Shakedown Passage to Belgium

Finally leaving Fox's Marina

After returning to Fox's Marina for a small repair on the mast, we finally bade farewell to the Fox's and Oyster team's to start our cruising adventure. We had been made to feel welcome and were very impressed with the support and goodwill demonstrated by Fox's and Oyster team and left with new friends made. After our extended nine weeks of living in the marina we were looking forward to the independence and solitude of anchoring. Also, the Skipper had a misapprehension that we may be becoming a little settled in our 'condo marina'  lifestyle and that we needed to remind ourselves that we actually lived on a boat that needed to be sailed!  

So, after several days sailing on the Rivers Orwell and Stour, we had practiced our boat handling, engine start ups, mooring, anchoring, man overboard drills and literally 100's of tacks and a few gybes (did I mention that the Skipper would not allow me to use the electric winches whilst under training!!!).  After several hard days yakka the Skipper declared that we were ready for a shake down passage to stretch the boats 'legs'.  Yahoo - excitement at last but also trepidation as it really was just the two of us now! 

Anchored opposite the Royal Hospital School in Holbrook

On Fri 15 Aug @0445hrs we slipped anchor and motored out of the River Stour for the 75NM trip to Oostende,Belgium. While the trip was planned for 17 hours @5kts it ended up being a bit of a marathon effort finally arriving in the marina at 2300hrs.  Sabbaticus, at 25plus tonnes, needs 10-15kts to really get her speed up which we did have for part of the crossing.  With 30NM to go the wind dropped which resulted in motor sailing, then dropped even further so it was down to motoring in against the tide (did I mention the huge tides up here) with 4kts average speed over ground - this made for a slow and lumpy trip with us both feeling a bit queasy - we are hoping the sea legs will arrive on the return trip to the UK. With a couple of hours to go we then had forked lightning on the bow and thunderstorms closing in, tidal streams, traffic separation schemes to cross, and shallow water to avoid so quite an eventful trip but thankfully a safe one with no damage to Sabbaticus or us.

Combat Napping

'Tommy' (aka auto pilot) taking his watch

Our navigation skills were tested as we planned our voyage across several Vessel Traffic Separation System's (unavoidable) and then entering a busy port via a very narrow channel at night which tested us both but proved our teamwork with no cross words spoken (early days eh!).  We did have a couple of calls from the Coastguard to inquire 'our intentions' and explain what we were doing altering course whilst crossing a traffic separation scheme (no kidding Sherlock - can't you see the great big thunderstorm on the bow with forked lightning hitting the water!!!).  One of the advantages of AIS (Automatic Identification System) is we are visible to all commercial ships so they can at least see us and call us if required.

AIS track of Sabbaticus through the shipping lanes

We had booked a marina berth at Royal North Sea Yacht Club in Oostende but arriving so late meant all berths were taken. This was a dilemma as the locks to the other marina's had closed at 2200hrs and anchoring was not an option.  So we attempted to go alongside two other boats to be advised by the owner we could not raft up more than two boats. He advised the police had told him this as another boat had tried earlier. Fortuitously the police launch had just docked so we motored off and Leanne hailed them requesting permission for 'three boats rafted up' until 0700hrs when we would move.  Thankfully the police spoke English and agreed to this plan (selling ice to Eskimo's eh), so once again we came alongside woke the owner and secured Sabbaticus to their boat.  We were both somewhat surprised when he proved to be pleasant towards us the next day! 
   

View from the bow on waking - note the tidal range quite different to NZ!

It only felt like a couple of winks before we heard a boat engine that sounded like it was driving straight through our cabin we both jumped out of bed to see the fishing boats going out and a local ferry - literally a couple of feet from us.  We went back to bed and 10mins later heard a knocking on the hull to find that boat #1 against the pontoon was leaving so we were moving too. So much for a sleep in!  We then moved to a permanent berth and spent the next few hours giving Sabbaticus a good clean before we have a few days off to relax and explore the local area.
 

View from our 'back door' - close to the inner channel but interesting to watch the shipping, tugs, ferries and yachts passing.

Off exploring now and preparing for our next training passage.