Southwold → Oostende → Southwold

An amazing weekend was had onboard Elise sailing across the North Sea to Belgium 16th July 2022. Prior to departing, it was all about the preparation and praying that the conditions were going to be suitable. Along with the endless search for an insurance company willing to insure a trailer sailer wanting to cross the North Sea! Never the less insurance was secured the day before departure. Not enough winds would have been terrible and the same for too much wind. Fortunately there was just enough wind to sail all the way except for 42 minutes use of the outboard to help us across the wind farm. Matt saw 6.9 knots on his watch and we generally sat around 5.5knots.

The Crossing

As we set off Friday morning, we were bursting with excitement as we started sailing into the unknown, unfortunately Matt suffered a little and made a few calls to Hewy very early on. After being given the option to turn back, I was relieved Matt chose to continue and I’m sure he was pleased he made that decision.

As we approached the wind farm it became clear that the fastest route was straight through the middle, with the spinnaker up and the tide setting us to the south, I wasn’t sure if we’d end up dangling by the spinnaker from a turbine wing.

We pressed on with a nice bit of wind on the beam, and later on the nose, as we crossed the shipping lane, then the pilot station where we counted 50 huge motor vessels anchored awaiting pilotage.

Eventually Ostend began to appear on the horizon. By this time we’d had lunch which comprised of the ‘end of day’ stale baguette from Co-op the day before and a tin of sardines, and later, a pot noodle that ended up decanted in the cabin floor and over our bedding. As we pushed on with bits of pot noodle stuck to our footwear we rounded the cardinal and noted our time. We then proceeded through the Chanel where it appeared the large motor vessels were deliberately trying to run us down. We headed to the south of the Chanel to avoid vessels which put us over the Ostend bank. This gave us some nice following over falls and at one stage almost washed the remainder of the pot noodle down in the cabin. Unfortunately this meant we were punching the tide which did slow progress.

Arriving in Oostende

The sun went down and we made our approach into Ostend in darkness as the fatigue was setting in. Unfortunately we missed the bar in time for that beer we’d been imagining for the past 19 hours.

In the morning we checked in and got our passports stamped which I must say was a simple process.

A good night sleep left us feeling bright and energetic as we watched Spirit and resolution arrive from the comfort of the RNSYC bar whilst sipping on some BrugeZot. It was great to watch their fast progress in the Marine traffic app.

We’d decided to leave on Monday which gave us plenty of time to recover and explore Ostend allowing us to make the most of it.

A lovely evening was had in the club restaurant where we enjoyed each others company whilst sharing experiences of the trip. We later headed into town for some more refreshments but it was clear the realisation was setting in that an early start was looming for Spirit and Resolution. Their crews were dragged out of the bar and returned aboard for an early start at 4am.

The Return Trip

We enjoyed more exploration and began our own prep for a return trip. One thing we really tried to focus on was to obtain a similar standard of onboard snacks that are regularly spoken of on the club what’s app group. A little bit of luxury for the return trip would be nice. We quite quickly narrowed down that we couldn’t have any thing that could slip, slide, spill, get squashed or soggy!

Eventually every one had left to make their return trip or in Migrants case, some coastal hopping, the time came for us to depart at 4am on Monday. Armed with yesterday’s fresh french stick in the bilges, a tin of frankfurters, more pot noodles and some anchovies we exited Ostend once again in the dark.

We managed to sail some of the way but resulted in using our engine to break the back of the passage. Some extra miles were added into our trip by zig zagging in the shipping lanes while mustering enough courage to cut up a huge motor tanker. Eventually we decided the best policy was that if you could see one coming then we would aim for her stern. By the time we found a suitable opportunity we had motored 3 miles the wrong way! The second lane was empty and so could relax for a few miles as we crossed the separation scheme and until we got into the final lane. We did a last minute 360 observation and couldn’t believe it when we saw some more vessels coming. At this point we were needing to refuel the main tank so another 3 miles of weaving around wasn’t an option. Fortunately they were a little spread out and soon there was a good opportunity to cross.

At one stage I was using the binoculars to identify one tanker, Anne, to call them on 16 requesting they passed on the name of the motor tanker behind her, Solar Ruba, an oil tanker, so that I could call her to alert her of my presence and that we weren’t out of control maniacs. At this point I realised how valuable AIS is. AIS will definitely installed for next season!

As we motor’d out of the shipping lanes, we then had this really unnerving experience. The boat all of a sudden started shaking and this extremely low frequency bass sound resonated through the boat. I immediately killed the engine as we caught the tail end of it. Adrenaline was high and my mouth was dry as I gulped and wondered if we’d run over a whale! After convincing our selves it was nothing we fired up the motor and continued a short way before it happened again. Later on we heard there were 2 Russian subs up off Norway some where and it was suggested it could have been the ultra low frequency from British subs searching for them. What do you think?

We settled in for the remainder of the passage, refuelled with our last 12 litres of fuel, did some housekeeping and enjoyed some delicious baguettes and garlic anchovies while convincing ourselves we did the best job we could for provisioning. It’s surprising how the bilge keeps bread fresh! We then continued under spinnaker at a rate of 3 then 1.5 knots until the galloper wind farm when our time to destination was reading 1 day and 5 hours. So we started to motor through the wind farm on almost the same track as our journey there, once the other side we saw some porpoises which was nice. The border force vessel was spotted on the horizon and came to a stand still directly ahead. We started to panic then realised we didn’t have any thing to worry about. We held our course and they continued their route. We’re they waiting for us to alter course and arouse their suspicions?

Our last 16 miles saw the wind fill in and we treated ourselves to a can of Belgium beer and some frankfurters for supper. Not the best provisions but it kept us going as we sailed at 6 knots under spinnaker towards Southwold Harbour entrance.

The sun set and we played some music eventually entering the harbour in the dark making our way back to the mooring.

One of the Best Adventures

For me it was one of the best adventures I’ve had, we were lucky with the weather although slightly light winds, it was the hottest weekend on earth!!!! It was great to see so many club members and to share and enjoy their company and our experiences. Sailing across the North Sea in a small boat and most importantly my own one, It’s been something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m so glad we did it and very much look forward to the next time. Well done team SSC and thanks Matt for your team work and for coming along.

One thing I know for sure….. is that I was definitely boated out!

Thanks for reading about our awesome adventure. I try to keep these write ups on point but if you have any questions about any part of our trip such as planning e.t.c I’d love to hear from you.

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