Our First Sail in 2013

All of that waiting for a good weather window was worth it as the sea was much more settled when we finally set off from Guernsey on 2 January 2013. We had a fantastic crossing to Portsmouth which only took 16 hours. Nicky's navigation calculations worked out perfectly; we were pushed northwards from Guernsey and on through the Alderney Race by the tide, with our speed over the ground in double figures. Once across the Channel, we arrived at the Needles Channel just as the tide started to flow east to help us through the Solent as the wind dropped off at night. For most of the passage we had 15-23 knots of wind on the beam so BV sailed fast and comfortably. Visibility, however, was not great dropping to 1-3 miles mid Channel. Radar and AIS technology helped us cross the busy shipping lanes safely but despite the 'big picture' they provide, at times it still feels as though we are the frog trying to cross the motorway in that old computer game 'Frogger'.

The best part of the passage, however, was watching the sunrise.