I left my berth in Chichester at about 1300 on Sunday 8th sept
2006.
I got out of Chichester harbour at about 15:00 because , even
though the tide was with me there was a
20 knot wind in my face so progress was slow.
Once I had cleared the harbour I motored out past Nab tower and
then tried to sail. I wasn't aware of the endurance of my fuel tank so I had
to conserve fuel and started trying to tack across the channel.
I sailed west to the Needles and then attempted to cross,
despite my best attempts everything conspired to take me back to nearly the
Nab Tower, all this time the "MODERATE" sea was throwing everything
including me all over the boat. Alright back on the other tack, oh look,
theres the Needles lighthouse again. This carried on all night.
At 0700 I looked at the distance I had travelled towards my
destination and found it to be a massive 21 miles, as there were 47 miles to
go I guestimated that it would take me another 48hrs, so I decided to go
home.
Now, of course,the problem was to get to Chichester before the
tide was too low to get in so I tangled up my mainsail and decided to motor,
being the most reliable way to do it. I arrived back at Chichester at about
1700 and have spent since then licking my wounds(bruises) and trying to
recover. Have no fear I shall try again and next time I know my tank
capacity is at least 16 hrs which will get me to Cherbourg anyway!
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