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The Sovereign seals survey their surroundings. As the tide ebbs around them. Saving them the work of hauling out.

Whilst a cormorant stands in mute contemplation atop a channel marker. Warming in the sun. After a chilly deep dive.

And an oystercatcher stalks a freshly uncovered shingle bank. On the lookout for any slow to relocate marine snacks.

Barely a breath ruffles Pevensey Bay. A high pressure system looks to be settling in for the week. Causing Stargazer's skipper to rethink passage plans.  

Based around a slower sailing speed. Plus the need to receive tidal assistance to supplement it. Which, together, add up to shorter passage lengths.

On the plus side, we are free to lock out at any state of tide.The welcome presence of dredger Sospan Dau, off the breakwater, resulting in a surprising channel depth upon our arrival. Over a metre greater than when Stargazer left in spring. 

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 Pure white, marbled with green, the sheer square face of Beachy Head glints in the afternoon sun. Towering above the toy-town lighthouse at its foot.

By mid-morning the wind had dropped to fourteen knots. With the tide not far off the turn. An exceptionally small neap.

Stargazer sailed from Brighton. None the worse for her bruising, harbour mouth, berth of the past four days. Her shredded ensign, above, and a sizeable residual swell, below, the only reminders of the big blow.

Snowy cliffs slip by. Undercut by the sea; crowned by emerald downland.

Turning tawny, as Stargazer nears Newhaven.

A coaster steams out of the entrance.

Ahead, the view is dominated by Beachy Head. Which Stargazer is bearing down upon at seven knots, on the tide. Her skipper perched on the coachroof. Wielding a mole wrench. Having noticed that one of three allen bolts, which anchor the rod-kicker to the boom, has inexplicably unscrewed itself.

Access for an allen key is blocked by the loaded vang. Hence resort to the wrench. Stargazer has brought the light abeam, by the time the task is completed and a gybe is required.

Stargazer skips toward the glittering golden dome atop Eastbourne pier. The tide maintaining our speed, as the breeze is slowly blanketed by the tall chalk bluff.

An open lock awaits Stargazer at Sovereign Harbour. 

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A black silhouette swoops out of the sun. Streaking playfully across a tumultuous grey sea.

Which breaks clean across the Brighton marina entrance. The breeze now south westerly and back up to thirty knots.

The kind of conditions which are calculated to draw seasoned kite surfers to the beach.

This low pressure system is expected to clear through during tomorrow. Although opinions vary on the precise timing.

Stargazer requires only a small window to round Beachy Head. Which her skipper hopes to do, with the help of tomorrow afternoon's fair tide. Once the breeze moderates.

The aim being to strategically position Stargazer in Eastbourne. From where it is possible to play the tidal gates, to reach Ramsgate. Last stop before home.

At blistering speed, the balletic figure leaps and gyrates over and across a shimmering seascape. At one with wind and wave.

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'The oldest electric railway in the world,' is the proud boast of Brighton's VER narrow guage line. Its single cars silently shuttling those who prefer to admire their seafront views whilst seated.

Stargazer's skipper prefers to stroll along the boardwalk. Which is laid at the head of a long crescent of shingle beach. Sensing the weight in the breeze, as he goes. Finding it plenty strong enough to require long sleeves and a coat, for the first time since spring.

Top layers are swiftly shed, once sheltered by the sun trap town. Beside its stilt legged pier lies a Kiss-Me-Quick kitsch enclave.

Lovely Jubbly Fish 'n' Chips vie with the Pirate Putting Range and souvenir shops galore, for a visitor's attention. In the best British seaside tradition.

The whole set before a grand Georgian frontage. 

Two blocks back, an exotic green cupola, of eastern architectural influence, is framed by the foliage of a stately tree lined boulevard.

Brighton's onion domed, fret-work facaded, Royal Pavilion is set in a park. Surrounded by a serene aura of calm. Built as a relaxing seaside retreat for King George lV.

======= CORRECTION =======

Ted Heath's first Morning Cloud, the S&S 34 which I mentioned yesterday, sank at her Jersey mooring, whilst in her second ownership, during a winter storm, in 1974. Morning Glory turns out to be from the same stable, but is an S&S designed She 33. Never owned by Ted Heath. But yours for £9950 according to the brokers at Boatshed Brighton . Apologies for my confusion! (Ted Heath pictured here aboard  the second Morning Cloud. Also an S&S design)

Did I mention that I thought that I saw Lord Lucan, riding Shergar through the park, by the Pavilion?

Picture Credits

Ted Heath aboard Morning Cloud ll; courtesy of BBC (or possibly Getty Images)

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In a quiet corner of Brighton marina the Sparkman & Stephens 34, Morning Cloud, draws a crowd of onlookers. She, the first of a string of successful race boats by that name, owned by former British Prime Minister Ted Heath.

 Now known as Morning Glory and seeking a new custodian. Her lines purposeful. Her pedigree illustrious. Her future uncertain.

Through a wild night and a rain soaked morning, the wind howls and waves clamber high. From time to time overtopping the tall concrete caisons. Which form this wholly man-made harbour

Whilst conditions within are remarkably calm, the visitor pontoon is the nearest to the entrance and within reach of spume blown over the walls. Which renders it an uneasy berth.Much like the situation in Le Havre, where Stargazer found herself weatherbound this time last year. 

Life aboard has temporarily taken on a five degree list to starboard. All fenders are deployed, to defend Stargazer's topsides. Moaning and groaning at the pressure which they must bear.

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Stargazer sails with the sunrise. Or, perhaps more correctly, is carried by the tide across the glassy waters of Chichester Harbour. Making a stately four knots.

Fitful breaths waft over the saltings. Promising more to come, once we clear the lee of the land.

Ten knots of breeze awaits us off the West Pole. Where Stargazer spreads her wings and turns eastward.

Bound for Boulder Street. The shortcut around Selsey Bill. 

Where the tide runs hard and fast in Stargazer's favour. As it squeezes between the dry land of the headland and the submerged Owers reefs (Red arrow is Stargazer).

The channel is named after the two buoys which mark it.

Stargazer lopes across a blue sea. White clouds float serenely above a low, shingle fringed, shore. Stargazer's skipper eats jam scones and drinks coffee, as an early elevenses.

Soon, the windfarm turbines start to spin faster.

For, dark clouds are gathering in the afternoon skies.

Stargazer is surfing at seven knots. Her skipper preparing lines and fenders, in order to seek shelter. Suspecting that tomorrow's forecast 'big blow' may be arriving early.

Stargazer sweeps past Brighton Pier. Slightly overpowered, with full sail up in twenty knots of breeze.

Which is gusting past thirty, by the time that she secures in Brighton marina. Her skipper thinking better of standing on for an after dark arrival in Eastbourne. 

Picture Credits

Boulder Street charts screenshot; courtesy of Navionics by Garmin

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Two fishers take their turn. To stand watchfully amid the sedge. Salt waters lapping at their feet. One avian. . . . 

. . . . the other a wader-clad human.

We are between weather systems today. The morning, a trifle grey and still. With brighter and breezier conditions filling in behind. 

Stargazer intends to head east on tomorrow morning's ebb.

There should be sufficient water left, by the time dawn twilight arrives, to slip out of the Northney Channel and over the Chichester Bar.

There to meet the start of the east-going tide. As it swirls out of the Solent, inside the Owers and around Selsey Bill.