Bucklers Hard, Lymington to Brighton

Well, after the few weeks of toddler relocation activity, we got the boat moving again. A couple of friends (Ann and Martin, you've met them on here before when they came to Ireland last year) joined us at Bucklers Hard. In case you have forgotten them (they will be most upset of course) here is a reminder:

They look quite happy in this picture. I think that Brexit could not have been mentioned for a few hours. Of course the transport from the marina at Bucklers to the boat on the mid river mooring was not of 5 star quality:

4 up and luggage on board it was a little bit full.

Bucklers Hard itself is a beautifully preserved old shipbuilding village - for those who haven't been there:

There was a long tradtion of buildng wooden navy ships including one that Nelson captained (sorry to any Spanish readers). Wandering around and up to Beaulieu for lunch at the Montague Arms hotel (OK, the cheaper bistro bit) was fun.

We then escaped the Beaulieu river at high water and headed to sunny Lymington for a few nights. Plenty of walking, admiring the wild ponies on the beach:

chilling, drinking gin (sorry Colin, again without you) and generally enjoying the amazing weather we are having in the UK. Here is one of the sunsets to give you an idea:

For the first longer trip since we returned from Guernsey, we decided to head over to Brighton. Hadn't been east for many years so it seemed about time to do so. The optimum departure time would have been first light. We didn't do that. Instead we pushed the tide a lot in the Solent, sitting on the flybridge enjoying the views.

Here is the route:

Just over 10 hours at sea and so many pot markers to avoid on the way. Of course, the England / Panama world cup football game was in the middle of the run so the crew and Martin retired inside for football, beer and crisps. On the flybridge we could not hear the squeals of delight when we scored, Shame, they (goals and hence squeals) from England have been such a rarity.

Having booked into Brighton marina by phone a while ago, it seems that it was a total waste of time. Approaching the entrance we called them on the radio for a berth. Answer was "you will have to head for the east end of the marina, just follow the fairway and we will let you know the berth". Should have smelled a rat then....

In the fairway the message was "yes, with your beam and draft you will need a hammerhead so keep going and you will see our berthing master on the pontoons". We did, he was running around like a demented thing trying to find a spot. It didn't go well. Then they radioed us and asked "do you have channel M on your radio?". No, not on the lovely Icom installed on the flybridge, only on our handheld which was below and we had no desire to fetch it.

OK, we will call you on 80 again they said. The poor dockmaster kept running around looking in vain for a slot. They ended up putting us on what has to be one of the worst spots in Brighton. We were at the end of a cruddy pontoon full of decaying little boats that are full of decaying live aboard types. Here is the neighbour:

Yes, someone lives on that. Here is what he/she has left on the pontoon:

Don't see that ever running again. The view looking out in the other direction is just as appealing:

The poor berthing master was very nice though. However the lady he radioed in the office about the advertised summer 7 nights for 5 berthing deal should not be allowed anywhere near a customer. He looked suitably embarrassed at what she said Poor guy; with that kind of backup he must have a great time!

The marina seems to have been neglected as far as dredging is concerned too. Only the visitors area - where there was no space for us despite pre-booking and giving them all the relevant dimensions -  has 2 metres depth. We just have to sit in the mud at low water - up to 40cm short on depth at springs - and avoid holding up the pontoons on our mooring lines by slackening them off a lot. Unimpressive place now, most unimpressive.

Now the good bits. We briefly saw Ray, the man who owns Blackrock Yachting and has an office here. Shame it couldn't have been for longer.  We found an excellent ice cream shop in the city that makes their own stuff - lovely flavours like carrot cake, pain au raisin etc. Look up BoHo Gelato on Facebook. We had to visit multiple times to make sure we were right about their quality of course.

Brighton has a posh new observation tower:

with a viewing platform on it that looks like a 1960s impression of a space station:

Of course, the more traditional pier still packs in the visitors:

although its twin looks a bit sad after a couple of mysterious fires:

With stunning weather and great gelato, the visit to the city was a resounding hit.