Sailing from Dover - Hilary Lister

The sail from Eastbourne to Brighton turned out to take longer than expected! Pointing high into the wind, we left Eastbourne at 12:30pm and made for Beachy Head and the lobster pot fields. It blew a nice gentle force 3-ish, almost directly from the heading I needed to take, so I tacked back and forth for a while, watching my speed over ground on my Raymarine kit sit at around 5 knots, which could have been better given that we had the tide with us, albeit a neaps tide, but was still not bad given the wind angle.

We have been extremely lucky to have Glenn Gilbert, our website guru, sailing his Contessa 32 alongside us. The Contessa is another beautiful boat, also designed by the Rogers family. I know that Simon Rogers will be pleased to know that his little Arty points higher and faster than his father's classic design! Today we have said goodbye to Glenn as he has to go back to work, and Sean has gone along to Newhaven as crew for him.

I altered course just off Beachy head to go towards Newhaven and Brighton. The views along the cliffs are just spectacular and I always feel particularly priviledged when I get to look back at our islands from the sea. Lunch included both carrot sticks - one of my favourite healthy treats - and chocolate, probably my other favorite, but rather less healthy, snack! The sun was shining, no one was getting wet and even the RIB crew had time to put their feet up occasionally.

Just before Newhaven life got suddenly tougher, but a whole heap more fun! The wind picked up to a 4-5 and the sea state changed dramatically. I watched my boat speed drop and soon after Newhaven called up "SUB" (the official name for our RIB) on the radio and requested that a passenger come onboard "Me Too" in order to put in a reef. It turned out to be a good decision as white horses began to appear around us and the wind built to a 5-6. I got the opportunity to put advice on how to deal with big waves (relative to the size of your boat, of course) without getting soaked and, to my amazement, it actually worked. My eternal thanks go to Darren and Brian for their invaluable advice as I stayed almost completely dry, only getting two waves in the face!

I love this kind of sailing as it is challenging and exciting. I actually sail better when the conditions get tougher as I stop thinking so hard about what I'm doing and revert to my instincts. Eventually the wind dropped a little and the waves became longer, although just as high, which made them easier to deal with. I managed to dodge all the lobster pots again and stayed dry until I was taken into tow behind our RIB just outside Brighton Marina, at which point I was soaked as I was unable to control the angle at which the Arty hit the waves.

We arrived in Brighton an hour and a half later than we had expected, at around 7pm. The Lions clubs here had put on a reception for us, so Helen stripped me of my wet clothes and replaced them with dry versions. I left the team to put the boat to bed whilst I went to be sociable, hair still dripping. The Lions very graciously waited for the whole team to arrive and then fed us huge amounts of delicious food and drink whilst making us all feel incredibly welcome. The whole team would like to thank them for their generosity.

Today has been a "rest day" as the wind and sea state mean that it just isn't feasible to sail to Chichester. It was lovely to wake up under our own power this morning, rather than having alarms going off all over the van, and we treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast in a cafe down the road. Mike is setting up the hoisting system on my seat as we will need to lift me from the boat in the "pod" in some of the harbours we will use in the next few days. Toby is fixing the jib boom on "Me Too" and the rest of the team is busy getting washing and shopping done, not to mention filling up the gas and water tanks in the vans.

Everyone seems to be incredibly busy as there is always plenty to do around camp and the boats, as any sailor will tell you. We are hoping that the Force 8 wind will blow through this evening and that the sea state will have lessened enough for us to make the sail to Chichester tomorrow.

- Hilary 

June 19 - It was a stormy night which shook the camper vans and would have brought down the awning, had it not been for Paul who got up at 4am to put it back together. We woke up hoping that the front had passed over and that the sea state would have improved. One look over the break water told us this wasn't the case.

We still hoped that by lunchtime the situation might have improved, but by mid morning a quick glance at the Greenwich light vessel data showed us that the wave height had increased to over two metres. We even considered a night sail, starting at midnight to get to Chichester just twelve hours behind schedule, but the weather did not want to play the game. The result has been a frustrating day in camp for me whilst everyone else has still been busy.

My jib boom, which had seized up completely over the winter, making it extremely hard to tack, had been partially freed by Sean's hard work in Eastbourne. I hoped that it would continue to improve, but despite his best efforts there is only so much that fresh water and washing can do. This afternoon Mike and Toby scared the living daylights out of me by bringing the whole unit up to camp and proceeding to take it to pieces in a less than gentle manner. As I write Mike is still trying to persuade the "ooofah to fit in the doofah" (direct quote) and turn freely.

I'm just praying that it all goes back together again without several threaded bolts being left over. Helen and Jacqui have gone swimming and Sean was determined to go too, albeit in his dry suit, until we persuaded him that shorts were a better idea. He returned somewhat early claiming that, "one of the girls tried to push me in", but that it was just too cold. Helen and Jacqui, who somehow manage to keep us all sane and in order, have returned claiming that "the water is lovely".

The most I seem to have done today is come up with some potential chapter headings for a book, most of which have been received with hoots of derisive laughter. We are just all hoping that we will be back on the boats tomorrow.

June 20 - When I got up this morning Paul announced; "I would describe Hilary's mood as excited", and he was absolutely right! The prospect of a day on the water had given me something to sing about.

A visit from Tony Leppard, our Project Director, gave everyone a lift as we prepared to sail to Chichester. Even a broken fitting on the boom did little to dampen our spirits as we were able to make a temporary repair.

The shore team and Marina wished us good luck and waved us off. Sean and Mike towed me out of Brighton Marina and we had completed the last of our system checks when I decided that it was a good idea to test our fixing. There was a loud bang and we looked up to discover that part of the Gnav, which helps shape the sail by raising and lowering the boom, had sheared off. There was nothing for it; a piece of corroded aluminum cannot be replaced with any amount of lashing. With our tails between our legs, but very much relieved that it had happened before we were under sail, we returned to the Marina.

For a while the combination of two broken fittings looked like it might hold us up here until Monday, but then we took the broken pieces of the Gnav to 'Bob the Welder' at Felton Marine. Two hours later he had produced fittings which are sturdier than the aluminium and plastic they replaced. We can't thank him and Feltons enough for putting other jobs on hold and would like to sincerely apologise to anyone it inconvenienced.

Meanwhile Jacqi's friend John hijacked an electricity man and his van (whose identity we will not reveal but to whom we offer many thanks) to collect our spare set of sails from Grapefruit Graphics and deliver them to Lymington where they are waiting for us. Unfortunately we have now missed this morning's tide, but we are now planning on leaving at 1 am for a night sail, arriving in Chichester in time for bacon sandwiches (with any luck).

From now on anyone wishing us good luck will be placed up up against a firing wall and shot, with no room for appeal!!

- Hilary

Saturday 21 June: Away as planned from Brighton and arrived safely at Hayling Island at 7am this morning, ahead of schedule (the land vehicles having arrived at around 4am). 36 hour stopover planned, leaving for Lymington around lunchtime tomorrow.

Sunday 22 June: An unexpected increase in wind strength has disrupted plans for a lunchtime sail today. Unfortunately, the winds have not abated sufficiently to allow Hilary to sail overnight so departure from Hayling Island has now been deferred to noon tomorrow (Monday).

- The Dream Team

Hilary, I wish you the very best wind. You are really great. All the best from Canada.

Day 8 - Monday 23 June: Weather is set fair today and Hilary set sail at 1pm and will be hoping to arrive in Lymington at around 10pm.

Day 9 - Tuesday 24 June: Bad news today - Hilary's boat sustained some damage on the leg between Hayling Island and Lymington and she arrived at 1am this morning. Having lifted Me Too from the water, it was fortunately discovered that the damage was not as serious as first thought and that repairs could be carried out within the day. As yesterday's journey involved Hilary being towed from Cowes to Lymington, due to tidal state and no wind, she had planned to set out tomorrow to be towed back to Cowes so she can complete the sail back to Lymington; however, the boat repairs have not been finished in time so the short sail from Cowes to Lymington is now planned for Thursday and the Lymington-Portland leg for Friday (weather permitting).

Day 10 - Wednesday 25 June: The team remain in Lymington whilst the repairs to Hilary's boat are completed.

- The Hilary Lister Dream Team

23 June

The phrase I've heard most often on this trip, mostly from the wet crew, excluding Sean - who is younger, fitter, and definitley leaner :-) - is "Get a bigger boat woman!". After an aborted attempt to leave Brighton in the middle of the day on Friday, it seemed to be all I heard as various crew members tried to squeeze into the narrow gap that leads below the coach roof to all my gadgetry.

Finally, I heard our second most uttered phrase "Job's a good'un " (Seans words), and we slipped our moorings quietly at 12.20 am. Night sailing through lobster pot fields in the fog on a cloudy night is an interesting experience. There were one or two close calls, but we weren't lucky or brave enough to bring breakfast home.

At the entrance to the Looe channel, in fact exactly at the marker buoy, one of my battery boxes let in some water and we had an intermittent power problem which meant that, at 5am the night's sailing was over and Arty and I had to be taken into tow. According to my own rules, this means that today we a towing me back 16 nautical miles in order to pick up where I left off.

The stay at Chichester was frustrating, as the weather forecasts refused to agree with either what was going on outside, or with what we were expecting. It was blowing a constant F5-6, occasionally 7, which was still too much for us.

On the plus side Geoff Holt, who was the first quadriplegic to sail around the coast last summer, and who has always been a friend and incredibly supportive of whatever mad plan I have had on the go, came by on Sunday morning for a few hours. To everyone's delight, he came bearing gifts of food and a book to keep me sane. Since we have the same Landrover and RIB he used last year, I think that it was a flashback for him. Andy, one of his crew, also came along and it was great to spend a couple of hours catching up.

On Saturday we had visits from the local Lions, which was great, and Helen and I went to visit Brian and Jill Pilcher, friends of mine who are Musto's PR people, who had generously offered me the use of their bath. The restaurant at Sparkes Marina then very kindly fed the whole crew.

On Sunday, I missed my neice's christening, which was hard, even though I had a long chat with my Mum and Clifford and they were in my thoughts all day. It was a tricky day all round as we planned to leave at lunchtime, then in the evening, then, when the wind still refused to drop after a couple of hours sleep, we finally gave up and went to the cinema only to find that there were near perfect sailing conditions when we got back late, and too tired to sail. I am about to get into my 'oilies' before having a quick bite to eat and then setting out once again. It will be good to be back on the boat.

24 June

We arrived in Lymington at 00.49 to the warmest welcome we have had yet. The shore crew had been here since mid afternoon, and it was obvious that Berthon Marina had done everything to make the whole team as comfortable as possible.

Meanwhile out on the water...... the tow back to the Looe channel was wetter than life in a washing machine. Unfortunatley, my electronics are exposed and suffered somewhat as a result. Initially I had little control over anything; steering, sheeting, you name it. Once the tow was dropped, and we started to sail, life got drier until eventually at least half of my systems recovered. I was left with no navigational information, but I have sailed the Solent enough to know more or less where I was going.

Problems with steering and sheeting were intermittent, but we made it past the forts and into Osborne Bay. At this point I needed some medication, and we did a crew transfer from RIB to boat. It was timed just wrong and I heard a sickening crunch which I knew meant that the gel coat, at the very least, had been pierced. I suspected that the carbon had also been breached and sadly this turned out to be the case.

The wind died completely and, with the tide against me as well, Arty and I struggled on to the west of Bramble Bank. I eventually gave in and called up 'SUB' for a tow into Lymington.

Day 11 - Thursday 26 June: Another frustrating weather delay. The winds are too strong to complete the Cowes-Lymington sail today. Hilary will try again tomorrow.

Day 12 - Friday 27 June: The bad luck continues - now Sean has cut his hand and will be out of action for a few days. Without him, the RIB crew is short-handed and, therefore, cannot sail. Hilary has arranged for temporary RIB back-up to join the crew for the weekend. He will need to undergo project-specific training tomorrow (Saturday) with a view to Hilary attempting the Cowes-Lymington sail on Sunday (weather permitting). Depending on the progress of Sean's wound, the Lymington-Portland sail will not be possible until Monday or Tuesday next week at the earliest.