Day 5 Crossing the North Sea
The alarm went off at 4am and having seen that the weather had moderated, I woke the crew. After three days of unrelenting winds we were off and how.
The exit from Ramsgate was slightly disturbed and but as we got further out and away from the tide running long the shore the sea became smoother and smoother. We soon passed the wind farm and the sun started to rise and I took a pleasing photo.
By lunchtime the boat was creaming along at 8.5knts on a sea that was so smooth (see the photo's below) in just 15knts of wind. I made a pizza for lunch.
We made our way across the North Sea going more or less parallel to the shipping lanes, until we reached an area north of the North Hinder Junction, at which point we were engulfed by a rather noxious smelling cloud. The could was huge and covered the seas in every direction and smelt almost hydro-carbon fume like. If anything I would say that a gas field had burped. The cloud was at least 5 miles long, but it could not have been more than mile wide, it remains a mystery.
As the evening drew in we decided that Graham would go to bed and take over at 3am and I would stay up until 3am when Alistair would join me for the 11pm and stay on watch until daylight.
The exit from Ramsgate was slightly disturbed and but as we got further out and away from the tide running long the shore the sea became smoother and smoother. We soon passed the wind farm and the sun started to rise and I took a pleasing photo.
By lunchtime the boat was creaming along at 8.5knts on a sea that was so smooth (see the photo's below) in just 15knts of wind. I made a pizza for lunch.
We made our way across the North Sea going more or less parallel to the shipping lanes, until we reached an area north of the North Hinder Junction, at which point we were engulfed by a rather noxious smelling cloud. The could was huge and covered the seas in every direction and smelt almost hydro-carbon fume like. If anything I would say that a gas field had burped. The cloud was at least 5 miles long, but it could not have been more than mile wide, it remains a mystery.
As the evening drew in we decided that Graham would go to bed and take over at 3am and I would stay up until 3am when Alistair would join me for the 11pm and stay on watch until daylight.
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Will the North Sea be this smooth again? -
The joy of a good sail -
Wonderful sailing -
Alistair getting a few afternoon zzz's -
Wahoo -
This is the sort of sailing we all dream of -
This was our progress until about 7pm.