Thursday 28th May Winds light and warm, again
We left Gosport marina at 6am.
The light winds and dealing with tides both ways meant wearisome progress to Eastbourne. It was particularly slow and lumpy leaving Portsmouth but we had some help from the wind towards the end of our 14 hour journey. We negotiated the Sovereign harbour marina lock and tied up at 8pm. If we wanted to sail the following day tides dictated that we would need to leave at 2am. We opted for a nights sleep 😴
Friday in Eastbourne
We had a morning of boat chores, laundry, boat cleaning and topping up supplies.
Leaving clean washing hanging in the gentle breeze we walked along the new King Charles III England coast path east towards Pevensey bay. We turned inland and followed the footpath to Pevensey village.
After a pub lunch we explored the fascinating Pevensey castle. Its many layers of history began in about AD 290, standing by the sea it was the biggest of the Roman ‘Saxon Shore’ fortresses. Still standing at full height are its impressive 500 metre long walls. In 1066, William the Conqueror landed and built a fortress within the Roman defences. In 1940, after centuries of abandonment the now inland fortress was back in service with machine gun posts cleverly camouflaged into its walls. The Régiment de Maisonneuve Canadian infantry regiment, the 4th Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall’s light infantry, the Home Guard and later US Army Air Corps were stationed there.
We caught a bus back to Sovereign marina and enjoyed a boat cooked curry. Maisie had another wander around the deck jumping into the front cabin through the open hatch. During another lap of the boat she leapt off the bow onto the pontoon then climbed on to the step of the nearby lifeboat. Richard gently lifted her back onto Captiva 😼
Saturday, light winds and sunny
So we prised ourselves out of bed at 1:45am and contacted the marina lock keeper. Richard started the engine and it turned over but didn’t start 😬 Richard had a look at the engine using an online check list taking the “bleed the fuel pump and injectors” rather too literally cutting his finger tip🩸By 3am we were considering returning to bed when with a final try the engine sprung to life. We guided Captiva into the marina lock then finally out to sea.
The early start meant the tides were favourable with us maintaining 5-7 knots. As we were approaching Dungeness an MOD patrol boat came beside us to tell us the Lydd firing range would be live at 8:30 and we were nearing the edge of it 😬 We had seen the area marked on the chart so altered our course slightly. We motored past the Dover entrance and then turned up the coast for Ramsgate. We filled up with diesel at the fuel pontoon before berthing in the marina.
A quick shower and a pizza in town was enough before returning to Maisie and the boat.
Sunday
We had a leisurely breakfast then walked to Ramsgate Station. We caught the replacement bus service to Birchington and met up with Dawn, a childhood friend, and her husband Paul. We had a fabulous day walking to Reculver and back sharing memories and putting the world to rights. We had drink at each end of our walk then enjoyed a delicious meal back at their lovely house.
Monday in Ramsgate
After a few boat chores we walked into Ramsgate for coffee and a proper cruffin. 😋 We first encountered cruffins (a cross between a croissant and muffin) when we were last in Margate. We haven’t been able to find the fresh cream version anywhere else since. Regrettably we decided to share one ( it was deliciously light)
Later in the afternoon we wandered along the coast to Broadstairs where we enjoyed a meal at the Royal Albion Hotel with my cousin Margaret, it was lovely to see her.
Tuesday winds SW 18-27
We left Ramsgate at 6am and enjoyed favourable winds and proper sailing. The winds and seas built up a little as we approached Oostende (Ostend) and we were glad to tie up in the Royal North Sea Yacht Club. We enjoyed our evening meal on the boat before settling down for a good nights sleep.
Wednesday wind 25mph grey skies
We made our way to the police border control office to register our arrival in the EU. From the nearby station so we caught a train to Brugge. We walked tour the market square and visited a Salvador Dali exhibition.
We wandered along to the police border security to check in with our passports. They didn’t stamp it this time, just checked our fingerprints. We caught a train from the adjacent station to Brugge just 15 minutes away. We explored the market square and a Salvador Dali exhibition.
We followed a suggested walk around Brugge from our guide book then stopped for lunch back in the square. To walk off lunch we climbed the 333 steps of the Belfort bell tower.
For our evening in Oostende we sampled the traditional mosselen met frietjes (mussels and fries) 😋 Then a little walk along the seafront before returning to the yacht harbour.
