Winds maintained an unpleasant Force 6 and due to their direction were causing a moderate sea state in the Channel.

It was Tuesday 15th July and still there were yachts coming in to Brighton and no one leaving.  Even those who only had a short hop to do were staying put.  I searched various weather web site which gave encouraging forecast that things would get better very soon.

At 1600hrs we slipped moorings and left the safety of the marina.  The idea was to head straight to Dartmouth from Brighton keeping well south of the Isle of Wight and Portland Bill.

All went well, sails up we slowly started to gather pace. The distance was 136 nautical miles and by my reckoning this should take 28 hours.  This meant that we would have 3 fair tides and 2 foul tide over this period and that by leaving at 1600hrs we would make the best of it although also meant passing the overfalls off the southern most point of the Isle of Wight during the hours of darkness.  Also we would be passing the east and west entrances to the Solent in the dark as well.

The last sunset

Apart from the normal ferry traffic, a couple of large container ships and some hidden military craft, the seas were fairly quiet.  As the night went on the sea state reduced from moderate to slight and then calm.  The wind speed also dropped and progress for a while was maintained solely via engine power.

As dawn arose we were clear of the Isle of wight and the next way point some 40 odd nautical miles away was Portland Bill.  The wind started to build again as the morning progresses and we past the Bill some 5 miles to its south.  It dawned on me that this was really the final bit, crossing Lyme Bay.  The tide turned again in our favour and off we sped reaching 9 knots from time to time.  Visibility was crap and the wind was just off the port bow at force 4

I recalculated the eta and this looked good at 1730hrs GMT (1830hrs local time).  This meant get in, get moored up, get beer and something to eat.

At last I could just make out the daymark on the hill above Dartmouth some 20 miles away.  As always time seems to slow down but as the hours past, the day mark got bigger and more familiar sites came into view – Woodbury common, the red cliff of Sidmouth, Exmouth, Teignmouth, then Torquay and at last Berryhead.

Mouth of the Dart

I could see the mouth of the Dart completed filled up with boats competing in some  kind of mini race.

At 1832 hrs local time we past our outward going track.  Off went the tilley hat and on with the beret.  I cracked open a bottle of spirits and toasted myself, the boat, Scott and allthose who had helped, supported or donated.

Sailing into Dartmouth was pleasantly uneventful.  We were just another boat coming in. No one knew who we were or what we had just done.  Then my phone rang.  To my surprise it was Duncan the owner of Old Mill Creek moorings.  Unknown to me he had been avidly following our progress on marine traffic and had phone up to congratulate us on the trip.  He had also very kindly been down to the mooring that morning to check all way OK.  Many thanks Duncan.

We moored up on the Port side visitors pontoon, a bottle of champers was opened and a mini photo shoot took place.  Then it was a water taxi into town, 8 pints of Doombar and a Chinese.

Job Done – Dartmouth

Job done.

Leaving Dover was a bit of an issue.  We were sandwiched in between 2 expensive french boats.  Tongareva does not like tight spaces and it took some time to move her out of the berth.  During this period, one Frenchman kindly came and helped us around his boat but at the final moment gave my stern a big push.  This swung the bow around in the opposite direction towards the other Frenchman’s craft.  I ran forward on the starboard side and stopped the collision with my foot.  2 seconds later the owner of this boat appeared on deck in a skimpy pair of pants and started to moan.  I pointed out that we were sorry about the commotion but we hadn’t made contact with his boat and apart from a foot print there was nothing to be too concerned about. He then said he was not pleased – about what i do not know, it was not early (0830hrs) and the situation satisfactory. Again I apologized but he would not let it lie. There were now only 2 options either we just bugger off with the opinion that the bloke was a knob or we stop and he finds out how hard I can punch.  We buggered off.

As we pulled out of Dover, the sea state and winds increased by the hour and soon we were passing Dungeness in rather heavy seas.  The sun was out, I was rather sick but apart from that we were making good progress. We headed for Eastborne and got tied up in a more ample size marina at around 2200hrs that evening.

Dungeness

The following day we set sail with the hope of a long passage but after 9 hours of being chucked around in 4m high seas and a force 6-7 wind we entered Brighton harbour after only covering about 20 odd miles.  This place was rammed with craft seeking shelter.  Some fellow sailors helped us get tied up and after a shower, I had my first experience of Nandos.  This burnt the lining off my stomach and gave way to some very interesting wind.  The saloon cabin was no where to linger during this period.

Beachy Head

The following morning, Tuesday 15th July, it was decision time.  Either set said for the Solent, set sail for Dartmouth or stay put.  The weather would decide this.  No one was leaving port and there were still boats coming in.

The gales in Lowestoft kept us in port for 4 days.  I gave the engine a semi-service and replaced the impeller.  There was also time to p,an the rest of the trip home.

The next leg would hopefully would get us to the English Channel.  This is a rather complex area with shipping lanes, massive sand banks which protrude far out to sea, wind farms, traffic separation schemes, massive boats going to and from Harwich, Felixstowe and London, and the relative narrows of the Dover straits.

We cast off at 0430hrs and headed out of Lowestoft.  This we had been told was always a bit lumpy due to the narro channel and ground swell. It wasn’t at all, the wind was coming off the shore and the sea state was rather calm.  Once clear we headed SSW hand railing the coast and were soon making good speed at 6 knots.  Past Sizewell and on to Orfordness.  Here I turned due South to avoid a TSS going into Harwich.  This took us back out into open sea.

Sizewell somewhere in the distance

I had planned to stop at Burnham on Crouch to visit friends but this would have cost a further 2 days and meant going back on myself.  There was now not the time to spare as the extended forecast was not brilliant and I had now been away longer than I had anticipated.

The passage seemed to run completely to plan, we negotiated our way around all hazards and once past the Thames estuary and west of the Thannet Array wind farm the coast of Kent appeared on the horizon.  18miles to Dover.

I was worried about Dover.  Here the seas pick up and together with the ferry traffic, its a place that need careful planning.  The tide was giving a a good push in the right direction and we were doing 9 knots.  About 2 miles off port I radioed Dover Port control and was instructed to proceed through the West entrance. We waited for a ferry to depart, got chucked around by its was

h and then entered the west end of the port.

Dover (or “Dowva mate” as its pronounced locally)

Once in I radioed the marina and asked permission to berth.  They gave us our worst spot yet.  It was down a kind of narrow maritime cul-de-sac between 2 very expensive french boats.  Tongareva does not go well in reverse due to her long keels and also being of a rather heavy displacement she carries a lot of momentum even when at less than 1 knot speed.  As luck would have it, a french lady from one of the boats either side was on hand to take a warp and help maintain control in such a tight space.

That sums up our passage from Whitby to Lowestoft.  190 Nautical miles in 36hrs.

This was by far the most challenging leg so far.  We left Whitby with 2 plans – Lowestoft for the long haul or Bridlington.  No sooner than we were 5 miles form Whitby, we were in the thick of a thunder and lightning storm.  Never been in one at sea before so was rather concerned as to what might happen if we were struck.  We headed closer to the shore to get amongst some higher features and I turned off all unnecessary electronics devices and put them in the oven.  The idea was this might act as a Faraday cage.  I had read this somewhere but couldn’t make my mind up if I was supposed to use the fridge instead.   We got through the first squall only to run into another half an hour later but this one wasn’t as bad.

Squall approaches

I said to Scott that if the weather doesn’t improve then we make for port.  It didn’t so we headed to Bridligton on a fair tide.  I phone in within sight of the harbour only to be told by the harbour master that we could not get in due to crowding.  There were no other ports that we could get into until Lowestoft, so the long one it was.

This turned out to be a great run, passing the Humber, through large ship anchorages and past an oil rig.  At about 0330hrs Scott took over as we headed for the East Anglian coast and I  got 3hrs sleep.  Waking up to beautiful hot sunshine, we plodded along at 5 knots about 3 mile offshore and sailed into the Eastern Hemisphere, past a massive wind farm and a couple of shipping routes.

The best of the weather

The wind was slowly building and the sea state started to creep up with it.  As we turned southwards to Lowestoft, we headed into the winds and a gathering sea.  Spray went everywhere and with green water over the decks we discussed our route into port.  Lowestoft isn’t an easy port to enter as its surrounded by sand banks.  It basically meant heading south past the town, doing a u-turn and then going up a narrow channel that headed NE.  The waves thankfully abated for this and we made port.

I hope Lowestoft has seen better days because its like Zombieland now. What a let down.  Alcohol plays a major part in peoples lives here and the town looks like its been kicked to death.

The last shipping forecast we recorded at sea stated gales were on there way.  This was on Tuesday 8th July.  We are still here and yes the gales have arrived.  It would have been foolish to risk getting caught out crossing the Thames and the Dover Straits in foul weather but this is not the nicest of places to stop.

The plan is now to sail directly to Dartmouth some 280 nautical miles away and will take 60hrs.  The great thing about the south coat is that if this passage is disrupted then the ports are plentiful to ensure a safe haven.

Our final stop was intended to be at Eyemouth.  Scott was departing then to go to Wimbledon so we were on a bit of a time limit to make port.

About 10 mile off I phoned up the Harbour Master to be told that no we could not enter Eyemouth due to dredging works.  This meant plodding on to Berwick upon Tweed.  Got into Berwick around 1830hrs, Scott left and I got my head down.

Berwick is a commercial port so there were limited facilities and meant mooring up along side an concrete tidal quay wall.  Some bloke took a picture of this and posted it on the marine traffic website under my boats name Tongareva.  never met the bloke but its a nice pic. and thanks very much.

Alongside in Berwick

I left Berwick for Amble later that day (Wednesday 01/0714) and arrived in Amble around 2030hrs that evening.  This took me around Lindisfarne, the Farne Islands, all the way down to Coquet Island.  Weather was crap and the sea state was moderate with waves up to 2m around the Island headlands.

Farne Islands somewhere in the pic

The following day, I left Amble, single handed again, for Newcastle.  Amble Marina is a nice well kept place, the towns is rather quiet, the Marina staff were great apart from the manager who is a nob. No real reason apart from he need a few lessons in general conduct and reminding that their are other people in the word than him together with if your going to invent instructions then make them simple, coherent and practical.

Tall Ship moored outside Amble

The trip to Newcastle went rather well with little engine use and I arrived into the Royal Quays Marina around 1500hrs.

Entering the Tyne at Tynemouth harbour

This marina is top notch but the price is fair.  It is however situated in a residential area which could do with a population change.  Scott arrived back an we were forced to stay another day due to high winds at sea.  We left on the morning of Saturday 05/07/14, and headed for Whitby.

Whitby is picturesque from a coastal port point of view and at first impressions reminded me of the smaller south west ports.  However it is a mecca for the northern piss-up brigade and the social side of the town falls well into the realm of the chav.  Thats all I have to say about the matter.

Entering Whitby

Sunday we left.

Fantastic scenery/bloody awful people.

That’s not exactly true.  We met some great folks who helped on our passage mainly in the rural areas but the towns were not so nice which were mainly full of drunks.  South Queens Ferry near Edinburgh was an exception – very nice with good food and only one larger drinking haunt which we had one pint in and left.

Due to the delays in Newlyn we had used up our contingency time and therefore rather than go around the top, we opted for the short cut through the canal.  If anybody who has donated has a problem with this the I will personally refund your money.

Bass Rock at the North Sea end of the Firth of Forth

We left Scotland on Tuesday !st July and headed for Eyemouth