Monday 27th May

At midnight we left our temporary mooring on a buoy outside Yarmouth. The moon was low and we headed into the darkness with the flashing red, green and white of the buoys to guide us. Once through the Needles channel we turned West. The wind was inexorably on our bows and we pounded into the waves all night. Daylight saw more of the same and we entered Dartmouth in time for a late lunch. The forecast is for worsening weather so we'll stay put until it improves.

Wednesday 1st May

We walked into Chichester for lunch then back to the boat to refuel and leave through the lock on the rising tide. We had an uneventful crossing of the bar and were back to Haslar for supper.

MayDay

We managed to get round Britain without too much bother.  Today Lucinda and I went for a gentle sail down river and anchored for lunch.

The anchor chain got wrapped round the keel - don't ask.  We did, in fact, manage to free ourselves just as the lifeboat arrived but it was good to see them.

Final Post

This will be my last post. The statistics are complete and the map shows our route. Lucinda and I are delighted Oblivion is back on the East coast and we both were on her for every mile she covered. Many thanks to those who helped us with our journey, to those who have encouraged us, and all who followed the blog.

Our timing was perfect. Sophie went into labour the evening we finished the trip. Lucinda and I are now grandparents and Sophie and David have a wonderful daughter called Hester.

The journey is complete

Once again we had to leave early. There was no way of avoiding plugging into the tide for the first 30 miles as we rounded North Foreland and then weaved our way across the Thames Estuary. Although the wind was reasonably strong it was blowing from the North West and we made use of the engine to keep us on course and up to speed. The weather was good and the sea colour was back to the grey brown of our home waters. We will have to get used to having centimetres rather than metres beneath the keel. We decided not to return to Burnham. Instead we went a further 5 miles up the river Crouch and have left Oblivion in North Fambridge.

It has been an extraordinary summer and we both feel a great sense of achievement. We've sailed some 2100 miles, been to some great places, learned a bit about ourselves and our country, and have had an amazing time. We will have to get back to the boat as there is a lot of unpacking and cleaning to be done. But for tonight I'm looking forward to a take away curry, a hot shower and a good night's sleep in a big bed with clean sheets.

Ramsgate

With an early start and the tide with us today we managed to cover the 80 miles to Ramsgate while only having to sail 72 miles through the water. Although the engine helped us keep our speed up we did have several hours when the wind blew at 18 to 22 knots. During this time we were on a dead run and with only a single reefed mainsail were consistently surfing down the waves at 7 to 8 knots. We both feel we've worked hard over the last 2 days to get here. On the way we passed Beachy Head which was spectacular, Dungeness which was an eyesore and Dover harbour where there was an almost constant stream of large ferries which we had to weave between.

Brighton

The journey continues. Lucinda and I would like to get the boat to the east coast before Sophie has her baby. It's a race against time. The plan was for an early start this morning. However we arrived at the Hamble last night to find the bilges full of oil. The problem was solved with a small rubber O ring which cost an outrageous £3 plus a £30 taxi fare to the shop. The delayed start meant we had the tide against us the whole way so we had to sail over 64 miles to cover 54. We did intend to go to Eastbourne but were happy to end here after 11 hours on the water. At least the wind was more or less behind us and with a brisk 18 to 20 knot breeze we surfed downwind all the way.