Brindabella

Today was the final leg of our cruise from Dover to Felixstowe. With a forecast of south west 4 to 5, this was a perfect wind for heading east. It rained briefly in the morning, but by the time we left at 7am, the sun was already breaking through.

We motored out of the marina and contacted Dover Harbour Port Control seeking permission to leave. Since this is a major port with regular ferries between Dover and Calais, you need to get permission to leave. We went out through the western entrance and after motoring clear of the port raised the sails.

The wind was perfect for a great sail. We sailed past the white cliffs of Dover and turned the corner up to Ramsgate and Margate. After here you leave the coast to cross the Thames Estuary. There are now 100's of wind turbines located here, but all are on sand banks so in practice do not affect navigation.

Going past Ramsgate we saw three yachts leave a few miles ahead of us, heading in the same direction. When you are sailing near to other yachts, it always turns into a race. Within an hour, we had passed the first yacht and soon after the second. We recognised the third yacht as a Malo 43 called Great Escape from our marina. We had previously seen this yacht in Boulogne and saw it sailing out of Ramsgate. Try as we did, we could not get in front of it. We sailed together for around 4 hours, right up to Levington Marina.

We have travelled a total of 1,560 nm which is the equivalent of 1,796 miles and we have had 20 nights at anchor, which are always some of the best and 9 BBQ's off the back of the boat.

We have had a fantastic holiday, some great sailing and visiting many new ports and meeting new people and also saw some people from last year. We made it to our furthest destination of La Rochelle. The week we spent in the River Vilaine was a particular highlight and also the time in the River Odet which we always like. Belle Ile was very nice and in fact all of the 7 islands we visited were all unique.

The food in France is always good, particularly the sea food that you get all along the Normandy and Brittany coast. All in all, its been a great holiday.

If you would like to see some video clips of our trip, please click on www.youtube.com/yachtbrindabella

We are signing off now for 2012. Goodbye...

Time: 9:15hours Miles: 61nm Total Miles: 1,560nm