Saturday, 24th July

Botter style Dutch yacht
Sovereign Marina


This morning I restocked the boat with food and bought five litres of unleaded petrol for the outboard. I didn’t make the mistake of obtaining the petrol from the Marina, as I did last time. The Asda garage around the corner sells fuel considerably cheaper than the Marina, and it is much closer to the boat. There was hardly any wind and the sun was shining. I took the opportunity to hang up my oilskins and towel to dry.


By the time of my departure at 1200 from Brighton the wind had picked up to a good Force 4; that was helpful, for the tide was against us all the way to Sovereign Marina at Eastbourne. I anticipated that the waves at Beachy Head would be quite steep and perhaps with breaking crests. That was the case half a mile offshore, but close in, the water was smooth. I had reefed the mainsail more than at any time during the cruise, which was just as well, because past the Head the wind increased to a Force 6. ‘Ladybird’ managed this very well.


Off the entrance of the Marina I hove the boat to and prepared the warps and fenders for the lock. My timing was fortuitous, because we berthed into the lock at 1755, five minutes before it was closed. Inside the landlocked marina the water was dead smooth and there was hardly any wind because of the building surrounding the Marina.


As usual, what to do the next day will depend on the weather forecast.