Our third trip across the Channel was plain sailing and our trip from Boulogne to Dieppe was champagne sailing – plenty of beanbag time.

Dieppe was so much more than the memories of a ferry port to family holidays of childhood. A beautiful town quay where, after a little difficulty communicating in Franglish over the radio, we eventually found a berth big enough for Pintail.

 It was a very photogenic place – beautiful colours,

quirky corners

and a hive of activity.

The town centre had been knitting bombed

and it was radish and garlic season at the market.

Our trip back home was not quite as plain sailing. Leaving Dieppe and beating up the coast in a force 7 wind for over 12 hours we didn’t arrive at Boulogne until midnight. A fishermen’s strike meant we were refused entry to the port and had to make the trip back across the Channel through the night and with no sleep. Stefan managed a delirious smile on our approach to Ramsgate.