Oyster News 52 - Oyster Yachts

THE LAST LEG
Crackerjack cast off at 1000 on Friday, 20th of June, for the last 180 odd
miles to Ipswich. The sky was clear; the sea was calm with a force 3 from
the west. Crackerjack motored with full main past the Horse Sand fort,
through the Loo Channel and past Selsey Bill. By 1255 there was sufficient
apparent wind to raise the MPS. This sail had made our relatively fast passage
possible. Easily managed by two people in its ‘sock’.
The wind started to go light as the day wore on. At 2020 a sense of déjà vu. The
‘prickly’ surface and a 180º change in wind direction in less than a minute. Fortunately we
had just taken the MPS down and were about to motor anyway, due to the lack of wind. By
the time we passed Dover it was completely calm. We took the inside route round the
Goodwin Sands. Buoy-hopping in the dark up the channel past Deal and Ramgate. Then
the easy route round the sands in the Thames Estuary; Elbow – Kentish Knock – Long Sand
Head – Cork Sand and the Landguard, arriving at the entrance to the Orwell at 0900 on
Saturday morning.
Felixstowe’s cranes and busy port on this sunny morning were a welcome sight. Almost
home. The trip up the River Orwell to Fox’s Marina is no hardship either, especially on a
bright windless morning, the river seemed even more beautiful than ever. Crackerjack
berthed at Fox’s at 1000. Engine off at 1003, Saturday the 21st of June, the day of the
summer solstice. Log: 10886.3 Total. 4396.3 logged from English Harbour, Antigua to Fox’s
Marina, Ipswich.
CONCLUSION
A full understanding of the boat and its systems, proactive maintenance, careful monitoring
of fuel, water and batteries is the key to a trouble free passage. We had almost no failures
or breakages, just two alternator belts and a bulb.
www.oystermarine.com
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