After three nights in Eastbourne we were up at 0500 (ish) this morning. The lock shuts on the hour & half hour, so it was a mad rush to get in for 0530. With just one French yacht and a fishing boat there was plenty of room this time. The tide was low and we saw the remains of a WW1 ship sticking out of the water at the entrance.
It was bright & sunny, but no SW3/4 as predicted -just a variable nothing. We motored through dense fields of lobster pots & fishing boats for a few hours making good progress as far as Hastings. By now the predicted wind had kicked in and we were making 5.5 - 6kts motorsailing. Unfortunately the wind brought a thick fog bank that totally enveloped us for the next 30 odd miles. The wind increased to around 17kts with a moderate swell. Off Rye the engine suddenly started to labour and the speed dropped off. I shut the engines and restarted each individually to see which had picked up a rope or net, but they both came back on ok. We carried on sailing toward our waypoint off Dungeness with an even more cautious look out than before. At Dungeness I hardened up out to sea rather than hitting the waypoint as the fog signal sounded much to close! As we passed the headland at 9kts over the ground we put the already reefed main away and sailed on a dead run towards Dover. The fog was really thick and we brought out the life jackets for the first time since we bought them. A while later two yachts appeared 50m away motoring together. I put the engine upto 2500rpm with the full genoa, but still couldn't keep up and they disapeared within a few minutes. It was a good opportunity to play with the radar, and we monitored the two yachts all the way to Dover, as well as other ships & land. 2M off Dover I called up port control and advised them of our intentions and was told to call when we were 300m off the western entrance. As I called up from 300m the huge wall of the port came out of the fog and we saw land for the first time since Hastings. The sea state was really bad outside the harbour and we were refused entry until another boat had left. As we came inside the walls the sea became calm and the fog vanished. We were escorted to the marina by the harbour patrol. At £15 a night we'll definitely be here until there's a forecast with no "occasionally very poor in it!"
