Thursday 5 August 2010 Hythe N 50 52.80' W01 24.50’

The last passage home.

Alcyone left Brighton at 0530 bound for Hythe with a Force 3 wind and moderate sea. The forecast had promised North West Force 4 to 5 wind backing south west in the middle of the day which would have given a reach to the Solent then a reach, on the other tack, up the Solent and Southampton Water but, true to form, the wind was ahead only a few degrees north of west making it close hauled all the way. At least the sun shone for most of the way!

Clearly others had also seen the forecast and worked out the optimum time to leave to get maximum tide as there were at least 10 boats beating down channel out of Brighton as we set course for the Looe Channel. Many seemed to head further offshore and within a couple of hours we were alone.

At 1530 hours Alcyone entered Hythe Marina at the end of some 2,000 miles and 12 weeks of sailing.