Last August we sold our faithful Halcyon 27 'Mako' - after 19 years I suppose it was time for a change. It took us a nearly a year to find a worthy replacement. Mako was a hard act to follow and perhaps we are getting very fussy in our old age but eventually after looking at more yachts than I care to remember we fell in love with a Moody 29 'Diaton'. Well to be honest it was the engine that did it - a 20-HP twin cylinder Bukh. After the Sabb I felt much happier with another big Scandinavian diesel under the bridgedeck.

However Diaton was in Hamble so a coastwise delivery trip was the order of the day - and as quickly as possible before South Coast marina charges warranted a second mortgage. With a few basic handover instructions on how to get sails up and down and start the engine, we set sail from the Hamble early on Friday 8 August and took the tide down the Solent towards the Nab. Despite being Cowes week it was mercifully quiet - too early for the racing yotties - so all we had to avoid were ships, ferries, hovercraft and hydrofoils! Visibility was only about a mile - just enough to buoy hop out to the Looe channel where a quick glimpse of Selsey Bill was the last land we were to see for many hours. Then in rolled the fog.

We were in a little world of our own. This meant it was time for serious navigation but at least weren't having to cross shipping lanes. Diaton is equipped with all sorts of gizmos including Decca and radar, so the Skipper and Crew now indulged in some rapid 'hands-on' learning and the various instruction manuals became almost as important as the charts. Blobs on the screen sometimes came close enough to materialise out of the fog as yachts or fishing boats - although there was some confusion when several hover flies alighted on the screen. A further fright was when the mate detected water sloshing around the bilge. Unlike the Halcyon the Moody has a very shallow bilge beneath the cabin floor. It looked a lot but when mopped up was only half a bucket. A quick bit of detective work by Judy identified the culprit as large ice bags which had melted and leaked and the cool box drain led straight into the bilge!

Despite the light airs, we had managed to carry the east going tide for nearly 10 hours and now reckoned we were about 3 miles south of Newhaven. However the fog had thickened, the tide was turning and I did not relish the prospect of finding the small entrance to Eastbourne Marina - our planned first stop - in the fog and the dark. At 17.00 we altered course for Newhaven and soon after were relieved to hear its foghorn. Eventually the breakwater loomed out of the fog dead ahead - although the Crew suffered palpitations thinking it was a cliff. We had a delightful evening in Newhaven, met up with some friends we knew from Anguilla and ate in the most amazing restaurant (Needs a separate article!) The success of the first legs of the voyage was celebrated as with a number of bottles of wine.

The next morning the sun shone on Newhaven town but not to seaward! At about noon we sailed out into the fog again on the assurance from our friends that Beachy Head would disperse the fog and Eastbourne would be in sunshine. According to the little pencilled 'Xs' on the chart and as the next sight of land was Dungeness, we must have passed the scenic wonders of Beachy Head, Eastbourne, Hastings and Pevensey Bay. The light southerly breeze and fair tide pushed us along at six knots and we watched a magnificent sunset over Hythe before disappearing again into the fog. As darkness fell we then experienced the most weird sight of the cliff tops and church towers of Folkestone appearing above the fog layer but with nothing visible at sea level. After two false alarms [an anchored vessel and then a drilling rig] we eventually found the Western entrance of Dover Harbour at about 22.00hrs. After radioing for permission to enter, were escorted to a berth in the tidal marina by one of their patrol launches on duty just outside the entrance. The harbour looked quite eerie in the dark with the fog drifting around the lights. Dover now really does welcome yachts and the marina facilities are very good with access at any stage of the tide the beach and town only a short walk away.

The Sunday was hot and sunny with no fog. We left the Western entrance - rapidly pursued by a Lynx Cat and once round South Foreland had a fast close reach via the Ramsgate Channel and into Ramsgate for the night. The wind by now had gone Northeasterly and the forecast did not bode well for tomorrow's crossing of the estuary. Yet more tidal calculations indicated a 0430 start was called for to make most use of the tide but after mutterings from the crew felt we could stretch things to 0600.

Luckily the Monday dawned fairly clear. The thundery trough had stalled west of London - and the wind, a light southeasterly. We executed a rapid departure and breakfasted on marmalade sandwiches passing North Foreland. We felt we were now back in home waters - from the short chop and the muddy colour - and crossed the Estuary via the Fisherman's Gat, Black Deep, Sunk Head and Medusa Channel. Judy and her sister Janet carefully checked 'East Coast Rivers' as we went so you can be sure this cross estuary route has been verified by the editors. By mid afternoon we were tied up in Levington and after a couple of days pottering around the Orwell, 'Diaton' is now in her new base at Felixstowe Ferry.

Not an epic voyage but it was a good test run for our new boat and has given us great confidence in her. It is a pity we saw nothing of the south coast but at least we didn't have howling easterlies, It also proved an excellent refresher course in navigation for her crew.

Graham Jones - S.V.Diaton


- from OFFSHORE - Fall 1997

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