Inside or outside of the Gunfleet Wind Farm?

Boz

Boz

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Sth Lincs (Boat in Shotley Marina)
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Yesterday I got 'Walleted'

Forced with getting back to North Fambridge from Shotley, made the decision to go down the Wallet and over Spitway.... big mistake, 25 knots from the SW and adverse tide until 1600ish and the wind over tide and it didn't get much better in the Whittaker. Those short steep waves just stop poor old Cygnet dead in the water it took us a loooooong uncomfortable time.

Arguably, we shouldn't have gone at all, but having made the decision to go....... would it have been better outside the wind farm?
 
The only times that I have been outside the wind farm are heading out to LongSand Head. Lots of tide out there so I can't see that being better than the Wallet. Lots of wind over tide is hard to avoid. I try to avoid bashing down there in a SW even with the tide!
 
I agree - the one time I've tried the outside route I found the tide runs very hard indeed out there. For me, it's Wallet or stay put.
 
Boz, think I saw you from the shore at W.Clacton passing the most westerly of the generators at about 17.00ish making slow but steady progress in a very lively fashion,I admired your fortitude on what must have been quite a long passage what time did you reach your destination---Roger---
 
Affectionately known as Vomit Alley.... no alternatives really. I have done it many times, wind on the nose. From Harwich, I can do the whole thing in a tide, but punching into tide is a no no.
 
arjohn said:
Boz, think I saw you from the shore at W.Clacton passing the most westerly of the generators at about 17.00ish making slow but steady progress in a very lively fashion,I admired your fortitude on what must have been quite a long passage what time did you reach your destination---Roger---
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Secure in NF at 0100, the original plan was to carry the flow all the way to NF, but that also failed miserably :) The Crouch in the dark is another story.....

It Sounds like us, the time is about right, we could only make an average of 1-2 knots through the water better over the ground when the tide started to flow, but that made the waves worse with wind over tide. the fortitude was mostly on my better halves part who endured the discomfort, but she couldn't cope with the helm and George the Autopilot kept moaning at me with with his 'Off Course Alarm' consequently a lot of steering for the Skipper :)
 
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Looks like it's the Wallet every time then.... we went outside on the way up and a boat that crossed behind us at Whittaker used the Spitway and the Wallet. I watched him on the AIS. He arrived at Landguard at least 2 hours before us. He was a bit bigger though.
 
ALWAYS go with the tide through the Wallet, you'll get beaten up in the prevailing SW'lies, several times coming back to Mersea from the Orwell on a Sunday with work on the Monday, it has been hellish. I'm lucky Gladys has 47 of Mr Ford's best horses for those on-the-nosers and a Brunton Autoprop to boot, but it can take a lot of fiddling around with revs to arrive at the least uncomfortable cruising speed. Mind you in the same conditions the Maplin edge has had G's bow's under, and Priory Spit has had the main hatch opening and shutting... Fortunately, we only have to get to Mersea, and know we've probably only got about 4 hours of it.
 
Gladys said:
I'm lucky Gladys has 47 of Mr Ford's best horses for those on-the-nosers and a Brunton Autoprop to boot, but it can take a lot of fiddling around with revs to arrive at the least uncomfortable cruising speed.
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Cygnet is a Typical Westerly (Corsair 10.8 x 4). Built like the proverbial 'outhouse' There were times yesterday when I could have done with more than the 27Hp available from the Volvo. I too have the Brunton Autoprop.....

All in all it was a lesson learned, you sometimes have to test to find your limitations...
 
We went that way yesterday too, we were the green and white ketch bashing our way back down to Brightlingsea, it was indeed an afternoon that might be described as a bit dull, especially when the anchored worked loose from it's lashing and I had to tip toe across the foredeck to haul it back onboard to tie it up again. There were at least four or five boats going the same way at the same time and none of us were having a great time of it. It was not really hard work, but it was a tiresome at 2-3 knots. Saturday on the way up was a delight, warm S-SW winds and Test Match Special commentating on an England victory. Lovely night anchored in Hamford Water was the prize.

Once we got to Colne Bar things changed dramatically and out SOG was up to 6.5knots, my sympathies to anybody having to schlapp all the way up to Fambridge, well done!

I knew that going down the Wallet against wind and tide would be trying, but our timing was determined by the desire to get the crew back to London by 10pm. We were tied up in Brightlingsea by about 19:00 and did not see the wind easing very much on the way home.
 
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Toutvabien said:
Once we got to Colne Bar things changed dramatically and out SOG was up to 6.5knots, my sympathies to anybody having to schlapp all the way up to Fambridge, well done!

I knew that going down the Wallet against wind and tide would be trying, but our timing was determined by the desire to get the crew back to London by 10pm. We were tied up in Brightlingsea by about 19:00 and did not see the wind easing very much on the way home.
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I enviously watched you disappear off into the distance - I thought you might be using the Spitway as well, and when you disappeared I thought I still had miles to go, well I did I suppose ----- Still - all's well that ends well - having said that I made a complete mess of getting on to my berth in the marina - I put it down to me being Knackered after 13 hours or so but my wife knew better :)
 
Boz said:
I enviously watched you disappear off into the distance - I thought you might be using the Spitway as well, and when you disappeared I thought I still had miles to go, well I did I suppose ----- Still - all's well that ends well - having said that I made a complete mess of getting on to my berth in the marina - I put it down to me being Knackered after 13 hours or so but my wife knew better :)
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We used to keep our boats at Burnham but relocated after we eventually got fed up with arriving back at the Crouch entrance, by Ridge Buoy, after crossing the Estuary only to find it was HW and to plug the ebb for hours to get back to our berth in Burnham. After a non stop trip back from Boulogne to Burnham my son, then aged about 6, complained the the River Crouch must be about 100 miles long. Fambridge must be at least another 100...........
 
Toutvabien said:
We used to keep our boats at Burnham but relocated after we eventually got fed up with arriving back at the Crouch entrance, by Ridge Buoy, after crossing the Estuary only to find it was HW and to plug the ebb for hours to get back to our berth in Burnham. After a non stop trip back from Boulogne to Burnham my son, then aged about 6, complained the the River Crouch must be about 100 miles long. Fambridge must be at least another 100...........
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When I was moored in the Roach, I used to often anchor just inside the Ridge Buoy after crossing the Thames Estuary on a rising tide when returning from somewhere South and/or West. Six hours sleep and avoiding beating into the ebb was a 'no brainer' decision, I always thought. Used to get some strange looks from passing boats if it was daylight and I was awake.
 
The saving grace of tacking up the Wallet is the expectation of bearing off and having an easy reach up the Brightlingsea. Even though it's usually only about two or three hours, it can seem like forever. On the whole, I have found it better to stay well inshore, with less tide but easier seas, and only the pots to worry about.
 
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