Wells-next-the-Sea at long last!

We departed Goole on the early morning tide on Sunday bound for Grimsby. A day behind schedule due to the wind which had whipped up on the Saturday, and coupled with a very strong spring  tide we thought we would leave it an extra day so as not to get a battering. Having said that even on the Sunday with a strong westerly 4-5 it wasn't very pleasant in places, but we arrived in one piece covering 39.7 nautical miles, with the only thing playing up being the battery charger. We made a quick trip home on the Saturday to fetch our car battery charger to get us out of the mire, but it's looking like a new charger upon our return....yet more expense!

 

With the wind forecast due to significantly subside on the Sunday evening tide, and looking relatively settled for the forthcoming week, we decided to head to Wells-next-the-Sea for the week and forget about Newark. The past couple of years at Spring Bank the weather has not been suitable for us to make the long passage down the coast without worrying about the journey back as soon as we arrive. We once had to abandon Moonshine for a week in Wells and we did not want to run the risk of doing that again. However, the weather was settled and the decision made!

 

After a very smooth run at sea with another 53.5 nautical miles under our belt, we arrived at Wells where we planned on spending several nights.  We haven't visited Wells for a few years, and the extended pontoon and visitor facilities are a fantastic improvement. They plan on extending the pontoon further and purchasing a new boat hoist and making improvements to the slipway amongst other things as soon as revenue permits.

 

After spending a lazy 4 days thoroughly ensconced in Wells we decided Friday was the day to leave bound for Hull Marina. It was such a shame as the weather was lovely, however with a gentle southerly breeze behind us and with the breeze turning north westerly f 1/2 the further up the coast we travelled, we enjoyed a nice calm run back logging 72.7 nautical miles.

 

We departed Hull Marina on Saturday homeward bound. The river was quite rough off Hull, so we travelled at displacement speed in a fresh westerly f4 until we got to the south side of the river which was significantly calmer and were then able to plane up to Goole covering another 22.2 nautical miles. 

We have logged a total of 188.1 nautical miles this past week, and Moonshine and her recently refurbished outdrives have certainly proved themselves. A fantastic if not lazy week away with excellent weather conditions...it goes to show that it has been calmer at sea than in the river both ways. We just need to inspect the battery charger now to see if this is repairable, if not it will be a new unit.