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The refit

First Season

Second Season

Blyth to France

Gravelines to Paris

Paris to Digoin

Digoin to Chalon Sur Saone

Chalon Sur Saone to the Med

May 8th

Finally at 0903 hrs Wednesday morning Tamara slip her moorings and head out into south harbour to begin her trip south. As the weather forecast wasn't favourable and we had expected to leave at 0600 hrs, we headed for Royal Quays to fuel up and then sail to Hartlepool, Tony came along to RQ to say goodbye and after taking onboard 100 ltrs of fuel we left at 1245 hrs bound for Hartlepool, wind a steady 12 Kt in the river and increased to a nice 17/20 Kt out at sea, as Tamara likes a bit of wind she was nipping along very nicely at 8 kt, the flux gate compass had been playing up in the marina, this was obvious by the chart plotter flipping 180 degrees and then locking onto a heading. I thought this may be with standing powered down for so long, as it happened it wasn't the compass actually had a major problem, it was dead. During the afternoon the wind increased steadily until they we hitting 30 kt On arrival at Hartlepool a phone call to Raymarine and a couple of quick checks with the meg meter confirmed it was truly dead, one more call to Andy at Storrar Marine on the Coast Road got a replacement on route care of Scarborough harbour masters office which was to be our next port of call.

Checks for Raymarine Fluxgate compass

screen -blue 6-12 ohms

red - green 3-6 ohms

yellow - red 3-6 ohms

yellow - green 6-12 ohms

rudder sensors can also affect the compass so the checks for that are

red - green 5 K ohms in any position

blue - green 1.66 K-3.3 K ohms from left stop to right stop

023 9271 4713 Raymarine customer support

May 9th

We had planned stay at Hartlepool today as the weather forecast was to be F7 or F8 South Westerly, good direction wrong force, so we then planned our day around the weather bound scenario, however by mid morning it was obvious the weather was going according to plan and as the compass was en-route to Scarborough we decided we would make a run for it. A quick trip to the marina office to settle the bill, check the tides and latest weather confirmed we could arrive at Scarborough within the tidal gate without problems. So at 1245 hrs we slipped our moorings, requested a lock out and as soon as we left the lock the wind veered Southeast, which was dead on the nose, the current weather forecast was for the wind to become cyclonic. It didn't it stayed on the nose for the eight hours it took us to motor to Scarborough, wind strength 12/15 kt Typical of Teesbay it had it groups of three waves which kept stopping the boat in it's tracks. Just after 1900 hrs it began to rain, the rest of the trip was completed in freezing conditions. We finally arrived at Scarborough at 2130 hrs with wind strength increasing and rain During he booking in process I confirmed with the harbour master that the compass had been confirmed and was to be delivered to the HM office the next day. Tomorrow's weather is even worse as F8's are expected, never mind as it's 30 year since either one of us have been in Scarborough we could use the time to reaquaint ourselves with the town.

May 10th

0600 hrs A bright calm sunny day that could have been anywhere in Europe, it wasn't to last the F8 forecast was to arrive within 30 mins and would last until 2000 hrs We decided to go out around the town, there is a lot of regeneration happening at Scarborough with 30 million been spent on the North Bay alone, all the harbour front is in the process of redevelopment, this is making a huge difference. The compass finally arrived at 1630 hrs minus a few parts, a couple of phone calls later and thanks to Andy at Storrar Marine and the parts were in the post for the next day. Thanks Guys you did a sterling job! Moored just in front of us is a couple who are doing the same, they sold their house and decided it was time to travel and fulfil their dreams, Ann and Ian are heading North to the Orkneys, as it happens around the same time as Andy and Linda will be leaving Blyth to do the same.

Fri May 11th

1930 hrs 054.16.994N-000.23.313W Scarborough. Fitted new fluxgate compass, (thanks to Joan at the harbour masters office for all the help) completed all electronic checks. Still stuck due to weather F7's forecast again tomorrow. The good thing is we are getting time to plan the next stage carefully and we desperately need to chill as the last three weeks have been frantic.

Sat May 12th

1845 hrs 054.16.994N-000.23.313W Scarborough. We are still stuck at Scarborough but not because of parts now, we're waiting for a weather window to allow us to complete the 27 hr passage to Lowestoft. All the math's have been completed and we need to leave here 24 hrs before the flood tide at Winterton (5 hrs before high water Dover) which will speed our passage to Lowestoft to arrive there on or about high water (HW Dover -0133). Quentin and Dave are still stuck at Southwold on route for La Rochelle France due to weather.

Tues May 15th

Finally the weather has improved enough to allow us to move, It is forecast for SW veering to NW 3's or 4's which if it happens will suit us nicely. 0500 hrs alarms on, boats 99% prepared just the final jobs to do. 0600 hrs complete all final tasks, Radio in passage plan to Humber coast guard, receive final weather forecast, radio clearance from Scarborough harbour to leave and swing compass in the inner harbour before we leave. 0645 Tamara once again slips her moorings and begins what for us will be the first full night sail we've completed in earnest, although I have night sailed with Andy and Linda, this will be the first we have to sail 140 mile in 27 hours, in the dark and to arrive at 052.59.010N/001.36.550E (5 hours before HW Dover) pick up cardinal buoys and racon beacons to guide us into Corton Road the channel that will give us access to Lowestoft harbour. All the navigation math's have been completed, all the diagrams and buoy recognition have been drawn, as well as bearings to and from lights along the route. This allows us to check our position on the ground and not rely solely on GPS fixes every hour. As every good trip starts as soon as we left port the wind veered NE and dropped to 5 kt So unfortunately the engine stayed on as we had to fight 2 kt of foul tide for the first four hours and we crossed Filey bay to Flamborough Head, From here the course was 143 deg magnetic. Every four hours the stern gland and raw water pump are greased and every eight hours the engine is turned off and checked for oil water and any problems that could occur, the last thing we need will be to loose the engine in the Corton Road with a 3 kt tide running and shoals that are only 3m deep in places. This can very quickly be lost in rough seas. At 1110 hrs Tamara crosses from West to East (the Greenwich Meridian). At 219 hrs I switch on the radar system to be immediately confronted with a ART display 073 deg mag range 3.98 mile from my position, Listening to channel 16 and watching for any strobes or flares, A large vessel that passed within 5 mins was en route to investigate, his response to Yarmouth coast guard was that there was a yellow florescent dye in the water but nothing to be seen. At just after 2200 hrs it began to rain and would never stop until after 0600 hrs, we were both soaked to the skin, freezing and very tied.

Wed May 16th

At times carrying over 9 kt SOG, we arrived three hours early, yes we could have slowed our passage to arrive on time but as you do you always make the best of good things, so to allow for thing that may go wrong. The navigation was spot on the radar picked up the Racon beacon ad the lights identified the North cardinal buoy for the Corton Road. However being early we had 3 kt of foul tide to content with and as our waypoint was 13 mile away I knew this would be a long slow passage, now was the time for some rest. Leaving Tamara on autopilot and raising Debs from her bed I retired for 3 hours of interrupted sleep, getting up to check on Debs and the progress. At 0320 hrs I was back on watch, the radar had packed up, yet again an IP68 deck plug had taken in water causing a short circuit, as day light wasn't that far away I just switch the rest of the system off. With the wind behind us at 15 kt I put up full sail which eased the pressure on the engine quite considerably, as the tide turned again we picked up to over 8.5 kt over the ground. Which helps when your very tied and just want to go to bed tied up along side. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except for the strength of tidal flow across the harbour mouth, which we had been told about but was still strong. At 0745 we tied up on the visitors pontoon of the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk yacht club £19.75 a night plus electricity but we need the rest, We intent to stay until the weekend to recover and plan the next jump, as well as carrying out the repairs to the radar system. At 0821 hrs we signed off with Yarmouth Coast guard and requested them to inform Humber, ( of which our daughter Gemma is a member at Amble) that we had arrived safely at Lowestoft. The rest of the day was spent in bed trying to recover.

Thurs May 17th

The day started early at 0600 hrs we decided to get up and start all the little jobs, Tamara needed cleaning and tiding up after the long trip things were a little out of place. Due to the fact I hadn't greased the stern tube every four hours we had taken in a small amount of water to the engine bilge. The stern was dirty from the exhaust which because the engine had run for the entire 25 hrs We also had to do the ordinary tasks such as shopping and laundry. We've got this down to a fine art now, we can feed ourselves and eating very well with wine included for our evening meal for around £10 per day. In the afternoon we got the bikes out from the aft cabin and spent the rest of the day cycling along Oulton Broad and surrounding areas. We returned to the boat to find a flotilla of Dutch boats had arrived about 10 in all, these were rafted on to each other, filling one of the aisles. Our plans from here are to move to Shotley point down at Harwich and then to Ramsgate or Dover for the crossing to France, weather permitting we'll make the first move on Sunday as the tides are favourable at 0745 hrs. We should be able to make the distance in about 5 hours.

Fri May 18th

The weather forecast for today is terrible, F8's SSW, several Dutch boats were preparing to leave for Southwold a short hop of 7 mile south of Lowestoft, all returned after a couple of hours, the situation out there is desperate. We continued with the preparation for our next passage, The bilge's had to be cleaned and the radar sorted out. I had had the plug open on deck since we arrived letting it dry out, after checking all the connections and cleaning where necessary it was reassembled and check. It was still giving false echoes and I think this is due to dirty or corroded connections. Tonight we will be planning the next leg of the passage, checking all the waypoints, and making the diagrams and notes of all the VHF channel numbers that we will need, it's quicker to reference from diagrams than the pilot books. We managed to get hold of an Imray C1 chart from a chandlers up in the broads when we went of a bike ride on Thursday. I'm so pleased we brought our bikes which live in the aft cabin when not in use, they give us an incredible amount of freedom to roam when we're stuck due to bad weather.

Dave, the birthing master at Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, who also happens to be the box on the Lowestoft life boat did happen to mention that as we were from the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club, did we know the boat Whisper, that a colleagues of his had towed in to Lowestoft only a few weeks ago after a collision with a gas tanker some 6 mile SE of the harbour. All the staff at RN&SYC are extremely helpful make everyone feel at home.

Sun May 20th

Lowestoft- Shotley Point (Harwich) approximately 40 NM

After the weather we have been experiencing today is the total opposite, very little wind and from the North. This should be a straight forward sail without any problems by using the tide the distance should be covered in a reasonable time. We had thought of sailing to Dover but that would mean another 12 hrs sail and as time isn't as important now we will visit a couple of places on the way south.

0800 hrs- 052'28-338N-001'45-137E 100 deg mag depart Lowesetoft 1014 Mb and rising. LW Harwich 0920hrs DST (LW Dover -0055 hrs). The tide will turn about 1 hour after LW giving us a fair tide for the passage, this is important as the tides here are in excess of 2 Kt. On leaving Lowestoft we book the passage plan with Yarmouth Coast Guard, giving ports of exit and entry, number of people on board and ETA, approx. 1600 hrs For the first time we are asked for our CG66 reg number 226206 and an international call sign MHKZ9.(Which we never use) so I give our MMSI instead 235023229. For the log I have decided to record every time we make a change of course or an hour sailing.

0830hrs-052'26-465N-001'47-189 178 deg mag 2.6 NM South Holm scb fairly straight forward, however a keen eye for the numerous unmarked pots.

0908hs-052'23-250N-001'47-359E 196 deg mag 4.18 NM Benacre Ness, positions were checked against sightings at least twice an hour to verify positions within the passage plan.

0954hrs-052'17-960N-001'45-121E 199 deg mag 5.63 NM position taken from GPS and sighting from the tower at Southwold to confirm we are on track. Another two bearings were taken in this section, from Sizewell power station an unmistakable building on the coast and form the distinct red and white light house at Orfordness at 1136 hrs

1152hrs-052'01-900N-001'38-226E 16.42 NM North Shipwash NCM, we need this to locate the entrance to the channel that will take us to Harwich. Harwich has like many ports a designated yacht channel for approach and departure, this is to ensure the reduced risk of interaction between heavy commercial vessels and pleasure vessels.

1252hrs-051'56-057N-001'31-150E 5.36 NM Clear water mark (ball)

1311hrs-051'55-204N-001'26-141E 1.94 NM Cork sands yacht track.

1444hrs-051'57-562N-001'16-632E Shotley point marina. It's all right for a stop over. It's isolated on the point of two rivers, a ferry trip in the morning to Harwich doesn't get any better. So we return to the boat and begin planning the next passage of the trip which is to be Ramsgate.

Shotley point £17.50 per night for a 10 m boat, electricity extra, works out at £21 a night. Laundry£3.50 a shot(expensive) won't go back unless a storm blows us in.

Tues May 22nd

Harwich-Ramsgate approx 40 NM

Chart1 chart2

This is the most difficult leg yet, we have to negotiate the Tames estuary with all the traffic and pick up various shoal channels through the passage or take a fifty mile trip the long way round.

0900hrs-051'57-562N-001'16-632E lock out of Shotley point

1000hrs-051'54-25N-001'20-888E Foxs Buoy 147 deg mag 3.95 NM

1027hrs-051'51-596N-001'21-476E Medusa Buoy 143 deg mag 2.44 NM

1102hrs-051'4-277N001'25-036E sighting 140 deg mag 2.83 NM

1140hrs-051'46-487N-001'29-218E Sunk NCM 194 deg mag 3.65 NM

1204hrs-051' 44-440N-001'28-804E Black Deep No 1 CM 224 deg mag 1.73 NM

This next step was to be the tricky bit as we had to find a channel 5 meters deep and only 300 m wide at this end, bearing in mind, this is by now 15 mile or so out to sea we are surrounded by drying sand banks waiting for you to run aground.

1245hrs-051'40-160N-001'24-035E a point in front of the No 5 Black deep bell to turn to a heading of 158 deg mag and enter the Foulgers Gat channel, if you get it wrong you end up on Long Sands a drying bank of 1.3 m above chart datum, which you can't see on a rising tide, to the south west

1305 hrs 051'38-745N-001'25-703E Foulgers Gat entrance 184 deg mag 1.9 NM watching the depth gauge constantly this part of the channel has a minimum of 5 meters if you get it right. The water begins to deepen and then shoal to 3 m and deepen again, we both breath again after 5 mile and the water depths begin to read 15+ meters.

1705 hrs 051'19-702N-001'25-231E Ramsgate Royal Harbour. Total distance of 39.8 NM using the tide gave us an advantage of at least an hour, however we still had to push a fowl tide for he last hour this we increasing up to 2 kt When we arrived the Grand Turk was in harbour, an old three masted sailing ship that had taken place in the Tall Ships race of 2006.

Ramsgate £21.00 for 10 m, showers free, water and electricity included the town is well worth a visit with good food and beer. Nice helpful people.

Next step 15 mile to Dover Thursday weather permitting.(yeh right)

Thurs May 24th

0930 All the calculations had been completed for Dover and a departure time of around 1200 hrs, When we woke and the weather again was no wind clear blue skies and a forecast to deteriorate for the weekend, during a conversation with the boat next to us, who said they were heading for Calais for a couple of days and would be back before the weather changed for the worst. 1000 hrs we had completed all the calculations that would get us to Calais on one rising tide. They were fed into the chart plotter and checked very carefully, no mistakes could be allowed on this leg, we had to cross four traffic separation zones and content with the ferries in and out of Calais. The sea was like a mill pond we couldn't have got better conditions for our first crossing of the channel if we had planned it and waited for weeks.

1100 hrs (Dover LW -0011 hrs) all fuelled up and waiting for permission to leave Ramsgate, a ferry and the dredger were entering and after that we were clear to go. I radioed Dover Coast Guard and logged the passage plan giving our ETA of about 1600 hrs As we left we joined in on a flotilla of boats from two clubs based in the Medway who were holding a rally in Calais over the weekend.

11000hrs-051'19-702N-0001'25-231E 87 deg mag 5 kt leaving Royal Harbour for the first waypoint.

1213hrs-051'19-175N-001'37-379E 126 deg mag 6.3 kt wind speed 10.2 kt on the nose

1253hrs-051'15-429N-001'37-379E (GPS fix) 159 deg mag wind 9.4 kt still to close to sail too.

1358hrs-051'07'942N-001'41-684E (GPS fix) log reading 15.21 NM wind 7 kt SOG 6.3 kt

1457hrs-051'03-350N-001'45-402E (GPS fix) log 20 NM wind 2.4 NE SOG 5.4 kt

1615hrs-050'57-772N-001'50-954E final readings arrived Calais Port Du Plaisance. Wind 7.4 kt NE.

1630 hrs-picked up mooring buoy and radioed Dover Coast guard signing off.

The passage went straight forward with only a couple of large ships to deal with mid channel, but in some places what was worrying was at over five mile out and some depths were still under five meters. However when we reach the separation zones the depths increased to over 50 meters. At one point we were very briefly joint by a dolphin swimming along between the boats. Just before losing sight of the UK in the haze we could see the French coast line looming up, and before long the unmistakable clock tower of Calais harbour, still with just under an hour of tide to run. At times we were making over 7 Kt SOG due to the strong tidal currents of the area. On entry to Calais harbour you peel off to starboard into the port du plaisance, this is locked with a tidal gate and swing bridge. The marina have supplied mooring buoys in the basin to pick while your waiting for HW -0130 hrs for the gate to open. At 1630 hrs we rafted up in the marina, completed all the checking in formalities and began the job of organising the next step of our adventure, which is to get into the canals and through to the Med. We need to decided where we're going to enter and were the mast is coming off. The overwhelming decision of the day is what are we going to eat and where. All the years we travelled in France when the kids were little we never stopped in Calais to look around, we only ever got off the ferry and headed for the country. A couple of hours spent looking around reveals that Calais is a great place to visit with most of the locals willing to help you with the language and of course can speak very good English. We do need to improve our French because as we move further through France we will be expected to speak their language, I do think it will come back to me fairly quickly.

With the first part of the adventurecomplete we now move to the canals

Gravelines to Paris