Using only sun, sea and wind to fill her fuel tank!
The start of our incredible, sailing, circumnavigation of plant Earth, onboard Ocean Strider, with her electric auxiliary engine.
Here’s a recap, including lots of images not shown before. Part of our journey from England to France, including Wales onboard Ocean Strider.
We started our circumnavigation on the 24th July 2021, from Maryport. Which is a small coastal town, located on the North West coast of England in Cumbria.
Maryport Marina is situated on a body of water adjoining the Irish Sea, called the Solway Firth, and forms part of the border separating Scotland and England.
The tidal range in this part of the world is more than 10 meters or 32 feet, and the Irish sea is notorious for its strong currents and choppy seas.
Starting from Maryport in very light winds we knew before leaving, it would be a struggle to get to Whitehaven Marina before they shut the lock gates. Arriving about 20 minutes to late, we anchored outside by the high wall. Silently motoring under electric engine, into the marina at about 22.00 hours We found our berth and got a good nights sleep.
Our epic adventure was finally underway. The years of hard work getting ready for this dream come true, seamed like they would never end. Jobs on Ocean Strider just kept appearing.
Eventually I saw an end to the jobs I couldn’t finish, outside of a workshop and that wouldn’t compromise the trip or our safety.
There comes a day when you run out of excuses and have to go!!! Changing to electric auxiliary engine delayed our start date.
Our next journey was Whitehaven Marina to the anchorage of Hawes Point, near Piel Island, in Barrow in Furness. We had to keep moving South to beat the winter weather, fast approaching.
A sail of approximately 40 miles. Again the wind was patchy going South, but we faired better than some friends of ours that had to motor North, all the way from Barrow to Whitehaven at the same time. We were happy to of sailed.
The stunning Laura Castle at Barrow in Furness. There were seals everywhere.
We woke early in the morning to a good strong wind and got started on our next voyage, across Liverpool Bay to Conwy in Wales.
We were making good speed sailing away from Barrow in Furness, speeding towards the huge wind farm, but the wind died completely about 3 miles off the coast, which wasn’t shown on the weather forecast.
The wind generators were now as dead as a graveyard. We motored for hours until the forecasted wind reappeared. We sped towards Conwy in a mixture of clear sky’s, heavy fog and rain.
Wales is awesome. We finally arrived in Conwy, silentley motoring under electric auxiliary engine, early hours of the morning, after a telling off by the coast guard for getting to close to an oil exploration ship.
Stay at least 800 meters away from these ships. To be honest, I thought it was moving but it was anchored.
We stayed in Conwy for a few days to rest. We weren’t use to this much sailing on a daily basis.
More to come very soon!!
