It had been a good stop in Eastbourne... a great meal at an Italian, including the hottest pizza ever, and met up with Fat Buddah and his partner Claire, a fellow Triathlete, and, with all GFS forecasts (which have far and away the most accurate for the whole of the trip) being for 12 to 15 kts, and wall to wall sunshine, it looked like we were in for a really nice closing leg to the trip.... we'd elected to bash out the whole 100nm remaining to Shotley... the only fly in the ointment being a forecast for 24kts at 22h00... that we could cope with, especially as we'd nearly be back by then...
So it was a surprise when the inshore waters forecast came up with F4 to F5 occassionally F6, with a risk of F7 later... we conferred.... a F7 isn't pleasant, but we could cope...
So, after a quick stop for fuel, we locked out of Eastbourne at 09h00....
The weather was just as promised.... in shorts and tee shirts, and needing sunglasses, we made the most of the tide down the channel, making 8kts over the ground... we needed to motor, as we only had 4 or 5kts of apparent wind... but when its sunny, this seems somehow just fine!
It was a quick and enjoyable journey past Hastings, round Dungeness, and on towards Dover, however, as we reached Dover, a few clouds came over, and started to reduce the temperature... by now it was mid afternoon anyway...
On we plodded, getting a massive kick from the tide, and making at one point 11kts over the ground.... we hade been able to get both sails out, but kept the engine on... we had a tidal gate to make at North Foreland...
Upon reaching North Foreland, things took a bit of a downhill turn.... the wind increased to 22kts, turned slightly, and that combined with our new course meant that we were upwind again, and too close to the wind to sail comfortably... we managed to hold the genoa alone, although with a good deep reef in it...
A further 8 or 9nm later, things worsened considerably... the skies had turned black... and in several places a deep purple... not a good sign... the wind had increased to 26kts....
And then it hit us.... it never actually rained that hard, but in the space of a minute the wind increased to 35kts.... gusting for reasoanble periods up to 40kts....
The seas turned into a mass of wind blown spume... trails streaming off every wave... if you look in your nautical almanac at the picture of a F8... then that's exactly what it looked like... it was hard to look straight up wind, the rain was stinging in your face.... everything was howling and whistling... and in 10 minutes, the sea state had gone from 'ok' to very rough, and extremely hard work on the helm.... we'd dropped the sails as we saw it coming.... and while I was in neutral, I noted with a gulp that we were making 3kts under bare poles...
We plugged on, making a miserbale 2.5kts over the ground, with every wave stopping us dead, and falling off the crest into the trough with a huge cloud of spray which was whipped back by the wind to soak the helmsman (me!) and sting my face.... timing was rotten... we were just approaching Foulgers Gat... I started to contemplate getting through there in that wind, and realised just how dangeorous that was... too shallow... too narrow... and too easy to get swept off course... with unthinkable consequences.... the only other options being to carry on and go the long way round.... which meant 25nm as we reached the corner with the sea across the beam.. hardly a good option.... or to turn back and go through Fishermans Gat... a much wider and deeper channel... even the thought of turning a 180° in these conditions seemed quite a scary idea....
So, it was with a sigh of relief, that the cloud passed over us after 30 or 40 minutes of 35kts, and moderated back to 26kts.... still bloody windy, but seemed like a gentle breeze after the last half an hour... the sea also moderated quite a bit quite quickly, and most importantly of all, the visibility rapidly improved so that I could see both sides of Foulgers Gat.... phew... so we set off through....
The remainder of the journey was in much the same vein.... 26kts or so... rain showers, and a seemingly never ending crawl back towards Harwich... at night the lights of the docks and town offer so much early promise of arrival, and yet it seems an eternity until you enter the harbour... which we did at 23h15, and safely back on our berth by 00h05...
What a passage.
The following morning, with a good nights sleep under my belt, the positives could be considered.... while it wasn't fun, the boat was never in any trouble... in fact she was as solid as a rock... we made good decisions... and there was never any hint of panic.... and seeing the top end of a F8 a good way out offshore (and even more so, surrounded by breaking gravel banks roaring) is an experience to remember, thats for sure!!!!
But I wouldn't do it out of choice!
Tomorrow I may write up a summary of the whole trip... all things considered, its been great fun... a month on board is a very different experience... and we've met all our goals in terms of destinations, which is a first!
Miles logged 96nm
Miles this trip 696nm
Miles this season 1,076nm
Miles since this blog started 5,656nm
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