WE DIDN’T MEAN TO GO TO SEA

The plan was simple. Beverly and I would have a sort of training cruise for navigating locks, rivers and bridges, and with uncertainty about how far we could go with the various Covid restrictions, we decided to explore as much as we could of the Thames. We thought we’d certainly reach Henley and Sonning and perhaps get up as high as Oxford before the first really low bridge stopped us. As a highlight, we planned to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary at the French Horn in Sonning where we spent our wedding night 39 years ago. September promised perhaps a little less congestion on the river than August, before getting her back into healthy saltwater for the winter.

And so, on 29 August after tea, we set off eastwards from Chichester, bound for Beachy Head the next day, then an overnight stop at Dover or Ramsgate. Our planned overnight passage was prevented by a lastminute crew cancellation due to illness, so we decided to sail by day. Strong northerlies were forecast, but we reckoned we could stay inshore and avoid the inevitable lobster pots by motoring only in daylight. After weaving through