Winter season dreaming

[peterf]

Dear forum

My J22 is out of the water and all tucked away for the winter. My daughter is upstairs fast asleep after celebrating her 10 week old birthday and my wife is reading her magazine on the sofa. In this moment of peace and quiet I thought I would share a little dream I have been having lately and ask for some opinions.

Next seasons sailing is going to be difficult because of our daughter being so young. I realise we might be able to pop out for an hour or two but I am considering off-setting this by a once a year solo passage. We are based in Wells-Next-Sea in Norfolk. Its a great friendly place and we are generally happy there. What I would like to do is sail from Wells, south down the Norfolk, Suffolk coast to Essex.

Does anyone have any experience of sailing down this strip of the UK coast line. I am a tad nervous of 1. Sailing Solo, 2, this stretch of coast line.

With a bit of practice I believe I can get myself used to (1) for the occasional trip . I would however like your advice on (2). From leaving Wells, passing Blakeney and sailing towards Yarmouth is rather a long exposed coast line without too many safe harbours.

Comments on the appropriateness of my dreaming would be much appreciated. Equally if you have a better suggestion of route etc I would be pleased to hear that as well.

I realise we could trailer sail the J22 but this time I would prefer to sail if possible.

I look forward to hearing any comments and thankyou for participating in my winter dream.

Best regards

Peter Ferguson

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[snowleopard]

if you (a) watch your weather windows and (b) stick to daylight sailing, you shouldn't have problems. a 22 footer is small and light enough to moor up singlehanded. the most essential thing is some form of self-steering so you can go below from time to time.

but taking a small child on a boat is not impossible. consider fitting playpen rails across the forepeak. we did that years ago.

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[ccscott49]

I learnt to sail on this strecth of coastline, there are a couple of things I would impart to you, be very careful of the sandbanks, they move! You cannot sail this coast, without a very thorough understanding of the tides and their currents, you can sail all day and still not be any further down or up the coast. Great Yarmouth is not an easy place to enter and is not yacht friendly once you get in there, avoid it. Lowestoft is the only place down that coastline which is easy to enter, there is nowhere else easy to enter, until you get to Harwich. Read up on this coast, over the winter, you will see what I mean. It is a very rewarding cruising ground, but needs care and attention. The essex rivers are a wonderful area. Treat this coast with respect, it taught me a hell of a lot and the lessons learnt have stood me in good steed all over the place! Fair winds and have fun. Sssssh dont wake your daughter!

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[tcm]

i took a 29' powerboat the opposite way from Gt Yarmouth to Wash in probably F4 following wind from the SE and after several days of F5 it was about the limit for that size of boat. Agree there's nowhere really to hide and it is quite empty of other craft. You cannot enter Gt yarmouth in significant SE above F4/5 it's already iffy so once out i knew we wouldn't be going back in. I wd look for nice winds blowing off the land, NW to SW.

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[peterf]

Thanks for those couple of replies! I am looking forward to introducing my daughter to the boat next year and will certainly be asking for advice on baby care nearer the time,thanks for your ideas
.
With respect to the coast line between Wells and lowestoft. Is there really no where to call into/stop off/have a break? I would have thought it is about 80 miles, between the two points @ 5knots. that is going to 16 hours. (I haven't taken tide into account as > 12 hours so should (very very approx) cancel each other out) Proper passage plan will of course evaluate this futher.

16 - 20 hours seems to be rather a long time for a J22 and a solo weekend sailer. Should I just try and be brave or am I already being too brave by having this idea?

nb if you could recommend a good book for the winter for this area than that would be great!

regards

Peter


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[Wacky]

If you have a 22' then I guess your draft is fairly shallow, this should allow you to get into the Ore and the Deben - fantastic rivers to explore but check on http://www.debenentrance.com/ for the current local charts.

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[AJW]

Not really anywhere at all between wells and Gt Yarmouth and as said, Gt Yarmouth is not an easy place to enter in the wrong conditions. Also not much in the way of Yot friendly facilities IIRC. Lowestoft easier to enter but care still needed with the sandbanks. South from Lowestoft, Southwold in settled conditions and pref. slack water only (a very scary place in an onshore wind and full ebb!), Orford ditto, Deben slightly less daunting and once you get to Harwich no bother.
Suggest you get ahold of a copy of "East Coast Rivers" originally written by Jack Coote I think it is. Comprehensive info from Lowestoft southwards.

Trailing down to the Orwell would be easier albeit without the same sense of achievement. Once there though you have lots of opportunities for easy singlehanded sailing.

HTH,
Alan.

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[ccscott49]

Sorry, but there is nowhere to go, between wells and Grt. Yarmouth. It's a difficult trip. I would not be attampting it with a young child aboard. You will need to check your weather very well. Coming out of the wash, your leaving time can be planned to give you a push with the tide, all down the coast, just needs some planning. Sailing inside the worst sandbanks will help you.

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[dralex]

Sailing with baby is not that difficult- we did it this year for the first time and went to the Channel Islands and Brittany for 3 weeks- our little girl was 11 weeks old. The best thing we found was a car seat held in by a lee cloth- the hardest bit initially was getting out to the boat, but you just find ways of getting around problems. You certainly shouldn't run into too many problems day sailing a 22 footer with baby. You can however guarantee that the baby can be quiet for hours at a time, but as soon as you're both trying to do something ( like mooring up), they'll kick off.

Have fun.

Alex

<hr width=100% size=1>Just enjoy it.

 

[billmacfarlane]

I think you've asked the wrong question here Peter. Try asking how many forumites sailed with young children and how they coped and you'll probably deluged with replies, including me sailing with my 9 month old daughter in a Kingfisher 20.

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[kds]

If you can trail it - take it to a more family-sailing friendly area for next Season. Long passages, without safe boltholes suit neither single-handers nor families.
Ken

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.canongrange.co.uk>Bed and Breakfast, cathedral Green Wells, Somerset Canon Grange</A>

 

[Sgeir]

Our first granddaughter sailed with us in Croatia at the same age, 9 months. Mind you, her parents came along too, so it was easy to ensure that she was safe at all times.

A sudden overnight rise in her temperature resulted in an early morning dash from the Kornati to Beograd. I have to say the HM was brilliant - we radioed ahead, and he was waiting at the pontoon to catch our lines, and then drove child and parents to the clinic, where they received great attention, and very quickly.

Very impressive.

Now I have 3 grandchildren, and I am really looking forward to them sailing with us when they are around the 6/7 age range (though perhaps not all at the same time).

Personally, I would have loved to have had the chance of sailing at that age (and I guess our children would have as well - if we've had a boat then). I hope it works for Peter and daughter. Must be a great way to grow up.


<hr width=100% size=1>I had a very nice link until Kim told us off about it. I'm not bitter mind.