We only spent a day two nights and a whole day in Dieppe, but I for one will definitely come again, as I’m sure will Paul. A wonderful town and much more to discover in and around the surrounding area. So, I’m sure another trip is on the cards.

The wind forecast for our return journey was clear and sunny with a North Easterly wind between 14 and 22 knts. We slipped lines at 0700 and made our way out of the marina and through the port and into open water. Raising sails once outside the harbour entrance we set our homeward bound course. I drew Pauls attention that the Genoa seemed un tensioned and so we temporarily headed up and adjusted its halyard tension, it looked and performed much better.

As we approached the TSS and a fleet of of fishing boats, some rather large, the wind picked up, and we had 26 knts across the deck and 2 metre waves. We were already reefed in and we had a rather exhilarating sail through the fishing fleet. A lot more traffic as we crossed the TSS, than we had on the way to Dieppe. So a lot more valuable practise for Paul.

After a couple of hours, the wind reduced to between 15 and 18 kts and we had a more comfortable sail all the way back. Managing to have some locally bought chicken in a fresh baguette and fish soup, Pauls share ended up on the galley floor. We managed to get a shower on the way time for when we arrived at Eastbourne.

Just as we approached the entrance to Eastbourne, we noticed a yacht behaving rather strangely very close to the entrance and harbour wall. Eventually, there was a call on CH16 from him that he had engine failure and both Paul and I were going to assist, but were beaten to it by a larger and more powerful local fishing boat that was also close by.

We continued into the lock and towards our berth, turning up at 1845 after having sailed the entire way.

After putting Izzy Wizzy to bed, Paul and I headed for the local Thai, for a well deserved meal and debrief.

A Wonderful 3 days of fun, sailing and great companionship.