An English Summer 93

 

Stargazer gybes, off Dungeness, and runs down toward the position of the vessel in distress. Our arrival coincides with that of the RNLI. With relief, we gybe back onto the rhumb line, for Dover.

An hour earlier, when the angling boat's engine had failed, a line squall swept in from the south. Driving rain reducing visibility to all but zero. The wind rising to thirty knots. It must have been a frightening wait, for assistance, for the fishermen.

(Picture taken as the squall ended)

Stargazer had been broad reaching, up to Dungeness, under full main and jib. With the squall upon us, we bore off and ran before it. Maximising boat speed, to minimise the apparent wind; and strain on Stargazer's rigging (due for replacement this autumn). Surfing on the swell, Stargazer peaked at nine knots, averaging seven to eight. Hull and rig humming. White water climbing high, on either hand.

(Pre-squall picture)

We set sail as the rising sun strove to pull back the curtains, of cloud, from the dawn sky.

Beachy Head receding behind us, into the murk. Our, long awaited, south west wind building behind us, as Stargazer escapes its lee.

Eleven knots apparent builds to fourteen. Stargazer's speed from five to six knots, over the tide. We broad reach down, toward Rye, out of the main westbound tide.

Climb out, around the tawny tip of Dungeness, as the tide turns east bound. Now, with it running hard beneath her, Stargazer scuds up past Folkestone. Beneath the piebald cliffs. Riding the swell with her easy gait. Making eight knots over the ground. I furl the jib two miles off Dover, to give me time to rig lines and fenders.

We are granted an immediate green light, for the western entrance. Port Control, high in their tower, can see Stargazer's predicament. The sea state, off the port, is chaotic. The, already considerable, inbound swell is colliding with waves refracted by the breakwaters. Breaking crests are torn off by the cross wind . Stargazer gybes, just south of the gap in the breakwater. Batters, bucks and bludgeons her way in, through the entrance, before the tide can sweep her past, onto the northern section of  the breakwater.

(Picture, of the eastern entrance, taken after mooring up) 

In an instant, the water flattens, the wind drops to twenty knots. Stargazer is within the protecting harbour walls . I stow the main and kick the fenders over the side. Motoring for the Wych Channel.

Soon, Stargazer is secured in the heart of Dover. Back in Kent, for the first time since May. The town winding down, for the weekend, around her.