La Hirondelle 3

 

The 'red eye' ferry sails half an hour behind Stargazer. The rising sun searing a molten slit, through low grey cloud. Clambering atop the tall cliffs to announce the dawning of a new day.

Glinting off the sharply creased buttresses, of the chalk. Casting deep shadows in the crevices. As it climbs higher. Burning away the early morning murk.

As the villages, sheltering in the, abruptly curtailed, hanging valleys awake. Nestled amongst wind break trees. Looking out to sea across rolling green pasture.

Stargazer flies west. Reaching in sixteen to twenty one knots of southerly breeze. A favourable tide beneath her. Tucking reefs in and out, to stay on her feet. The breeze sometimes funneling through the valleys. Other times spilling from the cliff tops.

Sweeping close inshore, for a better view. . . . . .

. . . . .of the sharp pointed stacks, and lofty arches, sculpted by the sea.

 The Channel tide is about to turn east. But around Cap d'Antifer a new fair tide awaits. The flood of the Seine. Stargazer hardens up onto a beat, around the point. Shoulder down, making seven knots over the ground. Two reefs in the main.

Sweeping into Le Havre. After a brief radio conversation, with Port Control. To discover whether the red traffic control lights, in the port entrance, apply to leisure craft. Answer: "Non. Mais tirez a nord." 

As Stargazer berths, the morning murk returns. Swallowing the cross, on the lighthouse-inspired bell tower of St Joseph's Church.