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0038 - Poole to Newhaven

Poole was to be just a quick stop, sleep, shower, supplies, and shelter from the storm - the next day we would be on our way. Everything after here should go a bit quicker, with longer trips to cover more ground and put some more miles under the keel.

We also got a visit from a fan, who dropped in treats for the crew and even assisted the Captain in getting some fuel! Heidi Styles, Thanks for all your help!

I confess, I didn't see much of Poole, and it rained for most of the time and as soon it cleared up we were off again, there are a lot of sailboats here, and a lot of marinas in this area...a few of them had started to not accept visitors due to Covid restrictions. As we approach more populated places I expect to see more of this...


Luckily the by the next morning weather conditions had improved, and the girls had a chance to take a look around, although, it was all too much effort for Phoebe who remained in her cozy cabin...

I can't tell whether Chloe is expressing distaste for the larger vessel or whether she is wondering why she doesn't get live on one of those...

 

By early afternoon we were set to go. As we were going to be night sailing again I felt it was best to go around the Southside of the Isle of Wight, the quieter side...but with this time of year - early afternoon is almost dusk...

Leaving Poole in the light was much easier than going in at night...I did take some pictures, sorry if they are a little dark, but the light was already fading when I took them.

The row of houses shown in the last few pics is allegedly the most expensive place in the UK to live, without naming names, as I understand it, a bunch of fancy celebrity-type people live there - hey, nothing wrong with being fancy - that's just what I heard.

As we passed the last channel marker you could already see all the lights coming on along the coast.


Before long it was completely dark, and the hours began to tick by - but then, as we began to pass behind the Isle of Wight I noticed some unusual lights in the distance....some odd red and green flashing lights, before long it became apparent they were not ships or markers, they were helicopters.

Then over the radio we were informed that a 5-mile exclusion zone had been placed around some tanker, I adjusted our course to keep well away from whatever was going on. My first thought was it was going to blow up or something, they didn't say what the exclusion zone was for - only that it was there and to stay away I set up my own 8-mile exclusion zone - not taking any chances.


I eventually googled it, it turns out some stowaways on a tanker got hostile - special forces were called in, which would explain all the helicopters, to sort out whatever was going on, some sort of attempted hijacking or something - here is a link to the story


A bit of excitement for the night, and I figured that this would have been the quieter route! During the night, however, the weather got pretty intense for a few hours with big waves and 30+ knots of wind at times but wasn't too choppy though.

After changing course, I didn't hear anything more about the tanker over the radio...by the morning, things had calmed a bit


As we approached Newhaven the sea had flattened, the winds had died down to about 20 knots, and we were making excellent time!

As the sun started to come up I could just see Newhaven in the distance...

My attention was drawn to some rain clouds, I don't really mind the rain, just so long as it's happening somewhere else...

And after a long night, that light can be really soothing and warming thing to see...

The morning was a mix of smooth sailing and periodic bumpy sailing as the weather was all mixed up for some reason - but it was nice just to be in the light.

As we got closer things brightened up for a little while and wind was picking up also, and for the first time, we saw some of the big white cliffs this part of the UK is known for.

We are probably passing all kinds of white cliffs all the time, but since we've been sailing at night - we just haven't been seeing them. It is kind of an odd thing to see though, up till this point, all the cliffs have been, well - not white...

As we got closer still, the water got shallow and choppy, but we made contact with Port Control to get clearance to enter the harbour and make our way to the Marina...

The weather is expected to be extra awful for the next few days, perhaps too awful to sail in, and the weather is just going to get more awful as the weeks roll on. Getting around Dover is going to be a challenge as conditions deteriorate, but as long as we're not getting 40 knot gusts we are going to go for it in the next day or so...


Quite frankly the weather has just been lousy for a few weeks, and we've been sailing in the gaps in between bouts of foulness - but we are making progress and will soon be going North back on to the East Coast!

Our next port will be Ramsgate before we cross the Thames Estuary and head back to Scotland to complete the UK Circumnavigation.


After a long-ish sail (for us), it's time for some rest!


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