On 7th April we set off in sunshine and light winds to Brighton, took the 11.30am lock and arrived at Brighton entrance about 3.30pm. Lovely sail down there (with the motor on as wind on the nose, and very light) and saw a group of porpoises just off Beach Head playing in the sunshine. We called up the Coast Watch station at Newhaven as well to do a radio check and also to check our AIS was giving out a signal. They were a bit slow to respond, may have been taking a nap!
Had a couple of nights on the visitors pontoon, which was fairly empty considering the lovely weather, then returned on Thursday. The marina is still silted up so we waited almost 2 hours after low before attempting to go, unlike our neighbour who tried about 10 minutes after low and got stuck in the middle! As we approached the marina entrance we saw the fog – but on exiting it didn’t seem too bad so carried on. By the time we passed Newhaven we lost sight of land and didn’t even see Beachy Head on the way past! Had a fair bit of wind between Seaford and Beachy as well so the sea was quite lumpy. But once round Beachy the sea and wind calmed, but the fog intensified, so we couldn’t see the harbour until almost there. Good old AIS and chart plotter is all I have to say!
In Sovereign Harbour lock a chap off the motor boat in front came up to us and said he could see our AIS signal nice and clearly so was able to avoid us on the way, so that’s comforting to know. Apart from the fog, a good trip and we identified a few minor problems we need to sort before heading off on our summer cruise next month.