The engine drive belt had been shedding bits of rubber, as it had loosened since the engine had been serviced the week before we left. So we refuelled and tightened the belt while waiting for the lock to open and we could continue our progress to Brighton. This was only a short run, but the girls wanted to get their nails done! The wind was blowing Force 3, but straight on the bow for most of the trip, so we weren’t able to get much sailing done again. On the way we heard someone on the radio reporting a floating hot tub as a hazard to shipping. It must had been a very good party! Just after we tied up in Brighton, Pete Smith and Ed from the East Anglian Sea School at Levington hailed us. They had heard us on the radio as they were taking their new Beneteau, which they had collected from La Rochelle, back to Suffolk Yacht harbour. Pete’s parting word of advice was, “Don’t do what we did in the Chanel De Four,” a particularly nasty piece of water in N France. “Do what it says in the book. We went through with wind against tide and it was horrible.” Sound advice for when we were across the Channel.
Sailing Synergy 