Day 18 – Worthing to Eastbourne – 7th June – 30.1 nm
The forecast is good, but the conditions are better.
It’s 06:00 out of bed again. The crowds, clamour and ice-cream van of
yesterday are long gone and it’s peaceful and sunny as we get ready to go. There
is a last minute faff as the toilets are still locked, and I hunt around for an
alternative – it’s all glamour in this game.
Over the top of the shingle bank and... who’s taken the
water? The beach is not quite as steep at low water it seems, in fact nowhere
near as steep - the water’s edge can’t be seen, it’s hidden by the curvature of
the earth.
Not only is the beach flat, it’s also stony, something that
wasn't obvious at high water yesterday either - it wouldn't be under 3 or 4 m of water I suppose. A
long and rocky drag with the trolley finally gets us to the water. I'm glad that
it’s not rough, that would make for a tricky launch.
26 nm later there aren't.
It’s a slog against the eddy up to Eastbourne, scratching
along the cliffs and then the gravel beaches, but every cloud has a silver
lining, the sun has lifted the bikini to beach ratio nicely.
I meet a ski paddler in nothing but his shorts, while I am
geared up the eyeballs. He ignores my Hello, glances rather condescendingly in my direction and
smugly ponces off without saying a word, making a big play of paddling hard. Oh
yes, a big day out to the pier and back - Mummy's little soldier.
Pascale finally finds a parking slot, only for me to change
my mind and scratch a little further up the beach. She gets her revenge by
choosing a landing slot on the steepest shingle beach, right beneath the
balcony of the Eastbourne Angling Club. Oh yes, as popular as a fart in a Volkswagen
now.
I scramble up the shingle, the glare of eyeballs on my back, still feeling rough and wishing for more miles. But there
are no more today.
