Welcome to Bonify's new blog for 2016


Bonify in Ramsgate Harbour 

Rule number one of this new blog: We shall not post pictures of "Bonify in this harbour" as she always looks the same. 
So all in all this is not really a great beginning, but perhaps we can get away with it just the once. 
Photos are the hard part of a sailing blog because you can never get a picture of the thing you're supposed to be doing most of the time i.e. sailing along. You get views with bits of the boat in the way but that's the best you can do (see below). If anyone reading this should happen to see us on the water we'd be delighted to publish good sailing photos of Bonify - just please make sure that the bowsprit's out and the sails are perfectly set, ideally a nice bow wave, no forgotten fenders hanging out and of course it must also be a good hair day for Sue (Howard doesn't care - well actually, annoyingly, he doesn't seem to have bad hair days).
Passing through the London Array, sun making an effort
Harwich to Ramsgate yesterday we logged 48 miles (nautical miles). It shouldn't have been quite so many but we had sailed past some distance before deciding to turn back. Having set off at 5am with the intention of making the French coast, and having bowled along happily at 6-7 knots for a few hours, we found ourselves punching a strong ebb tide with the wind on the nose. 2 knots with noisy engine assistance is not a good feeling, and certainly not for hours on end. Suddenly Kent seemed very attractive. So no Ricard chasers for us (yet), but a real ale (or 2) in the Artillery Arms made up for that. And Howard worked on the wind farm boats from here for a while so as expected we have met people he knows.

 Strong winds today so a rest day in harbour. Howard happily playing with multiple VHF radios (must be the working boat ethic getting to him) and Sue scouring the charity shops in town. Net result: Sue has a new (to her) Monsoon jacket, British Heart Foundation is a few quid better off and, should we wish to, we can tell the world this hot news on 3 different VHF channels at once.
2 of the three VHF radios at nav station below

Sadly this one will have to move as it interferes!

Comments

  1. Unknown21 May 2016 at 21:19

    Great pics of boat equipment but how about monsoon jacket? We had fog all day in Shetland so brother Chris didn't get away as planned. Hope you make it across soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown21 May 2016 at 22:05

      I've sent you a photo Sarah - discovered why it's a Monsoon jacket on the way back to the boat just now: the heavens opened

      Delete
  2. Unknown21 May 2016 at 21:19

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

We've set this up so anyone can comment - though we'll see your comment before it's published on the blog - please comment away!

Popular posts from this blog

Inland Schleswig-Holstein

Image
Wednesday 19th July to Thursday 20th July - River Eider inland Reasons to take the River Eider route to the Baltic: 1. It's easier to get to from Heligoland (in the right conditions). 2. You avoid travelling (and crossing) the River Elbe with all its traffic and strong current. 3. You avoid the massive ship lock at Brunsbüttel where we have heard of yachts having to wait as long as 4 hours out in the Elbe before locking in. There are some issues with the locks and they are not all operating. 4. There's no commercial traffic, till you join up with the Kiel Canal 5. Once in, it's more interesting to travel along a river with small towns to visit than 100km of straight ship canal. So, Tönning was our first town with its small harbour a feature in itself overlooked by houses and cafés. When the tide went out overnight we didn't see the mud, we just floated in almost no water.  On Wednesday we moved on to Friedrichstadt, just 10nm further on, a pleasant short trip with withi
Read more

Denmark. Mission accomplished!

Image
Thursday 27th July Schleimünde to Sønderborg - 18 nm The final leg to Denmark is achieved under sail. Goose-winged to start with (from 7.30am) then pole down as the wind veered.  9.45: into Danish waters, time for a new courtesy flag. White cross on red ground duly hoisted. 11am: tied up on Sønderborg quay, prime spot with great view of the castle (Slot). We left the east coast of England back in May with the aim of cruising "towards Denmark" and now we're here. Mission accomplished. We've travelled about 830 miles, mostly with the assistance of the engine, especially inland in the canals, but we've also had some great sails on the way. We've enjoyed visiting Kent, northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands including the Wadden Islands, the German Watten, Heligoland, Schleswig-Holstein and now we're in Denmark.  Sønderborg on the island of Als seems to be the current mooring place for the Danish royal yacht so we're in good company. We've still
Read more

Sussing out the Schlei

Image
Wed 26th July Laboe to Schleimünde via Kappeln - 28 nm Thank goodness for a better day! We set off out into the Baltic Sea.  Wind is 16kts from the North (of course) but at least it's sunny and dry. We don't sail all day but we do enjoy a few hours of peaceful zig-zagging without the engine before motoring into the River Schlei. This is it!  This is Bonify's new cruising ground.  From now on we're on the lookout for a winter berth. We want a secure boatyard where she can be lifted out in September, mast still standing, and covered up until we come back again next spring. We're looking at transport links, prices (of course) and also hoping to find a place we like the feel of. There are some big marinas out here which feel a bit impersonal - small yards are often friendlier places, much more our thing as long as they have a crane or hoist big enough for our 12 tons. Smaller places tend to be cheaper too. The River Schlei has a few places for us to check out, an
Read more