The basic plan is to depart Niuewpoort towards Harwich at 03:00UTC (05:00 local) with an ETA in Harwich (Halfpenny Pier or Shotley Marina) of approx. 21:00UTC (22:00 local)
However, this is subject to the weather and sea state moderating sufficiently overnight
We will not depart Niuewpoort until the F3 buoy is reporting mean wind speeds of less than 21 knots and a wave height of less than 1m (preferably less than 0.6m but provided it's still up a bit we'll go on a moderate sea that's improving)
If conditions on departure are too severe, we will return to Niuewpoort and wai, probably for 24 hours
If by the time we reach he D1 buoy off Ostend, eta app 05:00UTC conditions are not to our liking we will divert into Ostend with an eta of approx 08:00UTC
(Note that I would anticipate that we would drop off the virtual AIS tracking not long after making our departure from the D1 buoy towards the A-N buoy where we take our departure towards the Sunk Outer Precautionary Area. we're unlikely to appear again until somewhere off the Sunk around 18:00UTC)
We may, of course, turn back for Ostend at any point in the crossing if conditions so dictate
Timings are difficult to anticipate, we could arrive in Harwich in good time for a pint tomorrow evening or just in time for breakfast on Friday morning!
And the final sting in the tail is that the various forecast models are at some variance as to the wind direction tomorrow. It could stay somewhere in the South West, roughly, which will give us a reach across or it could veer further Westerly and head us. If that is the case we may decide to head further North and make directly for Southwold instead clearing the Eastern end of the Sunk East TSS. Our ETA there would be 23:00UTC but again it could easily be as late as the following morning
Our departure should be logged on Marinetraffic etc, I will post as soon as I can if plans change in the mornng
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