Return to Ipswich
3rd July
We were awake early, before the alarm went off, as there was a lot of activity out in the port with fishing boats heading out before sunrise. We made our final checks: weather, food and water. We also made sure that everything was put away or secured below decks as we would be sailing hard. The forecast was N/NE 4-5 increasing 6 later. We left our berth at 7:30 am and proceeded out of the harbour, with Carole stowing away the fenders and all mooring lines. Soon we were out of the harbour and following the channel out to sea. We put up the sails with our first reef in and we were off. The sun was shining with a bright blue sky and the wind was as expected. We had first to negotiate a small TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) off Ostend, then the larger Hinder TSS which is 30 miles off Ostend. These areas are like sea motorways and must be crossed at 90⁰. As previously mentioned, our AIS managed to identify all the ship movements allowing us to make a safe passage.
The wind was increasing as we passed the Hinder TSS so we put another reef in both the main and genoa sails. This made the boat more manageable but maintained our boat speed of 7 knots. Seaduction was sailing very well, cutting through the waves. We had sea spray coming over the bow and running down the side, cleaning the decks as it drained away. We were heeling around 20⁰-30⁰ to port which Carole and I found “fun” when making drinks in the galley and taking our comfort breaks. We were both happy with our progress and were ahead of our estimated time due to faster sailing. We took turns on the helm and also used our auto helm (we call him George), so we had three of us steering.
Our next obstacle was the Sunk TSS which is a complex area where four TSS converge just like a roundabout, but on a larger scale some 16 miles across. We thought that we might have to use the engine to cross one part of this TSS but the wind shifted slightly enabling us to continue sailing. The wind had now increased to around 23 knots and the sea was rolling with a 2 metre swell. We decided to put in another reef, which then made it easier to steer manually as George was struggling with the swell. At times our boat speed climbed to over 8 knots. We had passed several sets of wind farms and finally, it was great to see the cranes at Felixstowe and land again. Since leaving Ostend we had only seen three other yachts sailing in the distance; we felt like “Billy no mates”. On our approach to Felixstowe we could hear Harwich VTS announcing the movements of a dredger in the harbour, the arrival of a large DFS ferry and an ultra large container ship. We felt it was wise to bring the sails in as we entered the harbour as this would have given us a problem keeping clear especially as we were on low water springs. Before we knew it, we were passing through the lock into the marina at Ipswich and looking forward to a nice hot shower.
Our crossing took us 12 hours 5 minutes. This was the quickest crossing we have made and the only crossing where we have managed to use the sails all the way. Well done, Seaduction! It was nice to go away, but it’s lovely to be back home.