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We left Rye early, the wind was South. We put up the cruising chute. When we passed Ramsgate at 1100 we decided to continue till we were tired. As it was the wind dropped and the sea breeze appeared from NE very light. At 1900 we were in the Thames estuary becalmed. Ken went to bed and I anchored Sufiana. The 0033 was grand and a zephyr sprang up. I went to bed and Ken sailed under chute and boomed out genoa. We passed Sunk light ship at 0836. We continued happily up the East coast. We charged the battery using the Honda generator which ran for 3 hours on 0.8 litre of petrol. At 1450 on the second dat Sunday 30 April we passed the spot where we were aground in 1987 off Great Yarmouth. We then set off across the Wash for Flamborough. The wind dropped again during the early night. At 0300 Ken went to bed. 0426 on 1 May 1989 and I stepped in a puddle of water. First immediate action was to take a photograph. I thought it was one of our water bottles that had fallen and burst. No such luck. After I had filled several basins of water I tasted it - salty. I pumped it out and wrote in the log, “Where is it coming from?” Well it was like this... When we took off the drive leg there was a hole 30 cm above the water line at the rear of the engine compartment. We covered this with a sheet of plywood bolted on with the drive leg bolts. The wood just overlapped the edges of the engine nacelle and when Sufiana was going fast the water hit the plywood and forced itself into the engine compartment. There was not enough pressure for it to force its way out so the engine compartment filled up. Our solution when the wind dropped was to drill four holes in the plywood to let the water out. Near Whitby we had a visit from a fishing boat asking us to avoid his nets. We kept a good look out then and decided to head for the boat so they could tell us which side to pass to avoid their net. At 1007 an air sea rescue helicopter passed. At 1203 a fisheries patrol aircraft flew over. And at 1645 off Scarborough a rib came alongside, “Where are you heading Sir?” - Are we being watched? I went to bed at 2145 and the wind dropped. It did not appear again till 0400 but then it did blow. At 1430 we had to take the chute down as the wind was too strong. As we passed the Farne Islands we saw the Ocean Youth Club ketch - and the wind increased again. A fisheries protection vessel passed us after the Farne Islands too. Then the wind started to rise. As we were passing Saint Abbs Head it was blowing force 6 and Sufiana was going like a bat, We reefed the main and the genoa and I went to bed. I woke up hearing voices and there was Ken chatting with the crew of a fishing boat. They threw fish but only one landed on deck and one hit the autopilot which stopped working in a huff. From here we had to steer by hand. We left Bell rock behind and headed for Montrose. The wind died. So I cleaned the fish and we had it grilled with lemon for breakfast. No chance of scurvy. I celebrated passing Stonehaven by kicking the binoculars overboard. We had not done any proper shopping since we reached England as we were going to stop every day. Now things were beginning to run out. The fish were a blessing as we were tired of tinned meat. There was no bread or biscuits so I looked in “The cook is the captain” for a recipe and found one for shortbread but we had no butter. I used yoghurt and cooking oil instead. They turned out fine though I think I undercooked the second lot. The wind wasn’t all that strong as we passed Aberdeen and I wrote in the log “a slack time, drinking wine, watching the coast go by (last carton of wine).” At Rattray Head the wind dropped altogether then the tide turned against us. We started the engine at 2150 and motored till 0120 when we anchored south of the entrance to Frazerburgh harbour. We had a flat calm at 0500 so it was not till 0740 that we started the motor and went into the harbour. We bought bread and beer, steaks, eggs, bacon and some fuel. The cost for tying up was £6 and we only stayed 2 hours (comes to £72 a day - but we could have stayed a week without paying more). With the wind as it was we could steer 340 though we needed 290. The forecast was W 1-4 increasing 5 but I did not believe this would arrive today because the sea breeze would knock shit out of a westerly 1-4. |