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John and Jenny Bolt are a truly charming British couple. We are delighted that they have been so kind
as to let us re-publish this article which was written recently for
Chichester Yacht Club, of which they are members. Having been privileged to read the article ourselves we feel
sure you'll enjoy it too:
"We aim to make every sailing season different and try to rise to a new
challenge.
We are also fortunate that our time is our own and that we can choose our weather windows and
go, for as long as it takes to cover 800-1,000 miles at 10 knots in our
20-year-old Ocean 37 'Malin Mhor'.
This year was no exception and June 26th 2000 smiled kindly upon us, after a short
delay, waiting for a slot. To start a long passage in sunshine and calm seas sets the mood for whatever is thrown at us
later!
So we came out of Chichester harbour and turned left. Generally speaking, this is not a popular
direction. The scenery is perhaps less picturesque, the marinas
spaced further apart and there is the prospect of the North Sea waiting,
grey and menacing, around the next
bend on the left.
Decisions having been made, we were eager to get going.
Our first aim was to reach St. Katherine Dock and spend some time in
London. This we did in three days, with night stops at Newhaven and
Ramsgate.
Traversing the entrance at Dover is quite an experience at the height of the
season; with ferries coming from all directions.
It seemed to take an age, continually altering course.
Ramsgate has undergone recent improvements and increased its facilities
for yachtspersons. The place has a certain charm of bygone days although no one seemed to want to stay longer than one night and it remains a staging post for all
directions. Many of the Clipper 2000 yachts were gathered there, in training for the Round the World race later in the
year.
The next day we left at 12:00 hrs to make good use of the tide. The buoyed course is directed well out into the estuary and wide expanses of
water. It looked tempting to cut a corner but a quick look through
the 'bins' (Ed: binoculars) highlighted the breakers over the shallows off Margate and a respectful distance was
kept.
Navigating the Thames is a must, so interesting and so much to see. The Thames
barrier; Greenwich, not to mention the doomed Dome. It was dusk as we passed and
the Dome was spectacularly lit.
St. Katherine's lock usually only opens once a day, during office
hours, making planning a perfect arrival difficult. We called in
to say that we had arrived and were told either to pick up a buoy or to tuck ourselves
in behind the landing pier of the Thistle hotel for the night and to follow a Thames barge into the lock the next
morning. We were happy to do the latter as our daughter had been watching us from Tower bridge and planned to spend the night
aboard.
We had done a 'dry run' around said buoys. They were low to the water with small rings and no floats or lines and I didn't fancy my chances dangling from the bathing platform over a
dark, dirty and fast running river, further aggravated by turbulence from the river
traffic.
We spent two weeks in St. Katherine and the longer we
stayed, the more favourable became our berthing fees. It was most
enjoyable, watching the changing scene as all kinds of vessels came and
went. There was the never-ceasing
'clip clop' of fashionable shoes on the boardwalks as weary commuters wended their way to dreary
fluorescent-lit offices. We were on constant photo-call and wonder just how many Japanese photo albums we now appear in!
It was an excellent position for sight seeing and we certainly made the most of
it, with visits to the Dome and the Eye, also old favourites such as the
Observatory;
the National Maritime Museum; Kew Gardens; dock land modern and historic and
browsing, in Kelvin Hughes, through charts of far distant lands that we would never
cruise. Several friends came to visit us and agreed that the Thistle, at £145 a night, didn't compare with our £17!
All too soon, it made sense to move on and here we did some weather
watching. When it looks doubtful where you are it could either be better, or
worse, 70 miles down the road. Anyway, there was always Queensborough to hop
into, if we didn't like what we found.
As it happened, things remained steady and, at the estuary, we took another left turn on a NE
course, noting every
buoy - mindful of how alarming the sandbanks looked on the chart. The last thing we wanted was a week at
'Maplins'!
After some time, we located the dog-leg leading to the river Crouch and were glad to tie up at Essex
Marina. The object of this exercise was to meet up with an old sailing
friend, of many years standing, whom we'd planned to meet on his return to home base from
France.
The weather fell about at this point and our friend was storm -bound in
Dunkirk. As we didn't fancy going anywhere either, under the
circumstances, we stayed for four
days and took the ferry across to Burnham-on-Crouch to send cards home of
Burnham-on-Crouch
in the snow. Time didn't drag! There were pleasant walks and stunning
sunsets. We were berthed in a prime position to watch the
weekend racing from the warmth of our boat. How different the local craft are from those
with which we are familiar in the Solent.
Eventually, our storm-beleaguered friend arrived and we spent but two hours with
him, swapping exaggerated yarns in true 'yachty' style, while sampling the local
brew, before he had to leave for home at Wisbech.
Onwards to Harwich. We had good sea conditions and the tide
was with us. Here we had a choice of marinas and opted for Suffolk Marina at Levington as it didn't have a lock. The club there is delightful, an old light ship, lovingly
restored, serving excellent food and with friendly club members. Fees were reasonable but electricity
cost £3 a night!
Next stop was Lowestoft. From here, the plan had been to enter the Broads through the lock, passing through New Cut to
Brundall. It was not to be so simple. After much chasing around; to plead with harbour and lock masters,
with everyone having a different story to tell; it appeared that the lock had been closed for repairs only that morning and it
might be 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months before it was in operation again. We
decided not to wait around and see.
It was a warm and pleasant day and we got chatting to fellow sailors, as one does. Many were on large motor-cruisers, based in Hull,
and thought nothing of leaping out into the North Sea, in all weathers, for an overnight jolly to
Lowestoft. We didn't comment much on this but secretly decided that these notherners were made of sterner stuff than
us!
There was no choice but to enter the Broads via Great
Yarmouth. There seemed to be a lot of animosity between the Lowestoftians and the Great
Yarmouthites. Two different worlds! Few seemed to have visited their enemies on home ground and
were, therefore, not in a position to pass judgment. None so strange as
folks!
Great Yarmouth's route to the Broads was tedious. It's quite a
performance, timing the tides and negotiating the lifting of the two
bridges. Waiting is very uncomfortable at Hall quay, if you arrive too early and everyone
does, for fear of missing the bridges, as you only get one 'stab' at it.
Having surmounted this obstacle, it was well worth the trouble and, although it remained
overcast, we spent a relaxed week, in peaceful surroundings, before the schools broke up.
Once again we met friends, this time from Halvergate, then did a trundle up to Brundall to
the place of 'Malin Mhor's origins. Here we met some former owners of our
boat.
We learned a great deal about her earlier adventures from them and also from the staff of
Broom's. 'Malin Mhor' was welcomed like the prodigal daughter! While we were
there, we got the firm to
sort out a diesel leak for us. Its source had eluded every effort to locate
it. Having come to Mecca, who better to fix it? We were weary of friends' comments of how smelly we
were! We were used to it by then, and hardly noticed it, but it was good to rid
ourselves of the problem before the next sea trip. The last night was spent at the Berney
pub. Here the landlord charges £5 a night, which can be credited against a meal at his
pub. It seems as though he's on a winner there!
Great Yarmouth to Ramsgate was next on the itinerary and the lifting bridge process was
reversed. The passage was flat and calm until we met an uncomfortable chop off
Ramsgate. This was the longest leg of the voyage and took 10 hours and 83 miles.
Later, we learned that it was the day after
a yacht from Holland to Harwich had been lost, with all hands. On
reflection, we had encountered some fog banks but felt secure with the radar. There are many ships in these busy shipping lanes and it was quite possible to imagine how the tragedy
occurred. A sobering thought.
It was now July 29th and, with time being no object, the aroma of moules beckoned us from across the narrows and we set off for
Dunkirk. Two nights there were enough. We were downwind of an industrial area and awoke
to find ourselves covered in a fine film of coal dust, but the moules had been worth
it. It was time to start making our way back home and we decided to make Boulogne our last stop in
France. Here, we were stormbound, with strong winds for four days and spent several tides popping up and down to the smell of fish and
mud.
Who says sailing is glamorous? Once again, the moules were great, although why the 'frites'?
The shops were convenient and the old walled city enchanting. A visit to the aquarium there is well worth
while, even if you don't like fish, as there is so much more of interest
there.
In fact we were amazed to find we'd spent 6 hours there!
We had the honour to meet up with Sir Alec Rose's 'Lively Lady' and her
crew, who were taking her through the Kiel Canal to Denmark. A conducted tour aboard her was a humbling
experience. She had the misfortune to go aground on leaving, demonstrating her exceptionally deep
keel. A great asset around the Horn, but not in Boulogne. We overtook her later at the bar; she to go NE and we to the
NW.
Once more a straightforward passage, to Newhaven, where we were reunited with sailing friends of
yesteryear, when we'd berthed a former boat there.
It made good sense to end up in Brighton Marina and utilise our free berthing
facility. We lingered four days there. Feeling like day-trippers, we rediscovered the delights of the
pier -entry free, deckchair thrown in - which was new in our experience;
the Volkes railway and the underpass walk to Rottingdean.
The most perfect day was heralded by the dawn on the day we were to return to
Chichester. Friends from home, who are not sailors by nature, had agreed to join us if conditions were right.
They could not have been better.
We lunched well en route and consumed quantities of wine purchased from the
supermarché in Boulogne.
Arrival had been timed for free flow but, as it was an exceptionally high spring tide, we found the water outside the lock higher than in the basin. We were locked in, with the explanation
of ''Do you really want to find your car afloat in the car park?!''
Since our return, we've been contented with trips to the Isle Of Wight, swinging on the hook,
bird-watching in Newtown and Keyhaven.
The winter will be spent planning something different again for the 2001
season. At the moment, we have the Scilly Isles in mind, but who knows?
Jenny Bolt - M/V Malin Mhor
Heartfelt thanks to Jenny for entertaining us so well
with that account of the Summer 2000 trip. We were fortunate to meet John
and Jenny in Caleta de Velez, in the south of Spain, in 1997, just as we
were preparing an old motor yacht we had been contracted to deliver, going
up around the eastern side of Spain to Port La Nouvelle in the south of
France and then from East to West through the canals of the south of
France to Mas D'Agenais, near Bordeaux. Not only were they generous with
information but even presented us with an excellent guide book. Having the
book made all the difference between getting there one way or another and
having an excellent time along the way.
We very much hope to bring you more Bolts From The Blue in
the near future...
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