LESSONS LEARNED

I’m not sure I learnt any new lessons: a testament to the training I received over the years and many sea miles of practice. What I did do was relearn some old lessons, taken back to courses when an instructor would politely remind me that a pilotage plan when entering a new harbour is essential, daily engine checks are to be ignored at your peril, and if you're unsure of where you are, get a fix. None of this is rocket science, but skills fade with time and lack of use.

1 If I were to do this trip again I would beg, buy, borrow or steal a chart plotter. Steam nav is fine, but a plotter would reduce stress considerably when trying to enter a new harbour late at night in testing conditions. That said, if I had set more waypoints and set them closer to the channel entrance buoys we could have avoided some of this angst.

2 Phone charging was a real issue for us. A cigarette lighter socket I fitted before departure was incompatible with our USB plug, and the batteries in our phones soon ran flat. A few hours on the mains in each port did little to restore them to full strength, and they remained flat for most of the journey.

3 My boat has a 27lt fuel tank. This was insufficient for the 12 hours’ motoring required to maintain 5 knots SOG on some days, and we had to refuel at sea using a jerry can and funnel. I should have fitted a bigger tank before leaving, or at least fitted a second tank and bought a 12V pump.