ADVENTURE MAISIE GOES TO GOES

To depart or not to depart? That is the question. Is it safer to stay, or suffer the wind and weather of a rough North Sea?

- John Kingsnorth

With apologies to Shakespeare – our dilemma could hardly be compared to Hamlet’s, but it was real. Once again, though for the first time since Brexit, we were heading for the Netherlands from Suffolk Yacht Harbour. Months in the planning, we were itching to cast off, but the reality was a nagging northeast Force 6. If we left, that would be a horrible first 6-8 hours. Like Hamlet, we dithered and delayed, and eventually set off the next afternoon, still northeast, but now Force 4 – it was manageable.

Jenny, my crew, is an expert navigator and passage planner, very adept with modern technology – the perfect foil for my technological ineptitude. In her 20 years of sailing she has acquired RYA qualifications and done overseas delivery trips with Professional Yacht Deliveries. We share the helm, half hour on, half hour off. Like me, she enjoys the sailing rather than just being on a boat. Excellent crew and after 10 years she still comes back for more!

Those of you with 10m-plus yachts and 20hp diesels will be wondering why I’m such a wimp. My Nova 27 is 50 years old with a single cylinder SABB 10hp. It is solid and reliable, but noisy and slow, so I sail as soon as is practical.

Sailing to the southern Netherlands from Harwich, the first major obstacle is the Gabbard wind farm. Due to sunk shipping, small boats are advised to go north of Gabbard, which means heading northeast for 30 miles. For an old 27-footer, you need the help of the tide, in this case 2 knots, but you then have wind-over-tide – uncomfortable! In the event, there was enough east in the wind for us to romp up the Shipway to N Shipwash buoy at 7 knots speed over ground. In the dark, we motored round the top of Gabbard, the windfarm lit up like a floating city, all winking lights at different levels. Adding to the illuminations was a surprising amount of shipping, especially ferries.