Déjà vu

Sea voyages need a good dose of flexibility in their planning, and our trans-Atlantic trip is no exception.  Due to some crew changes, a planned teambuilding trip to France this last weekend had to be cancelled, and instead we headed to Brighton, following the same route as last time.  We were joined by a new team-member, Rob (who plans to explore South America on the other end of the voyage), and departed Eastbourne at around 15h00 on Saturday.

The weather and sea state was an almost carbon copy of our previous weekend, strong force 5 South Westerly breeze and wind against tide causing some green faces and lost lunches amongst 2 of the crew, but they proved their mettle and showed brave faces (after a cup of ginger tea).  Being the last preparatory trip before departure to Falmouth, it was probably a blessing in disguise to get a bit more hardened to unruly weather.  On approach to Brighton marina, the weather started clearing, and a gorgeous double rainbow announced our arrival.

Double rainbow

It also gave me a chance to test the new route tracker (which can be accessed via a tab at the top of this page) - you can follow our progress to Brighton with short log entries for each point (just click on a marker).  We intend to post our positions once a day on the crossing, so friends and family can see our progress.

The following day was bright with a variable light South Westerly, sea state slight, and we were joined by 2 more new crew members, Huw and Bernice (who also intend to explore South America), for the return trip to Eastbourne.  As the wind was behind us, we opted to pole out the genoa, and set a preventer on the boom to keep the mainsail as far out as possible.  With a favourable tide, we eased back along the coast, making good progress.  We passed a couple of working boats that were laying a pipeline outside Newhaven harbour, but other than that we were able to relax in the sun and do some "cloudspotting"...

We rounded Beachy Head with an almost perfect "goosewing" rig set up (genoa poled out on one side and the mainsail setup on the other for downwind running) and made a good 7 knots to Eastbourne harbour entrance.  After locking in, mooring up, and the ritual deck-scrub, we said our goodbyes with the knowledge that the next time we meet would be for the real thing.

Until next time....