50:48.22N 00:32.36W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Fri 6 Jul 2012 16:13
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We left Brighton Marina on Thursday morning, this
was not without event! The entry in Reeds Almanac states that the marina
is dredged to 2m which is plenty of water for Whisper! However, on
leaving the pontoon we ran hard aground just 4ft from our berth! A yacht,
which had been lying alongside another overnight, saw us preparing to leave and
decided to pick up the vacancy. He too ran aground! We noticed
another yacht was hard aground in the entrance and a fourth then joined
him! We decided that Brighton Marina is best avoided at Springs
but it did give us a lovely stable base for breakfast whilst we waited for the
tide to come in! Once out of the harbour, as the wind was only 1 mph,
we found ourselves motoring in the sunshine. We arrived at
Littlehampton just before high tide, the only possible time for us to enter the
river. Our entry into the river was very exciting as the flooding
tide was gushing over the training wall at the entrance. It created a
great eddy which caused Whisper to gyrate in the turbulent waters. Our
south coast friends were waiting to welcome us and we were soon whisked
away for showers; a wonderful roast dinner enjoyed under the evening
sun; followed by a good nights sleep in a stable bed! Life is
good!
Friday has been spent undertaking further
repairs. The turbulence we experienced across the estuary had caused me to
grab the fiddle around the galley area, which promptly came away in my
hand! It is now fixed and will never be a problem again.
We had planned to cross from Portsmouth to
Cherbourg and down to the Channel Islands before crossing to Brest, but
continuing south westerlies has caused us to change plans. We will
remain here until Sunday when Mick
Millis will join us for the next leg down to Falmouth. Being
further west, this will give us a better line for Brest, we will be able
to take advantage of the south westerlies from there. At Brest we
will welcome aboard our friend and Italian mariner - Sandro.
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