In our experience, it’s rare for sailors to unanimously agree on anything. People tend to have strong opinions, whether it’s about rigging, sailing, boat maintenance, or destinations. So we were a little bit surprised when every single sailor we met advised us to skip exploring the southeast coast of the UK. The guidance was remarkably consistent – just as the southwest coast is a great cruising ground, the southeast coast doesn’t offer much appeal.
We’re not always ones to take advice from others, but in this case we did. The tidal current in the English Channel has a convenient phenomenon whereby the turn to the east-going flood occurs later and later as one heads east. This means that an eastbound passage can be flood current-assisted from almost 10 hours. We left Cowes before first light to take advantage, and when combined with the 20-30 knot westerly wind Madrone covered 100 nm in just over 12 hours.
During the trip, we crossed the Prime Meridian for the first time – it’s hard to believe that these west coast US sailors are now in the Eastern Hemisphere.
With daylight fading, we decided to drop anchor behind Dungeness Spit, about 20 nm short of Dover. The strong wind created decent-sized waves, and those waves wrapped around the low, rounded spit to make for an uncomfortable, albeit safe, anchorage.
It’s our best Eastern Hemisphere anchorage yet!
