Mon Repos 2016

11-14/09/2016
Crossing back home !!!!!
We could have stayed on Vlieland for ever but it seemed that the weather could deteriorate by the end of this week and we would miss these gentle conditions for the North Sea crossing.
We started on Monday 6am with outgoing tide making 8knots with the south-easterly breeze and sunshine, till midnight we crossed already all three busy Traffic Separation Schemes off the Netherlands coast. Tuesday was as nice as the day before, we enjoyed being on the sea….it was so peaceful and pleasant that we were not very motivated to make our way in the best possible pace (we would rather stayed on the sea a little longer enjoying this great sailing).
Everything changed as we closed Flamborough Head – the visibility was not great all the time but suddenly it became misty, than we sailed in a very dense fog; the wind changed from gentle south-easterly to a stiff breeze on the nose; strong current went against us; waves were building up; we were making less than 2knots over ground ….And it was COLD, we changed shorts to our heavy weather cloths!!!
For hours and hours we could not see anything, the traffic was quite busy around us, we were staring at the radar screen as our AIS seemed to be temperamental till it went completely blank when we were approaching the Tees Bay. BAD, BAD !!! Waldemar came on the idea to use the app on his iPhone to watch the traffic – there were so many ships behind us heading to Tees and one big ship after another leaving the harbour and going in unpredictable directions. Our last source was to call the ships and make sure we can continue safely. The swell was also getting more unpleasant in the bay. We know this place quite well but we could not recognise anything in this tick fog; we navigated only by our electronics … and after long hours arrived finally in the Hartlepool lock. Hurray!
We got a royal welcome – Marina managers Alan and Shaun waited for us in the lock to take our ropes.
We have done it !!! After 56hrs on the sea and 250nm we were moored in Hartlepool. It was our first solo North Sea crossing – it feels great.
Now is the time to prepare for the next year sailing; our job list is already 3 pages long!!!