Day 79-Thursday 4th August- Dover to Eastbourne

Today on the water was the sort of day I had been trying to avoid. I listened to the weather forecast at 5.20 am and the general description was that the country was covered in a "slack airflow", but a new depression was coming in and would work its way westward and would move into the east by the evening. The forecast was for variable force 3 or less becoming SW 3/4 and occasionally 5 later. I set out at 6.30 expecting a quite day. Even when I studied the Internet last night the strong wind warnings were for later

What I found was a gradually building force 6 from the S/SW, very heavy rain and a lumpy sea.By Dungeness it had set in and I was only a third of the way there, By then I had 2 reefs in the main and the outboard running because my angle was too close to the wind to use the jib, The trouble was that between Dover and Eastbourne, there is no sheltered harbour to aim for. Rye dries and has a bar for on-shore winds to break on, so I had to press on for the 47nm (54 miles). Even as I approached Eastbourne I did not know what it would be like at the entrance and had to consider the possibility of staying at sea.

As I kept a look out the spray and rain was hitting my face and running down the inside of my wet weather gear. By the time I reached Eastbourne at 4pm I was soaked through, and was hoping I would be able to get in, I surfed down the waves at an angle until I gained the shelter of the breakwater.

Today I lost one sail bag, had a sail batten work its way out of the sail, and had one of the reefing lines break. So when I got into the marina and the sun came out I set about drying and mending things.

I do not want 2 days in a row like today. There are no photos, because I could hardly see the shore and a camera covered in sea water spray wouldn't be much use for the rest of the trip.

 I will want a cast iron guarantee from the coastguard if they mention light winds in the morning. If I'm not convinced I will be seeing what Eastbourne has to offer. The trip now looks like this. The Solent is getting near and the cost of marinas is rising,

As I was drying things out I listened to a Swede being interviewed after being released on bail. He had tried to make an atom bomb in his kitchen, He had secured atomic material on eBay and from smoke detectors. He obviously knew what he was doing. What have the Scandinavians been putting in their water recently?