Crossing the Channel – Take Two

Waking to a clear sky and fresh South Wersterly 3, the excitement and nerves of leaving were upon me once more. I dropped the lines, for the last time again, and headed out of the marina. Brighton is really protected and you can't even see out of the marina until you round the break water and enter the Channel. Smiling to myself as the ocean came into view as I knew conditions were near perfect. We hoisted the full main and Genoa and set off at a steady 4-5 knots bound for Feecamp. Originally we had intended on going directly to Le Havre, however the wind was not favorablee for that direction, so Feecamp, being the shortest point with a south westerly, was the logical destination. Anyway I didn't care, as long as it was on the other side of the Channel. We would still need to head down the coast to Le Havre to un-step the mast and enter the Seine on route to Paris and eventually the Med.
The wind died down around midday and we fired up the engine, which was also needed to safely and quickly cross the shipping lanes. We were taking constant bearings of ships every ten minutes and so far nothing was passing too close! Having the engine on also gives you extra manouverability should it be required to move from the path of a ship about to mow you down at 25 knots. The last thing you want is to be tacking and stressing with sails at this moment.
Fortunately all went smoothly crossing the shipping lanes and by 16.00 we were in sight of France! Jubilation and deep feeling of satisfaction engulfed the crew as we knew we were only a few short hours away from reaching Feecamp and cracking open the beers. At 19.00 we docked, 80.1 nortical miles taking a spritly 14 hours.

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