Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

Up at the crack of dawn yet again for this leg and I needed to be. I originally planned to go from Lowestoft to Dover but as there is no petrol available in the port of Dover and as it is a very busy port I thought it would be better to go into Eastbourne where petrol is available. Of course it means another long leg but if the weather was OK it would be worth it.

Leaving port at Lowestoft at first light the sea was glassy flat but unfortunately the visibility wasn’t good. I estimated it to be about a mile but with the sky clear and with the forecasts all very good for the day I wasn’t concerned. So I set course.

The plan was to go down the coast a little past Southwold and then to turn almost due south to take me outside all the sands of the Thames Esturary. I chose that route as although it takes me a long way from land and also means I would have to negotiate the Sunk TSS area I felt it was still the safer option in good weather. So with Southwold off my starboard beam I turned south. The leg distance from Lowestoft to Eastbourne was 125nm and as I turned south to head across the Thames Estuary I couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive. It wasn’t that I felt that it was going to be unsafe… far from it. I was very happy with the route and the plan, the weather was excellent and sea state flat. No, it was just the thought of doing what I was about to do – it is a daunting prospect to see 51nm come up on the GPS as my next waypoint. Fine at 20kts, which I was doing, but the very idea of it at 5-6kts should the weather be a lot worse than expected, without an autohelm, and going through one of the busiest shipping areas in Britain, if not Europe, made me take a deep breath. I had planned for it though and I had left early enough to get me to Dover before nightfall should the worst happen with the weather. Fortunately the weather held and I could maintain 20kts for the time being.

Whilst heading south I got out the paper chart to review my route across the Sunk TSS area. I had only roughly planned my route across this area. I wanted to see what traffic was about before I committed to entering the precautionary area or crossing the TSS lanes and by not planning in detail beforehand it meant that I could assess the traffic when I arrive and plan a route through that would give me the least interaction with the large ships. From some way off I could see them; not just big ships but HUGE ones! At that range I couldn’t really make out which directions they were traveling in but their shapes were looming on the horizon. As I got closer I could see a row of ships heading eastward out of the zone and 1 entering from the south and 1 entering from the west. The ships heading east were not a factor as they were leaving the precautionary area and would be heading away from me. The other 2  though were heading in and would be a factor but they were a long way off and I decided that if I routed across the precautionary area at right-angles to the west entry/exit lane (in accordance with the cross TSS at right-angles rule) then I would be well out of the way before they entered the area. Looking at the chart it made sense to use the cardinal buoys as marks so I headed for my first mark of the Storm south cardinal which marked the northern edge of the Sunk inner precautionary area. I then set course for Long Sands Head north cardinal mark which marks the southern edge. All was clear and so in I went at 20kts. It is a bit spooky entering an area like this in a small boat. You know that providing you follow the rules, and make sure you do not interfere with the passage of the traffic in the zone, I have every right to be there yet somehow I can’t help feeling that I am an interloper in a world where I really shouldn’t be. I always felt the same when flying my small aeroplanes into international airports… yes I can go there, yes I have to give way to larger craft and follow the ATC instructions to the letter and all will be fine but it is a world very alien for small craft and this felt much the same.

All was going well when half way across the zone I saw a surprising sight… it looked like a standing wave about ½ mile ahead,  about 1½ m high,  with a breaking crest ahead. It was surprising because the sea was dead flat. As I got closer I worked out what it was… it was the wake of one of the big ships that I saw leaving the precautionary area to the east. I said the ships were big but this was ridiculous! I have never seen a wake like it in my life and so I slowed down to its speed and followed it for a while to work out how I would cross it. It wasn’t like a normal wake where I would just slow down and cross at 45 degrees. The size of it in height and the size of it across concerned me. Watching it I could see that the wave wasn’t breaking all the way along it’s length. Instead it broke in sections where it was steepest but between those sections were smaller, flatter parts and that was where I would cross. I aimed for one of these smaller bits and powered up aiming to take the wake at about 30-45 degrees. I wanted to power through so that I had control and also it would mean less time exposed to the wave but I mustn’t go too fast. The boat surged as I went through and surfed out the other side but in the end it wasn’t the drama I thought it might have been. Still, it was well worth my caution and I clocked up another first for Churchley kind

After my encounter with the wake wave the sea started to cut up quite a bit. It was clear that a lot of this was the interference of various wakes acting together but the wind had got up and the general sea state was picking up. Leaving the precautionary area and heading down to the Kentish Knock cardinal mark, which markes the south and west edge of the two way zone in the new Sunk layout, the sea started to make 20kts difficult and by the time I had reached North Foreland I had reduced speed to about 16kts. It looked like a long run to Eastbourne but I still had plenty of time at that speed and fuel was fine so I still planned to Eastbourne.

Passing Dover was very straight forward. A quick call to the port control and I had permission to cross the entrances a mile off dodging the 2 ferries coming out and the one going in! Then it was a simple run to Eastbourne. Unfortunately I arrived at the Sovereign Marina at about the time that all the people that had been out for the day were returning and the queue for the lock was outside the outer harbour but eventually I was ushered into the lock and found my berth.

It had been a long day and an exciting and interesting one and one that gave me a particular sense of satisfaction of a job well done what with the length of the leg, negotiating the Sunk precautionary area safely and in accordance with the rules, and all without autohelm… YES!

Sovereign Marina did not know I was visiting them and so no arrangements had been made for discounted berthing but I would like to thank them for giving me free berthing and discounted fuel once they knew of my trip. Thank you Premier Marinas! I wish all the marinas and harbours I stayed at were as generous and welcoming as you were.

I arrived back in Plymouth yesterday afternoon at 5pm after a 63 day trip… exactly, to the day, the planned time! That is spooky!

I haven’t yet put up the trip log for Lowestoft to Eastbourne nor for the final leg to Plymouth but I will do so in the next day to two but there are a few things I must get out of the way first… sorry. Also there are more photos to go up.

Things on the task list for the coming weeks include:

• write an article for Motor Boats Monthly
• I realise that the photos have been difficult to follow as there are no captions so I am going to annotate all the photos and include some of them in the blog entries. That will take a while!
• The engines now need a service so I have to organise that
• Many items were bought especially for this trip and so I now need to sell those… e.g. charts
• I am still fundraising so I need to look at ways of continuing to generate income for the RNLI onwards from here
• I would like to write a book but at the moment I am unsure what form it will take. I have in mind returning to the places I stopped at but by road to properly investigate each place from the boating, seafaring, RNLI perspective… these are just ideas at the moment so nothing decided yet

But first, after I have tidied up the boat and done the final trip logs I am taking a week out with Sally to try to return to normality again.

This is the current earliest ETA from Paul. Sea conditions are getting choppier so this may slip. The RNLI lifeboat is standing by to launch and greet him at the Plymouth breakwater. BBC, ITV and local Radio Devon have been informed. Official finish at Millbay Marina - Plymouth Lifeboat Station.

I shall be going out aboard a friend’s boat to meet him, so this is my last entry.

Current ETA - not before 1630 BST

Paul set off from Eastbourne early this morning in a sea of glass, and is shortly arriving in Poole. Given the current sea conditions and that the forecast suggests a few days of bad weather starting tomorrow, Paul has decided simply to refuel at Poole and then set off again straight home to Plymouth! He will probably arrive in Plymouth at around 5pm-6pm this evening, assuming sea state remains suitable for high speed. Taken us all by surprise!

Today was a very long day… departed Lowestoft at 5am and arrived at Eastbourne at about 6pm.

The forecast today was rubbish. It predicted f3 or less and sea state smooth or slight. It turned out F5 and a slight to moderate. I am so pleased I left so early as the last 5 hours were bashing into waves at 6kts and very hard work and exhausting. i suspect tomorrow won’t be any different.

It was a very exciting day though and one of the most enjoyable from a boating point of view. I had to transit the Thames estuary which is one of the busiest shipping concentrations in the world. I decided not to plan the route precisely prefering to see what the traffic was like before deciding how to get through. As it turned out there were only a few ships around and the route was very straight forward between two cardinals. None the less, there may not have been many ships there when I arrived but the evidence of them being there earlier was there in the form of their wakes and one wake I came across was a wave about 1.5m high and I had to study it for a while before deciding how I would cross it. It was a whopper! There was no sign of the ship that caused it though.

Crossing the entrances to Dover required caution and a call to the Dover port control was well worth the effort.

So, two more legs and tomorrow is to Poole where I may have to wait out the next weather system delaying my final leg and my return to Plymouth… I must be patient!

With a weak low pressure over south east England for the next couple of days there is almost no pressure gradient and so it is likely that with the hot sun during the day we will have onshore breezes and that they will be the dominant wind at the coast. So F2-3 is forecast and calm sea should mean I can push on over these two days and possibly make it back to Plymouth Monday or Tuesday.

My intended destination today is Eastbourne but if it turns out to have more of a sea running than I expect then I will still use Dover as my alternative port.

More when I arrive.

Lowestoft is the most easterly point on the trip and in fact the most easterly town in the UK. So I now really do feel that I am heading home now that I am heading west and it is then just the south coast to complete to get me home.

I really do hope that I don’t get held up for weather on this final stretch but rest assured that I will have no worry about staying put if it is not sensible to leave regardless of the delay. So far this journey has taken me 9 weeks and another few days will make no difference to me providing the trip is completed safely.

So now the weather improves… just as I am getting towards the end of my trip. The past few days have been glorious, warm, sunny and today with little wind. I suppose that I could look upon the fact that the weather has been so lousy as a blessing as it has made the trip very challenging and even more difficult than I had imagined but if I were to be honest I would have given up a few of the challenges for some F1s and 2s and a bit more sunshine.

The next few days look very good for my final few legs. Tomorrow looks like F2-3 variable with similar on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are a little less certain and less promising with F4s forecast but even then it might be fine to continue on towards Plymouth if no significant weather systems are forecast. We will see.

Tomorrow is a long day so I am leaving early, at daybreak, to beat the sea breezes and to give me the best chance of getting to Eastbourne in daylight. If all goes to plan I should be rollong in to Eastbourne at about 3pmish… watch Live Tracking to follow be across the Thames esturary and round the corner to start heading west at Dover.

More tomorrow before departure.

Well, except for the fact that my boat was hit several times during the past couple of days by other boats I have had a fabulous time here in Lowestoft.

The airshow was excellent with appearances from the RAF’s latest fighter the Typhoon, The Battle of Britain Flight, Fairey Swordfish, and my particular favourite the Vulcan bomber. The last time I saw a Vulcan flying was about 1974 and I will never forget that day at the Biggin Hill Airshow I think it was… the noise made my stomach wobble!

Yesterday evening was a real treat. Paul, the Deputy Launching Authority (DLA) of the Lowestoft Lifeboat, invited me along to a visit of the Gorleston and Great Yarmouth Lifeboat Station for a tour. It was a visit organised for the members of his berth holders club at the Lowestoft marina and I was made very welcome. I was picked up by one of the members and driven to Gorleston where we all met up. Paddy, the Lifeboat Mechanic gave a superb tour of the station and boat and I would like to thank both Paddy and the club members for a great evening.

Today should have started with meeting a member of the RNSYC staff who was to assist me with finishing off the refuelling by driving me to the local petrol station but I overslept! So my first appointment was with Mike Richford, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Station Press Officer, who wanted to have a chat and get some photos for the local newspaper and station records. In the end we discussed all aspects of the trip and lifeboat life in general and I drunk many very welcome mugs of tea which I have particularly missed on my trip (no fridge so no milk!). One particular story Mike told me was of his dog, a young Labrador, who likes to swim underwater! I have never heard of any dog swimming underwater but it must have given them a bit of a scare wondering if they would need to rescue their dog! Eventually though, at about 4.30 in the afternoon, we said our goodbyes and it was only then I remembered that I had still to finish refuelling! Whoops!

So to finish off this afternoon I took a trolley from the marina and walked the half mile or so the the nearest garage to top off two of my 30 ltr outboard tanks.

I would like to thank the RNSYC, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Station, Paddy at the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station and everyone else here in Lowestoft for making my stay here so welcome.