The last gasps, of a sea breeze exhausted from an energetic day, carry Stargazer to the Le Havre beach front.
We made a leisurely start, from Dieppe. Three hours before the turn of the tide. Anglers already manning the pier head.
We tuck in close, beneath the tall cliffs, out of the last of the adverse easterly flow. The day is undecided on which outfit to don. Misty or clear. Bright or dull. All combinations are tried, through the morning.
The breeze is more resolute: Easterly veering north easterly. Ten knots building to fifteen. With a fair tide beneath her, Stargazer slips west. Making better than seven knots. Jib and main, wing and wing.
The sculptural sea caves, stacks and arches, of this stretch of the coast, pass whilst the day is flirting with a 'dark and smouldering' look.
But, by mid afternoon, it has settled upon 'sunny and bright.' In time for Cap d'Antifer.
Stargazer gybes. Loping over the gentlest of swells. Broad reaching south. . . .
. . . .to Cap de la Heve. A mile off the harbour entrance. With our fair tide about to turn, Stargazer stands close in, dodging pot markers, to pick up a favourable eddy.
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