It was all going so well!

Nieuwpoort to Calais.

No problem!

Another early start but not so severe as yesterday.

In fact Lynn was up early and took these pictures

No topiary pictures thank goodness!

And so we set off. Fair tide, little wind and glassy sea.

There are a couple of dog legs between the various sandbanks between Nieuwpoort and Dunkerque which on the way up with the terrible weather had been a nightmare, but today dead easy. A couple of clicks on the autopilot and we zoomed up the channels.

Lynn was sunbathing, a helicopter was practicing rescuing a frogman and all was easy. Almost like being in Holland.

In fact it was so easy that we decided we could carry straight on to Dover.

My chart plotter really doesn’t like changes halfway through a route. I’m sure there’s an easy way to do it, it’s just that I haven’t fathomed it out yet. But after deleting all the waypoints and re-entering them we were set on our new course 😎

Then Dover Coastguard issued a warning that there was a cross channel swimmer leaving from Folkestone and that there was nil visibility at The Varne.

That was a little worrying but he had 10 support boats so little chance of a drowning.

There was the fog issue though! I radioed the CG and got an assurance that by the time we got there it would be moderate to good visibility. So no problem there then.

However!!!!

As we approached the shipping lanes the fog suddenly came down. The temperature dropped from shorts and T shirt to fleece and woolly hat. The wind was up to 18 knots right on the nose and the tide was turning!

Has Rob been eating those cakes as he promised was my first thought!

We hoped it might pass soon but despite a couple of blasts with my fog horn it was here to stay.

The AIS on my phone was quite helpful telling us there was a yacht 150 yards away, and we did briefly see it, but then it all evaporated back to white. Then the phone decided to shut itself down even though there was battery left, I never did trust that Jobs chap! Always looked unshaven!

We heard foghorns and staring into the whiteout it’s easy to imagine you’ve seen things, but every so often and slowly a grey shape takes form and turns into a ship looming over you!

Most unpleasant, I imagine purgatory to be something similar, and so as we were about to enter the shipping lanes the decision was made to head for Calais after all.

So here we are again

We crept into Calais as we could only just make out one of the harbour arms, but once inside within a few yards it was a hot sunny fog-free day!

What a contrast!

Hopefully the fog will hold off tomorrow and we can get a straight run to Eastbourne.

It’s Lynn’s birthday tomorrow and I know it’s not how she wants to spend it but sailing and planning don’t sit together easily.

So I’m off to check the tides and the weather now 😎👍