Dover or not

I had a long conversation with weather guru Simon Keeling, and decided there was no safe window for a passage home. After a few days of changeable winds, with some strong patches off Suffolk which means we would probably encounter at least force 7 somewhere en route, they go north-westerly for a few days which is as bad as possible. Sam was deeply pissed off, we all shouted at each other and went to bed in a very depressed mood. My preference was to abandon the boat, take the Eurostar home, and worry about it later. Sam just wanted three days of settled southerlies, which is not looking likely. Please note, the weather is not my fault.

This morning brought new counsel and a chat with a British 32-footer moored opposite us, which is heading for the South coast. They reckon they can make Dover with modest winds all the way and have invited us to tag along. The advantage of this is that there are possible havens at Zeebrugge, Oostende, Dunquerque or even Calais, so if things turn nasty we are never more than two hours from port.

Breskens doesn't really want us, there is no guarantee of a berth, and this at least gets us to the UK. So unless things change we will be off in around three hours.