Days 45 and 46 Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne

 

Me and Josh and Lunar Sea, Sovereign Harbour Eastbourne, nearly home!


Dear Readers, our stay in Eastbourne has meant many visitors, and it has been lovely to share our experience with them all. Yesterday morning my cousin Andy and his lovely wife Julie came on board, and as they had travelled down all the way form Redhill to see us they were rewarded with bacon rolls on board and a glass or two of champagne! It was a hot day, as we are having a heatwave at the moment. Josh remembered the bimani, which he rigged up over the deck, so that we had a welcome sunshade but still had a good view of the comings and goings int he harbour. We all enjoyed the morning together on board.

We have been seeing a lot of Dutch boats over the last couple of days, there were about half a dozen sailing boats in Shoreham and about a dozen mainly motor cruisers here. They were obviously part of a flotilla, and it is great to see European boats back in our waters again. 

Some of the Dutch boats in the harbour.

Later in the afternoon, Joanne, Josh's daughter and her friend Georgie arrived on board, followed by our friends Cherry and Graham. We have been friends since my time in Redhill, and they moved to Ramsgate just up the road from Broadstairs. They are now living in Eastbourne so were keen to meet up with us on the boat. We had dinner on board and another pleasant evening with more champagne and red wine!


Cherry, Graham, me and Josh


Joanne is staying with us to Ramsgate now, which is good because she set off with us on 1 May 2017, five years ago now! She has been there at the very beginning and the very end.

One of two busy locks 

Today dawned another hot one, but at least there is a refreshing breeze. Time for more visitors, this time our sailing companions of old, Mike and Jan, who have come down from Broadstairs to Eastbourne to meet up with us. We have done a lot of sailing and had many adventures on Lunar Sea with them over the years, but this trip they are land based. Mike has been our ground control over the whole trip from the beginning, and it is always comforting to know he always knows where we are and tracks us on AIS. So it is lovely to have them visit us today. 

We are leaving here tomorrow, day 47, with one more stopover at Dover before doing our last trip back to our home port of Ramsgate on Monday, hopefully arriving by the late afternoon. It also happens to be the start of Ramsgate Week, the week long sailing regatta held every year, so that should add to the fun! 

Lunar Sea at her berth in Sovereign Harbour, after all the Dutch boats had left on this morning's tide.


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