White cliffs of Dover


 

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Across the Channel for Paimpol festival

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 In the last week of July, Falanda and I set off across the channel accompanied by my parents on Karuna.  The morning started out windless so we motored until torbay when the wind picked up and we started sailing, close hauled at about 4.5 kts. The wind increased and a few waves skirted over the stern, splashing the tillerpilot which in turn got wet and packed up.  We then had a few hours of perfect sailing, the helm so light that falanda was steering herself, under full main and slightly reefed jib. At sunset we hove to so that I could reef the main and get changed into some dry, warm clothes before it got cold.  Then it got dark, and we started approaching the shipping lanes, still sailing well at about 6 - 6.5kts.  At this point my batteries were getting low, and I needed the AIS on as we crossed the lanes so I tried starting the engine. I then discovered that the batteries were almost dead rather than low, so faffed around turning everything off, whilst also...
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Back across the Channel

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In order to leave France, we had to officially sign out of the country. Since Brexit this has got quite complicated and the rules seem to change every year.  There are a series of online forms that must be filled out before departure of the EU and arrival in the UK.  We had understood that as well as signing in online, you had to go into an official port of entry to get each crew member stamped in. You then had to do the same when leaving. There was apparently an exception to this rule for people attending the festival.  The customs office had been closed during Brest festival and so we hadn’t been able to get our passports stamped. This then left us unsure of the correct procedure on departure. We had planned to sail from Camaret to Brest to sign out in person, so lifted anchor at the crack of dawn and set sail. After long VHF discussions, however, it was decided that since we had only signed in online, then we ought to only sign out online and didn’t need to present...
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Engine failure and a Channel crossing

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After a night at Brixham in early July, Falanda and I prepared for a Channel crossing alongside my dad on Nora, this was the last weather window before Brest festival began. There was forecasted to be little to no wind for the first few hours and then picking up gently until sunset, when it would stay at around 18 kts until the following afternoon. We completed all the departure and entry forms and started the engines ready to cast off - there wasn’t a breath of wind and it was a hot, sunny day.  Unfortunately, Falanda's engine immodestly let out a series of the most unpleasant sounds followed by a loud bang as I tried to turn it off.  The previous night on arrival at Brixham the stop lever had ripped itself out, an annoyance as it was now harder to stop the engine, however nothing too catastrophic.  Now, on inspecting the damage, the arm that had connected the stop lever to the engine casing had dropped down and smashed out the governor weights and the engine casing. I’m...
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