Cruise Reports

Summer Cruise to Norway (2018)

Before you read any further, we didn’t make it to Norway.

If you are still interested then this is more a tale to two halves; an attempt to go north and a meander around some Essex and Suffolk rivers. I had spent the weekends before the trip loading the boat and tidying it up.

        

I had almost five weeks booked off and had spent time planning and preparing, the original route was to head north to Fair Isle, cut across to Norway and then come home. The first ten days were moderate to strong northerlies and a combination of tide, wind and my physical condition resulted in an unsuccessful start. I made it from the River Medway to the River Stour on the first day but that took 24 hours. After a peaceful day at anchor I set off on the evening tide and 30 hours later I was still only at Lowestoft. I had passed Southwold three times, twice heading north and once being pulled back by the tide. Northerlies between force four and six had made the passage bumpy. As soon as I decided to head into Lowestoft for a rest Chantilly picked up speed and actually seemed to want to go where I wanted. We made it into the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk marina at dusk and the place was starting to fill up with Dutch herring fans.

The next morning I decided to head south for a rest and to wait out the Northerlies. I had a very good sail down the Suffolk coast to the Ore and made it in over the bar without and problems and carried the last hour of flood to a lovely anchorage behind Havergate Island. I was now a week into my five week cruise and after some planning I thought I still had enough time to make it to Norway if I didn’t hang around too much. I spent a couple of days sailing around the Ore and Alde, passing Orfordness and Aldburgh, making it as far as Iken Cliff.

I set off to head north again and had a great motor sail out to Orford Haven buoy at high water. It is a strange sensation heading down the Ore towards the entrance continually doing the calculations about depth, tidal stream and optimum time to exit the river. By the time I reached the entrance I had made myself very nervous, almost sick. I needn’t have worried as I had at least 3m of depth as I followed the buoys out so all the tension had been unnecessary.

Back in the North Sea the wind was still Northerly but the forecast predicted the wind would back to south west in a couple of days. One of the most unusual navigation warnings accompanied the coast guard weather forecast; ‘vessels should take care passing Orford due to a VAN in the river’!

We passed Southwold a couple more times and this time I pushed on past Lowestoft. There are some interesting sand banks off Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth and I tried to use these to keep me away from shipping and out of the worst of the tidal stream. After 36 hours I had made it to the northern end of the sand banks and was in moderate mist. The next weather forecast changed my plans once and for all.

I was cold and tired but not seriously and I had options like Blakney Harbour so I was going to keep going but the weather forecast mentioned Hurricane Hector. The tide was turning against me, the mist was getting thicker and it seemed silly to go north when gale force winds were predicted for the North Sea. I turned round.

Heading south with the tide and wind behind me I set twin head sails and had an amazing sail down the coast. In about 6 hours I had undone the previous 36 hours, passing Southwold for the final and seventh or eighth time.

I was between the Ore and Deben and was having a cat nap in the cockpit when I was woken up by a rumbling noise. Initially I thought that I had left the engine in neutral and the propeller was free wheeling but when I looked up there was a large grey rib’s bow visible above the coaming. As I sat up I was hailed over the ribs tannoy system ‘ Chantilly, Chantilly, this is the border patrol, channel 6, over’. What had I done wrong, what could they do to me and what is the penalty for being caught asleep all went through my head. I selected channel 6 and was asked where I was going (I wasn’t sure), had I been abroad (rub it in, why don’t you), did I have anyone else on board (this is where they would get me!). I explained that I had been heading north but due to the weather forecast was going to the Walton backwaters to hide. Their parting comment was ‘we will let you get back to what you were doing’. I didn’t feel like sleeping now.

Still, I had a plan now, having told them I was going to Titchmarsh I thought I should. The tides around the Orwell, Stour and Walton Backwaters entrances are nodal so I had the benefit of carrying the tide all the way to a lovely anchorage in Hamford Water in the north west of the backwaters.

The next day I visited some of my favourite spots and some new ones around the backwaters. I made it up to the Chemex dock, it was high water and I only had a metre to spare so I am not sure how cargo vessels of any sort make it that far. I also visited the Beaumont canal but didn’t go in. As I was mooching around the Twizzle I passed a boat I knew, Carol Ellen, I hailed them and they were going into Titchmarsh for the night. After a moment’s thought I turned round and headed in. I requested a berth and after being allocated three different slots I made it in, apparently my firm docking technique woke someone up!! I don’t like marinas and Titchmarsh, while a very pleasant place doesn’t have mooring cleats, it has hoops which are difficult to get a rope on.

As it turned out there was a flotilla of 7 boats from HNYC meeting up for the evening. After a week and a half on my own it seemed like a great idea to join in. A really good bunch and a very pleasant meal and evening. The next day the wind was from the south and fairly strong but I headed out and anchored up in Landermere Creek. Plans to head north were abandoned so I made alternative plans to visit some more rivers on the Suffolk coast.

First off was the Deben. Despite the dire warnings about fighting the ebb and crossing the bar I made it in with the tide doing about 8 knots over the ground. I had left the anchorage in the Backwaters under sail and only turned the engine on to have power in an emergency while entering the river.

I carried the tide right up to Woodbridge and sailed most of the way. Being a Friday the river was getting busy but no dramas. I found a buoy off Woodbridge with the intention of inflating the dinghy and rowing in to buy some fresh fruit but the pump broke. I tried fixing it as the bellows hadn’t split, only parted from the footplate, but to no avail. I called the Tidemill Marina and despite their reluctance I took a mooring for a short ‘emergency’ visit. I found a pump I thought I could salvage at Andy Seedhouse’s emporium and I bought some food. Woodbridge has become even more arty and farty. I left the marina manager a fiver for their tea fund and I was happy to be leaving within the hour.

I let the ebb carry me down stream to The Rocks, it sounds scary but it is a lovely anchorage with very few other boats around. As I was coming into anchor the engine started to labour. As soon as I had set the anchor I checked the engine over and the cooling water intake was clogged up with weed. This year there have been large rafts of green stringy weed in most of the rivers. I thought that I had avoided it but obviously not. The engine was fine.

I spent a couple of nights in this spot, watching a family of ducks swim across the river in the morning and evening. There were 14 ducklings and a very attentive mother and father. There were also a pair of Oyster catchers who were aggressively protecting their nest. They attacked seagulls and walkers who passed too close.

On the Sunday morning I moved down river to anchor just upstream of the moorings at Felixstowe Ferry to wait for a suitable window to exit the Deben. When I did leave on Monday I set off a bit too early and had to fight a couple of knots of flood tide and then got stuck in the offshore tidal flow going north. Again I went backwards against the wind and tide.

It is 8 nm from Felixtowe Ferry to the Shotley Point and it took me 9 hours, 5 of those hours were spent tacking against the tide. By now I was convinced that there was a problem with Chantilly’s hull, probably fouled up.

I made it into a ‘make do’ anchorage in the Stour at about midnight. During a reasonably rough night I didn’t get much sleep but Chantilly didn’t drag so no dramas. The next day I rested and did some maintenance. To be fair Chantilly had held up very well. The only issue was that my iPad on which I had Navionics wouldn’t charge. I had charts and it would be good practice to navigate the traditional way from now on. I needed to be somewhere where I could join a work call on Wednesday so I settled in for a couple of days. The next night the wind got up and Chantilly started snatching at her anchor so I let another 10m of chain out. Chantilly promptly started dragging and since my iPad was out of action and I didn’t have an anchor watch set it was the apparent passing of a green buoy whose light woke me up! The lights on buoys are very bright when they are a boat’s length away! I reset the anchor and again tried to get some rest but ended up sleeping most of Tuesday.

Conditions looked good with the wind from the north so I set off back to the Medway on Wednesday. I left the anchorage under sail but turned the engine on to get through Felixstowe docks. As I exited the docks area at dusk the tide turned and with it and the wind behind me I made good progress down the Wallet and was at the Spitway at about 1AM. The wind picked up to a force six and I put the second reef in. I was still with the tide running down Middle Deep and trying to keep my bearings and stop the boat from gybing. I did gybe twice but only management to control one of them. What had taken me six hours on the way north took 2 on the way south. At dawn I was running down wind and still with the tide into the Thames Approaches. The sea was moderate state and I kept going to the Garrison Point. I still had the tide so I pushed on up the Medway and made it back to HNYC at the top of the tide. I had just sailed 55nm in 10 hours.

Probably the fastest long passage I have had. It almost seems like Chantilly want to go home. I went straight to the scrubbing dock and it was clear that the hull was fouled.

Although I had cleaned it off a couple of weeks before I set off it was covered in small barnacles and weed. Despite not having slept I cleaned the hull off and unloaded most of the kit. With a clean hull I decided to go for a quick sail before returning to my mooring. Chantilly moved a lot more freely but this was probably due to the gear I have offloaded as much as the clean hull. While I was sailing I noticed that the boom gooseneck had come adrift. I dropped the main sail and lashed the boom to the mast.

While I didn’t make it to Norway I did have a good trip with a couple of great days of sailing and there is always next year.             

A short trip to Pyefleet


I went down to the boat this weekend and while the tides didn't look great I made it up the Colne to Pyefleet. I set off a couple of hours after highwater and had a South Westerly breeze and the tide pushing me along. Within 4 hours I was at the Spitway for low water. I short run across to the Colne entrance channel and by the time I made it to Inner Bench it was getting dark. I picked up a buoy in the pitch dark in the Pye Fleet entrance and had a very pleasant night's sleep. The clocks went forward but despite this I still got up at 5AM in the dark to leave and make sure I could get it through the Ray Sand channel at Highwater. Sun rise over Gunfleet windfarm was excellent.

It was a clod morning and the wind wasn't strong enough to ensure that I made it to the channel in time so the donk had to do most of the work. Strange vibration when in gear leads me to believe that there is something caught round the propeller. I made it through the channel an hour before highwater and the buoys led the way excellently. Ray, the yellow spherical mark at the southern end of the channel is looking a bit battered these days.

We made it back to Bridgemarsh by 11AM, there and back in under 24 hours and no dramas.

Sailing Holiday in Croatia


We all arrived from different directions and met up at the Kastela Marina. The first night we went out in Split.


We had a good meal and then strolled round the streets behind the main port frontage. 

Next day we set off from Kastela Marina along with a hundred other charter boats for the islands south of Split. We sailed past Milna through the gap off the Island of Brac and on to the island of Hvar. The port / city of Hvar was full so we went to the marina at Palmizana and had our first stern too mooring event. It went fairly smoothly but could have gone a lot better. In the evening we took the water taxi across to Hvar and had a great meal of the local lamb in one of the many restaurants that surround the port.

The next day we set off with the intention of heading to the Island of Viz. When we got outside the confines of the marina the wind was against us so we headed East instead. The wind dropped off and rather than heading to the next marina where we could expect to be moored up to our neighbours from Kastela and Hvar we opted for the small port of Prigradica. The pilot book made it out to be a thriving fishing port with restaurants and shops. It might have been the end of the season but it was very quiet, we were the only boat there. 



We had a meal and then found a quiet area by the beach and had a couple of drinks. When we got back to the boat the swell had turned through 90 degrees and was coming in through the harbour entrance. The boat was at risk of damage against the wall so we set off at around midnight. I don't like sailing with a drink inside but we didn't really have an option. We motored around until daylight and then went into the very sheltered bay at Loviste. We crept in and and anchored in the area where there were several other boats. A kip seemed in order so we got our heads down but after about an hour my phone started ringing! I had set the anchor watch app. and we had started drifting. When I got up on deck we had drifted all the way across the bay, through all of the other boats and were almost aground! Of the other two crew one asked what was going on and when I said the anchor was dragging he went back to sleep and we didn't see our other mate until we got up for a late lunch. After starting the engine and going astern with the anchor still dragging I got the boat under control and then winched in the anchor. I moved to a new location and anchored again making sure that the hook was well dug in. When we did get up for lunch all of the other boats had left! I think they were going anyway but it did feel like they were trying to avoid us and I don't blame them. 



We got the dingy out and motored across to the cafe where we had a wash and a drink. After lunch back on board we set off for Korcula. When we got out of the bay the wind picked up from the West and we headed East along the Korculanski Kanal (not a canal but a channel). We had a brilliant sail past several cruise ships and Korcula and we kept going to Lumbarda on the Island of Korcula. We reach Lumbarda in time to get one of the last marina berths. This was my favorite marina, mainly because it was small, cheap, good facilities and close to the amenities of the town. This is the view from the restaurant. 



We had a good meal and enjoyed some of the local wine. It wasn't open but there is a visitor centre at the local winery which is probably worth a visit as we'd thoroughly recommend the red which wasn't too expensive.

The next day we set off back West with the intention of going to Milna. We went past Korcula again and this time one of the cruise ships was Cunard's Queen Elizabeth (no photo though) 



The wind was perfect and we had a great sail along the south coast of Hvar island. The wind died and rather than pushing on under engine we took it easy having a rest off Zavala Island. By this stage we opted to go back to Hvar and headed straight for Palmazina marina. I had a very near miss coming in, there wasjust enough room to get in and the wind carried the bow round as I came in astern. The next boat in was an enormous catamaran with three Israeli couples on board. This wouldn't normally be an issue but my crew mates were from Iran and Yemmen!



We ate at the marina restaurant which served great steaks and good wine but the service was over stretched. I think that other charterers were as tired as we were and so didn't head over to Hvar. Also, then next day's forecast wasn't great with thunder storms and force 5 winds from all directions. 

We set off mid morning in what appeared to be relatively calm but overcast conditions. This didn't last and after putting both reefs in the main then taking the sail down altogether we were still making 6 knots with half a jib. The jib was one of those self tacking sails so not big in the first place. The wind was F6 gusting F7 and then the storm hit, F9 and rain so heavy we couldn't see more than a boat's length. One of the lazy jacks parted and the main sail spilled out. It did get a bit hairy but neither of the crew had been on a boat that heeled over this much and they didn't like it much. There was a massive crash from the cabin and that was when we found that a locker latch had failed with the result that most of the crockery ended up on the cabin deck in pieces. Also at the time the person who had the forward cabin found out why I kept reminding him to secure his hatch!! All of his clothes and bedding were soaked. I later found out that planes had been diverted away from Split airport during the storm.

The storm blew through and we decided to head for Split marina. It didn't stop raining and when we got to Split there was a tug occupying the fuel berth so we pottered around for a couple of hours until they had sorted themselves out. Split marina has very little going for it; expensive, big, busy, impersonal and noisy. But we got ourselves dried out and headed into town for a meal. We had an excellent meal at the Chop Grill restaurant. The wine was great and we had enough food left to justify a doggy bag which was turned into an excellent lunch the next day. After our meal we found a cocktail bar and at £5 for a long Island Iced Tea we stayed way too long ::). 

The next day we headed back to Kastela and on the way discovered that the heads was blocked. Despite dire warnings about 100 Euro charges the charter company were fairly relaxed about this along with the broken crockery and the parted lazy jack. They thought the boat was tidy, clean and in good shape so things all ended well.

We had fantastic fun but I'd go with at least someone with more experience next time. Also, restaurants aren't that cheap and there are some great anchorages (assuming the hook holds!) so we'd probably do more of our own catering next time. The other two are already planning next year but in Greece. 




Extract from Tom’s account of the passage from Horta, Azores to Santa Cruz, Tenerife aboard Arctic Smoke

 Day 1 Wednesday 12/8/18

Horta was a lovely place, real charm and honesty. I arrived at the end of the week long festival of the sea and enjoyed watching the street parade and dancing. Food was excellent and very reasonable. Tom had a cockpit table made up by a local shipwright, Harry. It was a clever design combining a cockpit floor with a table all out of iroko.

Fair winds and good sailing to all the great seafarers we met in Horta, for their onward passages; Bill and Adnaan, Susanne, Mahammad, JB, Pascal and others. All great characters with a very clear and common aim to sail to interesting places and live their lives to the full.

After fueling up we headed into the main harbour where we stowed our lines and fenders, rigged Angus for sea and given the fresh north easterly breeze, put in a reef.

We then had a glorious sail down the west coast of Pico accompanied by pods of playful dolphins. One individual seemed to take a like or dislike to Angus because "he" repeatedly swam up to the stern of the boat and poked Angus with his nose.

After a couple of hours we were becalmed in the Lee of Pico and had to motor for an hour or so. I volunteered to cook whereupon the wind returned and we were close hauled in order to lay our course and in the freshening wind had to put in a second reef. I suffered but managed to produce something edible. Unfortunately we didn't all manage to keep it down!

We were now taking water over the bow and side decks and soon had water dripping in the fore hatch and saloon windows! Tom plans to take them right out and re bed them in whilst in the Canaries!

We adopted a 3s and 2s watch system - from 1800 each of us was on for 2 hours then off for 4, then from 0600, on for 3 hours and off for 6. Every 3 days we each get a watch starting at 1800 and have the job of cook the dinner.

Day 2 Thursday 13/8/15

I don't think any of us got a lot of sleep during our off watch periods. The focastle where Tom was sleeping was both damp and doing pretty good fair ground ride imitations! The saloon berths were probably less mobile but still pretty damp with constant dripping on the windward side. The night though was pretty clear with wonderful views of the night sky and both Tom and I saw some very impressive shooting stars.

We all made a beeline for our bunks during the day as soon as our watches had finished and made do with only a bowl of muesli prior to dinner which Tom cooked. The weather was miserable despite the rapidly rising barometer. 

The wind was still fresh from the East and we therefore remained close hauled under two reefs and the water continued to seep in the fore hatch and the Saloon windows. It was actually the greyest day at sea of the entire cruise, the first day during which the solar panels were unable to completely replenish the batteries. Daylight ended with the Amp hour count at minus 24. Another day of that would require running the engine for a few hours to replenish the batteries. Once again we all spent most of our off watch time in our bunks. Tom saw his first whale. He heard a gushing noise and saw the spray from a blow about 100 meters off to starboard and then saw the whale swimming on a parallel course. He could only see its top but it looked quite square in section so Tom thought it was probably a young hump back of about 10 metres.


Day 3 Friday 14/8/15

A much more enjoyable day. Tom took an early watch The wind had moderated considerably in the early hours and so Tom and I shook out the reefs before he went off watch. The sun was out too and stayed out the rest of the day enabling the solar panels to replace all but 3.5 Amp hours of the 40 consumed by the end of the second night. Angus, the wind vane self steering gear from Hebredian worked extremely hard and well up to force 7. 

We all spent a bit more time up and in the cockpit when off watch and socialised rather more. Before lunch Tom took a much over due check around the deck and noticed the goose-neck pin had worked loose again. This time it took all three of us to get the boom positioned in order for me to knock it back in. Lesson learnt, this time Tom taped and lashed over it to prevent a repeat performance. Occasional checks during the rest of the passage revealed it shifted a little twice more but the tape prevented it from moving much and it was a simple job to knock it back in.

We made an average of about 3.5 k heading broadly SE for the Canaries during the night which remained clear and starry.

Day 4 Saturday 15/8/15

Another sunny morning with a light wind. Tom was on the best day of the watch system; he went off at 0400 having stood the 0200 watch, and was now off until 0900, with David standing the 0400-0600 watch and Bernie the 0600-0900 watch. The wind died at about 1300 and so after a tuna sandwich lunch for all we put the engine and motored until 1800 when a light breeze from the NE returned. At local noon - 1330 I gave Tom a Sextant lesson and he took a noon sight and managed to get a latitude to within a few minutes of that displayed on the GPS. Encouraged, we got the books out to prepare for the afternoon sight but Tom only succeeded in falling asleep and so the afternoon sight went begging!

Later we noticed the foot of the Genoa was pulling out of the groove in the foil. On closer inspection it was clear that the luff edge that slides in the foil had frayed. With David's help Tom got the luff back in the foil and lashed the tack to the bottom of the foil to prevent it from pulling out again. Tom will replace the sail with the newer one before setting off again.

I was on galley duty again and knocked up a tuna and pasta dish followed by tinned mangoes for desert which was considered very tasty. I think I was being patronised but I’ll take any praise for my efforts in the galley as genuine! We discussed progress and reckoned we should make half way by tomorrow night (a way point to the NE of Tenerife was 870 from Horta). My next watch took us up to midnight. The night was quiet and the sky clear with a beautiful quilt of stars spread out for our pleasure. I can still remember some of their names. The wind remained light from the NE and we slid gently along at average of about 3 knots.

Day 5 Sunday 16/8/15

We were visited by a large pod of spotted dolphins during the late morning many of whom leapt out of the sea as they headed for us from some way off. They stayed playing around the boat for about 20 minutes. This time Angus was left unmolested! Yet again we tried to take some video footage but with little success.

Lunch of cheese and tomato sandwiches reduced our stock of tomatoes to one half and our cheese to a quarter pound. Dinner would later consume quarter of an onion and quarter of a green pepper and reduce our stocks of those to three quarters and one quarter respectively. We had rather under provisioned our fresh food stocks!

More Sextant lessons followed lunch but produced a very poor result which remained unresolved. The wind gradually increased after lunch so that by mid afternoon we were bowling along at 5+ knots with the wind just aft of the beam.

Tom cooked dinner - a corned beef and bean curry with basmati rice. It went down extremely well.

We had a minor scare during my 2000 to 2200 watch when the Genoa started flogging wildly but it turned out that the sheet had just worked lose from the winch.

Over night we reeled off 12 miles per watch. Apart from the exhilarating sailing, there were two events of note. One was the arrival of a flying fish in the cockpit during Tom’s watch which he returned to the sea. The second was the incredible phosphorescence in the water. As the boat cleft the sea she created galaxies of brightly tumbling stars to port and starboard.

Day 6 - Monday 17/8/15

The wind had noticeably strengthened and the boat was storming along at 7.5 knots with Angus struggling to maintain control. We put a reef in the main and Genoa to settle things down. Poor David got the short straw because by the time we had finished it was time for his watch at 0600.

By mid morning on my watch the wind had strengthened further and a second reef was required. We were making great progress, averaging just under 6 knots, with the instruments predicting arrival off NE Tenerife by Wednesday evening. During the afternoon I saw my second flying fish. This time it avoided the boat and flew for approximately 100 metres before returning to the ocean. A wonderful sight.

Today it's David's turn to cook and whilst writing this, the boat lurched off a wave and his preparations ended up all over the cabin sole (floor)! Somehow he managed to serve up a delicious omelet followed by a rich fruitcake he had brought with him.

Another great sunset....

The night passed with the wind remaining in the NE, Force 6 for the most part and we made good if damp progress south eastwards at 5-6 k under 2 reefs.

Day 7 Tuesday 18/8/15

By mid morning the wind had eased sufficiently to shake out a reef and we were sailing in the sun with a more or less dry cockpit (which was not the case overnight).

Progress had been so good overnight that by mid afternoon we committed the cardinal sin of anticipating our arrival at Tenerife. We deliberately kept our speed down to 5 k so as to arrive at Santa Cruz in the morning of the 20th. Out came the Pilot book and we studied our options and hazards. We opted for the big Santa Cruz Marina near the town rather than the slightly smaller more attractive Tenerife marina, and noted the acceleration zones around the NE corner of the island which we would pass through or near and would therefore have to have our wits about us. Santa Cruz, should also give me a fair wind passage to Pasito Blanco on to the south coast of Gran Canaria, where Tom will leave the boat for September and October.

As soon as the Pilot book was back on the shelf the wind headed us and died and we were left flopping about with the sails banging and crashing as we went nowhere. We still had a reef in at this point but before deciding on whether to shake it out we downloaded a grib file over the satphone to check the weather over the next few days. it showed light north easterlies getting lighter nearer Tenerife for the next three days. So we shook the reef out and within 30 minutes the wind was east by south east Force 5. However, that only lasted an hour and by the time Tom came on watch at 1800 we were nearly becalmed again. Good conditions for me to knock up a variation on tuna Niçoise, curry Niçoise. Well it did contain tuna and there was a hard boiled egg with it!

Day 8 Wednesday 19/8/15

Tom was on the 0600 watch (and will therefore have to cook this evening; we have one quarter of an onion and plenty of garlic left so he can liven up the packets/tins a little). 

 A lovely day with the sun out and only the odd dollop of water in the cockpit but not quiet enough to open the fore hatch! The boat has sailed along happily at 5-6 knots under all plain sail on course for our way point just to the north east of Tenerife.

Bolognaise sauce converted into chilli con carne with garlic bread, hmmmm…….. 

Day 8 Thursday 20/8/15

Well we stayed on track more or less and had a very pleasant sail this morning. We rounded the NE corner of the island around dawn in gentle conditions and ran down the coast with only a hint of the dreaded "Acceleration zone" and arrived in Santa Cruz at 0930. Since our arrival we've noticed the winds are gentle in the morning before building to fresh/strong in the afternoon.

Santa Cruz is an interesting mix of port facilities that occupy the entire sea front and tourist cafes along the main road. Behind this there are some lovely areas, we kept returning to San Francisco square after a local gent volunteered to help us find a nice restaurant. The food is great and cheap and the waiters couldn't be more helpful. 

The marina was still being developed but it has got internet (albeit very slow in the marina) and showers and laundry and should provide for all our needs. Thankfully however the showers and loos are up and running (but take your own soap).

8 days and 19.5 hours, 930 miles, 870 of which were out of sight of land, 2 ships, several pods of dolphins and some other marine animals. A great trip with great company.  

Just back from a great trip delivering an Elan 40 to Sweden

I subscribe to a couple of yacht delivery agencies and an urgent request for crew came through on Facebook. After a false start due to weather and finding additional crew I set off to Holland to join the boat, a 10 year old Elan 40, in IJmudien. I met up with the other crew member in Schiphol and after a train and bus ride we met the Skipper at Seaport Marina. The winds were still quite strong and sand from the beach was in every lee space. We set off the next day into a gentle SW swell and headed for the Kiel Kanal. The run up the N. Netherlands coast was a very pleasant sail with little traffic causing any problems, we stayed away from the deep water shipping route. Entering and transiting the Elbe estuary at night brought back memories of a previous life when I did this route on a 50,000 tonne tanker. The route is very well lite with good bouyage and leading lights along most sections. 

We reached Brunsbuttel at day break and were locking in by 7AM. There were several ships going in and out of the canal but were we in the small craft lock with a couple of other sailing yachts. The Kanal is almost 100km long and took the full day to transit. In places it was very busy, for long stretches we were on our own.



We met a local couple whose engine had a problem and gave them a tow.



There are many ferry crossings and bridges along the Kanal but the transporter has to be the most interesting.



The 'gondola' has nav lights and radar! It is slung under a railway bridge. The cost for transiting was 18 Euros.

When we exited the kanal the small craft locks were out of service so we shared a lock with a ship and several other sailing boats. Once out we moored at Haltenau yacht station for the night, cost 18 Euro per night. The next day, being Sunday, everywhere was closed and the weather further up the Kattergat the weather didn't look too good so we had a rest day. A lovely area and of all the marinas in the area, we had the best of it. 



There were several Dutch sailing barges and other boats. The next quay up had a historic theme going on.



On Monday we fueled up and bought charts for the run up to Gothenberg. While waiting for fuel we saw a Dutch barge getting ready to take a school party out. There were several school trips in progress in the Baltic, maybe the UK could learn from this?



Along the route we took we sailed under the bridge that joins the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen. 



The deep water route has an air draught of 68m, the span we took was 56m, it still felt tight even though we had 20m clearance! The deep water route in this area is fairly tight and tortuous but there is a great system of sector lights and marks. This is what a sector light looks like at sun set.



The next morning we had freshening westerlies and raced into Gothenberg at 10 knots. While the route we took was quite twisty we had the wind on the port quarter the whole way up to our destination. The marina where we were delivering the boat to is owned by the users and while small was very well appointed.



A great trip with excellent company and no election news.



A ditch crawl up the Colne to Colchester, September 26th, 2014

Having sailed round from The Crouch after anchoring overnight in the entrance to the River Roach I spent the night in the anchorage just outside Brightlingsea. It was quite busy in the morning with, among other things, a sail training gaff rigged boat loading up and setting sail.

I waited until the tide had two hours of flood left in it then weighed anchor and set off sailing up the Colne. The wind was a light breeze from the North West so I only just made it to the turn into Wivenhoe before I needed to start the engine. After chugging through the tidal barrier and the moorings I drifted past Rowhedge and was now further up the Colne than I had ever been before. The water was still rising and the occasional alarms from the sounder didn’t bother me too much. There was a patch that was only just deep enough at 1.2m and the mud stirred up behind me but motoring and drifting through the fields south of Colchester was a pleasure.

Once past the old timber yards and the sewage works, I think that they perfume the outfall, I reached the final channel.

The Sea Scouts light ship looked well maintained and there were a couple of friendly faces on the barges and boats moored along the West bank.

The sun was starting to shine by now and there were plenty of people out at lunchtime. I always get a bit self conscious when trying to turn in a narrow channel with an audience but I had to turn back when I reached the first bridge, even if I could have lowered the mast there wouldn’t have been clearance.

After managing a reasonably neat three point turn and with 20 minutes before slack water I put the engine in neutral and I tried the head sail. I managed to just overcome the flood and very slowly sailed past the boats to more waves and a couple of smiles. One of the barges was for sale and if I ever truly leave the rat race it might be tempting, probably somewhere a bit more rural though.  

A couple of things happened on the way back down stream that I hadn’t encountered before. I was called by one of my customers and whilst trying to note down their request my mast became tangled in a branch over-hanging the river. It was the lee bank and luckily the wind was only very light so I started the engine and extracted myself.

A bit further down I saw someone swimming just North of Rowhedge. As I past him I asked what it was like and he said ‘Wonderful, I am trying to get to Colchester but the tide has turned’. I didn’t have the heart to mention the sewage works outfall, even if it did smell of my aunt's bath oil!

Apart from the brief burst of engine to clear the trees I didn’t use the motor again that day. I sailed through Rowhedge, Wivenhoe and past Prior’s sand and gravel works. I anchored under sail back where I had started. A very enjoyable trip and another river ticked off. 

Ray Sand Channel, Oct 2013

I vowed not to go through the Ray Sand channel again after almost getting stuck a few years ago and hearing that the channel had silted up. But to avoid going round the Spitway and getting to Pyefleet Creek after dark I chanced it. Two hours after high water there was just enough water to get through and I made it safely, albeit with my heart in my mouth, through. I had a nice gentle sail up the Colne entrance channel and anchored just as it was getting dark. About an hour later a large barge anchored just down stream of me and based on how much chain they laid I got worried that we might come together when the tide turned. To avoid this I dropped back on the tide and re-set my anchor. In the morning the barge Reminder, who I seem to keep coming too close to, was close astern. 

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I set off back home just before the tide turned and made it back through to the Ray Channel three hours after high water. Things were definitely going to be tight as I had less than 0.5m when I came North through the previous day. As it turned out I had almost 1m to spare and I found the Ray Channel mark and the elusive Ray Middle fairway mark.

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I didn't see this on the way North even though I must have been within 0.5 nm of it. As it turned out the chartlet available from East Coast rivers was spot on and the channel has moved almost a mile towards the coast since my first passage through it in 2009.

Back in the Crouch I sailed back to Bridgemarsh and going through Burnham moorings I passed Lady Mary of Woodbridge.

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All in all a very pleasant couple of days when it was warm and sunny.

SUNDAY, 25 AUGUST 2013

Day Out With His Friends

He managed a trip out last weekend with a couple of friends. Actually acted like he knew what he was doing for once. We left really quickly, engine just about warmed up, no safety briefing and caught the half ebb. With the wind on the quarter and the tide with us we made it into The Roach in less than an hour and then took over an hour to make it to Yorksfleet Creek where we anchored. Tacking round the corner into Devil's reach took an age with the tide against us and three or four other boats to contend with. When we did make it to the anchorage he and 'crew' had a late lunch and then we set off back. The fool recorded the return trip with his toy plotter but still hasn't worked out how to post it here. We made it back to Bridgemarsh Island but there wasn't enough water to get in so we stooffed around until the tide came in. All in all a very successful day out. All went to plan and no paint remover was needed.