Lossiemouth to Chatham Sailing Trip 22nd July to 1st August Summary

8 day trip turned into 11 day trip.

Lossiemouth to Whitehills to refuel, to Holy Island, to Amble for repairs, to Whitby, to Lowestoft for yet more fuel, to Queensborough for more repairs and finally to Chatham.

We missed seeing Bell Rock lighthouse, Bass Rock, Bamburgh Castle and the Farnese Islands due to thick fog and missed Southwold due to fuel issues and time constraints.

No rain but a lot of fog for first 3 days or so then lots and lots of sunshine but unfortunately very little wind.

Mechanical Issues.

     Water pump bearing failure at Amble.

     Impeller failure and subsequent cooling system airlock in the Thames estuary.

Other problems/mishaps.

     Ran aground in harbour entrance at Amble and stuck for a couple of hours waiting for more water.

     Stuck in Amble from late on Friday to Monday afternoon waiting for parts.

     Rearranging new transport plans for getting home, most people had extra costs involved.

Total distance travelled was 501 miles.

All in all quite an interesting adventure sailing trip.

Many thanks to the rest of the crew for your company over the trip namely: Charlie (skipper), Dave and Gwen, Marcus who had to leave in Amble due to time constraints, Jenny, Steve 1, Steve 2 and Jon.

We also need to thank Coquet Yacht Club for their hospitality and for staying open into the early hours to provide food and refreshments for us after we finally got into Amble Marina.

I also have a fish pie recipe courtesy of Gwen to try out on family members next week, if it's half as good as the one Gwen produced during one of our longer passages they will be well impressed.

Some photos from the trip and maybe some paintings based on my sketches will be posted at a later date.

Lossiemouth to Chatham - Day 7 Monday - Amble to Whitby

Our engine parts arrived 0845 as promised, engine fixed by 0930. We now have to wait for the tide to get over the marina chill and out into the River Coquet and out to sea. We have a few shrugs spare so it's a few housekeeping jobs then off for a walk.

A Dutch yacht has tried to get out before the tide has dropped and has hit the chill. We don't know what damage he has done but in any case he will be there for about 4 hours while the tide finishes going out and then comes back in sufficiently for him to re float. He is leaning at quite an alarming angle. He is about 4 feet from the depth gauge for the chill so he has misjudged his exit big time. He is taking the opportunity to clean the bottom of his boat !!

Stuck on the Cill

We have time to do a few manoeuvres on the way to the fuel pontoon. Yours truly is on the helm from our hammerhead pontoon mooring to another hammerhead a couple of rows along that has the fuel berth.

Slip the bow line, engine on and in neutral, engine in slow reverse, bow drifting out OK, slip the stern line, we are now being held with the engine and stern spring. Forward gear, slip stern spring and we are away into the channel at the end of the pontoons. Once clear we are into reverse to allow another yacht to pass clear of us. Into forward gear.............NO THE OTHER FORWARD.........panic...... A lot of power forward...nearly demolished the pontoon behind us. Approaching the fueling berth at 45 degrees aiming for the middle, steer to port when we are 1 metre from the pontoon, quick blast of reverse to stop us, lines ashore, tied up and we are there. A bit of a panic for a moment but we (I) missed everything that needed missing !!! I do question the wisdom of having a loon on the helm approaching a fuel berth but we managed. I think I need a drink.

Refuelled and away at 1545, the Dutch yacht is off the chill and away with presumably only minor paint damage to has hull. Very little wind again but nice and sunny, we are heading for Whitby and we should be there about 0430 tomorrow morning to get through the bridge at the 0500 opening.

We have a school of dolphins playing around the boat, I managed to get a Dagwood picture of a dolphin along with 6 of a dolphin splash. I can't upload that pic until I'm home.

On watch 1730 to 2030' sunny but very little wind, motor sailing again. Glorious sunset tonight.

Lossiemouth to Chatham - Day 6 Saturday - Still in Amble

Another leisurely day today waiting in Amble marina for engine parts to arrive. I spent the morning housekeeping and sorting things out and the afternoon sketching in Walkworth.

We have decided on our plan for the rest of the trip assuming we get the engine fixed tomorrow morning.

1. Depart Amble about 1700 Monday

2. Arrive Whitby after dawn on Tuesday, there is a tidal constraint with the Whitby harbour bridge.

3. Depart Whitby on the following high tide at about 1800 Tuesday.

4. Arrive Southwold on Wednesday evening after waiting for the incoming tide to help us up the river.

5. Depart Southwold about 0500 on Thursday

6. Arrive Chathan sometime on Thursday evening

7. Sort the boat out and depart for home at some point on Friday

8. On the Megabus Gold from Victoria Coach station to Aviemore at 2300 Friday to arrive in Aviemore

    at 1000 on Saturday morning.

Below are today's sketches.

Walkworth Castle 1

Walkworth Castle 2

Walkworth Bridge and Gatehouse 

Walkworth Market Cross

That's all for today, I may be able to post from Whitby at some point on Tuesday.