The North Sea Crossing

24th June 2009
Ramsgate to Den Helder

The Pegasus (and her crew) have achieved their first goal - crossing the North Sea. We left Ramsgate at 10pm Monday evening and arrived 38 hours later in Den Helder which is on the top of the dutch mainland coast.

The crossing began quite benign - calm sea and a clear evening turning into a starry night. The crew were organised into 2 watches - 10pm to 2am, 2am to 6am then 6am to 12 noon and 12 noon to 6pm. 6pm to 10pm and around again.

The first watch needed to dance around the shipping as we motored north along the coast. The wind was against us so we could not sail, although we did have the mainsail up (but reefed in) to provide stability to the boat. We were to learn later that stability is a relative concept.

The second watch took over and turned the boat east towards the line of rather large ships moving right to left. This was the western traffic lane. "How do you cross?" we asked. "Well it's like crossing a dual carriageway onto the central reservation: you pick a boat and aim behind it". Which we duly did. While they are large and move quite quickly, they are very well lit and predictable.

It was a lovely starry night, with a soft glow along part of the horizon. We slowly realised that it was getting lighter and the stars began to go out. First, the softness of impending daylight gradually took hold then a shout from the lookouts up at the box and we saw the sun peeking above the horizon - very very orange. Pictures to follow. It takes only a few minutes for the sun to reveal itself fully, a pulsing ball of energy, so very far away, and very soon too bright to look at. It was Tuesday morning.

The next watch continued motoring across the central reservation. It was now Tuesday morning, a gloriously sunny day. Was this a typical crossing of the North Sea? Probably not but is it ours. We progressed along at a steady 6 knots. We had changed direction slightly from East to North East and had got up level with Ijmeiden. The afternoon watch continued the progress but now the sea was also against us and getting a little lumpy which began to slow us down.

During the evening watch, 6-10pm, the sea began to get difficult and progress became much harder. We slowed to 3-4 knots with a headwind of force 4-6. The next two watches had a difficult time, trying hard to find the balance between making progress towards the Netherlands and not bouncing the boat around two much - not just for the benefit of those on deck but also those sleeping below. The 2-6am watch suffered worst, at times making little progress at all! Despite the tough going, the sunrise was again spectacular as we motored into Wednesday. By around 9am we sighted the dutch coast and by a little after noon, we arrived in Den Helder feeling quite a sense of achievement.

We will now overnight here and press on early tomorrow (Thursday) morning. The forecast for tomorrow is for less wind (although still against us) and possible no wind on Friday. We aim to reach the Kiel Canel and then Kiel itself by Saturday. Wayne and Phil are now cooking dinner (with a special surpise desert!) and we all look forward to a good, and long, and undisturbed, (and very well-earned!) nights sleep.

Next news probably from the Kiel Canel.