Yesterday, after croissants and coffee we got the boat ready and completed all the (new) exit formalities for the EU ready for the crossing back to the UK.
Today dawned grey and murky as we made our way out of Cherbourg but there was a reasonable breeze on the beam. The large cruising shute was soon hoisted and we started to. make good speed.
The shipping lanes for the big ships going up and down the Channel were busy. While crossing the west bound lane we had to call up a ship to check they had seen us - they had, and altered course and speed so that we could pass astern of them. At that moment the wind picked up and we put on a spurt of speed so we also had to alter course to pass a few hundred meters behind them.
For the crossing we had set a heading of 355° that would allow the tide to sweep us one way and then the other to eventually bring us to our destination. It worked and ten hours later we were roaring across Swanage bay towards Studland having flown the cruising shute for the entire passage.
Having picked up one of the new "eco" buoys (designed to save the seagrass in the area) we contacted the Border Force and were given permission to lower our "Q" flag. We were officially back in the UK. Tomorrow is the final leg back to Lymington.
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| Nick hands free steering |
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| Busy traffic |
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| Leaving french waters |
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| Old Harry’s Rocks |
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| Our track |
