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- Category: 2020
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Monday 7th September Ref: 2020/6
After completing the course planning and preparation of Lady Martina, much of which had been undertaken the night before, I checked with the harbourmaster and we agreed that it would be okay for us to leave about 3 PM local time, which was nearly an hour after high water. By this time the levels had not dropped very much and we would be able to carry the ebb tide back along the Suffolk coast to Lowestoft. From our moorings, we could still see the P&O cruise ship Arcadia anchored offshore acting as a huge tide gauge was it swung round just before we were leaving port. Today's harbourmaster did not turn any boat away but tried his best to accommodate them. I was wondering why he was looking quizzically at Lady Martina as we left, and I found out once we arrived in turbulence outside Lowestoft Harbour. I had left our Dutch pottery Stork chick, Ooievaar. in his nest up on my radar reflector, with his legs dangling, and he lasted the entire voyage until the very end when he fell off but was recovered safely.
We carried the tide North along the coast with our progress being at least one knot faster and this rose to over 2 kn by the time we approached the Newcombe Sand buoy. The sea was smooth to slight throughout but the tidal turbulence at the entrance to Lowestoft caused by the interaction of the ebb with the coastal flow rocked the boat a little until we safely cruised into the outer harbour. We had met fishing vessel Orion on a coincident course as he was gutting his catch single-handed and then we were followed in by a Coastal Protection ‘warship’ which sailed through the Bascule bridge to its base in Lake Lothing. We radioed in and moored up just 1hr 40mins after leaving Southwold.
19-24 degC; RH 71→64%; 1023mb steady ; smooth/slight/mod seas with 9-13 knot breeze, variable; fair visibility with slight rain in the air
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- Category: 2020
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Thursday 13th August Ref: 2020/1
After some brief sea trials, our first proper sea trip of a season much-disrupted by the coronavirus 19 lockdown. Proceeding well on a fine and murky day heading out from Lowestoft Harbour through the Stanford channel and pass the East Barnard cardinal marker before cruising the remaining five nautical miles or so to the Southwold harbour piers. Then calling for entry instructions after which we moored at the pontoon adjacent to the harbourmaster's office
In predominantly south-easterly breezes, the Force 4 strength with the following tide of 1 to 2 kn kept the sea state to smooth or slight and, with moderate to good visibility and warm temperatures the cruise went very well. As this was the first test of our hulls effectiveness, following the new antifouling application, I opened up the engines and monitored the speed through the water every 100 rpm up to a maximum of 2600 rpm where the speed was about 19 kn. By cruising relatively slowly at 13 to 1500 kn we kept our speed to around 9 kn through the water, 10 kn over the ground, where we were consuming something like 20 L an hour of diesel fuel. The harbourmaster had left after taking our final call so we were left to choose her own location on the pontoon and complete our moorings alone
29-25 degC; RH 55→59%; 1014mb steady ; smooth/slight seas with 12-17 knot breeze, mainly SEly; good/mod visibility
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- Category: 2020
- Hits: 2513
Tuesday 18th August Ref: 2020/3
Cruising from Lowestoft to Wells with a perfectly-timed passage to have wind with the following Spring Tide, then slightly delayed by an earlier-than-predicted tidal flow change but we still arrived at Wells Harbour around an hour before high water. Then shown in behind Robert Smith in the harbour launch as the heavens opened with thundery rain. We tied up at the new pontoons with electricity and water readily available
The breeze was 9-12 knots breeze, now SWly Force 3/4 strength with a following tide of 2 to 3 knots for the first two thirds of the passage keeping the sea state smooth to slight, but the tide turned a little earlier than prediction, delayed our passage by about 15mins and made for a slight sea rather than smooth.
As we were off Blakeney Point, we heard from Wells Harbour VHF traffic that a flotilla of sailing yachts from the Royal Harwich Yacht Club were ahead of us a little early on the tide and preoccupied the harbour staff until then. We then made our presence known on VHF and the harbour launch was ready for us at the entrance for pilotage and they had kept an alongside berth for us in the favourable spot near to the west of the pontoon.
The overall weather had been warm and close and the predicted thunderstorms arrived as we started our approach, saturating the poor harbourmaster but relieving us of the task of washing down the boat! Fortunately and considerately, it paused as we moored and went ashore for a takeaway fish and chips and then resumed with a vengeance.
Lady Martina was functioning well the cruise was completed without problem.
27-29 degC; RH 64→50%; 1008→1005mb falling slowly ; smooth/slight seas with 10-12 knot SWly breeze, good visibility fine with thundery showers and downpours developing later
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- Category: 2020
- Hits: 2049
Saturday 15th August Ref: 2020/2
After a very disappointing experience with the Southwold harbour, which entailed leaving the moorings in an indecent hurry, we had a good trip back to the club at Lowestoft with the boat performing well and we arrived in time for me to drive to Ipswich for some new charts and diesel protection additive. There had just been Lady Martina and one other private boat moored for the two days that we were visiting, with 4/5 free moorings, which was a shame.
It was a different officer to yesterday and this one knew nothing of any efforts by the other to accommodate us for a further day and insisted that we had to leave as he had five boats arriving. We could not even stay during the day, and had to leave immediately. When pressed, he had no idea when they were due to arrive, and upon which tide, nor where they were going from which was all very unsatisfactory. We heard that three boats had been expected and had not arrived but, with the office unmanned for most of the day and the phone ringing constantly. there seemed little chance of contact and visitors were obviously discouraged.
This had been another good trip, with Lady Martina and all of her equipment all working satisfactorily. There had been a slight salt water leakage into the starboard bilge, which was traced to a leaking stern gland that could be tightened when next accessibly or the gland could be re-packed when next out of the water.
22-25 degC; RH 78→71%; 1015mb steady ; smooth/slight seas with 9-11 knot breeze, mainly NEly; mod/poor visibility turning into fog after our arrival
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- Category: 2020
- Hits: 2525
Monday 24th August Ref: 2020/4
Another perfectly-timed and planned passage cruising from Wells-next-the-Sea to Lowestoft with the effects of a F5 20-knot wind ameliorated by the following 1.5-2.5 knot following tide so as to result in a slight to moderate following swell and sea. Leaving Wells an hour before after High Water as the last of the pleasure vessels, we carried the following tide all around the North Norfolk coast to Lowestoft.
The breeze was in the range of Force 5, 17-20 knots breeze, mostly westerly but varying from NWly to Swly during the passage. This followed our course on the stern as we gained between 1.5 to 3.5 knots of current and so, with a swell as forecast of .7m, Lady Martina was seeming to surf at times.
Apart from the first led out from the Wells channel to round the West Cardinal Marker, where the swell and waves were on our beam, the rest of the passage was firm and comfortable as Lady Martin sailed through the following sea and she made for a very stable platform as we ate our breakfast and lunch underway.
The cruise took us back past the familiar Norfolk coastal resorts of Blakeney, Cley, Weybourne, Sherringham Cromer, Trimmingham, Mundesley, Bacton, Happisburgh, Sea Palling, Horsey and Winterton before we entered the Yarmouth Road via the Cockle Gateway and passed the wind farm as we cruise south in calm waters to Lowestoft.
We re-fueled with 733 litres of deisel upon arrival whilst the red variety was still available and treated it with an anti-bug and anti-moisture additative because this fuel ws going to be kept for some while.
Lady Martina was functioning well the cruise was completed without problem.
24-28 degC; RH 58→43%; 1013mb steady ; slight/moderate seas with 17-20 knot F5 mainly SWly breeze which veered NWly, good visibility fine weather
