Wednesday 22 August 2018

My other boat is a Laser ....

I have sailed  LasersFelixstowe Ferry (1980-2007) ,



Me @  Sheraton Langkawi Malaysia( 2004 )

Fox Cub  372 Safety Controls :-


Delorme Garmin satellite rescue tracking device

Charting Navigation Navionics working on ipad with bluetooth GPS and on Iphone


Horseshoe Lifebelt Yellow something like this mounted at stern

Shrouds replaced in the last 3 years

Installation of Lazy Jack system for quick handling of sails
Brand New Suzuki DF5A Outboard and backup nearly new  Honda 2.3 ( on dingy but capable of pushing dingy and foxcub )

ICOM M93D Class D DSC radio on board with Mayday and other assistance ( eg tow required ) laminated scripts for use of all crew. OFCOM / RYA qualified operator onboard. With the DSC (Digital Selective Calling ) Radio I am a part of the GMDSS : “DSC distress alerts, which consist of a preformatted distress message, are used to initiate emergency communications with ships and rescue coordination centers.”

A Marine flare is onboard on top of starboard ( RHS ) cabin locker.

Wednesday 8 August 2018

Trip to Aldeburgh

Beautiful weather ... again ..Bertie and I  left the mooring @ 9.15 and were then 3 hours above low water exiting the Deben.

The video shows us heading towards the surveying rig .. we were wondering what it was ... . and then Havergate island just before we went aground on a  spit ... all good stuff .. done with an editor called Videopad which I do not like .. .







Had a deliberately slow sail to Shingle street with low winds but with about one mph of current carrying us along.


Bertie at the helm

Activity near the surveying platform ( diving ? )


Shingle Street in the distance
Man with class D DSC VHF Radio

Arrived at Orford Haven ( Ore Entrance ) 1 hour below low water and decided to attempt the entrance on the understanding that if as we approached the critical part of the entrance it got too shallow we should be able to swing round quickly with the fast ebb tide out of the Ore and get back out to sea if we needed to.


The interesting entrance to the Ore

Entrance was successful and spent an hour sailing into the current in a stationary fashion before realising that we would probably miss the catering at the Jolly Sailor @ Orford unless we sped up a bit. So on with the motor and proceeded at a faster pace at slack water but just missed the catering at the pub.

On our way to Shingle street we had the VHF off and managed to sail through an exclusion zone that we were unaware of until we turned on the radio and received a message from the guard vessel.



On our way to Orford we received another 'Securitie' message which we thought was the exclusion zone again but it was the coastguard warning us about an unexploded shell at Shingle Street !  Poses some questions about what the shells were doing at Shingle Street ...? ( see here ) ...

After a lunch break at Orford we proceeded up to Aldeburgh this time with a good flood tide ... managed to misjudge the depth of the Havergate island spit and temporarily ran aground there.

Fortunately great work by Bertie got us off the mud promptly. Sailed past Orford Ness. I hadn't realised what a big establishment it was. Also massive aerial towers there as well . See link to the wiki. Arrived @ Aldeburgh about 4.30 pm and picked up a guest mooring and went ashore about 5 and made ourselves known as visiting yachtsmen and managed to consume another couple of pints before being collect by Jan. Thanks Jan !

Over and Out.



Here are the charts from Navionics



Overall route 



Deben or Ore



Havergate Island

Orford and Orford Ness


Aldeburgh and Sloughden