My leg was still sore but the weather looked good so I
decided to head off to Brighton.
Again there is a Tidal Gate around Beachy Head and this
involved another early start (only 5:30am this time) so I got up at 3:30 to get
ready and have a cup of coffee - I am getting better. Stuart suggested that I should ask if the lock keeper could
take my lines when I went into the lock and he was only too happy to help.
I was followed in by a huge fishing vessel (Royal Sovereign
has two distinct areas and in one there are a lot of fishing boats) – about 150
tons! - and a couple of smaller ones. At this point I became rather
nervous. My leg was not fully
recovered and I was really concerned about slowing these professionals down,
however one of the men from the largest fishing boat came over and asked me if
I would like him to let go of my lines.
Clearly I could not refuse such a kind offer.
Once again the wind was behind me and there was insufficient
to drive me at a reasonable speed to get to Beachy Head in time. As we got towards Beachy Head the wind
changed direction to straight on the bow and once I got round I could possibly have
put the mainsail up and beaten the rest of the way. I tried with the foresail but that on its own achieved
nothing. The sea was very choppy
as tide was against the wind and it was increasing towards Force 4 so I decided
to motor the rest of the way (still not that confident on the foredeck!).
Arrived off Brighton Marina and just mentioned that I was
single handed and they had somebody on the pontoon before I could get the
fenders out. Again the marina is a bus ride from the
town but it has a wider range of restaurants and seems to attract people for a
night out. Fortunately it also has
a Wetherspoons on the quay and as
Tom came down for the night and we made good use of it.
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