WHISPERING SMITH: I won’t go down to the sea again. . .

EVER had one of those really bad “it seemed like a good idea at the time” moments?

I had one recently. Thought a trip out in the Channel with local fisherman Danny Clark, to see just where all of these big fish catches are coming from would make for a good column.

Bad idea, a very bad idea! I packed cameras, sandwiches and a flask of hot coffee and Danny picked me up before sunrise, a weird enough time for me, any way you look at it.

He told me the sea was like a millpond, but I put my borrowed lifejacket on, anyway. We climbed aboard The Enterprise 321 and on a rising tide puttered down the Arun – the jewel in the crown of LA – and out to sea.

Just clear of the bar at the river’s entrance, it became all too clear what a really bad idea it was! The sea was calm enough, I guess, but not the boat. It rocked, nauseatingly, and for three hours I stood rooted to the spot, nowhere to go, my tummy in knots and glad I had left a last “just in case” note to my kids.