THIS YEAR’S FIRST TRIP BY ZETA

Getting ZETA back in the water, and tidying up after the long winter lay-up, it seemed that a nice trip to Littlehampton would be a good way to start the season and test that everything was working OK. With Tony Titchener and Liz Loveday, we set off on Wednesday 11 April - with lovely weather, but not much wind. But the little wind we had disappeared early in the afternoon, leaving us with tide against us, and with no option but to spend the first night in Brighton Marina - better than a long boring motor to Littlehampton. Why is it every time I set off somewhere, it is either absolutely wind-less or blowing a gale??

Fuelled up in Brighton assisted by Graham Jones (Gannet - his boat name, not eating habit!), and he joined us for the move round to our allocated berth, right under the wall along from the floating Chinese Restaurant, which is unusual, and fortunately was not too noisy with Brighton revellers. Just a point to note about Brighton berthing, we were told to go to berth "05 - 12", which I assumed to be berth 5 on visitors pontoon 12. Just as well Graham was with us because this turned out to be berth 12 on pontoon 5. Always re-check the location with the Marina Office!!! Anyway, after a bottle of wine, and a bit of necessary shopping, we went for a superb Italian meal at Bella Napoli which made up for the disappointment of the lack of sailing that day.

Thursday - wind! - well a light breeze anyway. We set off with plan to catch the tide at Littlehampton, and all went well until just off Rustington, when the breeze let us down again - so we motored the final stage into Littlehampton. On the way in I tried to re-align my radar, but without success. Just got settled down on the visitors pontoon when a rib drifted past, skippered by Kevin Headon of Sussex Yacht Club – one of our past lecturers on sail trim. Just had to pick his brains about my sails - if only to try to avoid the continual jibes about taking the scenic route! So, a couple of bottles of wine later, we had a better understanding of aero foils and things, and drifted off in search of an evening meal. A new Thai restaurant on the quayside looked interesting, but was full - so we ended up in the chippie a few doors down. Excellent fish and chips.

Next day we took a leisurely stroll into town. Found a camping shop with some good bargains in yachting footwear and wet gear. Liked the flotation suit for just £70, but decided that I had enough gear for the time being – locker full!! A Portuguese cafe on the far side of the shipping centre supplied some very tasty cakes and coffee. Littlehampton is a lovely place to wander around. Every fruit and veg. shop we looked into had the most humungous fruit - never seen such big strawberries, oranges, pears and almost everything else. Must be the local weather. We also found a restaurant called "The Silk Road" that was advertising belly dancing. Might be worth a look ot our next club run to Littlehampton. On return to ZETA, and after a phone call to Ziggy (our electronics expert), managed to re-align the radar successfully.

Friday evening we set off again for the return leg with a light NE breeze helping us on our way. Weather forecast gave no strong wind warnings. The breeze died on us momentarily at Worthing. An opportunity to grab a bite - Liz produced a magnificent snack meal for us to enjoy. With darkness descending, the breeze returned, and we were optimistic of getting back to Newhaven by about 0100. However, the breeze soon became a 4 to 5, with gusts of 6. As this was off-shore, we were coping well with the conditions, but as we passed Shoreham, dodging a couple of coasters exiting the port, the wind settled down to a 6, so we decided to head into Brighton again for a night's rest. So much for no warning of strong winds. With the northerly wind pushing us off the visitor's berth, we had two goes at getting our lines on, and Tony finally managed to get us in and tied up safely on the second attempt. No shore power on the visitors berth – fault reported.

Noted that the engine was not charging the batteries – blown alternator again!! - Just had the damn thing fixed. Wind generator provided all the power we needed, so no real problem.

Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast, we returned to Newhaven - under motor as the wind was being elusive again.All things considered, a reasonable first trip of the season, useful for identifying teething problems, and with good company, and lots of good food, a very enjoyable experience.

Nigel Cooper