Lowestoft

The original plan was that Alex and I would sail up to Edinburgh as a double handed crew in order to position the boat in Scotland as quickly as possible, but in these strange COVID times Alex had an issue at work that meant that he had to return home and arranged to leave the boat at Lowestoft. This left me single handing a tat earlier than expected. I decided to stay an extra day in Lowestoft and take a good look at the options as the east coast is rather sparse when it comes to marinas, thus I needed manageable passages in good weather.

After several hours pondering my passage planning I decided to make several shorter passages and the first was from Lowestoft to Scarborough, somewhere that I had visited as a child on a family holiday.

Lowestoft Statue to Lifeboat Crew

With the need to re-victual and refuel the boat I set off in search of the nearest supermarket, Asda, about a mile away and spent an 'entertaining' afternoon wandering about the shop like a lost sheep. It is always a challenge finding what you want in a different supermarket and food shopping is not my idea of fun. Followed by a return trip with the jerry cans for fuel.

An evening stroll along the South Beach and a look at the sea before heading into the yacht club for dinner. Apparently, they were expecting me at 1800 (UTC) and I had it down for 1900 (UTC), anyway it was sorted and I had an enjoyable meal before settling down for the night.

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Crew: Sandy Garrity

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Ramsgate to Lowestoft

07/08/2021

The crossing of the Thames Estuary was one of the passages in the trip that I was treating with care and for me this had to be a day crossing.

With a forecast that I considered marginal as it was definitely a F5 not a F4, but the sea was slight and the wind would be behind us. We set off at 0730 (UTC). This was planned as the long passage north to Edinburgh.

On the sail hoist we got hit by a gust and the mainsail car 'burst' out of the track, with parts of the car flying in all directions! Once we steaded the boat and gathered both our thoughts, and bits of the car, were not as bad as we first thought. We re-assembled the car minus less one bearing and set off toward North Foreland and out across the Thames Estuary.

At around lunch time we were hit by a huge rain cloud and got drenched. It did flatten the s making the ride a little more comfortable.

1500 hrs Passing Long Stand Head Buoy.

The forecast was spot on and we had a fantastic sail zig-zagging through the sandbanks and wind farms.

Crossing the Thames Estuary. Credit Alex Bowling

1800 hrs Orford Ness off our port beam.

2230 hrs Southwold Lighthouse off out port beam and it was getting colder. The final leg and finding the channel into Lowestoft.

08/08/2021

We called Lowestoft Control to seek permission to enter harbour. Their reply was instant, somebody apart from us was awake!

With the tide running at 2.5 knots we passed the pier heads ferry gliding in at about 45°. Entering the calm waters of the harbour, dropped the main and headed into the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club.

0110 hrs Finding the visitors pontoon full and nobody about we parked up near the fuel pontoon and got some sleep; the end of a long and exciting sail.

All times are UTC.

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Crew: Sandy Garrity and Alex Bowling

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Trip Stats: Distance: 83 nm, Avg speed: 4.75 knots, Max speed: 11.00 knots, Underway: 17 h 30 m.

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Sunrise: 0542 hrs Sunset: 1931 hrs

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Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 01:00 (UTC+1) on Sat 7 Aug 2021 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Sun 8 Aug 2021

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southerly or southwesterly 4 to 6, occasionally 7 near North Foreland and later in south. Slight or moderate. Showers, thundery at times. Good, occasionally moderate.

Ramsgate

After our dash along 'La Manche' we had a planned rest day. One to recharge the batteries and take a look round the town and to to be honest the Inshore Forecast was pretty poor.

I had spotted an oil leak, clean oil, in the bilge and it had clearly came from the gearbox and after much poking about I concluded that the O ring had become distorted over the years. Now, Ramsgate has a proper old fashioned chandlery with a wall covered in wee boxes of stuff and after more poking about I found the ideal O ring, paid the man the huge sum of £2 and crossed my fingers that this would sort the problem out.

One of the delightful things about the trip was that friends who were in all part of the UK had said let us know when you are in the area and we will meet up. One such friend I'd not seen for over 40 years made contact and had arranged to go out for dinner.

Just before they arrived the heavens opened! I met them at the marina office we all sprinted or rather walked at pace down to the boat where I introduced them to Alex and conducted a whistle stop tour of the boat. Following a quick trip to the local fuel station for some diesel we all went out and had dinner in a lovely little Italian Restaurant on the seafront.

When we were were dropped back to the boat we all promised not to leave it so long before meeting up again.

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Crew: Sandy Garrity and Alex Bowling

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Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 13:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 6 Aug 2021 to 13:00 (UTC+1) on Sat 7 Aug 2021

North Foreland to Selsey Bill - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southwesterly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first in east. Moderate, occasionally rough at first. Showers, thundery at times. Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwesterly 5 to 7. Moderate or rough. Showers, thundery at first. Good, occasionally moderate.

Plymouth to Ramsgate

03/08/2021

Having spent the night at home, I met Alex, who was accompanying me Edinburgh at the railway station and we headed off to the marina. Spent the morning doing last minute jobs on the boat while we waited for the tide.

1200 hrs. Cast off from King Point.

1300 hrs. Passing the eastern entrance to Plymouth Sound.

After leaving Plymouth and heading east the boat settled into a gentle cruise in light winds. Clearly, we were not going to get far at three knots and the decision was taken to turn on the engine, it remained for the next 24 hours. In my stewardship of Aphrodite I think the maximum that I've had it on was about five hours. The days were spent leisurely enjoying watching the coast pass by from quite far offshore as once we left Start Point the next waymark was Beachy Head. It's always good to pass headlands especially ones you hear on the Met Office Shipping Forecast.

2000 hrs. Off Start Point

04/08/2021

During the first night we were visited by dolphins, shadows moving beside the hull. When they broached to breath their bodies could be seen in the glow of the navigation lights. Red on port green on starboard.

Sailing by Night. Credit Alex Bowling

0500 hrs. Portland Light on the port beam. 5 NM offshore.

1410 hrs. St Catherine's Point on the port beam. 3.3 NM offshore.

05/08/2021

0100 hrs. Beach Head

Passing the Straits of Dover we kept well out to sea to avoid the ferries. What struck me was the number of immigrants entering the UK in small craft. Dover Coastguard were busy with the number of pickups as boats were spotted in the straight and reported by merchant vessels. As we headed up to Ramsgate Border Force could be seen in JetSkis patrolling the beaches.

The Skipper and the White Cliffs of Dover. Credit Alex Bowling

Remembering that the 'Reeds' had given strict instructions that Ramsgate Port Control should be contacted prior to entry we called them up on the radio, am I pleased that I fitted the remote radio in the cockpit as it takes all the stress out of using the radio, from the helm either I or a crew member can use the radio and hear the maritime safety broadcasts every four hours.

The entrance to Ramsgate was simple and we quickly found a berth and tied up. The first leg of the adventure was complete.

Entering Ramsgate. Credit Alex Bowling

This was a passage with a lot of firsts. First passage over 200 nautical miles passage over 48 hours.

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Crew: Sandy Garrity and Alex Bowling

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Trip Stats: Distance: 248 nm, Average speed: 5.00 knots, Maximum speed: 8.00 knots, Under way: 50h 52m

Sunrise: 0452 hrs Sunset: 1951 hrs

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Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 01:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 5 Aug 2021 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 6 Aug 2021

North Foreland to Selsey Bill

24 hour forecast: Variable 3 or less, becoming southerly 3 to 5, then veering southwesterly later. Smooth, becoming slight or moderate. Showers later. Mainly good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwesterly 4 or 5, increasing 6 or 7 for a time. Moderate, occasionally slight at first in east, then occasionally rough for a time. Showers, perhaps thundery until later. Good, occasionally moderate.

Sailing Round a Small Island

I always find that you are never quite ready to leave for departure and it was the same with this trip.

Alex and I met up at the railway station and took the train to Plymouth, hoped in a taxi and get down to the boat. With a few simple jobs to complete we were off. To be honest there was a lot of stuff shoved in the Skippers cabin that would be sorted out 'later'; I hope it will be sorted before I get back to Plymouth in about six weeks!

With all the permanent lines on the boat and lines set to slip I totally messed up the exit and we did a beautifully timed 360° turn and exited the marina looking like it was planned that way.

As soon as we were out of the marina we hoisted the sails and enjoyed the last views of Plymouth for a while.

Heading out of the Sound we cracked open a beer to celebrate the start of the voyage.

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Crew: Sandy Garrity and Alex Bowling.

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Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 01:00 (UTC+1) on Tue 3 Aug 2021 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Wed 4 Aug 2021 Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly

24 hour forecast: Northerly or northwesterly 2 to 4 becoming variable 3 or less, then becoming southwesterly 3 or 4 for a time later in east. Smooth or slight in east, slight throughout in west. Showers, becoming fair later. Good.