Enjoying Chichester Harbour

The forecast for Friday 19 August showed a large low arriving in England, so we were motivated to leave our marina in Woodbridge and make some progress ahead of it.  

After a good sail on Tuesday 50 miles across the wide mouth of the Thames to Ramsgate, we rested there a day and then motored in light winds all the way to Brighton, which is a very useful but ugly concrete and glass marina. We left there at 5.45 am  and were safely inside Chichester Harbour by noon on Friday.  Up the Chichester river we found a splendid mooring off Itchenor, 50 yards from the floating dinghy dock and 100 yards walk to the Ship Inn.  This hostelry was inviting, cosy, and excellent value, so we gave the cook a holiday and ate dinner there three days in a row.  The harbour master ‘s office was friendly and efficient, and showed us the way to Tim’s Quarterdeck Café, which is a little jewel tucked away somewhat strangely in the yard of Southerly Yachts, which sadly are now out of business.  

On Sunday we enjoyed watching the racing dinghies from Itchenor Sailing Club hold a breezy regatta, and have loved the birds, swans and beautiful marshscapes around us.

While the wind has roared and rain has pelted down, we have had some interludes of mere clouds and even some sunshine.  In other words, we have enjoyed a fairly typical August holiday week in England!

 Leaving Tide Mill Marina, Woodbridge

 One of the black swans came to say goodbye!

 Heading down the Deben River at high tide.  The river partially dries out at low tide

 The beautiful Suffolk countryside along the Deben

 At the mouth of the Deben, Beach Huts are strangely popular!

 John dressed for the 65 degree weather!

 Nancy in the same temp!

 Crossing the Thames.  There are many hundreds of windmills!

 A view from our Thai restaurant of the Ramsgate Harbour

Ramsgate is a man made harbour built out from the cliffs in the 1700s and 1800s

 Leaving Ramsgate

 The beautiful white cliffs of Dover on the way to Brighton Marina

 Leaving Brighton Marina at 5:45am

 Itchenor..a dingy sailors' paradise

 A great pub with outstanding food!

On the Mooring at Itchenor

Best,

John and Nancy 

At Last Back in the UK For Our Summer Sail

What do mice and men do?

They make plans. Best laid plans.  Then, if we are smart mice, we expect our plans to change. So smart mice “expect the unexpected”. These words are part of the drill when you come aboard Adventuress for the first time: and this aphorism is often borne out by events.

So we certainly got a large dose of unexpected when in late May, four days before we were due to fly to England, Nancy was diagnosed with breast cancer. All was cloudy and uncertain for a few weeks, but then we got lucky as we learned first that Nancy had the "best" type of cancer, then that the treatment was successful, and that she would be signed off and back to virtually normal by mid August. And so now we are finally here in Woodbridge England together on the boat, on August 14, and getting ready for an abbreviated one month sail to the Channel Islands, and possibly to the Isles of Scilly.

We will leave our marina tomorrow with big smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts as recent experience has renewed our appreciation for the happiness we have. 

Here are some photos taken when Nancy arrived in London and on a visit to Dad on our way to Adventuress:

At Roger's pad in London, off to the..............

........The Phantom!  Running for 25 years at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket: a special occasion to share as Nancy's birthday treat. We had both seen the Phantom twice before, but this was a first for both of us, to see it in its original theatre in London.

 Another revisit, this time to Abington Church where we were married on "countdown day": 12/11/10.  Mum and Dad Knight were married here on July 1 1944 when Dad was granted a 48 hour leave from the RAF to get married! John's sister Jenny, and then John were also baptized here: the Church is over 800 years old.

We enjoyed traditional Sunday Lunch with Dad in Northamptonshire, at Dad's favourite haunt, the Saracen's Head in Little Brington, in the heart of the Spencer Estate, ancestral home of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. We had carved roast meats, Yorkshire Pudding, and roasted vegetables, of course! Dad celebrated his ninety first birthday on May 1st.

And finally the Admiral is aboard.  Do you think she is happy?

John and Nancy 

Tide Mill Marina, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.