Dover

Wednesday seemed a better day. The force 7 SW of Tuesday had settled down to f5 SW so at first light we decided it was time to be on the move. Unfortunately while trying to leave Brighton marina the mizzen sheet caught on one of the pontoon mooring cleats, and with our eyes fixed on the potential hazards ahead, we did not notice this until the mizzen mast had sustained some damage. Repairing this delayed us a bit, so we didnt leave till about 6.30. The sea was still pretty boistrous in the entrance to the marina after yesterdays strong winds.  

The picture shows Beachy Head on a rather grey morning. Despite the apparent lack of white horses on the picture, we had a lively downwind sail as far as Dover. Entering Dover harbour in a brisk wind is always exciting, but we sailed in with the engine ticking over, and dropped our sails in the relative calm once in the harbour. We tied up in the fine new marina, which was under construction when we were last here 5 yr ago. It was good to see that it has been laid out with fairly generous manoevering space for those boats with large turning circles.

Here Bonita stays I hope for a few days while I go to St Malo by ferry. 

Its good that quite a few Gaffers are gathering at St Malo and I'm very sorry that as it has turned out Bonita is not among them.