Eastbourne to Dover - 12th May

Up at 0530 to walk Captain.  There were already a number of dog walkers up and about as we walked down to the coast to check the visibility.  It looked much clearer than yesterday’s pea soup!

At 0630 we locked out through the north of the two large locks that straddle the entrance to Royal Sovereign harbour.

The dredger and its crew were still slumbering on the south bank and we passed them to starboard.  This time I could see the fairway buoy and after we passed it at 0645 we headed of in a south easterly direction along the coast.  At 0810 we were off Bexhill and by 0900 we were passing south of Hastings.  By 1000 we were passing Rye.

At 1030 I spotted the boarder control vessel ahead and the large blocks of grey in the haze which turned out to be Dungerness Power Station.  At non we passed Dungerness point and saw dolphins.  I hope they won’t be the last.

After passing Dungerness the sea began to kick up and the boarder force vessel made its way to see me.  Seeker came up astern and called me up on channel 16 and asked where I had come from, where I was going and my home port. He asked me how many persons on board, I replied one man and his dog.  He asked “both British?”  I said the dog is a pedigree but I am not sure about my ancestry.    We laughed and both went on our way.

After bashing to windward for a further nearly ywo hours of bashing to windward in increasing winds and seas we arrived at the entrance to Dover.  At two miles off I called Port Control and then again when I was 200 yards off.

As I approached I could see the forecast force 6 approaching on the water and the grey clouds with a line of white horses in the water.

The tide was ripping passed the entrance and it was an interesting few minutes fighting the tide to get into the calmer waters of Dover harbour, but the calm did not last for long.

The wind increased to 26 knots inside the harbour which made attaching lines and fenders a bit of a challenge as the bow of the boat kept being blown off its course.  I called up the basin and got Granville Lock on pontoon E30 at 1615.

After tidying up I opened a bottle of red wine and relaxed for a while before cooking supper. 

The next few days were spent relaxing and exploring Dover waiting for the next weather window.  It was fascinating to see the number of people swimming in the sea, obviously motivated by the cross channel swimming from the port to France.

The other thing that struck me was the none stop traffic, particularly lorries flowing through the town.  It must be difficult to police the boarders with absolute confidence.

The other stand out feature of the sea font was the number of war time memorials to various hero’s and vessels.