So Chris, the skipper who we started with at the beginning of the trip is back on board and he has stepped up a few gears in the standard he expects from us as skippers and crew, but particularly when we skipper for the day. This is in preparation for my fellow crew planning to take the Yachtmaster exam after the trip, and in my case gaining the Coastal Skipper certificate.
To illustrate, he now turns the electronic chart navigation system off. The first time he did this was mid passage pretending it had broken down! but now we are not allowed to turn it on for the entire journey. So we have to navigate using the paper charts and compass, taking into accounts tide, leeway, depth and pilotage into ports - without the comfort of a GPS (like the car navigation systems - see picture below)
telling you where you are! We also have to do this at night, and last night was a good case in point sailing from Hull on a long passage, unfortunately under motor again, down to Harwich. There are several narrow passages between sandbanks and other hazards, and at times you are out of sight of land, for example across the Wash. Although I wasn't skipper on that passage, the skipper was on the other watch from me so when I was on watch I effectively had to navigate in the dark relying on lights from lighthouses and buoys. Each lighthouse or buoy has a particular light signal that helps you identify it, providing you know roughly where you are and can take a compass bearing. For example continuous white flashes means cardinal buoy that you have to pass to the North off, or you have green or red lights with particular flash patterns, eg 4 flashes every 20 seconds. Providing you have a plan and know the sequence of lights expected as you progress, it is not too difficult. I should however say we were in ideal visibility under motor on a flat sea - I dare not think how difficult it must be to navigate such a passage in challenging seas with poor visibility -or maybe you wouldn't, you would rely on electronic navigation tools instead!
The passages since Edinburgh have been to Eyemouth in Scotland, then to Newcastle with a lunch stop at anchor in Holy Island, then on to Whitby, then to Hull and finally a long full day / overnight trip to Harwich - see photo showing our early morning entrance into Harwich, passing the docks.
In Newcastle and Hull we had some time to explore and I was impressed with the regeneration that has gone on in - I can thoroughly recommend both as destinations for a weekend sightseeing visit - see picture of our boat moored in the harbour right in the centre of Hull and also a photo of our boat moored just down from the Millenium Bridge in Newcastle.
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When I was in Hull, I also cycled down to and across the Humber Bridge - an impressive sight. We also had an afternoon to explore the attractive harbour town of Whitby and treated ourselves to fish and chips - judging by the number of fish and chip shops in the town, a speciality of the town! See picture of narrow entrance to Whitby which I had to steer the boat through - entrance in to this harbour is impossible in a strong wind from the East, even in the slight swell we had on the day it was difficult keeping boat in a straight line!
I also fulfilled one of my ambitions of the trip, which was, much to the amusement and surprise of my fellow crew and skipper, to swim around the boat. I did this in nice sunny weather when the boat was at anchor off Holy Island, although had to swim hard in one direction as there was a tide. The only remaining ambition, apart of course from finishing the trip, is to get hoisted up the mast!!
Unfortunately we seem to be experiencing some trouble with the engine, or more precisely, the gear box. We have had this problem from near the start, but it has recently occurred more frequently and today when entering Shotley Marina in Harwich the failure occurred frequently. The issue is that the engine will not engage forward gear when you have been in reverse. Some manoeuvres require this, and if the wind is strong dangerous or potentially damaging situations to the boat or other boats can develop very quickly! I know our skipper Chris is now very concerned and mechanics have been called - but our concern is that the boat might need to be taken out of the water to be fixed as the gearbox cannot be worked on otherwise. Hopefully this doesn't interrupt the final few days of our journey now that we are so close to home.
As I write I am sitting on the back of the boat in Shotley Marina, Harwich. It is a pleasant evening and lots of other boats are returning from day sails in the area. When we arrived after the overnight sail from Hull we motored up river and picked up a buoy, then after catching some well earned sleep to mid morning, we sailed up the River Orwell to just short of the Orwell Bridge, then back to the marina at Shotley. The sailing was great. The plan for the next couple of days is the same, to sail in the area practicing sailing techniques such as pickup up buoys and refining our handling the boat under power coming alongside pontoons and so on. I really enjoy sailing the boat and am the first to insist the sails are put up in the slightest of winds - we really have motored too much across the top of the country and down the East Coast. Timetable, lack of wind or wind from the wrong direction has meant we have had to motor far too often.
Next time I post an update to the blog hopefully we will have arrived back in St Katherine's Dock, London .. plans are that we arrive on Friday when the lock gates open ... until then.
