We slipped out of Ramsgate at 4.45am in order to catch the west-going tide through the Dover Straits and head up the Rother river to Rye on the afternoon’s flood tide.
Ramsgate had been busy with Border Force and Royal Naval patrol vessels and as we passed through the Dover Straits we were alert to the possibility of spotting migrant dinghies. Although we did hear radio conversations discussing migrant activity and, in particular, a report of an empty dinghy, we passed Dover and then Dungeness without incident and, after reporting to the harbourmaster at the mouth of the Rother, we headed up to Rye and secured alongside the wall opposite a car park full of motor bikes and leather-clad men and women! As we expected, as the tide ebbed we found ourselves sinking into the mud and tot the extent that by the time Nigel’s friend Mark and his family arrived for a Sunday afternoon drink we were, in effect, sitting deep in a muddy ditch!
Rye is an extremely pretty town with cobbled streets and medieval, half-timbered houses and we spent a pleasant evening exploring the streets, the Mermaid Hotel and the excellent Waterworks micro-pub where everything, including the furniture, seemed to be for sale!
We had intended to spend the next night in Brighton but following a quick phone call it was clear that silting in and around the marina restricted access so we debated whether to head for Eastbourne, Newhaven or perhaps keep on going to the Solent and Bembridge. With Mark Etherington on board we made a good passage along the coast past Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters and opted to spend the night in Newhaven. Newhaven is very much a working port with regular ferries to Dieppe and a couple of cranes working all night to load scrap metal onto a coaster, however we were made extremely welcome at the marina and the Hope Inn!
The final day of the circumnavigation! We sailed from Newhaven at nine in the morning with a gentle north-easterly breeze and although we needed to motor for a couple of hours to maintain 5 knots the wind freshened during the afternoon and we made rapid progress around Selsey Bill achieving 8 knots over the ground. I had confirmed to family and friends that in order to avoid the worst of the contrary tide through the harbour entrance, our ETA at Outer Spit Buoy would be at 19:00 and we were delighted to be met by rib Orinoco, with Geoff Dixon and Marianne on board. Geoff took some fantastic pictures as we approached the harbour entrance and we were very touched to be met by a crowd of friends as we arrived at the Camber in Old Portsmouth.
We were delighted to be back in Pompey, safe and well after a circumnavigation of 3145 nautical miles!
