Oh what a surprise ... not!

The weather forecast has deteriorated significantly

The long range forecast, for what it's worth (which isn't much) has been quite promising for a while now, suggesting F3/4 Sou' Westerlies all next weekend and well into the following week. Nigh on perfect in fact.

As we move into the more accurate and reliable 5 to 7 day forecast, the GFS model is predicting a persistent low over the low countries with the Azores high building and pushing North in the Atlantic. The result? A funnel of Northerly winds straight down the East Coast with F5 gusting F6 or 7 forecast for Saturday and not much better on Sunday

Even if the wind speeds were within our comfort zone, which they aren't, being Northerly winds they'll have the whole of the North Sea from top to bottom to fetch up some decent wave heights.

As things currently stand, it looks like a repeat of two years ago when we spent the first few days of our main annual cruise nailed to the pontoon at North Fambridge. Unless there's a significant improvement, looks like it could be Monday before we get under way (with all that that implies for lost opportunities given that the tide will, quite literally, be turning against us as the week progresses)

Ho hum