Time for a rethink?

This blog has been moved over to the new website. You can find the updated version https://sailingsouth.org/time-for-a-rethink/

Two weeks ago I arrived in Suffolk Yacht harbour intending to spend a couple of nights here and then move north. Then the weather got stuck (apparently that’s an official Met Office term!) and the North Westerly wind has been blowing ever since.

This wind is blowing towards the land and adds extra complications to sailing (it’s called a Lee Shore in sailing terms, and it’s not a good thing). In the shallow north sea waves build quite quickly, with these waves and the wind pushing me towards the land if anything should go wrong then that is a potentially dodgy situation. Especially as the wind has been regularly blowing up to Force 6, which is above where I’m comfortable for sailing along the coast, particularly this coast. Other boats are making short dashes along the coast, but they have 4 or 5 people sailing the boat and that makes a huge difference if you need to work the boat hard to move away from the shore. They also sail this area regularly and so they know the areas to avoid and where it’s safe to go on. I would rather be cautious and safe, I’m in no rush.

Obviously I have been watching every weather forecast going. Every time I look a few days ahead the same forecast has been repeated day after day. High pressure stuck to the north east of Scotland and that is pushing the wind round so it’s coming down the North Sea from the north west. Ironically if I wanted to press on and get to Scotland this would be okay as I would take myself off shore and just sail on up the country. That however isn’t how I want to do this trip.

One part of the Met Office weather forecasts that they issue on YouTube is what they call a “Deep Dive” that looks into what is happening with the weather, and why. Usually as a weather forecast it isn’t particularly useful, however sometimes it is nice to know why things are happening the way they are or why the forecasters think particular things are going to happen with the weather.

This weeks video looked at what the weather was expected to be like for the next 3 months. It isn’t a weather forecast as such, but a general guide for what is likely. And the likely hood is that there is going to be a high pressure somewhere north of Scotland for most of the summer. This will mean that the wind will mostly be coming from the east this year, if of course Met Office predictions come true.

A screen shot of the UK Met Office video where they are discussing likely weather patterns for the coming few months, the relevant bit starts at around 14m 30s

What does this mean for me?

In the short term the high pressure doesn’t look like it’s going to go very far, and that means the East coast is not an ideal place for me to get used to sailing alone. The plan was to sail up the east coast first because the wind usually blows from the South, South West or West, and this would give me sheltered sailing for the first month or so. There are sometimes North Easterly winds, but usually earlier in the year, and not usually for as long a period.

My sailing plans will probably have to change with the weather. As regular readers will know my plan has been to sail all around the UK. There were a few places I really wanted to sail to and my next stop going north, Southwold, was very high on my list having been a frequent destination with my father during my teenage years sailing along the east coast. But if this wind is set to continue and I have wasted a couple of weeks waiting, then all of that may change.

There is now a strong possibility that I may head back along the South Coast. I won’t be heading home, this trip is far from over. The most important part of this trip for me has always been to sail into my childhood second home, Lough Swilly Yacht Club in Donegal, Ireland. With a wind likely to blow mainly from somewhere in the east I can sail up the coast of Wales and over to Northern Ireland in relative shelter.

So now I just need the winds to ease off a little, then I can go which ever way it decides to push me … of course, you just know if I turn to go the other way round the wind will then decide to do an about turn!

Ipswich

While I’ve been here I haven’t just been sat around feeling sorry for myself. Having walked into the local villages, Craig, the chef at the sailing club that has become an extension of my home, offered to run me up to Ipswich as he had some shopping to do. I wasn’t expecting much from Ipswich if I’m honest, however I was pleasantly surprised.

Ipswich was a pleasant surprise with a mixture of the well preserved and quirky historic along with modern shopping

The town seemed much busier than many I have seen, with people wondering the shopping areas, local street food vendors with the smell of fresh cooking sausages wafting and tempting customers in, and a good selection of shops, some local and some chain stores, open and trading, which is all to often not the case these days. Also there were some pretty nooks and alleyways that have been preserved, with their old stained black wooden frames all too often twisted and contorted by an age of maturing wood and the rough dirty white infill panels between these frames. Some of the ancient wooden framed buildings had the carvings that adorned them on their original posts and beams. The people in the town were going about their busy lives, often with families in tow, all seeming to be blissfully unaware of the history dotted all around them.