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Sunday 2nd July Ref: 2015/25
We had just used Boulogne for an overnight stay and so there was not much exploration done as most of the time we were planning and working. It would have been nice to have stayed a little longer but the day following arrival was the best weather for the week and so we decided to set off again quite soon
In order to get to Ramsgate within two hours of high water (to get into the inner basin) we needed to leave around 10am UTC and cruise at 10knots so as to carry the tide and arrive at around 1400 UTC a half hour before the inner gate closes, which also gave me the option of taking on fuel, although I did not bother in the end. The total distance was about 40 miles and this would take around 4hrs using the tide to our advantage.
The weather is forecast was good and so it turned out to be. It was very benign off of Boulogne at just 3-5kn from the S and then rose to only 5-6kn as we cruised across the shipping lanes and then north past Dover to Ramsgate, with the southerly wind following the tide and making the best of conditions . In the event, the breeze was variable from the NNW and ending up in the SE. The sea was predicted be smooth/slight and it was actually calm for much of the time and only got up a bit when we were passing between the shallows and along the Ramsgate channel
23-27degC, 62-33%RH, 1018-1017mb, Good Viz, smooth/calm seas, 4-7kn variable breeze and a following tide
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Monday 10th August Ref: 2015/26
After leaving Lady Martina in Ramsgate for a week, we returned on board at the beginning of two very good days for cruising weather and so started to make our way back to Norfolk. High tides were early in the day, which meant there was no problem in getting out of the inner marina at Ramsgate to be able to re-fuel and then to carry the ebb tide all of the way up the coast before joining the flood tide to get up the river to Ipswich!
High water was around 9am local time and so we could cast off an hour or so beforehand and cruise through the open gate and bridge to the outer harbour and tie up at the fuel berth where I needed some 800+litres of diesel to fill up; having not bought any fuel since leaving Guernsey. We then had a following breeze and tide all of the way up the coast and the River Orwell, locking through Ipswich Lock and mooring at the Haven Marina, right next to the office and dog walking area
The weather was forecast as very good and so it turned out to be. Just about smooth seas throughout with a very slight swell
27-32degC, 35-45-36%RH, 1017-1013mb falling, Good Viz, smooth/calm seas, 4-12kn breeze variable, mainkly southerly with the following tide
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Tuesday 11th August Ref: 2015/27
Although it would have been nice to have another day or two in Ipswich Dock, the weather was at its best the day following arrival and there was much to do back at base and so a passage was planned for immediate departure. The weather was still and morning forecasts confirmed the prediction of the day before and the actual breeze was 4-5knots to start with and so we could go and have a smooth passage.
With High Water at around 9.20am, there was a level for Ipswich Dock just before that, which would prevail for an hour and we planned to leave on the last of that, carry the tide down the Orwell and then the ebb up to Lowestoft to make an efficient cruise at around the speed limit of 6 knots on the Orwell and then 8 knots for the remainder of the trip.
Passage planning on my MaxSea Time Zero application showed a distance of 51nm and similar passage times of about 6 hours for departures from 10am to 10.30am local time and so we waited to see when the levels could be maintained at the lock and leave just in time to exploit the convenient opening. In the end, being neapish tides, the free-flow ended at 09:20 UTC and so we were the last boat leaving thus.
The weather was forecast as very good around 8-10knots from the NE with smooth/slight seas with very little swell. I predicted more slight than smooth because of the adverse tide and thius proved to be the case but it did not go 'moderate' as flows would not be large at near Neap tides
24-25degC; 48-35-53-49 %RH, 1018-1020mb rising slowly; overcast but warm and 8-12 knots variable but mainly from the NE. sm/sl seas and good viz
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Wednesday 12th August Ref: 2015/28
Lowestoft to Horning on a fine but long day’s cruising as we catch the first post-morning-rush hour Bascule Bridge lift and lock through Mutford with a little difficulty before cruising along the Waveney, across the New Cut and down the Yare to Breydon arriving at low water to get under the Bure Bridges and then cruise against the tide up to Horning in good weather and daylight
Our target was the 9.45am LT raising of the Lowestoft Bascule bridge which would precede a Mutford lock booking that I had made for half an hour later. There was ‘rain in the air’ but it never really rained hard and so I was able to accomplish this and set off for the bridge afterwards without too much discomfort. The lock proved to be a little testing and that was not what I had expected at all. We were locked thorough in company with a sailing yacht and they only seemed to be using half of the lock to start with and the poor yacht had its stays tangling on our RIB as we were getting sorted out. This happened again as I prepared to leave as there was an unexpected tidle surge when the levels were established, making me think that the keepers had opened both gates or something. We slewed sideways, they gyrated about tangled but luckily no damage seemed to have ensued and so we carried on across Oulton Broad and along Oulton Dyke afterwards.
Eventually to Somerleyton Bridge who thankfully answered VHF Ch12 and gave us details of when to arrive and so I judged our passage well and arrived just on time at 10.25LT. Then some time moored and entertaining Maggie and Chris from Ikon after which I had called ahead to my old colleagues at the Yarmouth Yacht Station and their estimate of 15:51 LT was a little after mine of 15:39 LT and then we only just made their time of 15:51 by the time we arrived at the Bure Bridges.
We still had plenty of headroom as the reading on the gauge was 11ft 4ins, a clear foot above our minimum bridge height. The flow continued against us unabated as we punched the tide all of the way up the Bure and we kept going and left our canopy down until we got to Heronshaw when we spent time unloading the boat and ‘putting it to bed’
22-27-22 degC; 72-29-53-59 %RH, 1025-1022mb falling slowly; overcast but warm and 8-12 knots breeze variable but mainly from the NE.
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Friday 21st August to Wednesday 2nd September Ref: 2015/29
The first day was a cruise with my daughter Debbie, husband Paul and son Benjamin to entertain their friends from Warrington and their children and then a 2/3 day cruise with my son Daniel and James with opportunities for several of my grandchildren to take the helm and get more familiar with Lady Martina
The first cruise was just a local one from our base here in Horning, taking in Hoveton Little Broad where grandson Benjamin could enjoy himself safely helming Lady Martina in open water. We then cruised on past Salhouse Broad, picking up ice creams from the boat vendor and then went up to Wroxham but there are seldom any moorings for larger craft in this congested centre and so we turned by the bridge and cruised home via the wide open spaces of Wroxham Broad where there was again lots of opportunities for novice boating and youngsters to steer.
The first day of the second cruise started off in exactly the same way with my Son Daniel and grandson James enjoying the same opportunities and with us having the same result with regard to moorings. We turned back down the Bure and then stopped for a walk around Great Hoveton Broad nature reserve but could not stay long as they would not let our dog Max ashore. At their suggestion, we cruised over to Salhouse Broad and moored up alongside and paid their fee for the night. There was some discussion about us not mooring stern-on but it was quiet anyway and I offered to allow other large private cruisers to moor alongside if necessary and that was more than enough to reassure them.
I glorious start to the next day, exercising Max around the local stubble fields and then the longish trip to Potter Heigham where we found the River Thurne levels very high from recent tides and rainfall and the banks at risk of being over-topped. A comfortable night there with Daniel helping me set up my new on-board RedBox WiFi router. This uses the mast-mounted WiFi bat aerial to glean the faintest WiFi signals from the vicinity and then beams them at power to all users aboard and it was a very satisfactory outcome.
The cruise back to Horning on Day 3, stopping off at St Bennett's Abbey with Max and James enjoying the run in equal measure and that rounded off some excellent family fun cruising locally on the Norfolk Broads aboard Lady Martina before wrapping things up at the end of a busy and enjoyable season
18-26 degC; 76-46 %RH, 1015mb steady; dull and showery with sunny spells and 5- 10 knots breeze variable but mainly from the NNE.
