Goodbye to the sugar cubes!
Those familiar with Bradwell Waterside will know the sugar cubes - they are the now redundant buildings of the old nuclear power station decommissioned and clad in some form of grey overcoat but they still look from afar like two giant sugar cubes. For many years these sugar cubes have disappeared over the horizon as we have departed on our summer holiday or been the first misty sign that we are approaching home.
So on a cold blustery Mayday morning we watched the sugar cubes disappear as we began our new adventure. It was a bit of a shock to the system getting up at 4am to ease our way out of the marina 45 minutes later in the early light with the prospect of F4-5 winds gusting 6 at times. Within the first few minutes we had broken two of the rules we set ourselves - namely no sailing when there is a F6 or above in the forecast and no sailing when the temperature is less than my shoe size! How wrong can you be - with the tide under us and the wind on the beam we had a blistering if cold sail along the coast and were settling down to bacon sarnis in Shotley Marina by 10:30 am. I was glad of the thermals and the oilskins but the weather can only get warmer from now on - can't it?
Tuesday morning saw us watching the sunrise over the North Sea for a second day in a row as we caught the tide and a weather window to Lowestoft. This time however the wind was not good coming from the N or NE - so the decision was do we tack the whole way or motor it? The swell from yesterday had died down and the sea was relatively calm but the wind was really cold so the motor won the argument! Although with the forecast winds building from the current F4-5 to 5-6 by lunchtime the Skipper didn't really need any persuasion! So tide and motor together saw us skipping along at about 6-7 knots. Just over six hours later we were tied up comfortably in the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club with the kettle on. Listening to the lunchtime weather forecast it was a bit galling to hear the words "generally warm and sunny across the country apart from North Sea facing coasts where the wind will make it feel quite cool"! I hope you are enjoying the warm and sunny weather I'm still in my thermals!
We did see some sunshine and as if by magic out it popped just as we passed Southwold giving us a glorious view of the little town bathed in sunlight - a view that I never tire of but can never quite catch in a photo but here is an attempt!
So on a cold blustery Mayday morning we watched the sugar cubes disappear as we began our new adventure. It was a bit of a shock to the system getting up at 4am to ease our way out of the marina 45 minutes later in the early light with the prospect of F4-5 winds gusting 6 at times. Within the first few minutes we had broken two of the rules we set ourselves - namely no sailing when there is a F6 or above in the forecast and no sailing when the temperature is less than my shoe size! How wrong can you be - with the tide under us and the wind on the beam we had a blistering if cold sail along the coast and were settling down to bacon sarnis in Shotley Marina by 10:30 am. I was glad of the thermals and the oilskins but the weather can only get warmer from now on - can't it?
Tuesday morning saw us watching the sunrise over the North Sea for a second day in a row as we caught the tide and a weather window to Lowestoft. This time however the wind was not good coming from the N or NE - so the decision was do we tack the whole way or motor it? The swell from yesterday had died down and the sea was relatively calm but the wind was really cold so the motor won the argument! Although with the forecast winds building from the current F4-5 to 5-6 by lunchtime the Skipper didn't really need any persuasion! So tide and motor together saw us skipping along at about 6-7 knots. Just over six hours later we were tied up comfortably in the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club with the kettle on. Listening to the lunchtime weather forecast it was a bit galling to hear the words "generally warm and sunny across the country apart from North Sea facing coasts where the wind will make it feel quite cool"! I hope you are enjoying the warm and sunny weather I'm still in my thermals!
We did see some sunshine and as if by magic out it popped just as we passed Southwold giving us a glorious view of the little town bathed in sunlight - a view that I never tire of but can never quite catch in a photo but here is an attempt!
The next leg of the journey is hopefully to Wells on the North Norfolk Coast but that will be in a few days as real life calls and we need to return home! With two long trips ahead we are hoping for another deckhand to come along and join us so my next post may well be Three go Sailing!!
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