2014 Spring Cruise - Day 16

I slept unusually well getting in over 8 hours uninterupted and very welcome zzzs so it was already well into the morning before I stirred and got the kettle on.

Rik offloaded his gear then I offloaded mine and in between we put back aboard the stuff we'd offloaded that wasn't needed for the trip. An enormously complex logistical excercise brilliantly executed. Hmm!

I forgot to mention putting another 18 litres of diesel into the main tank yesterday which makes about 30 litres and she's by no means full. As the guage had stuck on full before we departed I don't know exacty what we've used in the past fortnight, I'll have to work it out later

I drove around to the marina to put the dinghy outboard away and caught up with Toby who already knew, before I got a chance to say a word, what I was going to ask about! The solution to another boat being on our buoy was, as I suspected, to leave Erbas on the pontoon and the lads would sort it all out later.

Rik headed for the hills as he'd got a long drive ahead of him and I finished off shifting stuff to my car. Then it was sweep and clean the boat inside from stem to stern, fill the water tanks and at last it was time for my final leaving checklist

A forum friend popped aboard for a quick visit as I was finishing off, unfortunately just too late for the kettle to go on as I'd put the stove to bed (or in other words put the sealing pads over the spirit burners to prevent evaporation) and ditched the remains of the milk.

After a chat in the sun we had a last look around below decks and, apart from giving the pig of a tender a sly kick on the way past, it was all over for this trip

I'll do the summary things over the next few days when I've a mind to do so!

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 15

The log...


And yes, once again the track log has failed. Buggy software really really really annoys me!

Hey ho.

My plan was simple - plug the tide out of Brightlingsea, blat across the outer Blackwater and catch the last of the flood down the Ray Sand Channel.

And that's what we did. It was engine all the way with F5 on the nose though.

Approaching the Raysand North buoy, I decided to take advantage of the top of the tide and try out a theory by cutting straight across to the Outer Crouch No.3 buoy. There is a definite channel as per the admiralty chart with at least 4.5m and crossing the drying sands we saw a long flat area of 3.0m on the sounder and never less.

By my rough reckoning, there is a channel most of the way to a flat bank that barely dries on average tides. It'd be interesting to head down there on a flat calm day and so some surveying

Anyway, once into the outer Crouch we were able to set sail and switch off the engine. As the river twisted and turned and the wind shifted we went from close hauled to broad reaching but we were never quite headed

We even managed to overtake another boat under sail!

Dropping the sails just shy of the moorings we stopped alongside the inside of the river pontoon for the night.

The exterior of Erbas was treated to a rare freshwater wash. I don't normally do this, fresh water is an expensive commodity on a metered supply, but after over a fortnight and a fair bit of hard sailing she needed it

Pub grub and beer beckoned. Tomorrow is time to go home



Our sister ship "Apogee" in Brightlingsea Waterside Marina

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 14

The log...



Yes, I'm aware that the track log is incomplete, I'll fix it when I get a chance

The start of the day was delayed by heavy rain. Nothing short of dire necessity would have persuaded me to set off in that!

Eventually, the rain eased and we made our departure from Ipswich. Our sister boat had by now up their minds made and wisely deciding to head for the delights of Brightlingsea rather than thrash their way up the Wallet.

That left me mulling our options. On the one hand, a hard slog into a stiff breeze down the Wallet held little appeal. On the other it now being Saturday it would put us in good shape for an easy run up the Crouch on the morrow.

And, I will confess, I kind've wanted to test my limits. I know the boat can handle those conditions, could I?

With the wind on the nose it was motor all the way downriver. And boy did it get rough in the lower reaches. Once it opened out into the wide expanse between Harwich and Walton conditions settled down but it was still hard going under engine with insufficient angle on the wind to make putting a sail up worthwhile.

We've never seen a sight like it in these waters - there were sails everywhere! There must have been fourty boats sailing downwind in the Wallet heading for Harwich. Hardly anybody was going south though.

As we cleared the Naze and turned to a more South Westerly heading we got the wind onto the port bow and hoisted the main with two reefs and a double reefed genoa.

Off went the engine and away we went making excellent progress and in reasonable comfort too. We even had sunshine at times although heavy showers made foulies essential and frequent squalls ruled out setting more sail.

We cut the corner over the Colne Bar and made it into Brightlingsea in good order but too soon to get into the Waterside Marina. We snagged a visitors berth on the harbour pontoons instead and after sorting out on board took the water taxi ashore.

Meeting up with Ian and Jo off our sister Sabre Apogee we enjoyed an excellent curry and drinks and chat. All too soon it was time to catch the water taxi back to the pontoon and settle down for the night

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 15

The log:




It wasn't a bad day really. A stiff South Easterly was in our teeth as we motored down the Deben and there was little point in even pretending to sail

As I anticipated, the exit past the shingle banks and over the bar was quite exciting - we even manage to bury the bows briefly which was interesting! Once we thrashed our way out into deeper water things settled down and we set sail and killed the engine

There was no traffic movement on the AIS and unusual peace on the Harwich VTS radio channel. This lasted right up to the point where we were approaching the deep water channel.

Suddenly everything was on the move! Container ships, ferries, pilot boats, tugs, fishing boats and a clutch of yachts to make life interesting

I assessed the situation, checked my underwear and skimmed around the back of an outbound container ship and skeddadlled over the big boys lane onto the recommended track for small vessels.
Now it was a downwind sail up the river Orwell to the outskirts of Ipswich. We tied up in Fox's marina after a relatively short and easy day.

A chandlery trip didn't produce the needed float switch for the sump pump though. To my surprise they hadn't got what I want. Oh well, it'll have to be ordered when I get home and fitted on our next trip.

I found a suitable length of spare hose and a jubilee clip and extended the nozzle of the fuel funnel with it. This made putting another 12 litres of diesel into the tank a much easier and less messy exercise. With 3/4 full showing on the gauge I'm not planning on visiting a garage now until we're back in Fambridge

Rik gave the heads a good clean complaining it was getting a bit whiffy. It'd have to be very whiffy for me to notice so I'll take his word for it!

Then we headed up to the excellent Fox's Marina Yacht Club for dinner, beer and chat until bedtime

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 13

Looking ahead at the upcoming forecast for the next 48 hours, we wanted a bolt hole for the night to shelter from the predicted near gale force gusts.expected to pass through in the early hours. As we haven't explored the River Deben before Woodbridge looked a good bet

Setting out from Lowestoft we initially had virtually no wind at all. So much for the predicted F3/4, it just wasn't there. Maybe F1 gusting 2 occasionally at the most, with long lulls where the sea took on that distinctive glassy appearance that is a clear indicator that the day, for the time being at least, is one for motoring not sailing.

And motor we did from Lowestoft to somewhere off Sizewell where, at last, the forecast breeze picked up and we were able to get sailing on, unusualy, a reach. I had been commenting to Rik how we always seemed to be running or beating and never reaching so this was a change.

After clawing our way past Orford Ness and laying the course for the Woodbridge Haven safe water mark, we found ourselves on a broad reach in light airs.

There was only one thing to be done ... hoist the SCARY SAIL!

Actually, although its a fiddle and a faff to get everything set up, it goes up and down very easily in it's sock although I'm sure it'll prove rather more exciting in more wind.

Then again. I'm not racing so I wouldn't hoist it in F4 and above

It gave us a good extra knot or more of speed which was welcome although we couldn't quite hold the course so in the end it had to be dowsed so that we could come around onto a beam reach for the mark.

Time and tide wait for no man as the saying goes and if we wanted to carry the tide up to Woodbridge we'd have to get a move on so it was on with the motor and off we went. The Entrance to the Deben is a bit nerve wracking with shingle banks all around but we had no problems and then the rain started in earnest.

We'd been observing the antics of a UKBA cutter which was hooning backwards and forwards between Landguard Point and Orford Ness all afternoon. Now, in the river, we encountered their attack RIB (OK, OK, so it's not an "attack" RIB and they don't attack people but jeez, with all the midnight black para-military gear you'd think they were the SBS or something). Happily, they just waved as they went by downriver ... totally ignoring the speed limit of course ... on their way back to the ship for tea.

We've been fairly lucky up until now and hardly ever been rained on but as we wound our way up the rather pretty river we were definitely getting soggy. However, the rain eased off and appeared to have moved on by the time we moored in the Tidemill Yacht Harbour.

After sorting out shore power and paying for one night (the decision on whether to stop for a second being deferred) we headed ashore for beer and grub. Passing on the Anchor, which looked a bit of a locals pub, we eventually (after some poor navigtion by the skipper) found our way to the Cherry Tree. Very good beer, excellent food.

However, on setting out for the walk back we discovered that during our sojourn indoors the rain had returned with a vengance and now is was pelting dowb. Nothing for it but to pull up our hoods, get our heads down and tramp back in the rain.

Matters were not improved by my tripping on a doorstep cunningly projecting out into the public pavement. Fortunately, a slightly grazed knee and a bruised elbow were the only injuries sustained but I could have done without it.

We'll see what tomorrow will bring - we need to dry off wet kit, my cough is getting if anything worse and Rik has started coughing again too. We may end up staying put simply to rest up

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 13 Passage Plan

Departing Lowestoft shortly towards R. Deben.

ETA Felixstowe Ferry 17:00

Alternate port(s) Harwich / Shotley

Need to beat high winds and bad weather forecast for this evening

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 12

We awoke very late which made the decision to stay in port an easy one.

The afternoon was spent on sorting out odds and ends of the to do list. I finally got around to touching up the paintwork where a fender rubbed it up over the winter

Before :

After :


And then I fitted fender socks to the ready use fenders to stop it happening again.

Rik sorted out below decks and did some work on the project.

We fixed the fuel gauge, or to be more precise fiddled with the wiring and it started working and found we were down below half a tank which seems about right.

The spare 10l can was emptied into the tank and then refilled at the local Asda as was the bacon and sausages etc. Of particular importance was resolving a major snack shortage!

Then it was off to the showers and on with our best shore rig for dinner

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 11 Track

There's more than one way to skin a cat (although why you would want to I've never really understood) but anyway I have several widgets saving track logs in the hope that at least one of them will work on any given day.

Here, then. for those who like this sort of thing is our track from yesterday ...

The ticks are at one hour intervals

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 11

The Blog app han't recorded the full track but the log is still intact ...

Things started out OK although I had not had a good nights sleep and felt tired before we even slipped our lines. This would come back to haunt me later.

As we departed Wells about two hours before High Water in the morning sunshine, we had a forecast of F3 or F4 from the East or South East, occasionally rising F5

F3 from the East we'd have take. What we got for virtully the entire trip was at least F4 from the South East and for long periods later in the day we had a solid F5 rising F6 at times from virtually dead ahead.

Initially, as has been my wont on this trip, I was determined to sail rather than motor if at all possible. On our first tack to make our offing up towards the Sheringham Shoal wind farm we went well enough, heading back towards the coast still going well. However, as time wore on the wind built and came harder on the nose. With the rising wind came an increasingly choppy sea - we had wind over tide chop on top of a swell from a slightly different direction which is never a nice combination.

I'll make no bones about it. I wasn't enjoying it much, we were going very slowly relative to our destination and I really didn't fancy being out there until the following morning in those conditions. It was clearly time to furl the sails and start the engine.

Even then, we needed 2,600RPM on the motor to make good a speed of 3.5 to 4 knots over the ground. The wind was now a very brisk 22 to 23 knots on the nose, augmented, of course, by our own speed through the air, and the tide was running foul.

Creeping as close inshore as I dared got us out of the worst of the tide and gained a good knot or more of speed in the right direction but it did mean a very careful lookout for pot markers. We'd hit a partiularly obscure one whilst sailing the other day, getting one wrapped around the prop would not be fun.

Cromer

On the up-side, we got to motor past the Norfolk coast close enough to see it and in daylight too for once!

Cromer came and went followed by Happisburgh and it's increasingly precarious looking church and lighthouse.

Mind you, the haze was reducing visibility to a few miles and at times I worried about the possibility of fog which had been mentioned

Fog worries me at sea. It's something we haven't had to deal with yet and I'd as soon avoid it if possible. #

With no radar and realistically no prospect of fitting one (cost, space, size etc.) we'd be all but blind and at the mercy of anyone not paying attention to their gizmos!


We motored on past the passage anchorage at Sea Palling. This, I think, would be OK in calm or reasonably calm conditions but it would be damned uncomfortable once the tide covererd the breakwaters with any sort of sea running

As always, photos make the sea look flat, gentle and benign. It was actually lumpy, awkward and a bit horrible.

By this stage, I was definitely developing symptoms of mal-de-mer. Or in other words I was without a doubt starting to feel seasick. A couple of Stugeron took the edge off it but when Rik took over on deck for a while I found it impossible to settle down for a rest. Within minutes of closing my eyes I started to feel queasy again and in the end it was better to be up and doing.

We saw very little in the way of other boats and shipping other than a small container ship as we approached Great Yarmouth

It's a shame there aren't better facilities at Great Yarmouth for visiting yachts - there's a rough quayside where you can wait for the bridge to lift and that's about it - as we could have got in there on the last of the light

As it was, we had a final approach to Lowestoft in the full darkness and a bit of a rolly polly ride in through the harbour entrance which required a fair amount of concentration and effort on the tiller to keep her pointing at the wet stuff and away from the solid bits.

We tied up around half ten with no sign of life in the club house. Rik had eaten whilst we were under way so I quickly warmed a tin of somthing on the stove and scoffed it down before retiring.

I am, it has to be said, slightly frustrated by how tired I am. I'm just not sleeping properly (an ongoing problem which usually clears up when on the boat) plus I've picked up a throaty cough (I'm blaming Rik but it's probably too many cigars). It was a long day yesterday for sure but it shouldn't be taking this much out of me.

Hey ho, onwards and upwards

2014 Spring Cruise - Days 9 and 10

When I left you last, dear reader, I belive I intimated that we would soon be abed. Well in fact there was a cracking live band playing on board the Albatros (a sailing ship used as a bar in the harbour here) and we stayed until closing time



Much falling down water was consumed and we slept the sleep of the righteous and didn't arise until half the morning had gone.

After breakfast on board, we went walkabout. The first port of call was the chandlers for some spare nav light bulbs. I'd fixed the dodgy tricolour by cleaning the contacts but we needed spare bulbs anyway.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a suitable float switch so we're still stuck with the manual grey waste pump



Now it was time for a little diversion into my family past. Several generations ago, one of my ancestors was, for a time, the proprietor of a nursery cum market garden on Theatre Street in Wells.

I was delighted to find that there is still a walled garden and dwelling known as the Nurseries on the site although most of the land has been built on.



Back to the harbour and back aboard the Albatros for more live music and more beer. Life doesn't get much better!

After three pints we decided enough was enough and headed back to the boat. Later, and sober, I decided to have a play with the dinghy and potter around the harbour.

We ate fish and chips from the excellent shop on the quayside sitting in the sun in the cockpit and then, after another spin, I packed the dinghy away

After some cogitation, we've decided to make a dash for Lowestoft tomorrow. Tempting though it is to go and have a look at Blakeney, the tide times and the weather forecast and my golden rule that we must be heading back by the beginning of the second week of a two week cruise all say no

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 8/9

Here's the Captains Blog app output ...

'Twas a funny old sort of day, night and then day again really!

The logic of the passage plan was good. We had to leave Southwold when the tide would let us anyway and the timings of an overnight passage straight through to Wells looked good. If we missed the tide at wells we'd be in daylight all the way to make an entry on the evening tide - better to get the night out of the way early in the trip than have to struggle to stay awake for an additional twelve hours in darkness.

Southwold from the sea

We left Soutwold in near ideal conditions. About the only improvement we might have asked for would have been a bit of angle on the wind. Downwind sailing is always a bit of a faff with sails collapsing and filling, the ever present danger of an accidental gybe and slow progress.

After a couple of hours of running with the genoa poled out I got fed up with the rolling from side to side and eased off onto a broad reach offshore. This then led to the decision to go up the outside of the Scroby Sands wind farm and get the maximum lift from the fair tide. This we did and we even managed to sneak back inshore towards the Cockle buoy before the tide turned foul on us.

We temporarily furled the genoa to make life easier whilst a plate of curry and rice, heated up in th galley by Rik, was wolfed down before it went cold. Then it was out with all plain sail again in the dying evening wind.

Sure enough and soon enough our "VMG" (Velocity Made Good - how quickly we are going relevant to our next change of course) dropped to 1 knot, then half a knot then nothing and then negative numbers started to appear! Since this means we are going backwards there are two choices at this point (apart from up with it put of course) - drop the anchor or start the engine.

We were a little ahead of schedule for the morning tide at Wells but not enough to make anchoring a sure fire plan so it was on with the engine and shortly thereafter it was on with the navigation lights as the sun dipped below the horizon. I was annoyed to discover that the bow deck light isn't working, I only checked them the other day. I wasn't inclined to try and fix it at sea so we turned on the sailing masthead tri-colour and ran with that and the steaming light. Not strictly kosher but never mind.

As midnight approached, we had some wind again on the beam and were able to get sailing on a reach. Rik went off watch for some sleep once we were sailing. He had barely half an hour before I called him on deck to assist with reefing both the main and the genoa as we now had a solid 16 to 18 knots apparent on the port bow and things were getting a little too lively for comfort.

Reefing went OK apart from spilling a cup of coffee all over the cockpit and Rik retired again. An hour or so of very lively sailing followed after which things moderated a little and I was able to settle into a groove. The only niggle on my mind being that we were going far too fast! However, I know what tricks these weather Gods play and better to arrive too soon than to slow down and then arrive too late.

Sure enough, as dawn got into full gear and we approached Blakeney Point the wind died away to nothing. After considering my options, it was on with the engine and the tiller pilot and motor towards Wells Leading buoy. Whilst we pottered along at a gentle pace I stowed the mainsail and made ready the anchor and upon arriving off Wells Bar we dropped the hook and dozed for an hour to wait for the tide.

An hour later and about two hours before high water we made an incident free entry into Wells Harbour (I only missed the channel once and we didn't go aground!) and made fast alongside the visitors pontoon. Shortly thereafter the harbour master put in an appearance and moved us along a bit before completing the paperwork for our stay.

Some much needed sleep was followed by making everything ship shape, a run ashore to procure some cigars for the Skipper, lunch, showers and some more much needed sleep.

I suspect tonight will involve food, beer and a lot more sleep!

It is rather lovely here in Wells I must say and we intend to stay until at least Monday (we might take a look at Blakeney Harbour too while we're hereabouts) although as ever it all depends on the weather.

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 8 Passage Plan

Departing Southwold 12:30BST towards Wells-next-the-Sea

ETA Wells 06:00 Saturday morning (or potentially after 18:00 Saturday evening if slow going)

Alternate ports: Lowestoft, Blakeney

May anchor off Sea Palling this evening

2014 Spring Cruise - Day

A welcome day in port today. We did briefly debate pushing on but it was a very brief debate indeed.

We got going quite late in the morning and after resolving a technical problem with the track logger polished off a couple of tinned breakfasts for brunch

A bit of drama occurred when a Dutch boat arrived, came alongside and the skipper fell in whilst mooring up. Fortunately, no harm done and he was able to extricate himself with some assistance from his crew, myself and a passersby but it could have been very serious

Rik then headed for the showers at the municipal campsite - the new facilities in the harbour masters office are partially installed but some way from being ready - whilst I had a strip wash on board

During the course of my wash I discovered that the grey water sump pump wasn't. Pumping that is. On his return, Rik and I set about dismantling the damn thing and ascertained that the fault is in the sealed for life solid state switch.

We checked whether the chandlers had anything suitable to replace it with which they hadn't. We then debated transplanting the switch from the engine bilge pump but finally we settled on using the hose coupler I put in the odds and sods box for just such an emergency and bypassing the sump altogether

That leaves us back with the chore of having to manually activate the pump to evacuate water from the sinks but it's better than nothing.

After tidying up, I went for a walk to take some photos from the other side of the river. Then I had a nurdle on the guitar before we headed to the pub for food and beer

Tomorrow will be a late start as we've just a short ten mile hop to Lowestoft in mind. After that, we shall see

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 6

Here, as promised, is all the gory details of yesterdays adventures ...
I did forget to log putting a second reef in the genoa sometime around 17:00hrs

With a forecast, fairly consistent across all sources, giving us F2 or 3 gusting F4 and coming from somewhere between the North East and the North West it was always going to be a tricky day for sailing in a Northerly direction. However, I detected a hint of an improvement in the long range prospects (I don't know quite why but I just have a feeling from the synoptic charts and the GFS forecast that next week isn't going to be the wall to wall Southerlys whose prediction put me in mind of a change of plan) so making Lowestoft today would position us to take advantage of that and press on to North Norfolk or to head back South if we felt that was the better option.

A check on the tide times and some fiddly work with the laptop and chart plotter the previous evening (the software bugs and incompatibility issues are going to lead to some fairly terse emails being sent when I get home) suggested an 08:00 departure ti make the best use of the tide. I particularly wanted to ensure a fair tide around Orford Ness in case we ended up beating to windward - tacking to and fro and never seeming to get up to a landmark location is an exercise in frustration I can happily do without!

It was agreed that I would get us under way when I was ready and Rik would arise later - he's still struggling to get over the effects of a nasty infection and needs all the rest he can get.

I didn't actually need the alarm I set for 07:00 as I awoke naturally ... at 06:56! I had us underway at 07:50, the departure from inside the pier going as smoothly as I could have wished, and as soon as I'd motored clear of the pier it was up with the sails and off with the engine.

To exit the River Orwell you have to go virtually due South even if you want to round Landguard Point and head North so I wasn't too unhappy to find us running before a tail wind. I reckoned we'd be able to lay the course up the coast towards Orford Ness or close to it once clear of the shipping lanes. Meanwhile, having successfully poled out the genoa on Monday single handed, I saw no reason not to do so again. However, this time everything just kept getting into a tangle and I ran out of patience after ten minutes of messing about and gave up!

My clattering around on the foredeck probably led to the appearance of the First Mate in the companionway just in time to see ...

The Stena Britannica departing Harwich astern of us and ...

a cargo vessel steaming inbound at a cracking rate of knots

Now we were on the small vessel track to the South of the shipping lane and we need to cross it

The timings were such that we only had to stand on a few minutes after the ideal point to cross and then ...

We could turn to port and pass astern of both vessels.

Surprisingly, neither of them created much in the way of wake or wash despite the fact that they were not exactly hanging about.

As I'd hoped, we were able to just lay the course for Orford Ness and our speed was quite reasonable too. Rik produced some very welcome bacon butties as we approached the Orford Haven safe water mark.

The entrance to the Deben soon fell astern leaving us with an excellent view of Bawdsey Manor in the sunshine.

We must explore the Deben up to Woodbridge at some point, especially now that we have a dinghy on board and can get ashore from a mooring or anchorage under our own steam.

We had an encounter with a field of pot buoys between the Deben and Orford including one badly marked string which we failed to spot in time which went right under the boat.

If we'd been motoring it would almost certainly have caused us a major issue as it was two tiny orange buoys with about ten feet of cork buoyed line in between (a small net perhaps?). As it was, it bumped and ground it's way between the keels and popped up astern, much to our relief.

As we approached the Orford Haven safe water mark, the wind began to head us and our heading had, perforce, to come around to port. We could no longer lay the course for Orford Ness on one tack but never mind. The breeze also began to build rising gradually over the next few hours from the 8 to 10 knots we set out with to a very stiff 23 to 25 knots by the time we arrived off Southwold.

By half past two, it was time to put in a reef starting with the main. The conditions were unpleasant on deck with a wind over tide chop overlying a North Easterly swell. It was hard work getting the reefing hook on the cringle and the tack hauled down but it was done.

After getting my breath back I reached for the furling line to put the first reef in the genoa as well only to discover that the line had managed to jump the drum and wind itself around the spindle. No amount of tugging and swearing was going to free it off and to cap it all as I flipped up the rope clutch on the cabin top a particularly sneaky swell threw me forward and it snapped off.

At this point I had a bit of a rant at everything going wrong. I felt better for it!

Rik dealt with the furling line issue at the cabin end by re-reeving it through the adjacent clutch for the third reef in the main (which we would not, and never will if I have anything to do with it, need). That done, we hove to and I clipped on again to go forward to sit with my feet being dunked in the sea periodically whilst I unwound the tangle and rewound the line onto the drum.

Finally, after quite some time hove to, we got the reef in and got under way again. By now it was gone half past three and we were still well short of Lowestoft. An hour later our alternate port of Southwold was in sight and looking astonishingly attractive! After a couple of abortive attempts to call up the harbour master on the VHF (I'm not totally convinced about the range of the Icom setup on Erbas, at some point I need to get an SWR meter on the antenna cable for starters) I looked up the number and called them on the phone just catching them before they finished for the day.

Permission granted and a berth allocated ("take you pick, there's nobody in today"!) we pressed on, putting a second reef in the genoa, and gradually losing the assistance of a fair tide which had made the beat around Orford Ness a pleasure rather than a pain.

By twenty to seven, we were barely a mile South of the harbour entrance with the prospect of another two hours of hard sailing to beat up to it. I felt I'd satisfied my inner masochist enough for one day and started the engine!

By half past seven we were alongside the stagings at Southwold...

... and it was a beautiful, calm and peaceful evening of sunshine and relaxation. In fact, it was so relaxing that I broke my usual rules and carried out an absolute minimum harbour stow and within 30 minutes we were blowing the froth off two pints of Adnams and shortly thereafter negotiating for a discount if Rik had the half a roast chicken off the menu and I had the other half!

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 6 briefy

I'll do something more detailed later, I'm too tired now!

It's been a tough day of things going wrong, things going pear shaped and a few things going right!

The full gory details of the...

The failed attempt to pole out the genoa

The price paid for reefing too late

The jammed genoa fuller

The broken rope clutch lever

And the skippers sense of humour failure

Will follow on another day

For now, suffice it to say that despite several setbacks and a rising wind that headed us we bloody well made it to Southwold and I'm happy with that!

Tomorrow is either stay put or pootle up to Lowestoft after lunch, we'll make up our minds in the morning

PS. I gather the Captains Log app isn't working, I'll try and fix it tomorrow along with everything else that isn't working!

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 6 Passage Plan

Departing Harwich in approx 30 mins towards Lowestoft. ETA 18:00

Alternate port Southwold

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 5

A combination of a less than enticing weather forecast and low energy levels made the decision to stay in port today an easy one

After a leisurely breakfast we went for a wander around the sights of Harwich which sights are mostly sites of a historical nature

A vertical stroll around the low light house, which despite its name still manages three floors and some steep ladders, was followed by a rather longer wander around the Napoleonic redoubt.

Both venues were rich in artefacts and blessedly short on interpretation boards and delightfully lacking in interactive displays

At that stage our wanderings were rudely terminated by heavy rain. After sheltering for a while under the walls of the redoubt, we dashed back to the boat via a shop for bread and got the kettle on

Rik retired for a nap and I too had a doze. As the evening approached, we were invited to join the crew of another yacht in the Alma. Rik tendered his regrets as he wasn't feeling up to it but I joined them for a couple of beers and a natter.

Back at the pier later, after scoffing a dinner cooked by Rik in my absence, we visited the other yacht - a very nice Buchanan 31 in wood and - and then entertained one of her crew aboard Erbas where a drop of the good stuff was partaken

With our guest departed, Rik hit the sack for the night whilst I fired up the technology to plan for tomorrow

There being indications that we might get a better than feared weather pattern over the weekend and into next week, I'm planning on making our way to Lowestoft tomorrow leaving around seven or eight in the morning. That will leave us well placed to make a final decision on whether to head on North or reverse course and head for the Medway instead

I must say that whilst it can be a bit rolly here, it's nice to watch all the activity at the adjacent wharves and socks instead of staring at an aluminium stick farm

2014 Spring Cruise Day 4

I'm trying out a new app to create blog content, let's see how it goes ...

If this works I'll be surprised! Well it seems to be waiting for the Google server on my slow mobile connection so we'll see what happens

It has been a funny old day. We set out from Burham with a slight Westerly breeze that gradually built until I was able to pole out the genoa and crack on nicely down the Whitaker. However, as we approached the Spitway the breeze started to die away vanishing completely in the end.

On went the engine only for the breeze to build back in right in our teeth. A couple of stiff rain showers added to the fun as well.

In the end, we motored the last few miles into Harwich tying up on the inside of Ha'penny Pier in some glorious evening sunshine!

A meal on board followed by a pint or two in the Alma rounded off an up and down but ultimately satisfactory sort of day

Rik hasn't been at his scintillating best today and I'm still struggling to get my sleep switched into day mode so neither of us is wild about the prospect of a long hard day of windward sailing tomorrow and that's what we'll get if we press on Northwards.

To complicate matters further it looks like the wind is going to stay flakey and generally northerly all this week before stiffening up and going round into the South next week! Precisely what we do not need for a trip up the East Coast!

So now we're contemplating staying in the Orwell for a day, or even two, and then heading down to the Medway and the Swale for a few days.

More detailed plans will follow when we've made some!

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 4 Passage Plan

Departing Burnham imminently towards Harwich Halfpenny Pier ETA 17:00UTC

Alt destination Shotley Marina

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 3 Geekery

The top secret Raspberry Pi project is coming along and starting to look rather tidy but you'll have to wait for a while for more info on that

Meanwhile I've been having "fun" with the more conventional technology discovering that none of the software I've purchased that ostensibly works with the Raymarine chart plotter actually communicates with it properly.

Even Raymarines' own piece of rubbish masquerading as a finished programme is frankly pants with more bugs than a hot summer night in the jungle. And as for PC Plotter, which cost a great deal of money indeed, I'm very annoyed to discover that it fails to save waypoint icons to the transfer file at all and nor does it transfer waypoint group information

So I'm having to mess about exporting the routes and waypoints from PC Plotter into Raymarines' Planner, correct the missing info and re-export the file again, then I have to load it into the plotter and correct the errors that the Raymarine software introduces (duplicate waypoints mainly)

A process that should take but a few moments is taking ages. It's no wonder some people are put off technology by this sort of idiocy and it's totally avoidable

And now I've got that off me chest, and tomorrows route loaded into the chart plotter and verified, I shall retire to my berth ... that's assuming I don't decide to go and do something about the creaky fender that'll be inches from my head first!

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 3

With no sign of the strong breezes letting up, my decision to delay departure until tomorrow was fully vindicated.

I slept well despite the effects of the wind on the boat - even in the shelter of the marina we were rocking and rolling quite a lot - and awoke mid-morning just in time to wave Alchemist off on her return trip up the Wallet

Apparently, they had a great sail in sunshine and didn't get rained on once. I hope we're as lucky tomorrow!

Energy levels were low so I pottered around until Rik arrived early afternoon. A trip to the chandlers followed for a replacement shackle and a cleat -the former for the port side jacklines, the latter for the flag halyards where the one time cleat on the cabin side to port is missing) cost me the princely sum of just over a fiver (yep, went to the chandlery and spent less than a tenner!)

We then humped Rik's baggage from his car to the boat and organised our gear which didn't take too long.

More pottering around and relaxing ensued and then Rik set off to park his car at Fambridge and catch the train back to Burnham

With that chore done, I heated up a couple of tins of Irish Stew, buttered some bread and put the kettle on. We wolfed down the very welcome if not very posh repast and spent the rest of the evening on geekery with computers and things (of which more anon)

Rik retired a while ago and I shall follow suit when I've finished the blogging.

Tomorrow looks reasonably fair forecast wise. Westerly 5 to 7 becoming variable 3 or 4 the wou'westerly 5 or 6 for a time isn't my idea of an ideal forecast but it'll go. Looks like an unhurried mid-morning departure towards Harwich is the plan

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 2

Apologies for the delay, I completely forgot to write up the blog last night. Booze, I assure you, had nothing to do with it!Still, look on the bright side - it does mean two for the price of one tonight!

After a completely sleepless night, not so much as a wink, I gave it up as a bad job by five am and, after a coffee, headed to Asda for an early run around the shelves with a trolley.

With supplies laid in, I headed back to Fambridge and carted everything down to the pontoon in three trips.That was one trolley load of grub, one trolley load of clothes and a final trolley load of "stuff"

Then came the challenge of stowing it all away! Actually, that went quite easily but I think it would have been more interesting had space been needed for a third crew members kit. Do-able but more challenging.

I had everything sorted out by lunchtime and decided that neither the weather nor my prospects of any sleep were likely to be improved by hanging about so it was off with the sail covers and on with the engine

I set off just before midday onto a wild and wooly river. There were, this far upriver, no big waves but it was definitely lumpy! Photos never do this sort of thing justice - it looks quite benign and friendly but I can assure you, dear reader, it was anything but!

Given that I was, at times, heeling over 10 degrees with bare poles, I decided discretion and speed were the better part of valour and whilst I was ready to set some sail if necessary, engine failure for example, I elected to get the passage over and down with with maximum speed and minimum effort under motor.

(Inevitably, this led to a certain amount of mickey taking that evening but I don't care! This was a delivery trip with the sole purpose of getting me and the boat to where we needed to be and I saw no reason to risk damage or injury to either me or Erbas trying to prove a point)

As is quite often the case, it took a couple of trys before I managed to raise Burnham Yacht Harbour on the VHF - I swear the harbour master's hand held has been faulty for several years! - but once communications had been established I was allocated a starboard side to berth as this would be easier to get into in the conditions.

It did, however, mean leaving Big George (the tiller pilot) to maintain our course downriver whilst I ran around on deck moving fenders and mooring lines from port to starboard - I'd left everything ready on deck on the basis that I had an evens chance of not having to shift it.

The delay in comms meant I overshot the entrance whilst sorting out my lines and had to do a 180 into the wind whence things got even more exciting for a few minutes. The sailors amongst my readers will be nodding sagely understanding the effect of running before the wind reducing the apparent wind speed over the deck whilst conversely motoring into the wind has the opposite effect of increasing the wind speed

It was with some relief that I entered the more sheltered waters of the marina. However, that relief was tempered with trepidation at the prospect of maneouvering into a berth across the fierce winds that was gusting well over 30 knots (I am convinced, by the way, that our wind instrument is under reading even more than we suspected). The harbour master was standing by to take my lines which was very useful however I fluked a perfect approach stopping parallel to the pontoon and a foot or so off it from which position the wind pushed us neatly into position without any drama at all

I was quietly chuffed and doubly so at the quite "nicely done" from the harbour master. I set about putting Erbas to bed and was all wrapped up by half past one.

By now the fatigue of having not slept for nearly 24 hours had caught up with me so I settled down for a restorative nap. During my doze, Peter on Alchemist arrived with his two crew having mad the adventurous and extremely creditable trip down from Harwich despite the conditions.

Any further prospects of a kip went out of the window as I entertained visitors aboard Erbas (and how pleasant it is to be able to do so in comfort) and went visiting aboard other boats myself. Time flew by and I quickly washed and changed before walking along the sea wall to the Crouch Yacht Club for the East Coast Forum Fitting Up Supper

I thoroughly enjoyed an evening of good food and great company in a pleasant venue ... and I totally forgot to take any photos! All good things come to an end though and eventually I wended my weary way back to the yacht harbour in the dark of the night.

Although it was still blowing old boots, by the time I was half way down my nightcap decaf coffee I was fast asleep.

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 2 Arrival

Arrived safely at Burnham Yacht Harbour after a wild and wooly motor down river

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 2 passage plan

Departing Fambridge shortly to Burnham Yacht Harbour. Eta before 13:00BST. PLB attached to lifejacket

Very breezy to put it mildly, expect to motor it

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 1 supplement

Firstly to all who have expressed concern (my wife) I just had a bit of a scarey time getting out to Erbas in our not very good rigid tender. Nobody drownded.

To all the rest of you mickey taking beggars, yah boo sucks!

And on to the weather forecast...

Sunday is definitely looking like a non-starter. Monday is looking 50/50

I think we're looking at Tuesday before the cruise properly gets under way. If things carry on shaping up the way it's looking and IF we can sneak a bit of Northwards progress out of Monday I'm still optimistic about making it to North Norfolk by the latter part of the week

From there we shall have to see but as things stand I'll be happy if we don't spend the whole week stuck in the river!

2014 Spring Cruise - Day 1

I arose quite late after an unusually good sleep and nearly decided to leave travelling to the boat until the morning.

For reasons that will become obvious I almost wish I had!

In the end, I decided to get going and hit the road well after three and with the inevitable coffee stops and Friday afternoon traffic it was gone six by the time I reached Fambridge

I wasn't greatly surprised to find that Erbas was nowhere to be found in the marina so, stopping to grab the outboard out of the lock store, I made my way to the moorings where, sure enough, she was sat on a mooring out on the river

I had the knackering exercise of dragging our rigid tender from the yard across the road and down the pontoon in order to launch the bloody thing into the rather choppy river

Thank God for the outboard add I wouldn't have fancied the row even though we're on a very handy buoy. Even so, it was a bit too exciting for comfort and I was extremely glad to scramble onto the secure decks of Erbas

Happily,despite all the permanent send semi - permanent space hogs on the river pontoon, one spot on the sheltered inside was free and once I'd sorted out strings and fenders and stuff I started up the trusty Beta diesel and motored round the end of the pontoon to make a very satisfactory fist of coming alongside single handed

As I sorted things out before heading for the pub a sudden attack of the shakes hit me. It would have been a lot easier getting on board tomorrow when the trot boat is running! Our tender really isn't the most stable or seaworthy of craft and the woodwork is well past its sell by date too

Hey ho, can't afford a marina berth and can't afford a new tender either so I shan't worry about it!

Beer and curry is curing all ills as I write!

It must be time to go sailing ...

Because the weather forecast is looking rubbish!

It's looking increasingly likely that the weekend will be wall to wall low pressure systems with strong breezes and gale force gusts

It continues to look iffy into Monday on most forecast sources and even Tuesday could be a non-starter

F4 is OK, F5 I could live with. Even F6 would be a "go if we must " but when we start setting predictions of F7 or F8, even if that is in the gusts, I start passage planning to the nearest bar... and I don't mean the sort of bar you get at the entrance to rivers and estuaries, I mean the sort that sells beer

If it wasn't for the East Coast Forum fitting up supper in Burnham on Saturday night, I'd probably not bother travelling down until Sunday, as it is I'm thinking of driving down in Saturday morning rather than Friday afternoon

I think we're going to be looking at North Norfolk for the middle weekend at best, and it could easily be Southwold or even further south. Any hope of making it to Yorkshire goes straight out of the window if we're stuck in the Crouch beyond this weekend

Hey ho, the one thing you can't plan is the weather!

Erbas Spring Cruise 2014 - Keeping Track

Well silly posts aside, it's just six days to our departure on our major cruise for 2014

Already, the best laid plans are getting a bit frayed around the edges although they have yet to totally unravel. We had intended to ship a third hand but Mark has been offered some ongoing work which he can't afford to turn down so we'll be two handed ... and that is assuming that Rik gets over a throat infection by next weekend otherwise I could be on my lonesome!

Anyway, after last years successful, if rather tiring, cruise to Chichester in Brigantia, this year we're turning our bow Northwards again and hoping to get beyond Lowestoft this time.

We start off gently as we have a function to attend on Saturday night in Burnham-on-Crouch and then on Sunday we get underway for the cruise proper.

Whilst I have run possible scenarios through the navigation software to see what might or might not be feasible, exactly what we do on each day will, as always, depend on the weather, how we're feeling and so on.

We will probably fetch up in Harwich on Sunday night - I have it in mind to check out Halfpenny Pier on either the way up or the way back and then Lowestoft seems inevitable on Monday night.

It'll need a very early departure from Lowestoft on Tuesday morning to ensure making it over the bar at either Blakeney or Wells on the afternoon high tide so if we feel up to it we might just sail on by and not bother stopping on Monday night.

After a stop-over in North Norfolk, we'll see how the weather is shaping up. It's a long haul from Norfolk to the Yorkshire coastal ports with the entire coastline of Lincolnshire devoid of any safe haven and of course if we do head further North we've got to get back again!

Whitby would be our ultimate destination sometime around the middle weekend with a stopover in Scarborough on the way back for half a day - I love Whitby and oddly I've never been to Scarborough. I have ancestral connections with the latter so I'd like to pay a visit

Earlier ambitious plans to reach as far North as Sunderland or Hartlepool have been dropped in favour of taking a slightly more relaxed approach. Although it's not that much further North than Whitby, it adds a couple of days to the time at sea and makes the whole rough schedule look a bit too pressured

Last year I set up an app on my mobile which reported our position to AIS monitoring websites and quite a few people enjoyed following us so I'm doing it again this year

I'm using a different app because the one I used last year doesn't want to play (or to be accurate, the associated website doesn't want to accept my login)

I shall have BoatBeacon running and reporting our position whenever we are within mobile phone coverage. Bear in mind that if we do go for the Yorkshire coast though we'll be well out to sea and likely to disappear off the "radar" for a considerable period - don't panic!

You can, if you wish, follow us on that app or on their "free" BoatWatch app (iOS and Android). I've put quotes around the "free" because the free version is nagware and I suspect if you want to use it you'll want to pay for it to get the full benefit. It's not silly money and it does seem to work (one critical advantage for our purposes is that it's hooked up to the same system as Boat Beacon so should refresh quickly)

You can also follow us on the various AIS tracking websites ... Marine Traffic, Ship Finder, Vessel Finder etc. Take your pick of which one you like!

Our MMSI number is 235077379 by the way although you should be able to find us by name easily enough

In fact, to help out, here's a direct link ... Marine Traffic - Erbas (although I've got issues with Marine Traffic and their mAIS app, their web site does seem to refresh and update positions much quicker than the other two) and the others ... Ship Finder - Erbas and Vessel Finder - Erbas

Please do remember though that location reporting relies on our having a mobile data connection and that can be hit and miss even when we're inshore. Tracking us on an app or website is purely for fun, if we can't be seen it doesn't mean we've sunk!

Roll Up, Roll Up, Read All About It ...

COMING SOON

TO A BLOG NEAR YOU

From The Makers Of ...

Small Boat to Chichester

and

Ice Cold In Essex

With a cast of thousands hundreds dozens a few ... oh all right then ... TWO

This years blockbusting epic adventure will be ...

North By North West-ish

A stirring (the coffee) tale of derring do and adventure upon the (not too) high seas

Starring ...

The Skipper as ... The Considerably More Ancient Than Last Year Mariner

The Mate as ... The Slightly More Ancient Than Last Year Mariner

and introducing

Erbas as ... Herself

Warning: May contain swearing, made up bits, moderate drinking and nuts