Yacht Seaduction 2023

30th May

We decided that the best day to leave Ipswich would be Tuesday, 22nd May as the wind was forecast to stop blowing from the east and change to the north east. Our alarms were set at 04:30 to leave from Ipswich at 05:00 and we managed to go straight through the lock as it was in free flow. The wind was light as it was still early so we were on engine until we reached Levington. The main sail came out ready for our sail to Ostend in Belgium. We then noticed a strange noise from the engine. Chris thought it was a slack alternator belt so he popped down to sort it out. However, he soon discovered that it was more serious than that and it was, in fact, the alternator mounting bracket (part of the engine mount) which had broken. We had no option but to return to Ipswich. Carole took the helm sailing us back while Chris was down below trying to make a temporary repair so we could restart the engine to get through the lock and return to our berth. Chris managed to stabilise the alternator with the help of some wood and cable ties enabling us to run the engine although very slowly. On our way back up the river we received a call from Liz and John on Rascal to see if we were ok as they had been following our AIS track. They offered to be at our berth to catch our lines if needed.

As we approached the lock, we started the engine and managed to run at low revs giving us enough power to get in. Once through we could see John at our berth waiting for us. Luckily the wind was light and we managed to get safely back onto our pontoon without fuss. Chris then called Volspec, local marine engineers, to sort out the problem. An engineer arrived within 2 hours, identified the problem and ordered replacement parts, which were then fitted two days later.

We topped up our provisions and were all set again for our trip. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas with heavy fog and thunderstorms across the North Sea, which were not a pleasant prospect. After five days of weather watching with no end in sight to the poor weather, we went home by train for a break.