7 hour pit stop in Borkum

Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Thu 10 Aug 2017 09:28
53:33.6N 06:44.8E

Simon, Lawrence and Tim arrived as planned on Tuesday evening, but nowhere was serving after 2100 so the skipper rustled up a round of scrambled eggs on toast. Despite this insult, the crew willingly signed up to an 0500 departure to make the most of the ebb tide.

Once clear of the Elbe estuary, we felt the full force of the SW5, and had to work hard to keep clear of the very busy shipping lanes close to starboard, and the expansive shallows to port. At the same time the wind veered to WSW6, so with two slabs in and the staysail, we short tacked across the Weser and Jade estuaries, plus the associated shipping routes and anchorages.  Ships everywhere!

By midday all the above were behind us, with the Inshore Traffic Zone to the north of the German Frisian islands giving us respite from shipping. We got as close to the coast as we dared before tacking out every 5 miles or so: this gave us slightly easier seas to climb.  But with the wind continuing to veer, we decided to take a break until the forecast front went through, and so felt our way into Borkum just after midnight.

We will sail sometime Thurs morning, when the wind should be in the north....