The Solent, England

Sunday challenge 138 Map/s.

I was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England and lived there until I was eighteen. My father’s family had lived on the Isle of Wight, having moved there from Dorset in the 1800s. Loved the New Forest, spent my first 5 years living there, and then my parents and I moved back to Southampton, for my school years. Later, in the 80s, Ian and I did some sailing courses on the Solent, Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper, and as part of the training sailed around the Isle of Wight at night. After that we chartered yachts on a couple of weekends and sailed round the Isle of Wight again, in daylight.

Many fond memories of this place.

The Solent lies between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain, about 20 miles long, a major shipping lane, with a double high tide good for deep-draught ships. Loved by the yachting community, with an interesting coastline, many beautiful anchorages and villages/towns.