieu \u2013 an utterly beautiful and desolate anchorage just inside the river entrance where the spit protects you from the south and west. I\u2019ve been coming here since the 1970s when I used to snuggle down in my little 18footer with a hurricane lamp and a copy of Nevil Shute\u2019s Requiem for a Wren.<\/em><\/p>\n

Shute fans will know all about Needs Oare Point. It is where Janet meets Bill (but you\u2019ll have to read the book to understand the heart-breaking consequences of that fateful day in 1944).<\/p>\n

Anyway, it\u2019s not free anymore. Secretly, I have known this for a few years but always took the view that if anyone came asking for dues, I would pay up \u2013 but they could hardly expect me to blow up the dinghy and row the two-and-a-half miles to Buckler\u2019s Hard to volunteer my grubby tenner.<\/p>\n

I should explain that a free night in the Solent had become something of a priority because one of our new \u201cBrexit Benefits\u201d here in the UK is that my new watermaker (yes, the one I ordered back in May) is stuck in East Midland\u2019s Airport waiting for the shipper to sign a \u201cDDP form\u201d to change the \u201cMethod of Service\u201d \u2013 something which cannot be done by the \u201cConsignee\u201d. (I know this is a Brexit Benefit because I asked the young man at DHL, and I quote: \u201cOf course. We get this all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It means that I have just spent two wasted days waiting for delivery at Island Harbour Marina while paying \u00a333 a night, which I suspect I am not going to get back from DHL, the Shipper or – come to that – Jacob Rees Mogg.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow \u2013 presuming I am still waiting – I shall get a free night at the Royal Yacht Squadron\u2019s haven when I go and sing for my supper at their Book Club \u2013 and by Friday, it will all be rather academic anyway, because DHL will have returned the \u201cconsignment\u201d to Barcelona.<\/p>\n

One way and another, I needed something to take my mind off the utter stupidity of leaving the EU \u2013 a man go mad dwelling on \u201cBrexit Benefits\u201d.<\/p>\n

What I needed was a distraction: I would fit the new cleat on the foredeck.<\/p>\n

Single-handers will now be wincing. They know that this involves crawling upside down into the anchor locker to use a pair of needle-nosed pliers to stop the bolts turning while fitting the nuts (and, of course, not having dropped the washers into the pile of chain) before getting some mole grips on the business end while you tighten up said nuts. The whole operation is necessarily accompanied by a good deal of swearing \u00a0(see washers) – which is why a remote anchorage is desirable in the first place.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, a polite tap on the hull goes unnoticed.<\/p>\n

It was only when insistent rapping penetrated to the forepeak that I emerged, red in the face and with my head-torch over one eye, to find a man in a dory saying: \u201cSorry if I woke you. Harbour dues\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I explained about the forepeak, the bolts, washers, the pile of chain (you have to justify that sort of language): \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a job when you don\u2019t have anyone to hold the screwdriver on the other end.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was when the man in the dory said: \u201cI\u2019ll hold the screwdriver if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, that\u2019s what I call a benefit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” \/][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” \/][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” \/][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” \/][\/contact-form] There are precious few places in The Solent where you can anchor for nothing \u2013 certainly not with shelter from all quarters. Of course, you can be a cheapskate and refuse to give a fiver to the National Trust in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[109,108],"class_list":["post-2445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-nevil-shute","tag-river-beaulieu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2449,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445\/revisions\/2449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}