long night!

Now 11h00, and things have settled a bit.... low water means that we are a bit more sheltered from the wind, and the wind has swung a bit more Northerly, and the swell seems to not come in so badly...... We've been offered a chance to lock through to the inner harbour, but still undecided, as it means facing the challenge of getting off the current berth, which won't be easy in 30kts of wind, and then negotiating the lock... the wind will be straight down the throat as is the swell, and there are no pontoons, its tying to the walls!... however, on the upside, it means no swell tonight...... 16h30 update.... Decided not to go into the lock, it looks too much..... So we grabbed a taxi to the chandlery the other side of town, and bought snubbers.... they didn't have much left, a bit of a run on them apparently!... I got two of the giant spring types, and have spent most of the afternoon fitting them along with some hose over the warps through the fairleads.... much quieter below.... The forecast is for the wind to moderate this afternoon, and then even more tommorrow, but still no sign of it.... its still well over 25kts in the harbour, but we are now past high water again, and so things should be better tonight.... Hoping that we might be able to make a dive for either Dunkirk or Calais tommorrow, but as I write, we are still well and truly storm bound in Oostende.... 19h00 update... Wind seems to have moderated a little..... Apologies for typos, but we've been aboard fellow forumite, BarryT's boat all evening, enjoying a selection of wines, so enjoying our situation! Forecast is for 3 to 4 tommorrow, so optimistic of a dash down to Dunkirk (or should that be Dunkerque), which is only 26nm.... suspect that the wind will be OK, but there may well be a bit of a sea running... it'll be a broad reach, so we'll either fly down in 3 hrs, or wallow our way, all feeling sick! Plan is then to head over to Ramsgate Saturday, which should be fine under a lee shore, and then Saturday onwards back to Ipswich..... not ideal for the kids, as its 3 days of passage making in arow, but can't be helped.... We're off in a few minutes to dinner aboard Vreny as guests..... so no doubt, more wine!

getting worse..

Another rough night.....so much for the winds moderating.... up 4kts on last night... I'm typing this at 04h00 in the morning... unable to sleep... lots of folks up... Vreny lost a fairlead in the night... pulled out of the deck.... so that took us a while to sort... Still sitting here worrying about all our lines.... My main concern is the stern line to the buoy.... we have a 30m 10mm line out.... could do with being a couple of mm heavier.... if it goes, we're in trouble.... we'll rest on the boat next door, and put a lot of load on their stern line.... the only fix I can see if that happens is to get her as well fendered up and as comfortable on the other boat as we can, and then blow the inflatable up, and row another line out to one of the other buoys a bit further upwind.... but I don't have another 30m line, so it'll be made up from two warps.... ho hum.... Starting to wonder if we'll be leaving Maggie here, and getting a ferry home... The weather is completely at odds with any forecasts we are seeing.... all the synoptic charts show a big high coming in, if not already here, with widely spaced isobars... if thats the case, where the hell has this F8 come from?

Brugge

Winds moderated a little during the late morning, so we jumped on a train to Brugge.... What a delightfull little city..... very pretty... C was in her element, with row after row of Chocolate shops, interspersed with lace and trinket shops.... architecture is wonderfull... well worth the visit... The train system puts the British system to shame.... prompt, clean, comfortable and all for the princely sum of 13 Euros for the family of four...

storm bound!

Last night was a bit hairy! Early in the night the wind built North Westerly to an average 38kts, with prolonged gusts over 55kts..... the swell from the North sea was making its way right into the sheltered Mercator Dock, and so we had a very rolly and noisy night.... To add to the discomfort, it was thrashing down with rain, and very cold.... hats and gloves weather. I was awake and on deck much of the night, watching lines.... as were most of the other boats in the marina..... Ended up with several additional bow lines......and every fender we owned deployed Vreny broke one of her bow lines at about 04h00, but fortunately it was the Leeward one... Several large Danish Mobos over on a pontoon received a real bashing, with frantic efforts to try and stop them from crashing into the pontoon... mainly unsuccessful. One large Fairline (a Squadron 62?) made a dash over night for the other side of the marina, with what can only be described as a stunning bit of seamanship, he went through the marina at about 15kts to avoid windage and placed it bang on another pontoon, with only a little use of his thrusters... it was a scary maneouvre, but he was clearly very skillful, and did it extraordinarily well... hats off to him. At about 02h00, I turned off the alarm call for 06h30, there was no chance of it moderating, or the sea state being reasonable.... Paid another nights berthing fees this morning..... forecast looks crap right through to Friday :( Worst night we've ever had in a marina... actually quite scary at times.... So, about to jump on the train for a short ride to Bruge, only 12mins, but at least something to do

Day off!

We'd already decided that we'd have a day of rest in Oostende, but with being a day late, we weren't sure what to do.... the forecast was OK, but we only had 24 hrs, and needed more long range detail.... however we consulted, and everyone agreed that we needed a day of rest, to enjoy the holiday.... I'd called the guys in Vliisingen, and told them that we were deciding what to do, and they had arranged a meal if we all made it... We then hunted for an hour, and finally found an Internet Cafe, and got a decent forecast... it wasn't good.... NW for the rest of the week, with it dropping to very light, but still NW by the back end of the week.... Group consent was that it was crazy to head North to Holland, and risk a long 30hr plus motor back across the north sea, so agreement was reached to head south towards Dunkirk, and then a shorter crossing to perhaps Ramsgate or Dover.... I called the guys in Vlissingen again and broke the news gently, and then went out to see the town.... The Belgians relieved us of a considerable quantity of Euros in return for a sizeable amount of chocolate, and then an even more sensible amount of the now famous Duvel beer.... world class beverage... but a certain fuzzy head! Bound for Dunkirk in the morning... not too early, perhaps cast off at 07h00.....

Oostende bound

With Oostende planned, we left home by 17h00 Friday evening, and set off down to Maggie. While on the way down, we received a text message from Jim, stating that his departure of the previous evening had resulted in an eventful trip, with them deciding to abort around about Long Sand Head, after experiencing very strong wind, and constant heavy rain. Understandably they had aborted, and ended up in the Orwell, and eventually in our Marina..... So after calling in at Tesco to stock up on food we arrived down at Maggie. The forecast didn't look great, and after a phone call from Karen and Patrick on Vreny, still in Burnham, it was decided to delay things until Saturday evending. Vreny planned to head for Harwich during the day, and along with Miss Behavin, we agreed to review the forecast with a plan to set of 02h00 Sunday morning.... By later in the afternoon, it looked OK, so we set off down to Harwich..... we grabbed a buoy at Levington. David on Miss behavin called us on his mobile.... his VHF had packed up..... not looking promising! Anyway, he grabbed the fuel berth in SYH after the staff had gone home and closed it for the day, and so I rafted to him, and took his VHF apart..... don't know what I did, but when reassembled it worked again! So, alarms set, we got ready top retire to bed. As a last minute check, I flicked on the nav lights..... northing.... darn.... I traced the wiring, and had 12V at the lamp, so I sedt too taking the lamp apart. I'm not sure what I did again (maybe its a magic touch!), but it all flicked back into life! We went to bed by 23h00, and it didn't seem long until the alarms awoke us at 02h00..... we groggily got ready for sea, and motored out by 02h30. Harwich in the dark is amazing.... it is so difficult to pick out the nav marks, as there is so much back light from the docks.... but none-the-less, we made it safely out to Cork Sand Yacht Beacon, raised the sails, and turned off the engine.... set course for Long Sand Head and set ourselves up mentally for a long crossing... it was SW approx 15kts, so a reach, couldn't be better! By the time we had made a mile past Cork Sand Yacht Beacon, the sky had lightened to the point where nav lights were no longer really needed, but we left them on for a while... An hour and half later, we approached Long Sand Head, and the wind had swung North Westerly, and dropped off quite a bit. We now had a 39nm leg, across to West Hinder a way off the Belgian coast, and at the start of the main TSS system heading north/south up the North sea, so we calculated a course to steer, and set off.... the wind wasn't playing ball, and we couldn't hold the CTS as it was too deep, and with a bit of a sea running, we struggled to keep the main full.... so we had to sail off course, and then gybe a few times to avoid getting too far off track... all the while the wind was dropping, eventually settling at about 7 to 10kts... With the ever decreasing winds, it was nearly 14h00 by the time made the start of the TSS, and we set a course to cross the TSS at the correct angle, whiuch was just a few dgerees different from our current course. There was little traffic, with one large vessel changing course a few degrees to clear our sterns, and us having to duck one mid sized ship. Otherwise an uneventful TSS, even though its very wide at 10nm.... We set course after clearing the TSS for West Hinder, and still faced a dead downwind course, with a roly poly sea... C finally gave up, and supplied the fish with the tomato soup that she had taken at lunch... At West Hinder, we had a course change, the first real one for nearly 9 hrs, and for just 15mins we had a reach across the second TSS.... this is just 2nm wide, and was very busy. We had to heave too for 10mins in the centre to wait for a break in the traffic to leg it across, which was in the end, quite OK, and we reached Ooste Dyke buoy, the last way point before Oostende. It was almost depressing when we set the course, back onto a dead run, with just 7 kts of wind and a decent sized following sea, and the GPS reported 19nm still to go.... I called Will, who was already in Oostende, and agreed to call him when we were 3nm off...... Oostende is interesting, in that there are several major sandbanks offshore of the coast, but when I looked at the tides, we had plenty of water, and in the shallower waters of the inshore area, and the light winds, we decided to take a direct route... which should allow a minimum of 4m of water at 8nm offshore.... it was fine in the end, and by 17h30, we called Will again, and he agreed that he would carefully observe our arrival, from the yacht club bar! Oostensde is bow too mooring, but we were forewarned, and had a long line ready, grabbed the buoy easily, and then tied the bow up.... no dramas, and all was well... we were tied up by 18h30... exhausted! We met a few other hardy forumites that had made the crossing despite the sometime ominous shipping forecast, talked via the phone to a couple of others that had made it across the previous day, and looking at the forecast, had sensibly decided to head on up to Vlissingen today, and then nipped out for a bite to eat. We found a nice little restaurant on the hrabour front, and enjoyed a good meal. C tried Moule for the first time, brave for a 10yr old, and enjoyed them enormously... another result! By 10h00, we were all falling alseep in our empty plates, assisted by a strong Belgian beer, and retired for the night.... I don't remember anything after my head hit the pillow! A good crossing, less than perfect conditions, but at 16hrs, a bit long, but OK...

Miles logged 65nm
Miles this season 161nm
Miles since this blog started 942nm

still watching weather!

Looking much better, now forecasting F4 to 5... and warming up..... Can't wait..!

watching the weather

Got down to Maggie on Sunday, fitted another access hatch in the forepeak berths, accessing another of the compartments... still have 3 more to go, bit that one additional one will give us enough extra for the forthcoming trip.... also fitted the curtains to the pilot berths... perfect..... I also went over to a friends boat while I was down and helped him finish wiring up his radar... all sorted and working..... Been watching the long range forecast for the coming weekend.... its looking undecided at the moment..... I'm not keen on taking the family across the North Sea in a solid 6 gusting 7, so if thats the forecast. we'll delay..... However, there is a big high sitting over continental Europe, so depending upon how that, and the low swinging in over the UK from the Atlantic behave, it could do anything! Off towards Oostende friday night at about 02h00 weather permitting....

Not missing much

Wouldn't have been sailing today anyway, regardless of plans..... its fair to say that its been windy today..... trees bent double, and channel buoy recorders on the web reporting 60kt gusts! Hope its a bit less breezy next weekend!

traditional nav

Should also add to my previous post about passage planning across to Oostende, that this will be the first passage for a long time where its more sensible to work out a course to steer the traditional way, rather than rely on the GPS .I always find that for legs of less than 6 or 7nm, which is what most coastal hops involve if we are honest with ourselves, steering to the rolling road vs a calculated CTS makes ****** all difference in passage times, so I just use the GPS and then keep an accurate logbook and regular plots on the chart.... but on this trip the leg lengths are such that significant time gains are to be made by working it all out properly... I admit that I am quite looking forward to doing the chart work the traditional way, and seeing how accurate my EPs are.... been a good few years!... I guess at least I have sailed and navigated since long before GPS was commercially available to yachts (I do have fond memories of RDF though!!!!), so the skills are not new to me.... just not used regularly anymore!

planning

We're off to Oostende and on into Holland for a week (middelburg into the Veerse Meer and Zierkzee) in 10 days time... The Dutch chart folios I ordered arrived yesterday, and so I spent a couple of hours last night passage planning..... actually the Oostende passage plan is dead easy..... there is a TSS to concern yourself with, but other than that, once clear of Long Sand Head, then little to worry about, and there are no ports of refuge easier than just carrying on, or turning back...... So its just a case of sorting out where is best to enter the TSS and thats about it! Oostende itself looks very easy.... Anyway.... won't be sailing this weekend.... will go down to Maggie on Sunday to load up some clothes and food, load some waypoints into the GPS, and a couple of jobs I want to do... firstly, SWMBO has made some heavy duty curtains for the pilot berths, and they need fitting.... secondly, I have bought a switch panel for the newly installed radar, so would like to get that fitted if possible....

Beating the weather forecast...

The weather forecast for the weekend was decidedly average, with a mixture of storms and torrential rain being threatened... Hearty souls that we are, we decided to set off out anyway! Friday night we arrived late down at Maggie, around 22h30, delayed by C being determined to still attend her regular Friday night Sea Cadets.... I don't have the heart to say no, as she enjoys it so much.... Friends had suggested a BBQ at Stone Point Saturday evening, and to avoid us crying off through a lack of heating had donated an old small gas powered heater to us..... So we soon retired to bed, and arose to a leisurely start.... about 09h00, which is a lay in these days (anyone with a 7 year old boy will understand exactly what I mean!).... We didn't have to rush off, so we sorted a decent breakfast, and I decided to get a job done that had been bugging me..... I cut the horns off the bow roller. They previously had been used for the tack of the hank on foresail, but with a furler were redundant. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, but thay also made stowing the anchor over the bow roller akward, so I took a peek and wandered how long it would take with a hacksaw.... As I contemplated, a guy from a few berths up wandered past.... we got chatting, and I explained what I was doing..... 30 seconds later he re-appeared with a hand held angle grinder complete with cutting disc..... like butter... it was gone in less than a minute.... about 09h50, I radioed the lock, and replied, hang on a few minutes and its free flow... perfect.... So 10 mins later, off we slipped, and set of up the river.... we raised the sails pretty shortly after the Orwell bridge, and off went the engine.... marvellous.... despite the weather forecast, it was warm and sunny... blowing about 9kts.... We were tight on the wind all the way out to Harwich, and then had to short tack all the way out to Languard point...... great fun.... We have realised that we are definitely 'proper' sailors, as we will rarely use the engine if we don't have to, and actually enjoy short tacking up the river!..... Given its propensity to get busy, we headed for Pye end immediately, and were soon in the channel and into the Twizzle. As predicted, it was quite busy and we had to go a fair way up the creek.... but a spot was found, and we dropped the hook easily and were soon settled. We see many couples struggle with this (and many who don't in fairness). but we've developed a technique that seems to work well for us.... I set the boat into the position I want to drop the anchor, and then SWMBO takes the helm while I trot forward and let the anchor and chain out.... while this is happening the boat is gently drifting back and hence the chain lays out nicely... as it bites and the boat slows up, SWMBO sticks it in reverse and sets the anchor well in..... no rocket science, but we still see people cock it up like you wouldn't believe.... Which is apt Our friends arrive, go to anchor behind us, and the next time I look he is rafted alongside another boat, with his anchor tangled round the poor fellows chain..... what a mess! Anyhow, we enjoy a coffee, and then I blow the tender up. This is no small challenge on the foredeck, but eventually its done, and alongside... with the associated juggling act of getting the outboard off the pushpit and into the tender we are set.... The outboard wasn't a great starter last season, so I was worried about it after a winter of no use... and especially as I forgot to drain the carb down... a killer for 2 strokes.... so imagine my delight when it started 2nd pull! We motored ashore, along with a mountain of blankets, towels, barbeque food etc etc and soon set up camp..... An excellent evening..... again the weather forecasters couldn't have been more wrong.... I was in shorts (albeit with a coat) until we crept back to Maggie at about 22h00.... a lovely mild evening... There were quite a few people on the beach, and a couple of really lovely beagles that kept the kids happy! When we got back, we set the anchor light, and settled down to an early night.... Normally I don't sleep that well when at anchor, but a couple of glasses of wine, an anchor alarm on the GPS and being a bit tired, and I slept like a baby.... joy.... right through to 09h00, the next day.... 11 hours of really good sleep! amazing considering we had a steady Force 5 blow all night... but the Twizzle is well sheltered and the holding is great We arose to another nice day.... the odd cloud, but still sunny, so we had a quick walk on the beach again.... partly because it was nice, and partly because M wanted several more dead crab shells to add to his ever expanding collection...... But by 11h30, we were back, had sorted Maggie out, removed several tons of sand from the cockpit, and set off...... raising the anchor was hard work.... the strong wind had set it well.... and it came up with a very decent quantity of heavy sticky mud still attached! It was about 10kts again, so as soon as we could, we raised the sails and sailed over towards Harwich... lovely... sun was out, autopilot on... it was really quite warm.... Soon enough we were into the Orwell, and we hung on to sail only, as the speed dropped..... by the time we had reached Pin Mill, it had nearly vanished, so we motored the rest of the way..... Through the lock, and tied up by 15h30, and ready to depart by 17h00.... we would have been quicker, but it took me a good while to hose the mud off the foredeck! A decent ride home, and all was well.... I knew it had been a warm weekend when I saw the glow in all out faces... a little red, but not burnt..... suncream was used, and yet we were all glowing healthily.... the summer is coming... :)

Miles logged this weekend 24nm
Miles logged this season 96nm
Miles logged since this blog started 877nm

no sailing

Family duties this weekend..... no sailing :( Might go down Sunday to get a few jobs done, but depends upon weather, exhaustion levels etc etc..... Ho hum...

The Blackwater

Previously, only having visited Brightlingsea, and hence skirted the outer limits of the Blackwater, we thougth we'd head to Bradwell this weekend. So after arriving Friday night, spending the evening getting the radar cable down the most and through the deck, and wired up (successfully - works a treat!), we got to bed reasonably late. This didn't however stop us getting up at 06h00 for an 06h30 departure, optimum for the tides. The day was grey, but not too cold, and we slipped, dressed for the cold, and all seemed OK. By 08h00 we were passing Harwich, still under engine, as I wanted to get out of the river as quickly as possible to avoid too much of the flood.... As we passed Harwich the tide was turning, and we set sail, and off with the engine.... timing was good, as the tide had turned, and with just 8kts of wind, we were making a decent 6 to 7 kts over the ground.... We were soon round Walton headland, and clear of the shelter of the land, the wind picked up a bit to around 12kts, and with a reach, we shot down the Wallet towards the Knoll buoy.... the sun was out in patches, but when it disappeared behind clouds we were grateful for hats and gloves..... by 11h00 we rounded Knoll, and headed up towards Eagle and into the Blackwater.... tight on the wind, and it was chilly! As we made progress up the Blackwater, and the training wall, just by the entrance to Bradwell creek appeared, we dropped the sails, and motored... no problems with depth, as it was near high water.... straight in, and tied up.... we did have to back out of our first attempt at the pontoon.... not used to these marinas with tidal flows!.... however, second effort was spot on.... We had agreed to meet up with Jim on Full Circle and crew, and they hadn't arrived... so we sorted the boat out, grabbed a quick lunch, and then Jim radioed in.... perfect as he was allocated a berth just 2 up... Soon they had arrived, and with introductions all round, we sat and chatted..... SWMBO made oohing and aarhing noises about Jim's lovely SO35.... yet more positive noises being heard about buying a bigger and newer boat....! That evening, Jim announced a BBQ.... bit cold we all thought... but when we got out of the wind, on the grass at Bradwell, it was suprisingly warm.... We were joined by Kas and Patrick on their pretty little Stella, Vreny, and we enjoyed an decent mix of nosh, mixed with a decent quantity of good wine..... We retired by 20h30 towards the Green Man, only to find that it was packed out, and the family room was booked for a private function, so we headed back to the sailing club, and sampled their offerings until by 23h00, SWMBO decided I was sufficiently innebriated, and that bed was neccessary! Kids awoke us at 07h00 the next morning, and we proceeded to consume a large fried breakfast... yum yum... I was slightly thick headed, and with a departure time of 13h00 being muted, we decided to take a walk the mile or so into the village of Bradwell, partially to blow off the cobwebs, and partially because it was the only open shop around..... very pretty... worth the effort... By 12h30, we were ready to go, so slipped half an hour earlier than planned.... Vreny followed us out.... we motored out of Bradwell creek, no more than 5 or 6 minutes, and then hoiked the main and motor sailed.... a couple of miles up the Balckwater, and Full Circle came past us, like we were going backwards... Oh for a decent engine! The usual ritual of photos being taken, and Full Circle peeled off south towards Burnham, while we continued up north east towards Harwich.... the tide was still just against us, so it was slow out to Knoll, which we rounded just before 15h00. At this point we were able free off a bit, so up went the genny, and off went the engine.... about 12kts of breeze, and a tight reach again, verging on a beat, and we flew north..... over at 20deg heel toe rail just kissing the water, 7 to 8 kts SOG and this was fun!... unlike yesterday, the sun stayed out, and despite us being quite tight on the wind, it wasn't too cold. I set the autopilot, and we relaxed.... An incident free trip up the Wallet with one exception... While making a coffee, I came back out of the companion way, just bumped the top of my head on the boom... instinctively I ducked, and smacked my forehead on the corner of the companion way slides... Klutz!.... another cut, that will no doubt scar to add to my collection... only a little one, but deep, and bled profusely as head wounds do! The trip was fast, and before I knew it, we were freeing off round Walton towards Harwich..... as we approached Harwich the wind died off, and as we were fighting the ebb, I stuck the engine on, and we motor sailed.... at this point I realised that we had sailed the entire way without tacking or gybing.... excellent! We motored up the Orwell, finally dropping the main just before the bridge, and entered the lock.... a bit of a slow lock, as the rise was enormous.... from a gulley to being right up above the lock walls!... and a bit rough in the lock as it was filled! Back alongside and tied up by 19h30, still sunny! We retired to bed early... knackered from the fresh air... Monday morning, I was awoken at 08h30, not by the kids for a change, but by a short pump from the auto bilge pump.... ****** I thought.... rain.... (we have a keel stepped mast - try stopping rain getting down it.... its an un-winnable battle!)... I could also hear the rigging whistling..... A quick poke of my head through the hatch, and yep.... windy and wet.... guages showing peaks of 20kts, and it was chucking it down.... We decided to cook another decent breakfast.... a full fry up again... this time included Smoked Mackerel... double yum!, and then set to tify Maggie up, put her to bed, and were departed for home by midday..... All in all, a great weekend.... everyone enjoyed it.... excellent company at Bradwell, and a couple of cracking good sails thrown in.... another 10 degrees of warmth, and it would have been perfect...can't please some people can you!

miles this weekend 48nm
miles this season 72nm
miles since this blog started 853nm