The weather situation was even more in interesting to judge in the morning. The storm force winds and consequent swell had been slower to clear the Channel from the west and so the further and sooner we cruised east the more we would still find it a problem. In essence the shipping forecasts, that covered this wider area, and even the inshore forecasts, which were not very localised, would put off most sailors from
venturing out. However, I was armed with the very local forecasts and wind vectors reported by downloading the GRIB files and could see that close inshore and in the Solent area it would be calm and even sheltered as the winds had gone round to the north-west. Despite our best intentions to set off even earlier, it was just before 8.00am that we cast off as it took time to prepare the boat to leave in the absence of the specific knowledge and experience of Louise, my regular crew. We cruised out of the Itchen and along Southampton water and it soon became apparent that the vibrations from the props and shafts were a problem at high speeds and so we had to throttle back and settle for the much lower speed of 9-10knots. This immediately meant that any idea of cruising on to Ramsgate this afternoon was out of the question and we would have to thus settle for Brighton as our destination. Once we realised this, the rest of the journey was fairly straightforward and without undue pressure.I let David handle the helm as I navigated and managed the boat’s systems and we arrived safely at Brighton black rock marina in early afternoon. I had used both Louise and Richard as shore-based plan reporting contacts and, having contacted them when we set out, I did the same upon arrival. This curtailment of the length of cruise today put our overall ambition of making London this week unlikely but we were pledged to carry on anyway. We got into Brighton around 2.00pm in the sunshine, though the day was quite cold. Much of the time spent washing off the boat and then getting all of the charts and electronics set up for the next leg the following day. By this time I had calculated that we would only manage to get to Limehouse if we did some cruising after dark and, because of the crab and lobster pots littering the coast as a hazard, the best place to do this was coming up the Thames where there were none allowed to be set. David Harrison was not keen to spend more that Tuesday on the boat, for he had an appointment in Bournemouth with his mother on the Wednesday trying to get her into the smart residential home. He went ashore and got some bread, ham, cheese and a few other chocolate biscuits and goodies for the cruise the next day and, whilst he was gone, I managed to get the rest of the boat ready for the day’s cruise ahead.
Distance: 55.5nm
Speed 10kn
Hours 5.5 hours
Fuel 158 litres
Leave 0730
Arrive 1300
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