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.