Harwich to Ostend - shipping lane question

[Catherinen]

We made it over to Ostend as well, thanks for all the advice. Very very lumpy around the sandbanks on the south side, deeply unpleasant with the wind and swell on the quarter on the east going stretch alongside the shopping lane

The online form for entering Belgium is currently not working. The boarder control (when we finally found them) were very nice though and said they'd report it to Brussels to get it fixed!

Also, the Reeds almanac says that Mercator lock is open until 2200 in July and August, but it actually closes at 2000. The marina staff said it had always closed at 8pm, so the almanac is just wrong.

 

[johnalison]

We made it over to Ostend as well, thanks for all the advice. Very very lumpy around the sandbanks on the south side, deeply unpleasant with the wind and swell on the quarter on the east going stretch alongside the shopping lane

The online form for entering Belgium is currently not working. The boarder control (when we finally found them) were very nice though and said they'd report it to Brussels to get it fixed!

Also, the Reeds almanac says that Mercator lock is open until 2200 in July and August, but it actually closes at 2000. The marina staff said it had always closed at 8pm, so the almanac is just wrong.

In ye olden days it was 24hrs. I remember hanging around to go in until after midnight because the way charging was done we would save a day’s berthing fee.

 

[Daydream believer]

In ye olden days it was 24hrs. I remember hanging around to go in until after midnight because the way charging was done we would save a day’s berthing fee.

Do you remember the signal poles on the end of the pier by the cafe. With the mixture of balls, diamonds, cones etc. which one had to decipher so as to make sure you met a ferry reversing out, as you tried to go in & receive the obligatory rollicking in Belgian?

 

[Captain Crisp]

We have just done the trip from the Orwell to Nieuwpoort (highly recommended) and return via Dunkirk (not recommended at all). Although I consulted the North Sea Passage Pilot and Imray chart, we decided to take the diagonal route rather than going down the shipping lane and then taking a dogleg across. The weather deteriorated quite badly in the last 3rd and it was a very lumpy F7 (forecast was only F5!) which did not impress the first mate who has only ever done river/estuary coastal sailing. But our Westerly Oceanquest just ploughed through the swell and behaved very well with 3 reefs in main and jib. Nieuwpoort more than made up for the discomfort. The very friendly police came to the pontoon the following morning with a bunch of leaflets, anecdotes and insights to the town/places to eat/visit as well as the obligatory passport stamps. I can't see that happening in the UK. Costs for mooring were excellent (€14 per night) due to reciprocal arrangements with Fox's/TransEurope Marinas network. Bonus extra was a lift and wash for about 50% of UK costs €120). The lift comes out on a gantry over the edge of the wall which was vertiginous when stepping off, but here the FM has an advantage over me and he was happily jumping off the deck across what felt like a 100 foot drop.

As the FM wanted shorter journeys on the return we then went to Dunkirk. BTW, there is an error in NSPP, there's no port control at Dunkirk any more, so don't bother trying to call. If Garth is reading this, please can you amend. Having spent silly money to go to the car ferry port to get an exit stamp (!!) we then cut across to Ramsgate for the evening. On leaving Ramsgate I called ahead to confirm that, yes, VTS would like a call before crossing Black Deep, they were v helpful. There is a cable laying ship near the wind farm and the guard ship was obviously bored because he was calling all and sundry to warn us to stay at least 0.5 miles away, fair enough, but given we were 3 miles off and heading away, it seemed a bit pointless. I would not be happy about doing these passages across the shipping lanes without an AIS transponder. It didn't stop us keeping a sharp lookout but gave additional comfort; it was very positive to hear big ships communicating proactively with yachts about intended actions and making course adjustments. Less encouraging was having to listen to a lot of dreadful English and incoherent VHF prowords/directions from so-called professional seafarers. The patience of the various VTS teams was admirable. Expect all four seasons of weather in one day, including heavy mist, and you should be fine. It was a fitting end to the trip to return to the Orwell with warnings of unexploded ordnance and dire warnings to stay "well clear of the cordon" (no explanations offered). We kept hard over to the port side of the channel and could see various emergency service workers doing their thing. I had hoped to see a controlled explosion but alas, no such luck

I think we crossed over on the same day - Saturday? We had a great sail in the morning in a good deal of wind and sunshine then it calmed and we pretty much motored across the VTS in the rain before the wind changed again and we had a good beam reach down the wallet before finding the Pyefleet bathed in thick mist at 11.30pm...
I don't have AIS and had no problems at all crossing the shipping lanes - we radioed one enormous Puerto Rican vessel to reassure him that we would allow him to pass in front of us. We also let VTS know our intentions which they appreciated. There was some debate as to whether we could ask for the cricket score, but we opted against that.
Incidentally, @Daydream believer, I realised that I gave a non-adjusted crossing time above - it took us about 16hrs 30 mins out and about the same back... Apologies for that...
My learning points from my first effort were:
- insist on regular rest times for everyone, I felt very exhausted after our night sail over
- keep a proper written log (I try to do this, but somehow always let it slip in the excitement)
- keep checking my GPS position against my estimated positions - this cost us on the way over
- get my compass properly corrected
- check new crew members replace the oil dipstick properly...
- short wave radio for cricket?

 

[Captain Crisp]

We made it over to Ostend as well, thanks for all the advice. Very very lumpy around the sandbanks on the south side, deeply unpleasant with the wind and swell on the quarter on the east going stretch alongside the shopping lane

The online form for entering Belgium is currently not working. The boarder control (when we finally found them) were very nice though and said they'd report it to Brussels to get it fixed!

Also, the Reeds almanac says that Mercator lock is open until 2200 in July and August, but it actually closes at 2000. The marina staff said it had always closed at 8pm, so the almanac is just wrong.

Hi - on Tuesday 22nd, we decided to cut across from the OD1 North Cardinal directly to Ostend - there was plenty of water and it made a pleasanter sail. We were also very nearly caught out by Mercator lock opening times!

 

[Daydream believer]

Incidentally, @Daydream believer, I realised that I gave a non-adjusted crossing time above - it took us about 16hrs 30 mins out and about the same back... Apologies for that...
- keep checking my GPS position against my estimated positions - this cost us on the way over

I enjoy surfing down the swell between the W Hinder & Ostend- to a degree-
16.5 hours is still a credible time. It was common for my Stella although they sometimes ended up 18 hours.
When you say you checked against GPS, did you sail 127 using the tides, or did you sail close to the GPS plotted course

 

[Captain Crisp]

I enjoy surfing down the swell between the W Hinder & Ostend- to a degree-
16.5 hours is still a credible time. It was common for my Stella although they sometimes ended up 18 hours.
When you say you checked against GPS, did you sail 127 using the tides, or did you sail close to the GPS plotted course

We sailed 127 as advised, but I think that a) my compass was not properly set (I installed it myself - I re-tweaked it in Ostend against my handheld as it was out by 5 degrees) also b) I should've worked out an estimated amount of drift, then I would've realised earlier that we'd gone too far West. We were right down by the Fairy West Cardinal...

 

[Dulcinea East]

I think we crossed over on the same day - Saturday? We had a great sail in the morning in a good deal of wind and sunshine then it calmed and we pretty much motored across the VTS in the rain before the wind changed again and we had a good beam reach down the wallet before finding the Pyefleet bathed in thick mist at 11.30pm...
I don't have AIS and had no problems at all crossing the shipping lanes - we radioed one enormous Puerto Rican vessel to reassure him that we would allow him to pass in front of us. We also let VTS know our intentions which they appreciated. There was some debate as to whether we could ask for the cricket score, but we opted against that.
Incidentally, @Daydream believer, I realised that I gave a non-adjusted crossing time above - it took us about 16hrs 30 mins out and about the same back... Apologies for that...
My learning points from my first effort were:
- insist on regular rest times for everyone, I felt very exhausted after our night sail over
- keep a proper written log (I try to do this, but somehow always let it slip in the excitement)
- keep checking my GPS position against my estimated positions - this cost us on the way over
- get my compass properly corrected
- check new crew members replace the oil dipstick properly...
- short wave radio for cricket?

Quite possibly, we left Ramsgate at around 10 ish, Pippa Rose. I think I heard you speaking to the big ship. We keep an hourly log and write down exact position derived from our VHF radio; definitely agree about the regular rests. We use the auto pilot when motoring to keep fatigue at bay. If you (anyone) know someone who can adjust compasses let me know. We use Orca and felt we needed did a recalibration on the approach to Medusa, if you saw us going around in circles that was why. We might have been more tired than we realised after 2 weeks of sailing as I didn't fully trust my eyes/depth perception. But got back to Fox's at dead low water and 3m of water, after 60 meters in the Ionian it was quite freaky!

 

[johnalison]

Many yonks ago I had a compass problem due to a fire extinguisher bracket that I had installed. Rather than move the bracket I bought a slim volume from Captain Watts called something like Compass Correction and learned enough to correct it myself. Although doing it properly is clearly a skilled job, the basic principles are fairly simple and it may be possible to get an adequate correction.

 

[Daydream believer]

We sailed 127 as advised, but I think that a) my compass was not properly set (I installed it myself - I re-tweaked it in Ostend against my handheld as it was out by 5 degrees) also b) I should've worked out an estimated amount of drift, then I would've realised earlier that we'd gone too far West. We were right down by the Fairy West Cardinal...

Actually in #12 I said Twin & I should have said W Fairy. You were not really that far out & the Imray chart shows it as part of their suggested route . The tide brings you back & It is possible to put things right from their