Practical_Boat_Owner_-_November_2015_

Restoring a Pandora

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Epona moored

in Honfl eur after

a successful

Channel crossing

the mains battery charger, my brand new
depth sounder and of course a 12V
charger socket for my phone and iPad.

Crossing the Channel
So now, with around £3,500 saved up
from my part-time job at Waitrose, I was
all ready to go. My fi ve months’ leave from
work had begun, and I got suitably drunk
at my leaving party with my school and
work friends. Unfortunately, the week we
planned to make the crossing was
plagued with near gale-force winds in the
Channel, so after loading up the boat I
took to living on it for the week in protest. I
pottered around in the Solent, only really
coming ashore for my dad’s 50th in
Hamble and for plenty of goodbyes at
home! This proved useful as I was able to
try out the new modifi cations and see if
anything needed a last-minute tweak
(which fortunately wasn’t the case).
On Tuesday 7 April, around 5pm, my
mum waved at me from Hythe Sailing
Club’s slipway as I left my mooring. I met
my dad in the Hamble where we left the
Warsash pontoon and went on our way
around 8pm. We motor-sailed out of the
Solent and reached the Nab tower just
past 11pm. It was a very still and peaceful
night: unfortunately this meant we were
motoring, but it was better than being in
the conditions of the previous week.
We took turns at the helm while the
other slept for about two hours. As the

night went on, we each wanted to sleep

longer and longer. After my few hours

sleep, I woke just before 10am to the

most perfect conditions: we were sailing

with full main and genoa in a gloriously

steady Force 3 from the south-east. It was

clear and sunny, and we were making an

impressive 6.5 knots over the ground.

The wind and weather were good to us

all day: the wind dropped a tad in the

afternoon, when we resorted to motor-

sailing again, but as we approached

Le Havre in the evening it picked up

suddenly to around Force 5, and we were

forced to reef and drop to the working jib.

After 110NM we arrived tiredly in the

Honfl eur lock at 11:55pm, and shortly

afterwards we were moored to dry land

once again. Sitting in Honfl eur, in the

cockpit of my very own boat, I handed a

cold beer to my dad, without whom none

of this would ever have been possible.

The following morning my dad hopped

on a ferry back to England, leaving me to

begin my journey through the canals: a

whole 1,322km and 236 locks to go!