North Sea

Moondog
Brian Whitefoot
Sat 17 Jul 2010 11:40
The 17th July ; this was the day for starting the trip to Inverness (57:30.25N, 004:12.03W ).....the big finale !
 
A leisurely breakfast and recheck of the weather forecast, which was actually slightly better than last night's version. No one seemed to worry that it could presumably change in the other direction just as quickly while we were en route....The reality though was that the clear direction was favourable, with a very low likelihood of big storms, but if we delayed it could get much worse in the following week. So, a quick restocking of fresh food ( we could be at sea for a month with the supplies we are carrying, although some are in rather dodgy tins from a German supermarket, which are looking less appetising by the week), and then we were ready.
 
The trip would take approx 3 days, and I will split it up by day.
 
Saturday 17th
 
Cast off from a rather grey, but thankfully dry, Mandal at 1240. Once clear of the river mouth and islands we set course a little south of due west for a couple of hours to give a decent clearance off Lindesnes, a vicious and notorious headland at the bottom SW corner of Norway, where all sorts of bad things happen. Basically the sea shelves rapidly, currents from north and south meet and the prevailing westerly winds meet land....all giving rise to 'dangerous waves' ( per the Admiralty charts), and unpredictable weather.
 
Once clear we set course due west on 270 directly for Inverness. Navigation here is about as simple as it gets.....leave Mandal and turn right and go in a straight line for 3 days. For the first 6 hours we had a good F4 SE , veering S wind, which meant we could sail on a reach , making over 6 knots. Our trip planning assumed an average speed of 5 knots, so anything above this was a bonus. It also meant we were saving fuel, and although we believed we had enough in the 150 litre main tank to motor across if needs be ( with 30 litres in reserve in cans), it was good to save fuel when we could. We were also going faster under sail, and we are in a sailing boat after all !
 
Around 7pm the wind dropped a little and veered to SW then W, which meant that we had to start the engine and motor ; we cannot sail head to wind. The weather turned grey with rain and a lot of heavy cloud. We started the watch system ( 3hrs on / 6hrs off) and I was on first. Chris went to bed, and Berwin decided to stay up a while, and we went into the deck saloon to keep watch, out of the rain. It got darker and darker with heavy cloud and then without warning there was the most almighty crash and blinding flash.....a thunderclap directly overhead, but it may as welll have been in the saloon. We both ducked ( what was the point of that...the forces of nature do their worst and the human instinct is to duck down....). Once we had got our breath back, a quick look at the instruments confirmed that they were still working, but we now felt very exposed with a tall mast on an open sea, and with each thunder clap were half expecting the GPS and plotter to pack in, but they continued to work and we did not get fried. More from a feeling that we should do something, rather than based on scientific analysis, we decided that we should shut off the radar, on the basis that it was sending out signals and maybe this would attract the lightening gods.... we were clearly not thinking straight at this point !
 
The thunder storm passed and left torrential rain which more or less wiped out visibility, but the wind was now light and we were motorsailing, with the mainsail up with the motor running. This combination is more efficient than engine alone provided we can get some lift from the sail, which we could from a F3 SW wind. Then, out of nowhere, a squall hit us, with gusts of F6. This is not a problem, but required some quick running about to put 2 reefs in the main so that the boat did not heel at a crazy angle...this would have disturbed Chris and Berwin's sleep and spilt my coffee. This was the final kick from the weather for a while and we went into the early hours of Sunday with a steady F4 from the SW and steady motorsailing in a moderate sea. The only problem was the recurrence of an intermittent fault on our AIS system, but the radar target tracking was working fine and meant that we still had a good view of any approaching shipping at night.
 
 
Sunday 18th
 
This benign weather continued , with some good sunshine, until Sunday afternoon when we met the predicted weather system that was crossing our route. Winds increased to F6 from the south, with max gusts of around 30 knots and the sea became very rough and confused, with steep and variable waves. We bowled along at around 5 knots under 2 reefs, with Moondog pushing through the heavy seas and looking after us very well. Lots of spray and waves breaking over the foredeck, and eventually we put the third reef in and furled a third of the jib, and were still making around 5 knots in this rough sea, despite being slowed down every few minutes when a particularly big wave would catch us and we would slam into the trough and lose a lot of speed. Moondog was fine, but we were all feeling a bit knocked around......they say the crew always gives up before the boat!
 
Anyway, no problem, since as forecastat around 9pm the wind started to drop steadily, and this was the pattern through the night, with the wind down to F2 by 9am on Monday. In fact 'night' is a bit of a relative term ; it never really went pitch dark. A faint light remained to the north, and there was only a few hours of real darkness. The wind backed to the SW and it was engine on for most of the night and early hours, with the sails doing little more than helping to reduce the rolling in the heavy seas.
 
We were also now in Oil Platform Land, and these monsters helped break up the journey and are in effect excellent navigation marks. Slightly worrying though for Berwin as we passed one spot labelled on the chart as 'Escaping poisonous gas'...we had visions of another big bang when Berwin went for one of his cig breaks in the cockpit and lit up.....
 
Monday 19th
 
Around 9am the wind backed to the SE and this remained for the whole day, ranging from F2 to F4, with one hour of a good F5. The weather was a bit mixed, with some rain, but the wind direction meant that we had sails set all day, and made good speed....often 6 knots plus. We used the engine when the wind faded from time to time to maintain a good average speed. The seas also calmed down and by afternoon were very smooth, meaning that we could have a good meal and generally get ourselves sorted out.
 
At 9pm we approached the Scottish coast north of Kinnaird Head, and were able to make calls home as we were back in mobile phone land. Still a long way to go though, along the Moray Firth coast . It is around 70 miles in fact, but at least we had some land to look at now.
 
Tuesday 20th
 
A quiet and uneventful motor through the night in virtually no wind, with the lights of the Scottish coast and a few fishing boats for company.
 
The last couple of hours were glorious ; a beautiful sunny morning as we approached Inverness Firth, and then motored down towards the Kessock Bridge. Almost on cue, we passed two dolphins just playing around,and a bloke playing the bagpipes on his yacht ( we assume this was the only place hisfamily let him practice). And then, the icing on the cake, literally as we were turning into the River Ness for the marina, three otters playing just off our starboard bow. We passed them, and they simply rolled over and kept their heads above water watching us go by.
 
By 10 am we had refuelled and were tied up in a very safe berth in Inverness Marina , were Moondog will now have a rest until late August, when she will get ready for sailing on the Scottish West coast.
 
The North Sea trip was a real adventure, and many thanks to Chris and Berwin for helping and sharing their experience. And many thanks to Moondog for looking after us, and in some warmth and comfort too !
 
The Stats
 
The total crossing distance was 398 nm, in 70 hours, with an average speed of just over 5.5kts. We had the engine on for 52 hours ( often motorsailing with the sails set ) and used 128 litres of diesel, with an average consumption of 2.45 ltrs/ hr. This is higher than our previous 2 ltrs/ hr average in our coastal cruising, and reflects the fact that we were pushing through some very heavy seas at times.
 
Reflections
 
So, that's the end of the first Moondog cruise, and I will restart the blog when we set off again in the Autumn.
 
The last couple of months have been a great experience, and I hope that all those who have joined me at various times have also enjoyed their time on Moondog as we made our way through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and then finally across the North Sea. We covered a total of 1140 nm, and saw some wonderful coastal scenery. The archipelagoes of SW Sweden and Norway certainly deserve a return trip for a whole season.
 
Moondog has proven to be a very comfortable,seaworthy and pretty little ship, and attracts attention wherever we go. I had been concerned that the comfort of the deck saloon style would be paid for in a poor sailing performance, but this has proven not to be the case. Moondog sails very well, and can punch through heavy weather easily. She is no racer, but is a fine and safe cruiser with a feeling of internal space that belies her 32 foot length.....it takes a few weeks to discover all the storage compartments on board !
Thanks of course to the Sirius yard for building her, and providing an excellent service throughout the process.
 
Finally, a big thank you to my wife, Helen, for letting me do this and 'manning the fort' back home whilst I wandered around the Nordic coastline. I feel a big list of household jobs is just around the corner.........
 
Brian
S/Y Moondog
 
 
 
 

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