Portsmouth harbour

We haven't been to Brighton for a couple of years and the marina complex seems to be getting bigger and bigger. There are some large new apartment blocks being built actually in the marina and lots of shops and restaurants that obviously must bring in people from a wide area - not just wandering yachtsmen. We wonder if one day the marina may be completely boxed in and separated from the sea by the unstoppable growth of fashionable high cost flats spreading out from the shore and into the English Channel.

We were lured out of Brighton before breakfast by a moderate northerly wind blowing through the marina.

The i360 rising above Brighton

Unfortunately it faded away almost completely before we had got very far and we spent most of the day under motor. The picture on the right shows a view of Brighton from the sea. The East pier as always seems thriving with many attractions, but little is left of the long derelict West pier. In its place is rising a tower that looks a bit like a municipal incinerator chimney but it will eventually be the i360 - an observation tower with circular gondola that goes up and down. It does seem a bit brash, oversized and out of place so maybe it will fit in well in the Brighton landscape.

We had a sunny day which was handy for drying out everything that got wet after our Channel crossing, but not much wind. By evening we had arrived in Portsmouth harbour and tied up in Haslar marina in Gosport.

HMS Medusa

HMS Medusa is also here: she is a Harbour Defence Motor Launch - the only survivor of a class of over 400 boats. She was launched in 1943 and played an active role on D- day and later in Mulberry harbour. She is preserved in sea going condition by a voluntary organisation and looks marvellous.

We are in Gosport awaiting crew reinforcements.