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Ships Blog 31/3/2014

Morning and welcome to Monday mornings Ships Blog. Still as a mill pond in the harbour this morning. Forecast for today and the week looking very settled with relatively little wind. Some sunshine tomorrow but remaining cloudy otherwise. We had a few visitors over the weekend and plenty of berth holders down working on their boats getting ready to launch. Today’s inshore waters forecast:

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland

For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore from 0600 UTC Mon 31 Mar until 0600 UTC Tue 01 Apr

24 hour forecast:

Wind Variable 2 or 3, occasionally 4.

Sea State Smooth or slight.

Weather Fog patches later.

Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally very poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind Variable 3 or less, becoming easterly or northeasterly 3 or 4.
Sea State Slight.

Weather Fog patches.

Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.

Today’s tides HW 13.06 4.17M LW 18.41 0.32M Predicted depth over the sill at next LW (18.41) is 1.82M

In the yard Andy and Craig are launching ‘Ciel Bleau amongst others. Note for your diary, Shotley Point Yacht Club’s Grand Boat Jumble on Good Friday 18th April, 10.00 to 14.00 hours. Concerning our weather station we are currently awaiting arrival of some new equipment to replace the current gear we have have on the roof of the Control Tower etc.

Ships Blog 28/3/2014

Morning and welcome to Friday’s Ships Blog. Frosty and foggy start to this morning. The wind has picked up and the sun has broken through clearing the fog. Wind in the East so still feeling cool. Its forecast to stay in the east over the weekend but the sun is going to shine especially during Saturday. Again another good weekend for getting jobs done on the boats before the Easter rush. Here is today’s Inshore Forecast:

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland

For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore from 0600 UTC Fri 28 Mar until 0600 UTC Sat 29 Mar

24 hour forecast:

Wind Easterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5 in north.

Sea State Slight or moderate.

Weather Showers at first.

Visibility Moderate or good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind Easterly or southeasterly 3 or 4.

Sea State Slight or moderate.

Weather Fair.Visibility Good.

Today’s Tides: HW 09.41 3.81 M LW15.27 0.62M HW 22.04 3.70 Predicted depth over the sill at low water today 2.12M.

Don’t forget that the clocks go forward this weekend by 1 hour.

In the harbour to day we have the Eugen Maersk berthed on Trinity 7. She is one of Maersk’s E class ships at 170794 Gross tonnes and 398M long carrying a maximum of 15000 TEU or containers. In the yard Andy is launching one of the pilot boats and La Boheme a Macwester has been moved to the workshop for some welding work by Gary our engineer. These E  class ships will now be visiting Felixstowe on a monthly basis. Other news hot off the press. The extension to Trinity 8 and 9 at the end of Landgard, will start on 31st March. This comprises a 190M finger extension 94m wide and will allow another E class ship to be berthed on that quay. A further three cranes will arrive from the Far East for this extension. With regard to Stone Point and access to the Backwaters there is a further campaign of Plough dredging planned to commence the beginning of April to ease the silting problems that are occurring in the area.

Ships Blog 27/3/2014

Morning all and todays nautical phrase is familiar to most of you, perhaps?: Grog –  In 1740, British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon (whose nickname was Old Grogram for the coat of Grogram he wore) ordered that the sailors’ daily ration of rum be diluted with water. The men called the mixture grog. A sailor who drank too much grog was groggy. Interesting to note though there is a channel mark up the river Orwell near Pinmill which is also called ‘Grog’, is there any connection I wonder? The weather is a little cool this morning and overcast after last nights rain. However the sun is trying to break through and the forecast is for sunshine most of the day with light rain overnight. Winds are staying in the east for the next few days. Today’s inshore forecast as follows: Gibraltar Point to North Foreland Strong winds are forecast For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore from 0600 UTC Thu 27 Mar until 0600 UTC Fri 28 Mar 24 hour forecast:

Wind Easterly or northeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 in north.
Sea State Slight or moderate.
Weather Rain or thundery showers.
Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind Easterly or northeasterly 4 or 5, decreasing 3 at times in south.
Sea State Slight or moderate.
Weather Rain or showers then fair.
Visibility Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first.Today’s tides are: HW 08.31 3.56M LW 14.30 0.78M HW 21.00 3.47M.  Note predicted depth over the sill at LW will be 2.28M. The answer to yesterdays quiz question, ‘Which IALA buoyage system is used in th Philippines?’ Answer, IALA system B (reds to starboard when entering port). In the yard and marina we have had the pilot boat St Cuthbert in for some repair work to one of her windows and this morning Andy and Craig have lifted the motor boat Kingfisher ashore for lay up, anti fouling etc. Our first English sea school boat of this year, Strata 3 locked in last night and left early this morning. Today’s question is, ‘What is the cause of advection fog?’ Later on this morning we have the Leisure Vessels Navigation Committee meeting with Harwich Haven Authority so we will report the details tomorrow.

Ships Blog 26/3/2014

Morning and welcome to the Ships Blog. Below is today’s nautical phrase.

Scuttlebutt: a cask of drinking water aboard a ship. A “butt” being the wooden cask and “scuttle” being the act of drilling a hole in the butt (tapping the butt). Sailors would often gossip while they drank by the scuttlebutt. This has since lead to the term becoming synonymous with “gossip” and “rumours”.

Sunny at the moment over the harbour but we have some rain in the forecast by lunchtime although it probably will not last too long. Tomorrows forecast looking similar with perhaps a little more sunshine in the morning . Today’s Inshore Forecast:

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland

Strong winds are forecast

For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore from 0600 UTC Wed 26 Mar until 0600 UTC Thu 27 Mar

24 hour forecast:

Wind Northerly or northeasterly 5 or 6, becoming variable 2 or 3, then easterly 3 or 4 later.
Sea State Slight or moderate.
Weather Showers then rain.
Visibility Moderate or good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

Wind Easterly 3 or 4, occasionally 5.
Sea State Slight or moderate.
Weather Rain or showers.
Visibility Moderate or good.
Wednesday’s tides: HW 07.00 3.40M  LW 13.20 0.93M  HW 19.39 3.29M 
Also in the harbour this morning there is the Dredger ‘Shoreway’ clearing the box berths on the Trinity docks at Felixstowe as well the main channel. They will be working here until approx the 8th of April. In the yard the Andy and Craig are hoping to launch a Bavaria called ‘Sparrow’ and lift ashore ‘Magazine’, and Sylva’. Finally a Yachtmaster Quiz question, Which IALA buoyage system is used in the Philipines? Answers on tomorrow Blog.