Up at 0530, hearty breakfast and off
to Levington to join Alex, Gordon and David on Samurai to sail her
back to Melton. Having done a passage plan just to keep in practice,
I realised we were in for a difficult trip. The trouble is that to
get the right height of tide at Melton and working back, at sea we
had to beat, against wind and a strong northerly tide, up from
Felixstowe to the River Deben. Not only that, the East Coast Pilot
advises that the entrance to the River Deben is particularly
difficult in an easterly wind.
 |
| http://www.gpsnauticalcharts.com/static_html/ nautical_charts_app/nautical_chart_images/2693_0.jpg |
We had an easy start down the Orwell
at the bottom of the tide with a steady gentle north easterly wind
allowing us a broad reach. There was no commercial traffic in sight,
nevertheless we held to the recommended small boats track south of
the main channel. Steadily the seas got bumpier and lumpier but
Samurai was a good match for them. We headed further out to sea
before turning north as we hoped the deeper waters would give us a
smoother ride than sailing over the shallows. This did not really
work. The easterly wind had been blowing for over a week and had
worked up a substantial swell of some five to seven feet at twenty
feet intervals, not ideal for Samurai with a three to four foot
free-board and a length of thirty six feet.
Progress was painfully slow and
extremely bumpy. If we took a long reach out we had the swell on our
port bow to beam, which gave us a strange corkscrew motion, pretty
uncomfortable especially as the wind was no longer steady. If we took
a long reach in we had the same problem but on the opposite side. We
spotted the buoys, but against a 2.5 to 3 knot and a heavy swell we
were making only 2 to 3 knots over the ground, so we were out there
bouncing about for over two hours. How do these round-the-worlders do
it, I was thinking. I was knackered after an hour!
 |
| Samurai home at evening after a stormy journey. |
The Woodbridge Haven buoy was a
gladdening sight. We crept ever so slowly up to her and gazed with
trepidation at the river entrance. The swell was pounding the sands
of the bar mercilessly. Oodles of foaming breakers. The narrow
channel seemed narrower than ever before, but Alex took her in with
impressive aplomb. Oh the joy of the quiet river waters! The wind was
good so we managed to sail most of the 12 miles up past Woodbridge to
Melton.
A great day out. My bunk was
particularly cosy last night. Aching all over this morning!
