Waiting for the tide ... and the weather

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At the end of my last blog I was sitting in Suffolk Yacht Harbour after crossing the Thames estuary from Ramsgate. Unfortunately I ended up spending the week there with a changeable weather forecast, based mainly on wind coming from the north which is exactly where I’m supposed to be heading.

The old light ship is the home of Haven Ports Yacht Club,
who are very welcoming to visitors.

The forecasted wind strengths varied a few days in advance. However when it came to leaving, which I was on the verge of several times, the wind was always going to be between Force 4 (it’s okay, I can sail with that, but I’d rather not sail straight towards the wind in that) up to Force 6 (that’s not okay! I really don’t want to be going in and out of harbours if the wind is that strong).

It is easy to see why so many cultures developed Gods for weather, and particularly the wind that was so important to their lives. Whether it was trade or fishing, or pillaging and plundering, travel by sea has been important to so many cultures all over the globe. Even in cultures that purport to worship a single deity those who went to sea continued to worship other Gods or spirits of both the sea and the weather.

The Norse god of the sea and the wind, unfortunately he wasn't answering my calls

I prayed to Ramman, the near eastern god of the wind, thunder and storms, and the Greek King Aeolus who was the ruler over all the winds, though all four winds each had their own god in Greek mythology (the Greeks liked a good God, and had one for pretty much every occasion). I even tried Njord, the Nordic god of the sea, seafaring and the wind. However it didn’t matter how many gods I tried, the wind was still blowing from the north, and blowing too strong.

I spent several days relaxing around the marina, including the bar of the Haven Ports Yacht Club, where I had the friendliest and warmest of welcomes on my first Thursday night, and again over the weekend despite the staff being run off their feet. Situated in the lightship in the middle of the marina this was the highlight of my stay in this lovely spot. If there was any downside to my stay here it was the lack of a local shop for even basic provisioning, I even walked up to the local village, Levington, but there is no shop in the village, although the friendly pub could be handy for when the yacht club bar was closed on a Monday and Tuesday.

The rivers Orwell and Stour (which join before they get to the sea,
are quite a beautiful place.

The entrance to this deep river is home to a huge container port importing
all manner of goods from all over the world.

I got to know Heather and David on my neighbouring boat who were generous enough to take me to the local(ish) supermarket so I could stock up on some fresh food supplies, after all I had only planned on being here for two or three nights at the most, and that was already 5 nights ago. We had dinner together on their boat and spent a long evening talking boats and gradually moving on to putting the worlds of education and healthcare right. David was a retired university lecturer and of course I am a retired nurse, and there was plenty of agreement about the failings of both systems.

Levington Church was quite a pretty sight, but aside from this and the pub next door
there was no shop or anything in the village

By Wednesday I had to make a decision. I had been holed up hiding from the north winds for 5 days now and the tide that would carry me north was from 2pm until 8pm. I could reach Southwold in that time, but going through a possibly difficult entrance late in the evening wasn’t ideal. Then I could move up to Great Yarmouth on Friday or Saturday, but that would be an even later arrival. After that I was likely to be stuck for several days, or even a week, with strong north winds forecast to return and the tides beginning to run very late. Great Yarmouth is not a great place to stop, it is very much an industrial / fishing port and doesn’t have leisure harbour facilities.

The alternative was to stay where I was. The marina is friendly and I had begun to get to know a couple of people around the place.

So, I’ll be here for at least another week while the tides get back to a more sociable time of day, and hopefully that will give the wind time to sort itself out …. unless the wind gods are still not listening.