Sailing Alone 2018 Part 1. UK to Belgium. A Southern North Sea Crossing 

Hi Paul. Thank you so much for watching the videos and for your kind comment. I feel very privileged to be able to experience the sea and the ocean. And to try to stay safe and demonstrate safe sailing. ATB James

Thank you very much.

Hi wonderful Patrick. Thank you for your very generous comment. Anyway! We are ready to leave. I'm still startled by your magnificent sail to Faroe and so so quickly. I'm a complete slow coach and can get in to harbour mode and that wonderful comfort of being safe in port. And the longer I stay tucked up, the harder it is to leave!! But I am looking forward to this summer. Not sure which way the winds will be blowing in 10 days time. That will govern me heading north or down channel. Where are you? Fair winds and stay safe. James

Hi Warren. Thank you yet again for your generous comment. I'll be happy wherever me and the ship get to but we'll have to see where the weather is nearer departure. Ireland, Shetland again, Norway again! Faroe perhaps if there is a weather window. ATB James

Thank you so much for watching. The festival inn Oostende was fun! Fair winds stay safe James

I remember my first North Sea crossing very well. A big moment! I can tell you what I would do. Not what YOU should do. First of all I probably would not sail on Sunday 7th. At the moment it looks like you will burn diesel. However, for a passage from Harwich to Oostende I would leave Harwich two hours before LW Harwich. The ebb takes me out to Long Sand Head for slack water. I lay a course for Oostende. I do not sail the rum line. The SW flood sets my boat to the south of the rum line for roughly six hours and then the ebb will set me east which gives me and my ship a nice lift in to Oostende. The Southern North Sea can be busy with traffic. I’m sure you will have studied the various TSS. Also IPTS. If sailing in to Oostende, the Port has a new very clearly lit IPTS on the eastern mole. Obey the signal … for example green green white don’t call … green white green call. If you need to call Port Control it is CH09, which is not clear in Reeds. Simon Munters is the super Harbour Master in the Royal North Sea YC. Simon looks after everyone immaculately. If you want to tell him to expect you and give him a rough ETA simon@rnsyc.be. Beautiful Bruges is a very short train journey from Oostende! Fair winds and stay safe James

Samingo Sailing thanks for your reply. It is looking light for Sunday and obviously I’ll keep an eye on the forecast but my Trapper 300 slips along nicely at 4kts in these conditions so hopefully if I do go the motoring will be kept to a minimum. I’ve had my head buried in various passage books the last week or so and looks relatively straight forward just itching to crack on. Just been in contact with Simon at the RNSYC he replied very promptly 😀. All the best.

Samingo Sailing just checked windy.tv again and Monday does look like a better prospect

Hi Martin. The autopilot electronics and drive is Raymarine EV-200 Type 1 linear which I installed in March 2015. We’ve done a lot of off shore miles with this. 4,000 NM in the Atlantic this year including 60 hours down wind 6-7's with a fair sea running. So it works very well. Thank you very much for watching and for your kind comment. Part 3 of this years Atlantic circuit on RU-vid shows the steering working very well with the following sea. ATB James

Thank you so much for watching. We were blown down the English Channel this summer. Me and 'Talisker 1' have just returned from a 4,000 NM sail to Madeira, the Azores and back to the UK. I was invited to join the Royal Cruising Club. We are entitled to fly a blue ensign which I have only done once or twice. We fly the club burgee from the top of the mast at the same time as the blue. I am so envious of you sailing in beautiful Norway. Such a special place for me and my boat. Fair winds and stay safe. James

Very good - then my eyes did not deceive me. Congratulations to you on your membership in the Royal Cruising Club and for completing what sounds like a magnificent trip. Hopefully you will share some of it with us here on RU-vid.

Yes ... a lot of video to sift through. Will share of course in due course. ATB James

Really really kind. Thank you very very much. And Peace to you from the River Ore. ATB James

Thank you Gus. And thank you very much for watching the video. I'm sorry to reply late but I've just returned home from crossing the Atlantic.

Thank you for your comment. Yes! I enjoyed seeing the RORC fleet heading out in to the North Sea. I do work quite hard on the boat. We do go off shore a bit together. Madeira and The Azores this year! When I got back to the Orwell from Belgium there was an RCC event which I attended. I never really dare fly the RCC burgee from the mast head and the blue ensign which goes with it but it did get aired for that meet and I left it on for the short sail back to Orford. Fair winds and stay safe. ATB James

Hi Janis. Many thanks for watching the video. Here is a link to my boat www.samingosailing.com/my-boat-westerly-typhoon-talisker-1/ Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions. Stay safe James

Yup! A regular question. I'm not brave enough to do half hour sleeps. On a short trip like this one, sleep is not necessary. On coastal passages when it is not possible to sleep, the limit is about 24 hours, give or take, to get in to an anchorage, harbour, be safe and sleep. A much longer off shore passage is safer (there is no land to hit) but it is imperative to sleep. It would be dangerous not to sleep. As an example last year I sailed for 45 hours non stop from Norway to Scotland. The seas are not that busy up there. I suppose I got about 17 hours sleep but never slept for more than 15 minutes at a time. If I was tired and there was nothing around me visually, on radar and on AIS (I set a guard alarm on radar and AIS too) I also set an alarm to wake me in 15 minutes and slept. I got up, repeated the checks and if all was clear, slept again. I arrived in Scotland feeling well rested. It is my preferred method for any long off shore passage. ATB James

Hi Micky. Because I'm such a dreadful film maker and awful presenter! I added that little bit of voice at home and the microphone is different to the camera and very loud if I speak normally. I will find a way of adding a voice over one day. The point of the film is just showing an ordinary sailor going sailing. Thank you so much for watching. ATB James

Yes, to make contact ... and then probably on to a working channel 06. Thank you for watching. ATB James

Colin. Thanks for watching. ATB James

Are! You have not been at sea alone for any length of time just listening to the sounds of the sea and the boat at work. Sorry about that. It's quite unintentional. Stay safe ...

Marc! Why do I go sailing? I hope the following explains a small amount. As much as I like being at sea, I always prefer to go somewhere. I enjoy the planning and then the actual passage, although the enjoyment is always during and afterwards. I am far too anxious before departure to call it fun. I prefer to sail alone. I love knowing I've done most things right. I don't want to let my ship down. I am the weakest link. I try to prepare for every eventuality for a safe passage but I know the sea is unpredictable and the ability to improvise can be essential. Other boats and their crews' experiences, interest me enormously. 'Talisker 1’ is a Westerly Typhoon, Sail No T/20. She was the 20th Typhoon of only 40 built by Westerly so she is quite a rare Westerly. ‘Talisker 1’ was launched in 1991 and I am her third owner. I bought her in 2014. Only the mast remains of her 2014 rig. There is now a bespoke inner forestay that flies a heavy weather stay sail. Her performance to windward in heavier weather with a single or double reefed main and the stay sail is very very good. The boat is very much set up for me to sail longer distances alone. The last two years have been spent exploring higher latitudes and I have found the boat to be everything I wanted her to be. I had thought of ‘heavier and steadier’ but opted for build quality, but also a boat the would be a comfortable mile eater AND sail in light airs too. She is fast and easy to sail alone. Here are a couple of longer passages in different conditions! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0FklU8E1EQ4.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l359sImDKSk.html Thank you very much for watching.

The westerly is a good choice of boat for any sailor. Nice thick layup and built to go anywhere. Mines a 1970's boat and is also built like a tank. Chatting with a chap the other day in the boatyard who owns a modern french boat and was shocked to see that pressing on the hull in places makes it flex like a car panel!! So thin compared to older boats!

The longer distance cruising sailors choose older heavier and steadier craft. Often steel or aluminium. My Westerly is a rare one. Only 40 built. What is your boat?

Samingo Sailing Marcon Tomahawk 25

Many thanks for watching. On a short trip like this one, sleep is not necessary. On coastal passages when it is not possible to sleep, the limit is about 24 hours, give or take, to get in to an anchorage, harbour, be safe and sleep. A much longer off shore passage is safer (there is no land to hit) but it is imperative to sleep. It would be dangerous not to sleep. As an example last year I sailed for 45 hours non stop from Norway to Scotland. The seas are not that busy up there. I suppose I got about 17 hours sleep but never slept for more than 15 minutes at a time. If I was tired and there was nothing around me visually, on radar and on AIS I set an alarm for 15 minutes and slept. I got up, repeated the checks and if all was clear, slept again. I arrived in Scotland feeling well rested. It is my preferred method for any long off shore passage. ATB James

So sorry. I'm not in control of those. I'll see what I can do. Thanks -

Hi again! Westerly Typhoon 'Talisker 1'. ATB James