After an idyllic family cruise in the Solent in glorious sunshine and light winds, I felt inspired to take my Hurley Silhouette offshore.
My wife, two children and I, plus our dog, had spent just over a fortnight bobbing about the Isle of Wight aboard Emma Too.
Emma Too is 5m long and was made by Hurley Marine in 1970. Robert Tucker had designed the Silhouette as an affordable family cruiser for estuary and light coastal work. My father owned two in the 1960s and I remember playing under the tarpaulin of one in our garden as a child. At his recommendation, I’d bought Emma Too from ebay for £1,500 in 2010 to sail at our home port of Rutland Water and to trailer-sail to Suffolk or the Solent.
The plan
Dreaming of venturing further, I thought it would be nice to do a short offshore passage to another country, with possibly an overnight section. I knew Mike Atkins through the Silhouette Owners International Association (SOIA). He had offshore experience in bigger boats but knew the Silhouette Mk3 well and we’d spoken previously about completing an offshore passage in our boats.
To consolidate our plans we had a day sail on Rutland Water in early November. It was a glorious day with light wind and bright sunshine. The next weekend
