Lowestoft!

We have been keen to make progress South, as it wouldn't be good to miss the OGA 60 celebrations at Ipswich next week, and the weather forecast is looking very uncertain. So we and several other Gaffers headed out on Thursday morning. We left from Scarborough, and took the fair tide to Flamorough head. The rest of the day was spent motoring into light winds. We have to be constantly alert to avoid fishing floats that might get entangled in the propellor. Some floats are well marked, but some are almost invisible and some of them look very like a seabird sleeping on the water. They are hard to avoid in daylight and almost impossible at night. Fortunately by the time it got dark a breeze had sprung up so we didn't have to motor and try to spot the fishing buoys at night.It was a nice night to be at sea: clear sky; there were lots of ships at anchor off the entrance to the Humber, but not many on the move to worry about.

The morning found us off the Norfolk coast, but we didnt get into Lowestoft till late afternoon. A stiff southerly wind for the last couple of hours made entering the harbour quite difficult. There is a real gathering of gaffers here now, and Bonita tied up to the lovely Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Letty -built in 1905 and recently beautifully restored - two old ladies together.

We are at the marina run by the very hospitable Royal Norfolk and Suffolk yacht club. This is my first visit to Lowestoft since coming here  long ago as a student in my 15ft Sunspot cruiser after a slow crossing from Vlieland in the Dutch Frisian islands. The harbour still seems to be very busy despite the decline of the fishing fleet.

Here we say goodbye to Hugo who has helped us down  from Blyth but has now run out of time

 He will be returning home rather more speedily by train.