October 11, 2026
Just when I thought everything was making sense again, my plans fell through . . .
The plan was to head to London but I was informed on Thursday that St. Katherine’s docks is having some problems with a bridge or a lock or something of that nature and they can’t receive boats at this time. I will stay here in Eastbourne.
The cycling here is probably better, and this little harbour is quite secure despite one ferocious storm already (it’s inside locks, so the sea state is irrelevant) .
I have been actively pulling out a bunch of old electronics. After spending money last winter to put in a new autopilot, but make the old one a backup/spare, I have chosen to simply remove the old one this year. I am out of space and I can’t get access to other areas of the pilothouse to run new NMEA2000 cabling.
Similarly I am pulling out the old AIS, a perfectly good, commercial grade, type A, AIS system (Furuno FA-150) so that I free up space and rely on the new Rayamarine AIS700 (Class B). Not quite as good, but it is fully integrated with the new chartplotter.
On that note I also have a perfectly good second Axiom 2 Chartplotter sitting in a box, and I will install that in the coming days as well I think. It’s time to cut over to new stuff and move on.
Today was a lazy day, and I didn’t progress on this project but since I will be staying here for about two weeks or more, I have lots of time.
I also had a failure of some lighting in the salon this fall and so have put in new LED strips around the salon. The tech is better now, and I can control the brightness with a remote and even have lighting blink patterns if that was my thing. It’s all pretty cool really.
Coming back to the cycling, I went on a ride up the only big hill I can see from here, and it was a nice climb. On the other side was a National Trust site, Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters. I really don’t know what that is about, but I have a couple of photos. 🙂
Friday saw a wicked storm pass through and despite this marina being totally enclosed and protected, Home Free was still pushed around a lot. No big worries but I have everything tied down now.
Yesterday was much better, and I was able to get out for another bike ride. This time to Battle. I rode into Battle. Coincidentally, Saturday was the anniversary (real or nominal, I am not sure) of the Battle of Hastings and the renactment was in full swing while I was riding through town. I would have gone to watch (it’s 4-5 hours) but the event was sold out and I would have been cold in my sweaty cycling clothes. I rode through Battle and back to the boat.
The roads here are better quality than in Hamble and more open than they are likely to be in London, so perhaps being stuck here isn’t the worst thing. I will enjoy it while I am here.
I also pulled out my drone for the first time in a year, and charged it all up and captured some photos and video. I will post more of that another time, but the highlight photo showing Home Free at her slip was taken with the drone, so it all seems to work.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home.