The photo shows the Rye Harbour entrance at low tide but winding back to Wednesday evening at Hastings …… Several St Leonards and Hastings Sailing Club members and I manhandled Stacey onto her trolley and we dragged her up the steep beach over the loose shingle. I was feeling tired and bedraggled but relieved to be ashore. After much discussion about the boat, its design, where I’d come from and where I might stay for the night, one of the club members, Hugh, generously offered to put me up.

By the time we’d pulled Stacey into their underground boathouse (facing the beach and under the promenade pavement), showered, changed and chatted over a beer in the bar, the sun had set and it was nearly ten pm. So we picked up a shish kebab each and ate them in Hugh’s very spacious and beautiful kitchen, which he’d recently finished building himself – as a sympathetic extension to a large Georgian looking house with his joinery workshop at the bottom of the garden. Yet again, I’d been helped out by the generosity of strangers and I’m very grateful to all I met briefly at the sailing club and particularly to Hugh who took me into his home and made me welcome.

Launching dinghies at St Leonards and Hastings Sailing Club can also present a few challenges. Hugh was concerned that if I didn’t launch near high tide I might miss the narrow channel dynamited through a reef, so suggested I launch as soon as possible after high water in the morning. Going eastward, this would mean sailing upwind against the tide for 5 hours, until it turned in my favour, but there was little choice and I hoped that a change in wind direction might enable me to cover some miles after the tide turned (very over optimistic as it turned out). However, I felt it likely I might only get as far as Rye, about 10 miles further on, as the next 20 or so mile stretch of coast between Rye and Folkestone, without harbours, would offer little shelter from the forecasted East to South East wind.

With Hugh’s help I was on the water just after 9 on Thursday and settled down to short tacking eastward and close inshore. The seafront of Hasting inched by as I passed the burnt out pier, the abandoned harbour and a large flotilla of fishing boats pulled up on the shingle beach. After an hour and a half, honey coloured crumbling cliffs to the west of Hastings processed slowly by. I soldiered on. Still, the sun was shining and for a minute or two I watched, next to the cliff, a flock of brightly lit seagulls soaring in the wind – accompanied by a flock of seagull shadows dancing along the cliff beside them. Passing Cliff End seemed like a small victory in my slow march East so I celebrated with my last three jelly babies.

As time passed the wind increased to force 5, the sky darkened and it all looked a bit forbidding and bleak with the shingle banks of Winchelsea beach to the left and the squat outline of Dungeness power station in the far distance. At around 2 pm, in between dousings of seawater as Stacey crashed into waves, I let Greg know I’d decided to find shelter at Rye Harbour. About two hours later I aimed for the narrow harbour entrance. Near low tide, I was nervous about the possibility of breaking waves and surf in the shallow water of the river entrance – but the waves were small and all that happened was that I scraped the leeboard as I passed over the bar. I later found out that the course of the channel had been disturbed due to piling work along the river channel.

There was no reply over the radio from the Harbour Master and Rye Harbour looked deserted but after beaching Stacey at the bottom of a very long muddy slipway I found a guy in a boat engine repair shop who directed me to a local B&B. I arrived dripping on the doorstep only to find all rooms were booked but on hearing some of my story, the owners, Simon and Tracey, found me a small private guest room at the top of the house at no charge. Simon kindly came to help me pull Stacey from the slipway into his lawn and after a meal at a local pub and a couple of beers at a small but very friendly sailing club, http://www.rhsc.org.uk/ , I fell into a very comfortable bed and listened to the sound of the wind and the rain beating against the window.

A strong wind forecast meant I’d be unlikely to be able to stay for 2 days. So on Friday, I booked a regular guest room for 2 days which meant Katherine could join me for the weekend. We’ve been able to spend time walking, talking and seeing a few sights which has been good for both of us. Last night the wind was still buffeting around the house and whistling through the trees, but today promises to be better for sailing – and Ian Hylton is coming with his sailing canoe, Astrid, to join me for a couple of days as I carry on round the Kent coast. The Old Vicarage B&B has been a wonderful place to stay.

Simon and Tracey, who are also sailors, have been very hospitable and helped in all sorts of small ways including; letting me park my boat on their lawn, helping me to find replacement hatch seals, allowing me to practice a beach recovery system (a pig rig) on the lawn, washing a pile of my soggy clothing and just generally being welcoming. Look no further if you are seeking accommodation for a few days in a largely unspoiled part of Sussex near to the sea.

The Inshore Waters Forecast for North Foreland to Selsey Bill predicts S or SW Force 5 to 7. Staying at Rye today. Tomorrow’s forecast is no better.

Today has been a rest day and chance to dry out piles of wet gear.  After two tough days sailing and on Sunday night setting up camp on a beach and packing up in the midst of a torrential downpour which hardly let up for 16 hours I was ready for a bit of R and R, a dry bed and some company.

Winding back… my stay at Hayling Island Sailing Club could not have been better. After a fast downwind sail from Cowes in bright sunshine and large following waves I arrived at HISC, located in a perfect spot at the entrance to Chichester Harbour.  A senior club member kindly put in a word on my behalf and some accommodation for the night for myself and Katherine (visiting me until the following morning) was found at half price… and in addition to Katherine turning up, Keith Morris turned up unexpectedly – so all in all a great morale boost.

I set off the next morning sailing against a NE wind for a rough upwind sail round Selsey Bill.  Banks and rocks extend 4 miles offshore from the bill and cause dangerous conditions with wind against tide.  I’d previously contemplated threading through the middle via a channel called the Looe but this could have been hazardous and I saw a yacht heading for the Looe make a rapid change of direction when the skipper saw an almost uninterupted line of breakers ahead.

After tacking back in towards the land I reached Middleton on Sea just after the tide turned against me.  I had hoped to reach Littlehampton but was making little progress against the tide.  Several lines of rock groynes parallel to the shore presented an opportunity to land the boat safely out of the surf and a local angler gave me a hand to pull it up the steep shingly beach, on the trolley.

The rain intensified but I managed to get the tent up, shed my wet drysuit and make a meal before falling asleep.  Looking at the Met Office radar in the morning showed I was in the middle of an intense, almost stationary rainstorm.  However, a brief lull enabled me to run out the tent and down the beach to check on the boat.  An early morning dog walker refused to respond to my ‘good morning’ and carried onward, perhaps to tell her frineds about some madman running about the beach in the rain, wearing only a tee shirt and underpants.

The rain continued as I packed up and set sail toward Brighton.  As a contrast to the day before, the sea was flat and the wind light.  Spells of paddle sailing kept me warm as I inched towards the outline of Brighton and the white cliffs beyond.
The light following wind became lighter and just past Brighton peir, died completely.  However, soon after, a fresh north easterly wind sprang up to speed me to Newhaven.  Greg had made enquiries and Newhaven Marina were willing to look after Stacey for two nights while I stayed with my sister in law, Jo and her husband, Richard, and son, Mathew.

I’m only one week into this adventure but already so many people have been happy and very willing to help.  To name a few; The Island Sailing Club who found me a room and made me very welcome, HISC as mentioned above, Liz Baker from the DCA who treated me to lunch today, Newhaven Marina who wouldn’t take any payment for looking after Stacey, and Jo, Richard and Matt who have taken me in, made me welcome and helped me dry out.  Also, all those who have sent messages of support and good wishes.

Tomorrow I plan to leave Newhaven before noon.  Not sure how far I’ll get in the light E / NE winds.

Exhilarating downwind sail from Cowes to Chichester Harbour today, averaging somewhere between 5 and 6 knots. It was a little too exciting at times so as I passed Bembridge I reefed down to scrap of sail and still made good speed.

I timed the entrance to the Chichester Harbour entrance channel to coincide with about an hour before high water so as to avoid large waves over the bar in the fresh WSW wind (apologies to non sailors reading this but sailors like this technical stuff).

In the event it was an anticlimax with waves no larger than the surrounding sea.

Hayling Island Sailing Club have been very kind and found accommodation for me and Katherine, who has come to visit. HISC claim, with some justification, to be the UK’s premier sailing club. See http://www.hisc.co.uk/ . However, I expect to be roughing it over the next few days – camping on beaches and so on.

Winds are forecast to be light tomorrow and from the wrong direction (East – where I’m heading) so no idea how far I’ll get.

{ Click this line to see my “check in” location }

On the 7th June I set out from Netley Sailing Club intending to reach Bembridge. The forecast was southerly: 20 knots with 25 knot gusts. I was keeping a close watch on the conditions. The actual wind direction was more south easterly than southerly, which was not helpful for a passage to Bembridge. I started out with four reefs, but was able to sail unreefed for a while. I reefed progressively as I reached more exposed waters, where the actual winds were force 5. As I was off Calshot I picked up a weather forecast on the VHF predicting Gale Force 8 ‘later’ (later in this context means 12 or more hours away) – so nothing imminent, but in view of southerly wind and worsening outlook, I changed my plans and headed for Cowes.

The Solent crossing went well. I made good progress to windward at 3 to 3½ knots and the boat coped well with the conditions, with the long crowned foredeck shedding the waves nicely. As I neared Cowes and the lee of the Island the wind dropped down to a Force 3 to 4. Unfortunately, about a mile from the entrance to Cowes my tiller and rudder parted company. Later examination showed that this was due to a completely unprecedented and one off manufacturing fault.*

When the steering failed I was in the Eastern approach channel to the Solent (main shipping channel) just north of Cowes. An attempt to reconnect the steering was unsuccessful so I resorted to steering upwind, towards Cowes, with a single bladed paddle. This is a standard “plan B” for a sailing canoe and in the right conditions can be very effective (and sometimes preferred) steering method. However, it was difficult to maintain good upwind performance in the moderately rough sea state. The skipper of a Southampton Harbour Pilot Boat was concerned about my presence in the shipping lane without fully functional steering and towed me to one side of the shipping lane. He suggested I should be towed to Cowes by the Inshore Lifeboat. In view of the potential proximity of large ships and the possibility of worsening conditions, I agreed.

Talking to Patrick Moreton (the Coxswain) and to the lifeboat crew (afterwards), they agreed that I may well have been able to carry on to the Island unassisted, but that the best course in the circumstances, had been to be towed to Cowes. Patrick commented that I was well equipped and clearly experienced. One of the lifeboat crew turned out to be a shipwright and very kindly offered to repair the rudder / tiller by the following morning. The Island Sailing Club made me very welcome for two nights while the predicted bad weather passed, so I had an opportunity to reflect on the experience and to prepare for the next leg to Chichester Harbour.

*Looking back, the completely unexpected steering failure at the worst possible point in the crossing to Cowes was deeply unfortunate and, at the time very depressing, but I’m not sure how it could have been anticipated or prevented. In the circumstances, I’m convinced I made the right decision and that the seaman-like thing to do was to accept the tow. I know that no similar failure has ever occurred with any other rudder built by Solway Dory and in no way has it diminished my confidence in their boats. Rather, after now having sailing several hundred miles in Stacey, I am now even more impressed with the design, seakindleness and build quality of the Solway Dory Shearwater sailing canoe.