I am glad to report that Spellbinder is now safely back in her berth in Gosport. We had a good, if occasionally challenging North Sea crossing, taking 4 and a half days to reach Dover from Bergen. I was joined by Jonty and Crispin, and having met them at the airport and checked out of Schengen, we had time to stroll around a bit of Bergen and taste some of its nightlife.

We had a mix of weather: calms, fine reaching winds, and thunderstorms. As is now the case in the North Sea, we had to dodge multiple oil and gas installations, and wind farms. It was a good passage though, and we had no really strong weather with which to contend.

As ever on a passage, we got into routine, having a relaxed watch system during the day (always one person on lookout) and a 2 hours on, 4 hours off routine at night. As skipper I prefer to do the first, middle and last watches. That way I can put the boat to bed, check her in the middle of the night, and wake her up.

We neared land off the Norfolk coast, heading past a bit of the country I know well. The lights of the Sizewell C power station construction site burned bright. We then crossed the Thames Estuary, closing with Kent, past Ramsgate and putting into Dover.

You have to advise Border Force of your intentions, and raise the yellow ‘Q’ flag on arrival. We were visited by 3 of them, had our details taken and cleared in. We then had a great dinner out in a rather fabulous museum of a pub in Dover, called Cullin’s Yard. The bar is fashioned out of a wooden boat.

Crispin left us, while Jonty and I spent a couple of days waiting out some strong westerly winds. We visited Dover Castle, which was enjoyable for its mix of history from Roman to WWII times.

We decided to double hand back to the Solent, and although the forecast was for moderating winds we had rather more than was forecast. The result was a 17 hour ‘bash’ to windward, under engine and reefed mainsail. We shipped quite a lot of water over the deck and a fair amount got inside the boat, exposing one or two leaks which I need to fix in the winter.

We made it ok though, refuelling in Cowes before heading to the Beaulieu River to join the Royal Cruising Club Meet. It was a fitting way to celebrate the successful conclusion of what has been an extraordinary expedition to Norway.

I will take the time to reflect on the expedition to Norway in a final post in the coming weeks. It has been one of the best summers I have had on Spellbinder, made only possible by the many crew who have joined me. In this instance, thank you Crispin and Jonty for helping me get her back.