You get little say as to when to leave Grimsby. Having said this if you leave on high water you a guaranteed a strong current pushing you out of the Humber, even on neaps.

We chose to leave at 1pm giving ourselves a few hours of daylight to get clear of the busy shipping lanes. This approach also meant we would travel overnight in relatively deep water before reaching the shallows off Norfolk after sunrise. Our destination of Lowestoft could then be easily negotiated in daylight. This was going to be the longest passage of the trip so far but with few ports of significance between the Humber and Norfolk it was the only option.

On leaving it was good to see that traffic was light with only a few ships moving and about fifteen anchored south of the channels. With a light northerly wind we decided to motor until we were clear of the Humber. Taking a reverse track to the one we had taken to approach we worked our way down the south side of the estuary.

It is always nice to make a passage through an unknown area by day after passing through by night. You can then see all the features and judge how close your imagination came to reality. With good visibility the estuary seemed so much smaller by day than by night. The fort dominates the middle of the channel with Spurn Head to the north like an island with its low lying sand spit only visible close up.

The timing was perfect, just as we left the shipping lanes the wind started to build from the northwest. With the course for the next forty miles down to Norfolk coast being a constant 140 degrees magnetic the wind was from directly behind us. Goosewinged (mainsail and jib set on different side) we were making a good five knots against a one-knot tide which gave us a nice pace for approaching the coast in early morning.

This passage was to be our first introduction to the shallow sandbanks of the southern North Sea. The problem here not being the sandbanks themselves as in the light swell they could easily be navigated through. More the challenge was that all the shipping in the area is funnelled through very small areas of sea. In the course of the night there were countless fishing boats and cruise-liners to avoid as we made progress down our chosen channel. It was all going well and by 7pm we were twenty miles south of the Humber entrance but this pace was not to last. Slowly we slowed to a stop. The forecast was for the wind to hold and go to the southwest but we had suspected there would be a calm period in between.

With such traffic there was only one sensible option, to start the engine. We would make are way towards Norfolk under power until the wind filled in. We took it in turns to helm as we slowly worked against the light tide on another “dot-to-dot” exercise as we moved from one navigation buoy to the next. Finally we were able to make out the north Norfolk coast and the light of Cromer Lighthouse. After passing inside the final set of sandbanks we changed course to port to travel along parallel to the coastline. The passage was uneventful with little or no wind and only the occasional passing coaster. Dad was a little handicapped here trying to make out red or green navigation lights (he is red and green colour blind!) The tide was now pushing us along at a steady pace past Cromer and the gas terminal at Bacton.

With the sun coming up we were only twenty miles north of Lowestoft. As apposed to it getting warmer in the sun it was as if someone had turned the thermostat down ten degrees. The thermometer was showing 3 degree Celsius and I am sure the light wind was taking that below zero. We were taking it in turns to helm before jumping into one of the sleeping bags. When you are wearing twenty-five items of clothing including three pairs of gloves and six thermal layers it was hard to see what more we could do! With the sun rising to the east we passed into the Caister Road, a thin channel formed between the coast and a sandbank a mile or so offshore. It is hard to miss the sandbank as it has twenty wind-turbines concentrated on its northern end. Now only fifteen miles north of Lowestoft it was easy to imagine a mid-morning arrival at our destination.

However, it was soon to become clear that this would not be possible. The tide was now flowing against us with a force of three knots. According to our pilot, almanac and chart this current represented the top end of the spring tide rate. Only thing was, we were passing through this channel “slap bang” in the middle of neaps! With little wind and certainly not enough to push against the tide we had a new challenge. Our fuel supply was looking a little small if we were going to push against this tide for the next four hours. We could have anchored and waited for the tide to turn but that did not seem a great idea with such a current flowing. The anchor would have borrowed its way to oz!

Just as we were considering our options including going back out to sea to wait out the tide, the wind started to build. It seamed possible to sail; the only slight drawback was the wind was now from the south making the remainer of our trip a long beat to windward. We soon had fifteen knots of wind complimenting the strong northerly current. For three hours we made slow progress upwind at a rate as low as half a knot under full sails. We would sail away from a channel buoy on a port tack only to arrive back there five minutes later on a starboard tack – but at least we were not using up fuel! Slowly we started to sense the current weaken so that by 1pm we were again making good speed towards our destination.

Up to 1pm we had move four miles up wind in five hours but actually sailed twenty miles! The good thing about it was that all the tacking up the thin channel was keeping us warm in what were now very cold and wet conditions. As the tide turned we started racing down the coast at up to seven knots. The sting in the tail was that a wind that was now gusting force five and compelled us to take in a reef was running against a strong tide. The waves were predictably building in height as we approach the entrance of Lowestoft harbour. After dropping the mainsail we motor sailed into the harbour mouth in what can only be described as “bumpy” conditions.

Once inside the outer harbour we removed the remaining sail and motored deservingly into the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club marina. The staff of the yacht club welcomed us in and apologised that the club would not be opened for the evening. I explained that after 36 hours awake, beer would not be required. After a quick dinner we fell asleep surrounded by a mess of sailing gear.