30th June 2010 - Brighton to Dover via Eastbourne

Jeff's blog of his life living aboard a yacht, at anchor, in the UK, with his wife, a dog and a baby.

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Jeff
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30th June 2010 - Brighton to Dover via Eastbourne

Post by Jeff »

Made it to Dover!

And on the way from Brighton to Eastbourne we crossed the Greenwich Meridian - bit of a milestone.

In Brighton I'd rediscovered my caveman instincts and managed to make some flint arrowheads. The cliffs hereabouts are made of chalk; real, soft, chalk that you can draw with - and that chalk is peppered with nodules of flint. After some time, I finally managed to get some recognisable shapes made. Very pleased with myself!! Maybe this new found skill be useful in the future when society as we know it breaks down and we're forced to resort back to the bow and arrow.

Brighton to Eastbourne went very smoothly apart from a little boat handling issue in the Eastbourne Lock. The keeper asked me to relocate in order to fit in more boats, and I struggled, in front of a bit of a crowd, to make the boat go the way I wanted. Got sorted in the end with the help of the other people in the lock.

Embarrassment over we then hooked up with an old friend we'd not seen in ages. I took him and his friend out on Isabella for a sail. Neither of them had been off Eastbourne on a boat before, and neither had been out to see the Royal Sovereign lighthouse, some 6 miles offshore, - so we made a circumnavigation of it.

The following morning at 4am we awoke to the alarm and began preparation for our longest single trip. Just under 50 miles from Eastbourne to Dover.

After we left the lock at about 5am, Rose went below to sleep - her turn would come later. I then motored us hard for 3 hours, against a strong tidal flow in the channel - and then thankfully the wind picked up and we got under full sail. An hour later at about 9am Rose and I swapped watch and I went below for a kip. As Rose went on watch the rain started and the wind picked up. There's definitely something nice about being in the safe warm confines of a boat while being looked out for by a loved one; womb-like perhaps.

Three hours later, reborn, I left my cocoon and went back on watch again to find it sunny, but with a considerable following sea - the tide had now turned in our favour, we were making 6+ knots and had just 18 miles to go.

In what seemed like very little time, we were approaching Dover and I made the compulsory call on the radio to port control. They gave us go-ahead for entry into the West entrance and we started our approach. Wasn't long before we realised that the pilot book had been right in that strong SW winds and spring tides can result in the seas there being quite messy - and we struggled hard against 3+ knots of tide trying to make us sweep east past the entrance and big unpredictable waves. The contrast once inside the harbour walls was big. Instantly into flat calm waters.

After another boat parking incident where I put the tiller over the wrong way resulting in the bow bouncing off the pontoon a little (I was tired I think), we went ashore for a look about.

Plan now is to keep Isabella here for a week while we head up North for a wedding, in a hire car. Then it'll be off to Ramsgate I think.

Some statistics:

Motored: 28 hours 30 mins
Sailed: 57 hours 5 mins
Anchored: 23 nights
Marina: 11 nights
Other: 40 nights
Mooring Fees: £600
Logged: 364 nautical miles
BBQs: 15
Fish: 5 caught

Some pictures:

My flint knapping results...
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Lunar is surprised to find Indy (friend's dog) in Isabella
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Royal Sovereign Lighthouse in Andres' Hand
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Antics in Eastbourne Marina Lock
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White Cliffs of Dover
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Inside Dover Harbour
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KatyJhonson99
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Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:42 am

can i be a part of adventure

Post by KatyJhonson99 »

hey! i am feeling jealousy not being there with you guys; specially i like the picture titled "Inside Dover Harbour" amazed by that gigantic view;
the only thing troubling me is cost; resources etc. What i am thinking those yacht adventures are only feasible for rich persons :cry: I don't know it is a myth or reality; Do tell me that i am thinking in wrong way. Desperate to add such adventures in my wish list :wink:
I believe: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Katy Jhonson childcare in eastbourne
Jeff
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Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
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Post by Jeff »

It's actually considerably cheaper to do what we're doing than it is to live in a 2-bed semi and pay a mortgage. Obviously the initial purchase of the yacht was a considerable expense, but we financed it by re-mortgaging our small house. We've let out the house to cover the mortgage, and used the attic to store our accumulated possessions. We could have sold the house, but then we'd have had to pay for storage, and having the house is a nice backup and also keeps our toes in the housing market - which if it suddenly shot up would mean we couldn't (easily) buy back into it at some point in the future.

So, if you want to do something like we're doing, go and do it!! Where there's a will there's a way :)
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