We’re off. Evita and I made our way up to the boat Monday afternoon. With good weather and in good spirits. Only to be met in Ipswich by wind and dreary rain. Ho-hum, we’re here now, better make the most of it.
Cast off and we motored down-river to Levington where we picked up a mooring buoy. We’re getting better at this: second time round was the good one. Forecast sounded ominous: F8 was coming through. Two lines to be on the safe side. Boat dinner: ravioli. Read for a bit and off to bed. Early start in the morning.

Awake at silly o’clock. Sunshine of sorts, and very little wind. Goody. No need to wake the crew. Raised the main whilst still on the mooring and then let slip. Motored for a bit to top up the batteries. Started sailing at Cork Sands and we still made good speed. However, we were running dead downwind. Not Guapa’s favourite point of sail, she rolled quite a bit. So much so that it woke the crew who finally made an appearance when we sailed by Sealand.

When we headed south the wind backed a bit and Guapa found here groove. F5 on a beam reach. She put her shoulder down and went like the clappers. Full genoa and one reef in the main. Boat speed flirted with the 9kts mark the whole time. Got some great video footage of this, but that will have to wait – no point trying to upload this on a mobile.

Other main attraction of the passage: we got buzzed by the UKBA. Good job lads, but go and do it somewhere else.
All in all, a great sail, though not in record-breaking time. Secured alongside in Ramsgate – had no problem finding a berth as the place was/is virtually deserted.

Initial plan was to stay for two nights and sail to Brighton on Friday. However, forecast for Thursday is not looking good: F7-8 WSW. Pretty much all on the nose. The prospect of motoring to windward for 14 hours does not appeal. So, decided to spend one more on the Ramsgate Riviera. The Olympic torch is passing by the marina tomorrow – there really is no getting away from this thing.

The wind should have dropped by Friday (to virtually nothing), but if I’m going to be motoring anyway, I’d rather do it in no wind than in F7 headwinds.
Crew change now most likely taking place in Brighton on Saturday and the revised plan is to cross over to France on Sunday. This looks like it’s going to be motoring too. Not perfect, but you can't have everything - where would you put it?

Another day alongside, and then it’s onwards and upwards.