At last a trip to foreign Climes!

Finally, a trip has been completed 3 days and 40+ miles covered. A trip across the Wash to the as yet undiscovered coast of N. Norfolk. An epic first- well a first for Aretia anyway and with the Sh**y weather no mean feat.

So after the foul weather of last Friday and an aborted day out it was with little optimism that this planned trip was going to come off. Close scrutiny of various weather forecasts was made, each giving different opinions. There was a slight possibility of it coming off. 3 days planned for a 2 day trip. I could bring the boat back solo if necessary or abandon Aretia abroad if necessary for a couple of weeks.

It was of to the ship late Sunday, the Commodore and next door neighbour coming in at high tide to the ditch following a weekend trip to Fosdyke. Boat all ready additional fuel loaded and reef strapped in for an early morning bouncy departure. Once all arranged it was off to Wetherspoons for a bite to eat and a beer. Bargain Beer and a Burger £4.25. Rob arrived over at 11pm for a few hours kip prior to an early rise. Slight technical hitch was the list the boat took that night. The only option was to sleep across the cabin. Up bright and early the weather looked semi decent. Forecast OK F4-5 with possible fog patches.

We went out of the channel and North East to Skeggy Windfarm. Hang a right and followed the Windfarm out to Burnham Flats. The farm makes a great navigational aide. In good visibility viewable from Wells-just. Unfortunately it was obvious mist was coming in as the farm started to disappear. By this time we were out of site of land 6/7 miles offshore in the shipping channel. More plots taken, but then the sun was out and so was the Pimms. Had to be done!

By lunch we were making our way at 3-4 knots with Dave at the helm. Spot on chart work picked out Bridgirdle off Brancaster and then on to Burnham cutting closer inshore. we arrived at Wells for 15.30pm. I decided to moor off Holkham in some shallow water to allow for the rise of tide as Wells cannot be entered until 2hrs before HW. A phone call to Wells harbour to confirm a berth and then for some kip.

2 hours before HW one of the local Fishing boats started to make there way into the channel which is well maked, but can be a little disconcerting with rough breaking water adjacent to the Starboard markers. I left attempting entry for another 30 mins and followed a Motor Cruiser in from Boston. It's a wise choice not to follow the first of the fishing boats in, as I came to learn later. One in particular likes to plough furrows in to the sand on entry. i.e making an early run in, taking ground, applying power and then waiting for the tide to lift the boat off. Great! It's a red fishing boat by the way!

Having given High Fives to the swimmers alongside the boat it was time to make for the pontoon outside the harbour masters. A friendly and helpful bunch with good facilities. After tidying the ship up and having a quick word with the HM it was off to the pub.

Wells is a great place, plenty going on, good food generally and enough to keep you occupied for a couple of days. We made our way to the pub on the Quayside. Not recommended for food or beer, too expensive and the food was diabolical. Under new management apparently, hopefully better next time. After a couple of pints it was back to the ship to get out of the way of the thunder and hail storm. Aretia was pretty watertight event in this weather. I fell asleep during the storm.

Next morning it was up and at em, but we were going nowhere. F6 forecast gusting F7. Not quite sure this materialised by this would have made for a v. bumpy trip back.

Wells Harbour Link.

Wells part 2. Later. ( battery on laptop running out!)

What's with this weather?

Another fine Summers weekend buggered up because of the weather. It must have something to do with Friday 13th, but yet again it was down to the boat, the weather forecast being 8-10knot winds, sunny etc. Check the next day and get the shipping forecast and it's F5 with F7 expected later plus heavy rain. Great. So it was up at 0400 to get the tide and we were underway by 0500, out of the channel and heading towards Skeggy. The Genoa was unfurled, but it's was a little lumpy. Seeing as we'd be beating back this way later in the day I spun the boat into wind to check the conditons and it was lumpy. Probably a F4. So with the tide tuning to the Ebb, and only 50mins to get back in I decided to err on the side of caution and scoot back in. No point in being out for 12 hours in rain and heavy seas. Howver on returning to the mooring the wind eased to a F2 and continued for the rest of the day until 5pm when it did start getting a little gusty. This would have tied in with the eveing high tide and would not have been pleasant. I don't think Julie would have been impressed. So a two hour jaunt under engine with a quiock flit with the Genoa up. Not all lost I thought, I'd got a few days planned of for the following Mon/Tues and with a Rob as crew had planned on heading over to Wells. All tides were good, wind in the correct direction to get over the bar at Wells. A golden oppotunity. however as I write the outlook is for rain, and winds of F5-F6. I'm sure the boat would be Ok and the crew and myself would be OK , but if the weather is really crap it's a min of 12hrs of crap and nowhere to hide and possibly having to anchor offshore over night. Not something I'm planning to do! So the decision will be made tommorrow as to whether to bother or not. To actually guarantee some sailing this year, I've booked to go to France and on to a bigger ship which will be able to cope with windy/rainy weather. Next year it's got to be a week in the Med! All for now.

Jaguar 22 Aretia Trip up the Coast. Skegness Lifeboat

Well it's been a little while since the last update. But it was back on to the high seas yesterday with the ship and the one who wears the jockstrap on their head. The weather forecast was not quite as predicted. Originally it was fog am burning off pm. Great.! Sand banks everywhere plus 20 odd new wind turbines and the piling ship to hit, and not being able to see past the bow. I stayed on the boat overSunday night, and whilst eating the local delicacy, 'Fish and Chips' I was attacked by a mad duck trying to steal the fish from the wrapper. Lazy B'stard! Should catch it like all the other critters! After supper the fog rolled in along with some of the other boats. One looking particularly sheepish after gaining his 'stuck in the channel at low tide' wings. This award is only given to those who have endured 12hrs of all the local twitchers peering at them through their Bino's and thinking 'prat'. Luckily for the awardee the fog came to their rescue, obscuring them from those beedie lenses. New Crew- 'With his Biggles impression' Morning arrived and the sun was out with the wind was from the NE. Most importantly no fog. After unloading necessaries it was time to load the crew 'Big John' now known as New Crew. Not the easiest of task with a gammy leg. Mission accomplished it was a quick safety briefing of don't touch that and if I go overboard press the red button on the radio and don't dare steer the boat towards me! This was the first time the crew had been on Aretia for a saltwater cruise. Previous experience had been gained at the Spring shake down on Rutland Water. Out of the channel with the usual twitchy nerve and crew keeping quiet as the 'standing' wading birds 4ft away from the boat wished us bon voyage. Aretia in the Caribean with me at the helm. Off up north it was, a planned trip of 5 hours up hill and then 5 back. The first WP was a closer look at the Wind Farm. This is something of a concern to the local RNLI as they are predicting an increase in trade during the summer with all the Chavs/Tourists thinking they will paddle their dinghies out to have a look thinking the turbines are close to shore, when in fact they are nearly 3 miles away. Very impressive they are. A beat uphill was the game in the morning, plenty of white caps with the ship dropping off a couple and ploughing through a few more. The Genny had to be furled a little to prevent wetting the mast. At around 14.00pm we reached just south of Saltfleet after waving to my Aunt Pauline at Anderby. A run all the way back with the wind between a 3-4. On passing Butlins the Skegness Lifeboat came out for a look. As they say never go sailing unless the Lifeboat is out. First thought was ooops has the DSC been activated, but no, they were just on exercise and were checking all was good. I'm pretty sure the coxswain recognised the home port of Aretia by the thick line of mud around the water line which is synonymous with being berthed in the ditch. With a wave and offer from us that if they wanted to carry out an exercise with us, we'd be up for it, they blasted away creating the best surf wave of the day. Aretia with her new Tender. It may look like the Skegness Life Boat but don't be fooled! Support the RNLI, it's required to keep this site running when Aretia hits something she shouldn't. I think 'New Crew' when helming back to the entrance to the Haven didn't initially realise the closeness of the sandbanks. With the wind in the direction it was, the breaking was showing on the far side of the bank not our inshore side. So you do have to be a little careful not to hit the windward side of the bank nor the shoreline. Arriving at the haven entrance and 11/2 hours too early for enough water to get in we anchored off the entrance, and were treated to the Tornado's dropping things on the bombing range. At least they were above the mast today! The Radio was busy with a Mayday from a fishing vessel taking on water after catching a Pot. Hopefully this ended OK with the Wells ALB being dispatched. (Update, they were OK and were towed in to Wells Harbour) I had more pressing matters of not becoming an RNLI statistic and running aground on a lee shore coming in to the Channel. Assistance from New Crew was being provided. They were promptly told to shut up whilst I was concentrating picking my way through the paddy fields. A new challenge being the disappearance of several marker and the appearance of what look like a couple of crab pot markers. The Waders held out their wings and shook our hands on a good job well done as we motored by. No problem, coming in this time. Didn't even kiss the mud, as we had an extra 10cm of water under the keel. Giving a full 20cm of clearance! After coming along side in Skeggy fashion 'parking the bow in the mud bank' it was time to off load New Crew who needed their 8th pee of the day. After packing all away it was off the Aunt 'Pols' and New Crews for a well deserved late breakie. After New Crews first successful voyage, I think they will be joining Aretia for a few more. Distance covered 49 miles.

Jaguar 22 Sailing Yacht.

It's all well and good this sunshine but it is also proving to be a little Windy for Aretia. I don't fancy taking the Jaguar 22 out in too stiff a blow on the big pond. Was hoping to take it out single handed last week but a F5 put pay to that. I'm pretty sure the boat would be OK, but it would still mean being out for 12hrs awaiting a high tide and with nowhere to run if the weather deteriorated. So, hopefully got a crew this weekend and off to Wells Next the Sea. A little tight on daylight on the way back but figure a large torch will cover that. Still quite windy over the weekend but at least with two onboard I can take a break from the helm. Checked the Mariner 6hp out last night purrring away nicely. I've now worked out why it's so heavy compared to the 5hp Mercury. The 6hp is actually the same block as the 9.9hp. So shouldn't over stress the engine, just my back. Next update on Tuesday.

Shall I go or Shan't I!

Well the weekend is supposed to be the hotest April ever so that is always a little bit of an incentive. However a slight crew shortage is an issue. No brother as working this weekend and unAble seaman Rob is doing so filming. I had plans as well!

Every cloud does have a silver lining though. FOG, that is what's forecast so may be thankfull. Will be checking the Skeggy webcam! Click on the piccie for the latest image.

Over at the ship on Friday as need to battern down for 7.3m tide on Monday and also get the engine sorted.

Sailing in the Wash

Just got back from a couple of days away at the boat. Travelled over on Thursday and took the boat out at 7am on the Spring Tide. The weather forecast was for a NE 3-4 and that's what we got. This being the first time for Aretia on the sea we thought it prudent not to travel to far but to make the best of the weather and explore around a little. First we had to navigate the channel and it really helped having walked it the other week. Still only a metre or so under the keel but we were pushing it a little. See the seagulls standing up next to us! Once out of the channel it was up Wainfleet Roads to Skeg. The easiest guide is to remain 200m off the beach and follow it up as off to starboard is a knarly little sand bank. With the headwind we decided to motor it to test out the engine. On motoring up the roads Ian Martin the local fisherman over took us with Challenge on his way up the coast. A little while later we had a call from Challenge to let us know a new floating pipe had been laid out from the coast. Presumably to catch unwary Yachts! Good of Ian to let us know though even if we were off to the SW. Once level with the Pier it was sails up and heading over to West Lynn. We weren't actually heading for West Lynn as this wasn't on the chart but hey every buoys a help. Must update the chart! It was a little choppy by now with the sea having a long fetch from Scandinavia and the water here reaching 45m. John wasn't feeling so good so I was taking turns navigating and helming whilst concentrating on eating my sarnies! Once we could identify Woolpack just off Burnham flats we decided to have a look at the Parlour channel which cuts through the sandbanks. Figuring the weather was good and low tide was approaching this would be a good opportunity to try and squeeze through and if we did go aground only a short time to wait. So a course of 250 was set from North Well fairway and bang on we reached the entrance to the Parlour. Most disconcerting having the sandbanks towering over you and seals basking above you. Sails down, engine on. We picked out the first channel markers and had a good 7m under the keel. The next port hand marker could perhaps do with moving a little as it was aground and then so were we. A little swearing, frantic reversing winding the keel up and we tried again. Bump! This time we went for the more disturbed water to Starboard. Hey we got through! Then we came across the shallow and narrow section of the channel. Zig Zag ing across the channel with a close watch of the depth sounder we made it through. Off down to Long Sand before turning north ad heading to Wainfleet Swatchway. A couple of buoys missing including Pompey and Swatchway but visibility was good. Once in the neighbour hood of the Wainfleet Channel entrance we decided to scour the area with the depth sounder to see what we could find. After getting to 1m we decided to anchor. A coffee and a read was in order. By this time it was 3.5hrs before HW so a little time to wait. Another yacht from the Humber arrived to await enough water to enter. 2hrs before HW we decided to follow Challenge in keeping close to the Starboard entrance marker. A very strong cross current here meant we were entering the channel sideways, Ian must have been kissing the bottom as we were. I'm glad we only draw 60cm and the depth was only 70cm in places and we did do a little ploughing in places. See Photo. Finally with the light fading Aretia was back on her berth. Damage. One scrape noted down the side of the starboard stern quarter, which we think has been caused by floating debris rather than a boat. Coving line has come unstuck at the bow. Bloody T-cut! Presume antifouling off the keel. Groundings 2 maybe 4 if you count trying to push in the channel. Bonus' my new boots, all very comfy. Work to be done adjust the outboard tick over for starting. Get John on his sea sickness tablets. Next outing. Possibly 15-17th either to Hull or over to Wells depending on crew and weather (must be sunny!)