That's as far East as we go!
Early on Wednesday morning we quietly slipped out of the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk as the sun was rising. This was quite a good sign as that sun has been conspicuous by its absence over the last few days! Despite this it was still very chilly and the thermals were in use again! This was to be the first of a few long passages over the next few days taking us from the Suffolk coast all the way to Wells Next the Sea on the North Norfolk coast. The forecast was for E3 but as we left it was SE0-1 so not much point in putting up the sails. Just outside Lowestoft we motored past Ness point marking the most easterly part of the UK - sad to say it has little of the razzamatazz associated with Lands End or the Lizard point so apart from a slight imperceptible course change to port it largely went unnoticed!
We motored past Great Yarmouth with its promenade and funfair munching on bacon sarnies and drinking hot tea in an effort to keep warm, the skipper and our son taking turns at the helm. Once past Yarmouth the coast settles down to a parade of villages all reminiscent of childhood holidays - Caister Mundesley Happisburgh Sea Palling to name but a few and as we chugged past these places noting how pretty they looked from seaward we were treated to some entertainment from the sea. Firstly we were passed by two marine porpoises who popped up a few yards away from us on their way south. Not long afterwards a grey seal popped up to have a look at us swam along for a bit and then disappeared into the depths. We saw several seals on this leg and were even treated to the sight of one demolishing a freshly caught fish - filling me with hope that the North Sea really isn't dead!
The long motor continued in bright sunshine with no wind to speak of. We passed the radome just north of Mundesley which looks from the sea like a large white golf ball perched at the top of the cliff just about to roll down onto the unsuspecting village below! The course was due to take us past the end of Cromer Pier and just as we began to close on Cromer the much loved game of spot the lobster/crab pot began! Along this part of the coast there are literally hundreds of these pots marked at the surface with anything from a long pole with a flag (easy to spot) to a floating plastic lemonade bottle (virtually impossible to see) and the trick is not to run over them. If you are unlucky enough to get tangled up at the very least the rope connecting the trap to the surface marker wraps itself around the keel slowing the boat, at the worst the rope wraps itself around the propeller stopping the engine - this causes problems both for the boat and the fisherman who will lose his gear. With lots of spotting and weaving we avoided all of them and carried on along the coast.
Soon after this the wind started to pick up and, as we were approaching the Wells entrance bouy earlier than we anticipated, we set the genoa and began a lovely run along the coast with the tide beneath us and the wind behind us. We did arrive at Wells earlier than we planned so decided to carry on past the entrance enjoying the peace of the the sail without the noise of the engine. After about 20 minutes of sailing along the coast we turned to make our way back to the entrance this time into the tide which slowed things a bit but by now the wind had built to quite a brisk F5 and the entrance was looking very uninviting with lots of breaking confused water. A quick chat with the harbour master advised us that it would be better to wait half an hour before attempting the entrance so we joined the other 6 boats milling about waiting for enough water. Half an hour later the harbour master called us in with strict instructions to "keep close to the reds"! Being very obedient sailors we did just that following the tortuous channel into Wells at the head of a parade of boats with deeper keels than ours - at one point we only had 200cm below our keel and the skipper was looking a little vexed but the seal playing alongside us on the way in didn't seem at all concerned!
The difficult entrance and the long motor (the whole journey took just under 12 hours) were well worth it as Wells is a lovely place and although we have been there many times by car arriving from the sea is always a different experience. The Harbour master and his team are great and the facilities they have installed for visiting yachtsmen are better than many marinas; he is also a very keen sailor so gave us lots of tips for what to see and do over the coming weeks and also good advice on the route to take for the next leg.
So time for a day of R&R before the next long trip along the Lincolnshire coast to the Humber and much maligned Grimsby!
We motored past Great Yarmouth with its promenade and funfair munching on bacon sarnies and drinking hot tea in an effort to keep warm, the skipper and our son taking turns at the helm. Once past Yarmouth the coast settles down to a parade of villages all reminiscent of childhood holidays - Caister Mundesley Happisburgh Sea Palling to name but a few and as we chugged past these places noting how pretty they looked from seaward we were treated to some entertainment from the sea. Firstly we were passed by two marine porpoises who popped up a few yards away from us on their way south. Not long afterwards a grey seal popped up to have a look at us swam along for a bit and then disappeared into the depths. We saw several seals on this leg and were even treated to the sight of one demolishing a freshly caught fish - filling me with hope that the North Sea really isn't dead!
The long motor continued in bright sunshine with no wind to speak of. We passed the radome just north of Mundesley which looks from the sea like a large white golf ball perched at the top of the cliff just about to roll down onto the unsuspecting village below! The course was due to take us past the end of Cromer Pier and just as we began to close on Cromer the much loved game of spot the lobster/crab pot began! Along this part of the coast there are literally hundreds of these pots marked at the surface with anything from a long pole with a flag (easy to spot) to a floating plastic lemonade bottle (virtually impossible to see) and the trick is not to run over them. If you are unlucky enough to get tangled up at the very least the rope connecting the trap to the surface marker wraps itself around the keel slowing the boat, at the worst the rope wraps itself around the propeller stopping the engine - this causes problems both for the boat and the fisherman who will lose his gear. With lots of spotting and weaving we avoided all of them and carried on along the coast.
Soon after this the wind started to pick up and, as we were approaching the Wells entrance bouy earlier than we anticipated, we set the genoa and began a lovely run along the coast with the tide beneath us and the wind behind us. We did arrive at Wells earlier than we planned so decided to carry on past the entrance enjoying the peace of the the sail without the noise of the engine. After about 20 minutes of sailing along the coast we turned to make our way back to the entrance this time into the tide which slowed things a bit but by now the wind had built to quite a brisk F5 and the entrance was looking very uninviting with lots of breaking confused water. A quick chat with the harbour master advised us that it would be better to wait half an hour before attempting the entrance so we joined the other 6 boats milling about waiting for enough water. Half an hour later the harbour master called us in with strict instructions to "keep close to the reds"! Being very obedient sailors we did just that following the tortuous channel into Wells at the head of a parade of boats with deeper keels than ours - at one point we only had 200cm below our keel and the skipper was looking a little vexed but the seal playing alongside us on the way in didn't seem at all concerned!
The difficult entrance and the long motor (the whole journey took just under 12 hours) were well worth it as Wells is a lovely place and although we have been there many times by car arriving from the sea is always a different experience. The Harbour master and his team are great and the facilities they have installed for visiting yachtsmen are better than many marinas; he is also a very keen sailor so gave us lots of tips for what to see and do over the coming weeks and also good advice on the route to take for the next leg.
So time for a day of R&R before the next long trip along the Lincolnshire coast to the Humber and much maligned Grimsby!
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