Marica goes clockwise

My dad joined me on a frosty Monday morning for our leg from Rye. His name is George so he is the original George according to my sister, or he is George V for this trip. I thought Eastbourne would be a suitable port to make for, and could be completed in daylight hours. Dad had suggested Newhaven so we would round Beachy Head. This looked like it would suit my plans and those of the weather gods for the next few days. We opted to make for Newhaven, with the option to bail at Eastbourne if conditions changed.

High water was spot on noon today at Rye and Marica was afloat by 10:30. We had the lines ready to slip and I started the engine but again no cooling water was passing through. I told George we are not going anywhere. I put the kettle on to soften the pipe to allow us to clear the blockage. I went to close the inlet pipe and found it already shut. I opened it and what passed for normal service on board was resumed. I’d forgotten that I had closed the valve in an attempt to keep mud out of the cooling system.

We motored slowly downstream the two miles to Rye Harbour and then nearly another mile to the river mouth. There was not a lot of wind and mostly in the wrong direction. I hoisted the mainsail and we motor sailed. It was a clear and sunny day and warming up a little from the overnight freezing temperatures. Out of Rye Bay we could see Hastings and St Leonards. My dad spotted his house. I called his partner Roz, who had dropped him off at the boat, to see if she could see us, the only boat in the bay. By that time we were obscured from her window by other buildings.

We reached Beachy Head with the sun low in the West and were treated to fantastic views of the rock formations and the light house that was dwarfed by the cliffs. Next we sailed past the Seven Sisters, which is a lot easier than cycling over them on the South Downs Way. Here the wind was more in our favour and we managed to have both sails pulling the boat along. The sun went down before we reached Newhaven. We dropped the sails while there was still some daylight. I called Newhaven on the VHF for permission to enter, they warned us of a dredger and other traffic. We could see the dredger. As we approached the entrance there was an unfamiliar set of lights. This was Green, Green, White. George passed Reeds up to me and I looked it up. Small vessels may proceed, two way traffic. Coming up to the visitors pontoon we saw a head torch with a flashing white light heading our way along the pontoon. The lovely marina lady took our lines. She gave us the local information, gate codes and directions to the nearest pub. She had stayed beyond her working hours to welcome us. That is true customer care. We had been told to moor on the outside of the pontoon, contrary to directions in Reeds. I asked about the vacant berths on the inside. She told me they are all taken up with wind farm service cats. This confirmed what I read on visitmyharbour.com. There is effectively only one visitor berth. She said if we were staying more than one night she would find us a place deeper in the marina. Sure enough the big cats came and moored on the inside.

George and I sorted the boat out and had a cold beer, another cat came and moored a couple of meters in front of us. We moseyed up the hill to the Hope Inn. Some OK food, but they had a decent pint of Harvey’s Sussex Best. An amber beer of 4%, slightly bitter with a hoppy aftertaste, lovely. We studied the forecasts. It looked like there might be a window in the morning or late afternoon for a shortish coast hop. George decided to stay on for another day. The two sleeping bags I offered him were a bit damp so he slept in all his clothes with one under and one on top. It’s a bit warmer tonight than yesterday.

The photo is of George, Beachy Head and the lighthouse.