All Weathers

 

Sailing across the Thames Estuary, we crossed from from Burnham-on-Crouch to Ramsgate, is tricky because it takes so long that you cannot avoid some problems with the direction of the tidal flow. We set off from Burnham at the ridiculously early time of 4.00am to try and make the best of it and were safe in Ramsgate marina by 5.30pm. The forecast was for light winds and sure enough we had some time pottering along so quietly that we each had a snooze in the sunshine, not at the same time. However, in the event it was the brilliant sudden periods of strong winds in the squalls that helped to boost our speed from 3 to 6 knots for key periods of the day. As well as enjoying some rain, one squall pelted us with hard-hitting hailstones. It is 15th May 2021.

This crossing was a first for both of us and we celebrated in style sitting outside an Italian restaurant overlooking the harbour with food and ice cold beers. With so many issues of weather, tides, boat and crew to juggle, a crossing like this always includes an element of adventure, meaning by adventure that there is an uncertain outcome. Now we feel we are really on our way and our adventure has begun. But I am too tired to write more, I hope you like the photos and can make sense of them.


















Comments

  1. Nina Fedorski18 May 2021 at 13:43

    Looks a fine way to celebrate your crossing

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feeding the Rat

Image
We are enjoying a rest day in Peterhead. The winds look more favourable tomorrow. Our gentle northward progress provides a suitable build up of anticipation for crossing the Pentland Firth and rounding Cape Wrath. Fishermen in Arbroath and Stonehaven, asking where we are heading, have shared their stories of incredible currents and intimidating waves. And they were going round in big steel boats with ten times the horsepower of our little engine. I have started to read the pilot carefully and fuss over the charts. I feel increasingly nervous. The fierce reputation of the Pentland Firth is undermining my confidence. Every now and then you might choose an adventure that is a bit more of a challenge, that is not just a fun weekend but actually might push you towards your limits or beyond. Mo Anthoine, an infamous British climber, referred to this as ‘feeding the rat’ which is defined in his biography of that name by Al Alvarez: ‘every year you need to flush out your system and do a bit of
Read more

Unfinished Business Sailing North

Image
 With a good dose of déjà vu I rise at an ungodly hour of the morning, click the kettle on, and turn back to my bed to stuff my sleeping bag into a dry bag. My brother Mark, with the help of crew mates from his sailing club – Martin, Jackie and Christine - have sailed his 30-foot yacht, Kindred Spirit II, up here to Edinburgh so that we are in position to tackle some unfinished business. During May to June 2021, we set off from Blackwater Sailing Club in the south-east and spent 59 days sailing clockwise round the UK, crossing the Thames then heading via the Isles of Scilly, Holyhead, Northern Ireland and then the Scottish Islands to eventually travel down the east coast back to our starting point ion Essex. However, we took a short cut through the Caledonian Canal, which runs from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east. We therefore feel that we have a date with destiny in the far north, specifically we would like to sail round The Orkney Isles and Cape Wrath. We now have p
Read more

Next the Sea

Image
We had a very long but sunny and pleasant day motor sailing in light winds from Bridlington to Wells-next-the-Sea which is on the north Norfolk coast south and east of The Wash. We were keen to leave Bridlington early and there was plenty of fishing boat activity at 3am so we were up and out. The harbour itself was lit up by flood lights but when we left the harbour entrance we realised that there was not actually any daylight yet. So, we had an interesting first half an hour relying heavily on the map on our tablet and keeping a sharp eye out to avoid getting tangled in any pot buoys. It is 8th July 2021. The sun came up and eventually found its way through the clouds. Light winds were of some assistance but for most of the day in combination with the motor. We were soon out of sight of land and spent the next 15 hours mostly alone but passing two or three wind farms and sailing through a fleet of moored ships. We did pass one yacht that was heading northwards and gave them a wave.
Read more