19th April still at Ramsgate...

from David.....

 While sitting in the boat going up and down like a Big Dipper I realised that, while I had watched auto helms (George) used for probably 30 years and, until coming out of Lowestoft, I had never used one in anger.  In the early days of my sailing Seamus used one which he switched on and then adjusted direction by pressing two buttons – one to Port, the other to Starboard and, although I never used it, I thought I probably could have managed!

Since then technology has advanced at phenomenal rate with advances in computer technology and things like Chart Plotters.  Not only has navigating become automated the theory is it has made life easier and safer for the sailor (although I do believe in having paper chart – I am old and believe in belt and braces) - or so they say! You can actually plan the route to your destination, put in waypoints (either as one long string or, as crossing the Thames Estuary, a series of short “passages” all linked together) and get George to steer you to your destination.  Piece of cake!!!

Stuart fitted a Chart Plotter based on electronic charts downloaded and paid for via the internat.  Into this he connected and AIS receiver (this picks up a signal from ships that give name, call sign, direction, speed, nearest it will come to you, wipes your backside etc. etc.) and attached George. Now this is not your old fashioned George.  Not only did it work the same way the old ones but it could talk to the Chart Plotter and adjust the course as necessary.

All of this is perfectly clear to sailors that have this type of equipment or are really into computers.

Now, having survived my 1^st solo from Lowestoft to Shotley and having had Stuart set up the Thames Estuary crossing on the plotter, I headed out with great trepidation.  Motored for an hour steering by hand and then decided to hand over to George while I made breakfast. 

I fixed the steering arm to the tiller and started going round in circles – no red lights showing or winking - I had assumed that George was powered from the same switch as the plotter but clearly not.  I retired below and could not see which switch activated him so decided to talk to the expert.  Stuart, like all sons, was very tolerant and told me which switch needed to be on – the socket one on Instruments as I had assumed!

Red lights, blessed red lights, flashing!  So I pressed the engage button and we headed in a single direction – towards Holland.  The turn left or right button still wanted to go to Holland; after a couple of circles George still wanted to go to Holland. No matter which button I pressed the boat was going to Holland.

When I explained this to Stuart on my second panic telephone call I could hear him laughing his head off.  It was some moments before he could control himself enough to talk me through the process of connecting the plotter to George  in the right sequence – generally it helps if you tell the plotter which route you wish to use (preferable prior to telling George to navigate).

George did a good job after that until I decided that he had not done gone through a waypoint – but that’s another story.

Still in Ramsgate and, while the weather is improving, it will not be sensible to sail until next Monday so I am heading back to Chepstow to see the family – not to mentions the dog!

Ramsgate - Storm bound!!

18 April 2012

Ramsgate – storm bound

When you first come into the harbour Ramsgate is very impressive.  The buildings around the harbour are Victorian and very impressive.  Built in red brick/stone the buildings along the wharfs are like cellars dug into the hillside and used for all sorts; offices, bits and bobs shop, the odd carpentry business, furniture and, obviously chandlery.  Above them there is range of houses and hotels.  It is only when you get close to them that you realise how rundown and in need of some TLC.

Once you get away from the harbour the town is like many old fishing ports; lovely little houses in a jumble of roads interspersed with modern buildings and shops.  The one thing that surprised me was the rubbish and general rundown impression the town gave me.  In speaking to a number of local (God bless the British pub) it was clear that the Locals – people who had lived her before London paid Thanet  to rehouse a large number of families – felt very let down in that the town had been left to rot.  Most people have spoken to have East End accents which reminds me of my youth when we used to go the Docks to eat and drink.

 One building I find fascinating – It is a combination of a church in the ground floor of one part and the rest is for Smack Boys.  A different meaning of Smack from today!

Leg 3 Shotley to Ramsgate

David writes...

14 April 2012

The weather forecast was benign so I set out a 8am and gentled motored out of Harwich on a beautiful but very cold morning.  A nice gentle Force 3 from the North/North East was supposed to push me a long at a nice comfortable rate across the Thames Estuary.

The last time I sailed on the Thames Estuary was as a 17 year old with a group of Senior Boy Scouts on the Scout Masters Motor Sailer.  I can still remember how lumpy and uncomfortable the sea was in what I then thought was a gale (from experience I now know that it was probably no more than a Force 3!).  When I started to look at the navigation involved in crossing it was very clear that the shallow water, moving sand banks, wind farms not to mention large ships (fortunately – London is not as busy as it used to be!) made it challenging.  If you look at a chart you would be surprised how many shipwrecks there are in the estuary!

Fortunately Stuart was at the end of a telephone and was able to reassure me that while he would be nervous the chart plotter and George (for those of you who wonder who George is – it’s the Autopilot).  He (Stuart) then proceeded to work out and download the route, with a number of options, for the chart plotter.

Having motored out of the Harbour I pulled the foresail out (I didn’t bother with the main as I would be running before the wind) and as soon as I switched the engine off the speed decreased to point I was travelling at 2 knots.  As the channels are quite narrow and the tidal flows variable due to the sand banks/shallows the logical thing was to motor sail.  Within 30 minutes the wind had disappeared so I got the sail down and just motored.

I passed places with like Sunk Sand, Foulgers Gap, Gunfleet Sand, Black Deep Not to mention at least 2 huge wind farms; one of which is under construction and has a guard ship to keep people away.  This decided that I looked very suspicious and came over to warn me off.  When he discovered I was heading for Ramsgate his whole attitude changed.

Once I was through the worst the wind picked up and I had a cracking sail for until I arrived off Ramsgate

The whole trip was a lot like playing Rugby at fly half – dodging and jinking around all the obstructions but at a much slower pace.

Leg 2: Lowerstoft - Shotley (Harwich)

Have an update from David - here goes:

11/4/12

This was planned to be a simple leg for the first one on my own and it proved to be just that. 

After a couple of days storm bound (F0rce 5-6 – a bit high for my first!) I set out in bright sunlight into a mirror sea.  There was absolutely no wind and so it continued for the rest of the trip.

George performed immaculately and I spent several hours watching ships come and go on the chart plotter, reading a book and making coffee, lunch snacks etc. until it was time to enter the lock into the marina.  Surprisingly I managed successfully and I felt I needed a well-earned pint which I duly had in restaurant/bar in the marina.

The original plan was for me to leave next day but the weather forecast was not favourable so I ended up staying an extra couple of days fixing a number of little things that I had either broken (the lee cloth guide on the saloon bunk) or things Stuart just did not have time to fix. The marina Boat repair workshop was very helpful; they let me have me have bits and bobs free. 

.................................................................................................................................................................

David wrote me an email on Saturday night  and thought it 'd be fun to share it with you all.  (Arrived in Ramsgate) Fiona...........

Hi there..

I think that today was a lot better than I expected  The weather was very sunny even though it was very cold earlier on and there was little or no wind

I set out at 8 and motored out of Harwich  and as soon as I switched the engine off the speed dropped of to2 knots.  So I motored on until I got through all the wind farms (least 2 very large ones, one of which hard a guard ship to keep people away and decided that I looked very suspicious and came and had a chat with me)and sand banks.  The last couple of hours was straight forward, the wind got up and I managed a proper sail.

It was a lot like playing at fly half – dodging and jinking around all these obstructions but slower and over a greater distance.

 Anyway I am safely here but very tired and all my joints ache.  Tomorrow I will stay here and get diesel both for the engine and heater  I also need some food!!!

As  most of it has gone (except the veg – we got tons of that...)

I am now going to cook an omelette and go to bed

Give the kids a hug from me x

A break... before leg 2

Fiona here,... a wee update.
Wednesday 11th- he arrived in the Harwich area - first time as a solo sailer. I am sure he was very nervous and very relieved. !! Naturally he celebrated with a pint!

Thursday 12th -  a few frustrations! One - had huge trouble downloading some stuff on to the laptop - I think it was updating some charts or something,  he is using the Vodafone dongle which had the largest coverage around UK for broadband.  The boys suggested that he goes and find a MacDonalds or a lovely coffee shop and steal their broadband.... that may take a long walk from a marina ?!
I am waiting to change over supplier at home for telephone and broadband and that means that at my end Skype does not work that well... am having to resort to mumble jumble translations via the kids...erm... not good. But hey presto - David managed to find the chat button  and we were able to live chat at the same time as gazing at a blurry fuzzy distorted picture.

Friday 13th:
He is planning the next leg - which is to cross the Thames and round... forgive me I do not know the correct names yet - but will update soon. A few concerns here - crossing a busy path, shifting sand dunes.  I received a text this afternoon -  saying that he's planning to leave about 04.30 tomorrow....

Here's a picture of when Stuart first put on the name of Akira on the boat.....

Fiona

Leg 1..... from David...

Sunday 8th April

Well the adventure has started despite the last minute sorting of minor problems.

However you plan to sail from Hartlepool to Lowestoft it involves one 24 hour period at sea.  The logical way to do it was to do it was in one chunk and, with that in mind Stuart had planned to come with me for the first leg – about  40 hours non-stop sailing  – 3 hours on 3 hours off. 

So at 15:00 Akira, with one very worried skipper and the boat owner (Stuart), motored  forth through the lock at Hartlepool into a windless North Sea.   There was so little wind that we didn’t even put up the sails; we simply motored steadily South past Whitby and Grimsby towards our destination.

Eventually the tide started to flow against us and it was clear that we needed to check how much fuel we had left so the youngest member of the crew was given the job of crawling into the cockpit locker to see how much we had left.  The general feeling was that we would get half way across the Wash before we ran out of fuel – not a happy thought!  So we decided to put the anchor down behind Filey Head (this would protect us from the NE winds that had been predicted earlier) to await the promised winds an get the tide behind us again.

By this time we were both tired so jumped into bed expecting a couple of hours sleep.  No such luck - within 30 minutes the wind was blowing and we had get going again.  During the next few hours the wind got stronger so, in the middle of the night, I got Stuart up (he had literally just got into his bunk!) and put a reef in.   By this time the sea state and direction made it very difficult for “George” to steer so I spent 3 hours helming as we wandered  through the gas fields of the Southern North Sea.

As dawn approached the sky began to clear and I could see an immense structure in the distance and, as I got closer, it was clear that it had support boats making sure people like us stayed away.  The boat was lik3 sheep dog gentle shepherding out his area.  When I had reached the perimeter he was guarding he stopped.

Looking back at the structures after we had passed the sun light caught it in a golden orangey red and I could see it was actually 3 very large pieces of construction linked together.

For a while we had a good sail, even making 5 knots against the tide however the wind died  and we had to resort to the engine again.  We eventually arrived in Lowestoft at 00:30 Sunday morning after covering 185nm.

 It goes without saying Stuart and I were not up very early next day.

Stuart has gone home and I, having seen the weather forecast, will not set out until Wednesday (it is currently blowing a gale here!) when I hope to get to the Harwich area.

First pictures...

 Playing with the new phone.

 Hartlepool Lock

Off she goes....

Fiona

Leg 1 Hartlepool - Lowestoft

April 7th:  

Heard from David via text - anchored off by Fildy Brigg, due to no wind.

Sailed on later and arrived in  Lowestoft - marina about 12.30am Sunday Morning.
Had our first Skype chat !! I can just about lipread him along with visual gestures and signs - so that's good!
Seemed that both Stuart and David slept well, did a few jobs on the boat. Stuart left this afternoon to head back up to Hartlepool via train to collect his car to return home. Bless him.
David is now somewhat sorting himself out  and planning ahead. Bank holiday Monday - forecast is  heavy rain so   may have a potter around and back to stay for another night in the marina.
(thank god - skype is free...ish... 45 minutes!)  Email me at pintle - if you would like his skype address.
Hoping now to hand this over to David.....we shall see!...
Fiona

First post

Shipping forecast areas 

So here is the first post.


April 6th 2012: Hartlepool - Lowestoft

This is it - notes from stressed other half. 

David finally departed from Hartlepool to Lowestoft with Stuart on board. They left at 2.30pm on the edge of tide after preparing for this and that.

David has  a laptop on board with a vodafone dongle, and a new Samsung Galaxy phone - all geared up tecchie wise but just need to  have time to practise!!

Kids and I  drove on home afterwards  popping in to see the new addition to the family in Brum - Emily - who is 3 weeks and 2 days old!.

A message of advance apology to all those who read this site - if I am writing this - that is - Fiona,  please forgive my incorrect grammar and so forth. Writing is not my forte! I will try and update where I can and  will also teach (?) David to continue with this. For now - bear with me please!!
Fiona