The Conquest of England

So there we were in Blankenberge and the next day again 7 Bft was announced. We decided to take a day off and take the train to Bruges. In the most beautiful weather, we explored this very beautiful medieval city. Holger noticed the cleanliness of this city and the cozy atmosphere with the canals and beautiful beer gardens. Photos will follow. The next morning we went to Dunkirk with a northeast wind of 5-6 Bft.. The entrance to Dunkirk reminded us of the Second World War, where over 340,000 trapped English soldiers were evacuated. Unfortunately, a lot was destroyed during the Battle of Dunkirk - and not rebuilt either. The ruins of this city still do not make a very inviting impression today. Well, we didn't have to look at the city any further and went to bed early. The next day we were finally going to England - as the Wehrmacht famously wanted, but failed. We had to motor a lot as there was hardly any wind. At 4 pm we finally arrived in Dover. The English were very friendly and assigned us a berth via radio, which would have been unthinkable 90 years ago. Dover and especially the white cliffs are truly impressive. Since strong winds from the west were expected for the next two days, we stayed in the harbor with the SY and visited the very impressive Dover Castle and also Canterbury the next day.

Dover Castle is located above the city and controlled the Strait of Dover between Dover and Calais. This castle was our destination. We walked up the steep path. The sun had no mercy and completely sweaty I - Holger trained and even freezing - reached the castle. They initially refused us entry. It was only after paying a proud sum of 40 pounds that they let us in. But the castle is worth it. It is the oldest and best-preserved fortress in Britain. The British built underground casemates in the white cliffs, which served partly as accommodation for 2,000 soldiers, as a hospital and also as a command post during the evacuation of Dunkirk. Every second street here is named after Winston Churchill. Although the Germans largely destroyed the city of Dover in the war, the fortress was not attacked and is thus still completely preserved. So we spent several hours on this hill, which has always served as a fortified stronghold since the Iron and Roman times. There is even an old lighthouse from Roman times. The castle itself was built by Henry II around the twelfth century. The English have restored the keep to its medieval state. So we could get a good picture of the High Middle Ages. We then visited the tunnels that the British dug into the white cliffs in the 16th century. The evacuation of Dunkirk was extensively portrayed. The realistic multimedia presentations of bombings, explosions, machine gun fire, and massacred soldiers made us feel right in the middle of the action. Little children who were on this tour started crying and clung to the legs of their parents. These very vivid depictions of war also serve to cement the national heritage in the minds of children and grandchildren. It seems that the fact that these horrors can lead to psychoses in sensitive children, or even lay the foundations for future psychopaths, is consciously accepted. In any case, I was very impressed by these multimedia presentations. At night I dreamt of the occupation of England and in the morning we drove to Canterbury. Here too, we encountered the Romans, whose city walls and towers still enclose the old town. The Germans were also active here and reduced half of the city to rubble and ashes. The rest is relatively well preserved and very worth seeing. Of course, we visited the cathedral and even attended a mass - which unfortunately did not help. I came out just the way I went in. The cathedral is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic, with a Romanesque basement and Gothic style further up with many small chapels and saints. At some point, we had enough of the saints and returned to our ship. To catch the tide, we got up at 3 a.m. and left Dover at 3:45 a.m. We experienced a beautiful sunrise and made good progress with a northwest wind. At 1 p.m., we reached Sovereign Harbour. Here too, we had to register via radio and were assigned a berth. Eastbourne is also supposed to be a seaside resort. However, everything looks a bit run-down here. They don't have the beautiful sandy beaches of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France here. The British only have their white cliffs, which they can throw themselves off or pebble beaches that you can hardly walk on with bare feet. We walked along the promenade to Eastbourne. Everything is not very inviting. Eventually, a beach bar appeared where Englishwomen fattened with fish and chips were sitting. Despite that, we still had our beer there and then walked back to the ship - disappointed by the city - where Friedrich Engels took a vacation and was buried at sea - which the Germans bombed during the Second World War and ruined the most beautiful hotels and houses. Half of the city belongs to a duke who makes sure that holidaymakers don't spend too much money. He has banned shops from opening in his buildings. So many houses are still used as hotels or as cheap accommodations, as the English prefer to go to Mallorca rather than vacation in their own country. Who could blame them?

It is only just over 20 nautical miles from Eastbourne to Brighton. With the ebbing tide, we set off at 11 a.m. and sailed to Brighton with a following wind, only with the genoa. We were directed to the guest pier, where we were allowed to moor next to a Dehler 46. We noticed that this part of the port is in the tidal area because shortly before low water, we touched the ground with the Taishan. Tomorrow we will go through the lock into the upper port, where the Taishan will be taken into the shipyard. It's time to replace the stern tube, or rather the shaft bushing. Lizzi, an employee of the shipyard, took pity on me and offered her help. So, tomorrow we will be lifted out and afterwards I will take Holger to the train station in Brighton. I myself will fly to Greece on Saturday morning to take possession of my newly acquired house in Pelion. I will meet Anette at the airport in Volos.