A zephyr of breeze, barely ruffling the water, carries Stargazer out of Chichester Harbour. Through the Sunday morning race fleets, potterers and paddlers, enjoying the warm balm of the weekend sunshine.
Although we are beating, every sail control is eased. To put camber into the sails. Conjure motion from the still air.
Past the West Pole, eleven knots of south easterly sea breeze fills in. Stargazer heels and accelerates. We tack east, close inshore. Dodging the last of the west bound tide.
Catching its turn, eastward, off Selsey Bill. Where, this time, both the Boulder and Street buoys are visible. Although the sudden convergence, of three other boats, in the narrow neck to the Looe Channel, reveals that a stealthy sea mist has reduced visibility to around a mile.
Stargazer tacks onto starboard, her bow now aiming for Brighton, thirty nautical miles distant. Our fellow passage makers melting back into the mist, following their separate courses, to their own destinations.
Slowly, a tawny sun descends into a still sea, studded with (admirably well marked) pot buoys. Stargazer's speed drops to two knots. Near enough the speed of the tide beneath her.
We motor into Brighton. Mooring beneath the Yacht Club balcony. Serenaded by K C and the Sunshine band.
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