Position: 50:30:36N 02:05:04W

Well, 24 hrs after leaving Falmouth, we are punching our way up-Channel against the ebb tide and an Easterly F4.  We are off St Alban’s Head, and about 19 miles from the Needles.

We left Falmouth and motored in an oily calm across to Start Point, past Eddystone Rocks.  Knowing that we’ve just got to get to Portsmouth as fast as we can, and it will take more than 24 hours, we haven’t set off at the optimal time to hit the headlands with the flood tide – indeed we couldn’t get all of them to line up anyway in these conditions, and so Start Point took a little while to pass as we punched the ebb tide.  However this was compensated for by being whisked across Lyme Bay at a stately 7 kts over the ground.  We are now going very slowly until the ebb finishes at around 0300 and then we should get on the flood tide conveyor belt through Hurst Narrows and into the Solent.

The water has been very mucky – a lot of rubbish and an oily scum on the surface.  I hope we have just been unlucky and the whole channel is not like this.  The motion is very different – we feel like a cork bobbing around – very jerky movement – compared to the long, ponderous rolls that we’ve had in the ocean swells.  Those make the boat feel a lot heavier, but the motion is easier within the boat.  I have not managed to sleep up in the forepeak on my last off-watch as it is too bumpy.

While we were off Portland Bill, a warship (HMS Sutherland) stationed itself 1 mile to the south, then announced on Ch16 that it was about to commence live gunnery firing!  Rather than broadcast a pitiful plea to be spared, we trusted that they had spotted us and would not use us for target practice – they didn’t.

I spent my off watch fixing another leak in the forepeak, with all the cushions outside in the sun, and scrubbing the galley in preparation for inspection.  Because we’ve been using seawater for washing up, everything made of metal – even stainless – is rusting so I’ve washed and scrubbed the rust marks off everything in fresh water.  All exciting stuff!

Nice to be back in familiar waters.

That’s all for now.