After I dragged myself out of bed this morning at 0830hrs I paid our mooring fees and we set about carrying out some essential maintenance and then pondered our next move.  Looking over the Harbour wall (and after our previous leg) I was a little apprehensive about our next leg to Le Havre.

I watched yachts and cruisers struggling as they left the the harbour and remembered clearly last years failed attempt to leave Ramsgate!  We needed more fuel so we waited for the fuelling jetty to become available and luckily by that time the wind had died down and as it was already 1400hrs I decided that we could still make the channel crossing in the late afternoon and through the night making Le Havre by early morning.

We slipped our "cosy" mooring to proceed to the fuelling jetty and at this point I discovered that the port throttle on the fly bridge would only engage slow ahead or astern and not increase more than idle!  Bad timing as with wind I needed the extra thrust to get us out of this berth but luckily Andy came to the rescue with his feet and saved any contact with one of our our intimate neighbours! Not sure about the problem but looks like the cable has parted - more investigation required.

After a frustrating wait in the inner harbour for fuelling we topped up the tanks, requested permission to leave the harbour and then we were off, destination Le Havre, 159 Nautical Miles, estimated cruising time of 12 hours accounting for the tidal streams in the channel and night time navigation .

The crossing was only 12 nautical miles at right angles to the Traffic Separation Zone and before we knew it we just were off the coast of France, we adjusted course and then settled down for a further 130 Nautical Mile cruise to Le Havre.

So on we cruised, in a south westerly direction dodging lobster pots and watching the sun set on a perfect evening.   AIS on, regular position fixing on the chart and keeping a good look out we cruised through the night, being slowed up a little as we were now having to fight against the tide.

All was well until we lost sight of the stars approximately 50 miles away from Le Havre and then once again things started to get lumpy!    Rain and gusty winds generated quite a vicious swell and with visibility deteriorating we were at the peril of the sea once more!

Three hours of the usual bouncing and rolling and then to finish we were fighting an ebbing tide and 20 knot winds in the harbour channel and proceeded through into the Yacht basin at 0430hrs (UK time).  Secure alongside we stood and reflected on that experience while inspecting for any damage in and out.  0650hrs French time we considered our next move but as I was approaching 24hours with no sleep the safest option was to get some rest and re-evaluate when I could think straight, plus the thought of going back out into that swell to get round to the entrance to the Seine was not an option for me at this time!   to be continued......