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!
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