Cherbourg

So this is why this SD23 was Soooooooooo well equiped and kitted out!

you dont need one third the kit for coastal estuary or harbour trips.

In the end, i went solo, because no-one else was brave or foolhardy enough.11/7/2004.

Because i didnt have self-draining cockpit and I knew one broach and shed sink in a minute, so i towed an inflated dinghy!

On the day, i set off about dawn from Christchurch, looking at 63nm as the crow flies, shipping forecast/met office winds were forecast good, 4 gusting 5. Actually wrong ! it was 5 gusting 6 any further south than IOW. I fell seasick and puked 6 times in the forst 3 hours, but i was determined to complete the plan, and kept drinking water and fluids which eventually won out. Seas were so big, for the next 8 hours, i never left the tiller, except on autopilot head to wind for 10 mins unsuccesful boom furling.

in the direct line were overfalls, and at these points, the seas became huge and angry, about 10 metres troughs i was doing over 8 knots-GPS down some, but having lost the only boom reefing handle overboard (now made 2 spare ones since) trying to reef, i struggled with full main and excessive weather helm for another 3 hours till it smoothed out in the late afternoon. I reached Cherbourg harbour at dusk, and anchored outside the inner wall FOC.

The following day, i rested in the welcoming marina and shopped/toured the town, retuning in light winds the following day, which took 18 hours, because for hours the winds were less than F2, and only picked up to F4 north of IOW, the inboard engine ran over 8 hours on its 4 gallon tank.

All in all a real ambition for over 10 years realised, and it was such a glorious 2 days in Cherbourg on a boat i had rebuilt and sailed solo.

Id always planned to tour the channel islands and Brittany afterwards, but no-one would come, so it never happened.